HammerFall - Crimson Thunder review
| Band: | HammerFall |
| Album: | Crimson Thunder |
| Style: | Power metal |
| Release date: | October 28, 2002 |
| Guest review by: | Justin |
01. Riders Of The Storm
02. Hearts On Fire
03. On The Edge Of Honour
04. Crimson Thunder
05. Lore Of The Arcane
06. Trailblazers
07. Dreams Come True
08. Angel Of Mercy [Chastain cover]
09. The Unforgiving Blade
10. In Memoriam
11. Hero's Return
12. Rising Force [Yngwie Malmsteen cover] [European bonus]
13. Detroit Rock City [Kiss cover] [US bonus]
14. Crazy Nights [Loudness cover] [Japanese bonus]
[20-Year Anniversary Edition]
Disc I
01. Riders Of The Storm
02. Hearts On Fire
03. On The Edge of Honour
04. Crimson Thunder
05. Lore Of The Arcane
06. Trailblazers
07. Dreams Come True
08. Angel Of Mercy
09. The Unforgiving Blade
10. In Memoriam
11. Hero's Return
12. Riders of The Storm [preproduction]
13. On The Edge Of Honour [preproduction]
14. Trailblazers [preproduction]
15. Angel Of Mercy [preproduction]
16. The Unforgiving Blade [preproduction]
17. Hero's Return [preproduction]
18. Hearts On Fire [preproduction]
Disc II [One Crimson Night]
01. Lore Of The Arcane [live]
02. Riders Of The Storm [live]
03. Heeding The Call [live]
04. Stone Cold [live]
05. Hero's return [live]
06. Legacy Of Kings [live]
07. Bass-Solo [live]
08. At The End Of The Rainbow [live]
09. The Way Of The Warrior [live]
10. The Unforgiving Blade [live]
11. Glory To The Brave [live]
12. Guitar-Solo [live]
13. Let The Hammer Fall [live]
Disc III [One Crimson Night]
01. Renegade [live]
02. Steel Meets Steel [live]
03. Crimson Thunder [live]
04. Templars Of Steel [live]
05. Hearts On Fire [live]
06. Hammerfall [live]
07. The Dragon Lies Bleeding [bonus] [live]
08. Stronger Than All [bonus] [live]
09. A Legend Reborn [live]
10. Heeding The Call [acoustic version] [live]
11. Steel Meets Steel [acoustic version] [live]
12. Renegade [acoustic version] [live]
13. Crimson Thunder Medley [live]
After Swedish power metal act Hammerfall's less than impressive 2000 release Renegade [not to mention the ridicule and bad reviews the album generated], the band have rethought their game plan of attack and come up with their fourth release Crimson Thunder. While the formula has hardly changed, there is a slight change of pace within Hammerfall's traditional power metal roots.
The pounding metal stomp of ?Riders Of The Storm? is a clearly indicative of where Hammerfall are heading these days. The song is definitely heavier sounding, and the actual tempo of the song in general is slowed down to allow the band to emphasis the riffs rather than show the speeds the band is capable of. ?Hearts On Fire? is up next, and is the first single lifted from the album. In truth though, this is possibly the worst representation of the album. The song is not so much awful, but it falls way below par in comparison the rest of the album. The blame lies clearly on the derivative and lack lustre chorus. ?On The Edge Of Honour? is a faster number that works well, while the title track ?Crimson Thunder? is an epic number that isn's as over the top as you would come to expect from Hammerfall. The pick of the album has to be the mighty ?Trailblazers?. The chorus is well thought out, and clearly shows that Hammerfall can come up with something original when they put their minds to it. The big ballad of the album, ?Dreams Come True? is well done, if a little dramatic. The first of two cover versions is [David T.] Chastain's ?Angel Of Mercy? [lifted from his 1986 album Ruler Of The Wasteland]. Hammerfall do the track justice, and show that Chastain's songs stand well in the face of passing trends. ?The Unforgiving Blade? and ?Hero's Return? are Hammerfall ?call to arms? standards, while the instrumental ?In Memoriam? never loses the interest of the listener. The second cover on the album, Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force [from 1988's ?Odyssey?] closes the album on a high point. Again, they perform the number like it was their own, and pull it off well.
Crimson Thunder lacks any real kind of innovation from Hammerfall, but is made up by pure melodic catchiness will meet fans high expectations.
Written by Justin | 18.09.2003
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
| Lucas Mr. Noise Elite Posts: 13427  |
I like this one. Made me get into Hammerfall. 
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?  "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| danzig111 Account deleted |
danzig111
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oh....Yngwie Johann Malmsteen wrote "Rising Force"  lol.....Guy I still can't find that "Crazy Nights" song, why !!?!?!  
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| tulkas el parcero Posts: 4742  |
I love the song 'In Memoriam', the rest is just ok
---- love is like a jar of shit with a strawberry on top
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| Dan066 Account deleted |
Dan066
Account deleted Written by [user id=160] on 16.11.2006 at 03:00 Are you talking about that song by that japanese hair metal band Loudness? It goes like "rock and roll crazy niights!!"...i love that song;D. Anyway about the album, this album is awesome and it also made me get into Hammerfall. Great band, great album.
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| danzig111 Account deleted |
danzig111
Account deleted Written by [user id=18875] on 06.01.2007 at 19:29 Loudness were no part ov the whole glam thing, they were straight Heavy Metal, they just had big hair that's all. But yeah, HammerFall apparently did a cover of that song but I cannot seem to download it or find it to download 
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| 4look4rd The Sasquatch Posts: 840  |
This album has the catchiest song ever written lol, Hearts on Fire...... HEARTS!
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689  |
Written by 4look4rd on 11.10.2007 at 00:31 Yeah, also the cheesiest (does that word even exists?) song ever written, Hearts on Fire! Hearts On Fire!!! I wanna puke!
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| Hrothdane Posts: 489  |
Written by Daggon on 25.11.2008 at 20:47 You have Rhapsody of Fire, Luca Turill, and Sonata Arctica in you favorite artists list and you are complaining about cheesiness O_o
---- Despair is death, and I'm not interested in dying. Member of the True Crusade against True Crusades
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| Luciferion Posts: 139  |
Wicked album. The title track was the first i ever heard from Hammerfall, totally got me into them
---- Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is, and I am the wolf that hunts you.
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689 |
Written by Hrothdane on 25.11.2008 at 22:39 Read my personal text for people complaining about Rhapsody Of Fire and Luca Turilli. And yes, I'm complaining about cheesiness (ok, ok, again, does that word exists?), nothing is more cheesy than Hearts On Fire.  jejeje Cheesiness rules the world! (I love that word jaja).
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| Hrothdane Posts: 489 |
Written by Daggon on 26.11.2008 at 04:24 Haha, read my forum signature and look at my profile. My musical diet consists of inordinate amounts of cheese  I have no problem with Rhapsody of Fire, Luca Turill, and Sonata Arctica; I was just noting a logical inconsistency. However, I am quite aware that musical taste can have little to do with logic, and thats part of what makes it interesting.
---- Despair is death, and I'm not interested in dying. Member of the True Crusade against True Crusades
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689 |
Written by Hrothdane on 26.11.2008 at 05:19 Ok, jaja, I can see that, Hearts on Fire was one of the first songs I listened from Hammerfall, and I love it jeje, even if it is cheesier than cheese itself (and I love cheese to jaja, ever heard Edguy's "But Here I Am"? I love that song jaja).
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| TheSVH Account deleted |
TheSVH
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Best album, hearts on fire made me lsiten to HammerFall it's their best song catchy as hell! 
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| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8669  |
Heroe's return is just beautiful...cheesy, but beautiful
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep 
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| RavenKing Posts: 1941  |
Written by [user id=105293] on 16.02.2011 at 14:56 Not that the first 3 Hammerfall albums were anything special but they were at least listenable. I see this album as the point at which the band turned to utter crap.
---- They shake your hand and they smile and they buy you a drink They say we'll be your friends we'll stick with you till the end But everybody's only looking out for themselves And you say who can you trust I'll tell you nobody
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| Infernal Eternal Posts: 647  |
Anders Johansson of Hammerfall used to be Malmsteen's drummer. That's why Rising Forse is in the album.
---- {}::::::[]:::::::::::::::::> ONLY DEATH IS REAL <:::::::::::::::::[]::::::{} Rest In Peace: Bon Scott, Dave G. Halliday, Michael "Destructor" Wulf, Jerry Fogle, Quorthon, Witchhunter
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62002  |
Songs 1-5 is simply awesome, I did not like how they aranged it because after album became lame and weak IMO Yngve cover (yes correct spelling of his name) cover was OK, even I hate malmsteen This is latest good album(maybe 2016 is back to oodl days) after this simply band had one or two songs , nothing more. They died
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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