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Manowar > Gods of War Live > Reviews
Manowar - Gods of War Live

Losing itself in its own pompousness - 70%

kluseba, July 20th, 2018
Written based on this version: 2007, 2CD, Magic Circle Music (Digipak, Enhanced)

The first time I ever saw a music journalist using negative digits to rate a record was when Manowar released the highly controversial Gods of War release. In retrospect, there were a couple of really good tracks on said album but it was watered down by unnecessary overtures, interludes and useless spoken word passages. Manowar's popularity was already rapidly declining by the time Gods of War Live was released. I would even go further and say this live record is the last good album Manowar has released. The record can be divided into two distinct parts on two separate discs. The first disc is basically a greatest hits compilation played during the Demons, Dragons & Warriors World Tour. The second disc offers the best live cuts from the controversial Gods of War effort by skipping most of the annoying tunes and adding final encore.

This live record is a great deal for those who own no or only a few Manowar studio records as all important releases and songs are represented here. The energetic opening band anthem "Manowar" sets the tone right for the following two hours filled with epic power. "Call to Arms" has also become an irresistible band anthem that represents everything Manowar stands for even though it was only five years old when this record was released. Anthemic choirs, heavy guitar riffs, domineering bass guitar, thunderous drums and expressive vocals that are sung, shouted and almost spoken with lyrics about bloody battles define this loud song and this unique band. The first disc doesn't only offer classics but also a few hidden pearls. "Gloves of Metal" still describes the spirit of metal accurately, if stereotypically. "Mountains" sounds epic and majestic and proves that the band can also succeed when it takes itself seriously. "Die for Metal" proves that Manowar was still able to write good songs a decade ago even though the guitar rhythms rip off Led Zeppelin and the lyrics refer to a cringe-worthy interview involving Rock Hard journalist Götz Kühnemund and Manowar bassist Joey DeMaio that has become legendary. If you haven't checked it out yet, go ahead and have some fun. However, even the great first disc of this release has a few minor flaws. The bass instrumental "Son of William's Tale" that was artificially stretched to a length of four and a half minutes and the overlong noisy coda of "Black Wind, Fire and Steel" are for posers only.

The second disc is hit-and-miss. The epic anthem "The Sons of Odin" or the gloomier title track "Gods of War" work particularly well on a big stage in front of an enthusiastic crowd. The photos in the high-quality booklet as well as the bonus video of the latter track show that Manowar can be outstanding entertainers. However, some of the interludes like "The Blood of Odin" and "Glory Majesty Unity" are overlong and slow the show down considerably. While the first disc shows the band's strengths that made it so unique as well as a few stereotypical weaknesses that come along with it, the second disc shows a talented band losing itself in its own narcissistic pompousness. It's not a surprise that what was supposed to be the start of a trilogy about different mythologies never went further than the first part and that the ensuing Asgard Saga didn't result in three albums but only one extended play.

Looking back at this record makes me somewhat nostalgic as it almost feels like a swansong for a band that I once loved and that would go on to disappoint most of its declining fan base over the years following this release. Gods of War Live is mostly enjoyable to listen to and reminds us that Manowar were once one of the very best live bands in the metal scene. If you feel like rediscovering the band's declining but still solid middle years, go give this generous release a few spins.

Gods of war live - how Gods of war should be done - 85%

DarkBee, August 28th, 2007

The kings of metal released another album, this time we get a live rendition of songs of (almost) every album they've put out so far, and on the second disc an extensive list of songs from their latest album, Gods of war (no surprises this album is called Gods of war live, as it is a recording of one of their tour dates for the same album). This album was recorded in Nürnberg, Germany (mentioned only at the end of Black wind, fire and steel).

First, the overall sound and quality. Manowar/Joey deMaio and his sound crew really know how to put out the best sound they can get, no doubt about that: every instrument is clearly audible and every note can be heard. Now, the quality of playing is another thing: even though we all know Eric Adams is one of the, if not THE greatest metal singer of all time, he's having either some troubles with his glorious vocal cords or he doesn't know how to use all the power from the sound system or something like that, because he uses the first three songs messing around with his voice, going from low and almost grunting to some of his trademark high pitched screams before singing the songs like he should. After that, the quality of the music overall improves a lot and we get Manowar at their finest, performing some classic and thought to never-return-again-in-live shows-songs, such as Gloves of metal, Each dawn I die, Mountains and many other classic Manowar songs, screaming to be played live at least once.

This gets me to the song selection. As I said above, we almost couldn't get any better, as every album is represented here, with a large section (almost the entire second disc) from their latest album. Having chosen songs from their oldest albums (Ross the Boss-era), it almost forces DeMaio dusting all his basses off and preparing them for some serious bass shredding, which can be heard in, for instance, the magnificent Mountains, as well as the renewed rendition of William Tell's march, as heard in Son of William's tale.

Karl Logan and Scott Columbus shine here too, with Logan proving in many songs why he is a member of Manowar for over 13 years: he shreds like a maniac on songs like The oath and The gods made heavy metal, but puts down some soothing guitar work, like in the aforementioned Mountains. Of course his playing is far from flawless, but it makes it all the more real and shows his skills even better (better a bit flawed but played with emotion than Yngwie-esque shredding played with perfection, but without any balls at all).

Third, the audience and the communication with them. Ouch, they seriously fail in this part. I don't know whether this was cut out of the final mix or Adams nor DeMaio didn't communicate with their really energetic and enthousiastic audience at all, but it's not here. I really hope it was cut out, because Manowar is known for their very strong fanbase and the communication with them (I read in the booklet of the silver edition of Hail to England that their manager at the time met with their fans and asked them which songs the bands should play at the next concert, and they did). Too bad it's just not here. Only Joey plays with the crowd in his bass solo, but it's too short to save the rest of the album (nice solo, by the way; I've always been ambiguous about DeMaio's solo's: some of them are amazing, others are utter crap). The audience, by the way, is really out there and can be heard singing along many times, Eric Adams gives them a lot of room to fill in his lines, which they do with passion (and probably with their fists in the air).

The second disc. This is where we are treated (yes, treated) to material from the Gods of war-album, their not so good latest album. These songs played live is quite another story: they really shine here! The overall atmosphere of the selection of these songs is really dark and brooding and you almost feel the different emotions, told by the narrator. I sometimes got shivers and goosebumps, and I guess the fans did too. The 'bonus track', Die for metal, was already given to us on disc 1.

Overall this is almost a prime example of how a live album should sound. I say 'almost', because there are several flaws, the biggest of them Eric Adam's vocal acobatics in the first three songs and in some moments later on, but a bigger issue than that is the lack of communication with the crowd.

On the other hand: the song selection is brilliant, giving the fans at least 1 song from every album, as well as the excellent selection and rendition of songs from the Gods of war-album. I'd say it's a must buy, not only for the fans but for every metal fan in general.

However, if you want a full overview of what Manowar are capable of pulling off live, I suggest the DVD The day the Earth shook - The absolute power, which is a bit better IMHO.

Back to the roots, and to the future ! - 90%

Fratt, August 14th, 2007

This is the third live album from the kings of metal and, as the name suggests, it was recorded during the tour following their latest album. The sound itself is very good: Eric's voice is no longer drowned by the music and the crowd is clearly noticeable.

There are two discs in this album. The first disc features some classic songs (Manowar, Kings of metal) and a lot of early songs (Secret of steel, Holy war) while the second disc features songs from the Gods of war album.

The first disc is, in my opinion, the best of the two, because the early songs are really improved in their live version. You'll get an in your face and catchy song with Gloves of metal, a slow and powerful one with Each dawn I die (the bass is excellent), a magnificent and powerful one with Mountains, a fast and furious one with The oath ... Not to mention the classic Secret of steel, a superb epic song that will stick in your head for weeks. As you can see, it's a very complete selection of songs, an excellent overview of Manowar's past. However the bass solo, Son of William's tale, is very poor compared to his fellow in hell on Wheels (Black arrows) : The melodies are uninteresting and not very varied.

There are also some more recent tracks in the CD. Call to arms and Die for metal are not excellent on this live, but Warriors of the world is very good, full of power and energy. The crowd is very active too.

Then comes the second disc. The songs are not bad, but the real problem is that you already know them! The songs don't change much when you compare them to their studio version, and there's not a lot of crowd participation.

Also, I found disappointing that we don't hear communication between the band and the enthusiastic crowd, like in Warriors of the world in Hell on wheels.

So here's my final verdict: Gods of war live is a superb album because it includes a lot of excellent early Manowar songs in the first disc, while the second disc is correct, but a little bit boring if you own the studio album.