Fighting the World
| 1. Fighting the World 2. Blow Your Speakers 3. Carry On 4. Violence and Bloodshed 5. Defender 6. Holy War 7. Master of Revenge 8. Black Wind Fire and Steel |
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| Whether or not Manowar really epitomizes
the ideal of metal being viewed as a religion (which they probably don't), they can still
make some damn good music, and this is pretty much the only album, courtesy the band, that
doesn't fully express their talents and abilities to the fullest potential. In itself,
something of a controversy between some metal fans - as this could be viewed as the band's
"selling out" point, but then, what the hell was this "selling out"
back in 1987, 'Fighting the World' indeed does feature much more straight-forward, more or
less anthemic (as was popular for metal at the time) songs...and less of those gruesome,
violent epics that dominated their previous material... But it's still all good to whatever extent. Opener title song is a metal anthem at it's best, and has all those required characteristics - the mid-tempo pace, the repetition of the titular line ad nauseam, etc. - but it's a good song ("...well people keep on askin' are we gonna change? I look 'em in the eye and tell 'em...NO WAY!..." - I guess they must mean starting from now on), and "Violence and Bloodshed" features a rapid-riff pace, which isn't too bad...there's also the epic "Defender" which a lot of people go ga ga over, but this one doesn't do much to me...oh sure, Orson Welles did some of the voice-overs, but the song has a tendency to get on my nerves, with the mix of the grand fatherly voice and that of Eric Adam's set against the mundane riffs. It's really towards the end when the disc truly starts heating up, with the last 4 cuts (2 intros/2 songs) - the dark anthem "Drums of Doom"/"Holy War" and "Master of Revenge"/"Black Wind, Fire, and Steel." "Holy War" features a great alteration between a quiet and foreboding verse and an all out, pounding chorus, and "Black Wind, Fire and Steel" has probably the best Adams scream at the end - a truly amazing moment by all standards, clocking in at over 40 seconds...WOW!! Can't say much for the rest of the material (thankfully there's not too much of it left). "Blow Your Speakers" is...err...was MTV fodder for the time, and "Carry On", pardon me for saying this, sucks pretty bad - I'm guessing Manowar went for that Kansas sound there, and got lost somewhere along the way...not good! Overall though, certainly more accessible and commercial than the other Manowar material, the album is still a worthwhile purchase, especially for the last 4 tracks above all else...check it out!
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