RUNNING WILD — Under Jolly Roger (review)

RUNNING WILD — Under Jolly Roger album cover Album · 1987 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
666sharon666
Under Jolly Roger is the third Running Wild album from 1987. As you can probably tell from the album's title and cover artwork, this is the point that Running Wild discovered pirates. It is also the point that their transition into a power metal band begins. But only begins, as sound wise this is quite a transitional sounding album from Running Wild.

That doesn't mean however that Under Jolly Roger wasn't their best album up until that point, or at least for me, it was. The band sticks with the rather short eight track album formula, but the level of song-writing is the highest they'd had so far, with almost every track being memorable. The sound of the album is traditional heavy metal mixed with some faster ideas that closer resemble a very early European style power metal sound rather than the speed metal of earlier releases. This is most evidence in the final song Merciless Game but others, notable the opening title track, also feature guitar riffs in more of a power metal vein. The title track for me is the album's best and most addictive song but the two that immediately follow it, Beggar's Night and Diamonds of the Black Chest also deserve recognition. Like much of the early Running Wild material a good portion of Under Jolly Roger was later re-recorded but I don't find either version of the songs overly better this time around, which certainly wasn't the case with the band's last album Branded and Exiled, where I find the later versions much stronger. While I do like the band's debut Gates to Purgatory quite a bit, Under Jolly Roger is the first true must own for any fan of the band. 4.5 stars.
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666sharon666 wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Glad you're liking them, but wait until you get to 'Death or Glory' and 'Black Hand Inn'. Those two are definitely my favourites from Running Wild.

I should really finish my discography review for these guys. I don't enjoy the last four or five albums anywhere near as much though, so I don't find it that motivating to write reviews for them.
Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I've recently been getting into Running Wild, and I have a feeling this will become one of my favorite power metal albums.
adg211288 wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I just managed to get a CD copy of this one after looking for over a year. I've been quite lucky with getting their stuff but this one has taken the longest. It's a shame that pretty much every album from their classic period (this one - Black Hand Inn) has become hard to find.

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