There's a saying that
basically goes "when you are on a good thing, stick to it". That saying could
accurately be used in describing the writing and recording of Legacy of Kings, HammerFall's follow up to their highly
acclaimed debut album Glory to the Brave. Legacy of Kings follows a familiar and well-trodden path that
resulted from the first album. In fact the same writers wrote the majority of
this second album, even including Jesper Strömblad who had moved on from
HammerFall before the recording of the first album due to his commitments in his
main band, In Flames.
Songs like "Heeding the Call" and "Legacy of Kings" and "Let the Hammer Fall" are very similar in anthemic structure to the best songs from the debut album. Add to that "Stronger Than All". These four songs in particular could have come from the session writing for the first album. All have similar parts to them that can be found on songs from that album. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as they are all good songs, but it can be a little disconcerting.
It's the good songs here that keep bringing you back to this album. It may not be a strong throughout as Glory to the Brave but it has enough so that you want to listen to the album even with its weaker links.
"Dreamland", "Remember Yesterday" and "At the End of the Rainbow" all form a solid middle stanza. The solo in "Warriors of Faith" shows where their influences come from, a very Helloween/Gamma Ray influenced riff. This is even more strongly accentuated with the bonus track at the end of the album, which is of Helloween's "I Want Out", featuring guest musician and vocalist Kai Hansen on his own creation.
The sting is well and truly taken out of the tail with the closing song. "The Fallen One" is a ballad that reeks of trying to capture fire in a bottle, to recreate the success of "Glory to the Brave" which was the final song on the album of the same name. It was an attempt at an anthemic ballad that for the most part worked. Here, though, "The Fallen One" allows all of the previous energy of the album to seep away, stealing the album's mojo and dragging it back in the eyes of the fan in comparison. It is a weak finish, unworthy of what has come before. The fact that on discs that contain the bonus track as the final song (the aforementioned "I Want Out") this is salvaged because of it, is irrelevant. A real shame.
Joacim Cans is still the star ingredient in this band. His vocals carry this band to a higher level, and make up for any faults that lie elsewhere within the whole package. This time around though, the music itself is presented better. There was an erstwhile sloppiness about some of the playing on Glory to the Brave, but here it is tightened up much better, along with metronomic drumming to keep everyone together much better. The riffs and solos are also better written and played than on the previous album. While the songs and energy themselves were better on the debut, this has a better sound and feel because of these factors.
I still like this album a lot, but even with that being the case, it feels too similar in writing and performance to the first album to really be comfortable with. I'm not against going with what you know has worked before, but you have to change some of it to give it its own individuality, and realistically that hasn't happened here. While it is still miles ahead of some of the stuff the band put together following this album, it can't really hold a candle to the album that came before it. Glory to the Brave and Legacy of Kings could almost be said to be twins, but Legacy of Kings is the Danny de Vito to Glory to the Brave's Arnold Schwarzenegger in this family.
Songs like "Heeding the Call" and "Legacy of Kings" and "Let the Hammer Fall" are very similar in anthemic structure to the best songs from the debut album. Add to that "Stronger Than All". These four songs in particular could have come from the session writing for the first album. All have similar parts to them that can be found on songs from that album. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as they are all good songs, but it can be a little disconcerting.
It's the good songs here that keep bringing you back to this album. It may not be a strong throughout as Glory to the Brave but it has enough so that you want to listen to the album even with its weaker links.
"Dreamland", "Remember Yesterday" and "At the End of the Rainbow" all form a solid middle stanza. The solo in "Warriors of Faith" shows where their influences come from, a very Helloween/Gamma Ray influenced riff. This is even more strongly accentuated with the bonus track at the end of the album, which is of Helloween's "I Want Out", featuring guest musician and vocalist Kai Hansen on his own creation.
The sting is well and truly taken out of the tail with the closing song. "The Fallen One" is a ballad that reeks of trying to capture fire in a bottle, to recreate the success of "Glory to the Brave" which was the final song on the album of the same name. It was an attempt at an anthemic ballad that for the most part worked. Here, though, "The Fallen One" allows all of the previous energy of the album to seep away, stealing the album's mojo and dragging it back in the eyes of the fan in comparison. It is a weak finish, unworthy of what has come before. The fact that on discs that contain the bonus track as the final song (the aforementioned "I Want Out") this is salvaged because of it, is irrelevant. A real shame.
Joacim Cans is still the star ingredient in this band. His vocals carry this band to a higher level, and make up for any faults that lie elsewhere within the whole package. This time around though, the music itself is presented better. There was an erstwhile sloppiness about some of the playing on Glory to the Brave, but here it is tightened up much better, along with metronomic drumming to keep everyone together much better. The riffs and solos are also better written and played than on the previous album. While the songs and energy themselves were better on the debut, this has a better sound and feel because of these factors.
I still like this album a lot, but even with that being the case, it feels too similar in writing and performance to the first album to really be comfortable with. I'm not against going with what you know has worked before, but you have to change some of it to give it its own individuality, and realistically that hasn't happened here. While it is still miles ahead of some of the stuff the band put together following this album, it can't really hold a candle to the album that came before it. Glory to the Brave and Legacy of Kings could almost be said to be twins, but Legacy of Kings is the Danny de Vito to Glory to the Brave's Arnold Schwarzenegger in this family.
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