UMUR
"Welcome Home" is a promo vinyl single released by multi-national heavy metal act King Diamond. The single was released through Roadracer Records in 1988 and was send to radio stations and magazines to promote the release of the band´s 3rd full-length studio album "Them (1988)".
The A-side to the single features the title track and the B-side features the track "Phone Call". Both tracks were written and recorded for "Them", but only "Welcome Home" ended up on the album, even though both tracks feature lyrics related to the album concept story. "Phone Call" is just a short horror spoken word/effects piece though. While "Phone Call" didn´t make it unto "Them (1988)", it was included on "The Dark Sides (1988)" EP compilation, which was released only two months after "Them (1988)", which more or less makes this promo release redundant for anyone but the most hardcore fans. And as it is a promo which was never meant to be sold to the general public, it is of course a very rare item.
So rating a release like this is almost impossible, as some will find it redundant while others will drool over the collector item value of it. Based on the quality of the material I´d say a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is fair, as "Welcome Home" is a brilliant track, while "Phone Call" really isn´t that interesting.