Manowar, The Kings of Metal Thread

Manowar has just announced their farewell tour.

http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=123664

Fighting The World was the only Manowar album I could find for years. I always thought it was amazing how they managed to get Orson Welles on it, but then have since found out he was actually Eric Adams' uncle.

If you like those two albums, The Triumph of Steel is probably closest in style and sound. It features a 28 minute song, which I promise you is not boring.

I've never struck a bad Manowar album. They get so much stick from a lot of metal snobs for being a bit camp/silly/unintentionally homoerotic/over-the-top, but I've always loved their pomp and circumstance, and they're simply an uncompromising band who've always done whatever they liked, no matter what the current fashion.

Some of my favourite Manowar stories:
-Needing a second tour bus just for the groupies
-Making the drummer burn his old drum kit when joining the band, because the Drums of Doom are the only appropriate drum kit for Manowar
-Testing their amps and PA on a missile testing range because they were so loud- apparently peaked out at 160 decibels, which is far beyond safe volume for human ears, and is touching on deadly

UMUR wrote: ... oil glistening male bodies wearing nothing but leather tangas (God damn I swear I didn´t purchase tickets to see the Chippendales) and White cowboy boots, playing guitar and bass solos on their knees looking like they were in great pain, while motorcycles came onstage and a special pit filled with screaming groupies were worshipping their heroes...

Like I said, unintentionally homoerotic!

My bet is on number 2. Their material hasn´t been especially relevant for years, and people who come to their shows probably only want to hear the "old" songs, so there´s not really much need to record more albums (I know hardcore fans will disagree, but I`m viewing the situation from a more casual listener perspective).

Unitron wrote: Yeah, that part about them I don't like, but unlike Kiss and Marilyn Manson, they're a band that plays better music than their image would make you think.

Vic wrote: I call bullshit on the "Orson Welles, uncle of Eric Adams" information. What is the source?

I was using this as my source:

http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/review/battle-hymns/312321

but it looks like our intrepid reviewer is wrong and we'll all have to bow down to Vic's superior knowledge!

http://www.truemetal.org/hailandkill/html/interview/intview46.htm

This is an interview with Eric Adams:

On your first record you had Orson Welles do some narration. Did you get to meet him?

Joey (DeMaio, Manowar bassist) and Ross (�The Boss� Funicello, former Manowar guitarist and alumnus of punk-metal legends the Dictators) met him, but I was busy in upstate New York at the time.

When he recorded his parts in New York City, they met Orson.

What sort of impression did he leave on them?

I think it�s the same impression he would have left on anybody who met him. He was this huge, huge guy, so he had to go up in this freight elevator. He brought his dog with him. That�s pretty amazing. What an amazing voice he had, for him to do �Defender� and �Dark Avenger� for us, then also announce the band. We still use that every night. We use that tape where he says, �Ladies and gentlemen, from the United States of America, all hail Manowar!�

That�s fantastic. Of course, Orson Welles goes down in history as being one of the great pranksters. Now, considering that you don�t joust and you had Orson Welles on your first record, are you playing a prank on the metal fans of the world?

Not at all, brother. Not at all. We�re giving them the very best that we can. Originally, I was supposed to do the narration and it didn�t sound as good as it possibly could. We went to our record company and we said, �We need a voice like Orson Welles. He�s the king. He�s the man with the deep voice, great for narration.� Look what he did when he made people believe �The War of the Worlds� thing. C�mon, what a voice he�s got!

And there�s also that movie he did about forgeries.

Oh�what was the name of that?

I forgot the name too. You know the one I�m talking about? It�s like a documentary.

I can�t remember the name of that, but, anyway, he�s very convincing and very straightforward. He�s the best and Manowar needed the best. I don�t think it�s trickery or trying to pull one over on the fans. We�re very honest with our fans.

Did he challenge either Ross or Joey to a duel?

To a duel?

Yeah.

Who? Orson? Nah, not at all. In fact he was behind the band, one-hundred percent. He knew that we couldn�t get the time of day in America, but over in Europe we would do well. Same thing with him. He couldn�t get the time of day in America so he had to make it in Europe first, then come back to America. His heart and soul were into it. It was a very cool thing.

So you were kind of like kindred spirits.

Exactly.