20 Years In History

My dear readers, this is the kind of review I like to do. Being a huge Running Wild fan since Port Royal, I bought this one blindly : 26 songs, more than two hours of German heavy metal music. Well the kind of CDs that is "trapped" in my car for a while. You know there was Iron Maiden, Helloween, Accept, Judas Priest ... and all of a sudden, back in 1985, Gates Of Purgatory changed the face of heavy metal, at least the one we used to play in Germany. Running Wild was born ! What shall you expect from this 20 Years In History ? Reworked versions ? Almost all of them are ... so I rather not mention all the tracks. New recorded version ? Of course. Branded & Exiled - originally taken from the album Branded & Exiled - is one of them. As good as the original one. The other re-recorded track is Mordor - also taken from the album Branded & Exiled. These new recorded version are sincerely interesting. What about unreleased tracks ? Well, that's may be the disappointment here as only two unreleased tracks have been found. Prowling Werewolf, new recorded and unreleased track from the '83 Live set - comes here with reworked lyrics. A pretty cool starter. The other unreleased track is Apocalyptic Horsemen - originally written for the album Under Jolly Roger, with reworked lyrics too. This is a classic Running Wild song, a mid-tempo track, surrounded by the characteristic Kasparek's guitar riff. The tracking-list of 20 Years In History includes all Running Wild's classics. Even the last years of the "Pirates" outside Sanctuary Records are covered. Here we go : CD1 : Genghis Khan, Prisoners Of Our Time, Under Jolly Roger, Raise Your Fist, Port Royal, Conquistadores, Riding The Storm, Bad To The Bone, Blazon Stone, Little Big Horn ... . Almost 70 minutes of pleasure from the first album to Blazon Stone. CD 2 : Whirlwind, Black Hand Inn, The Privateer, Ballad Of William Kidd, Victory, Tsar, Welcome To Hell, The Brotherhood ... More than 70 minutes from Pile Of Skulls to the last record, The Brotherhood. If you don't know or never had the chance to listen to Running Wild, shame on you ! On the other hand, this double "best of" is the best point to start. With masterpiece like Black Hand Inn (1999), Death Or Glory (1991), Port Royal (1988) or Under Jolly Rodger (1987), Running Wild deserve your attention. One of the best German heavy metal band beside Accept, Helloween and Grave Digger. Like we said in French, it is never too late to start :)