Manowar - Fighting The World

Manowar's Latest out kicks Arse. It'S so awesoooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww:banger2:

The first album of their mid period (approx 1986-1994). Here, they have a heavier sound that would end up becoming cheesy after David Shankle left the band. If you like their 1986-1994 style, the next 2 albums are way better.

Boring songs

The first album I heard from them and I still prefer it overall to the rest. No highlights, but no inconsistencies either.

This is lame, gayish downfall to the pop sound when band sold them selve sto MTV.

Starts off and ends great. The first and last songs are both classic Manowar but as for the rest it's pretty bad. Defender is pretty nice but it's a re-recording which is inferior to the original and Holy War has a good chorus but overall it's nothing special. The rest, no thanks. The 80's digital soundmix doesn't suite Manowar at all.

The songwriting isn't near their best on here tbh.
It's good if your into the whole arena sing along choruses and all, but I find the whole thing just a wee bit too cringy for me. The final track is the only one I really found interesting, unfortunately the rest doesn't really do anything for me.

I haven't listened to Manowar for ages and I was playing Defender. It's such an amazing song.
This album doesn't have as many highlights as their more famous ones, but I really like and enjoy "Holy War", "Black Wind, Fire And Steel" & "Defender" and consider them among their best.

The title track is fun and so is "Blow Your Speakers".

I can see how some people would say it's too polished after the raw even bad production of "Sign Of The Hammer" but to me it doesn't matter. I can enjoy a good song with any production, a good song is a good song.
That's not to say that some albums don't need that raw production e.g. Metal Church debut comes to mind, I can't imagine it polished.

I must have listened to this album a thousand times since I bought it in 1987. It was the first metal album I got really excited about (maybe after Master of Puppets). Loved the cover, loved almost all the songs (except Blow Your Speakers). Black Wind, Fire and Steel is still one of my favourite all time songs; Defender is sooo atmospheric and I could listen to it all day long and Carry On was the song I used to play when life pissed me off. It’s not my favourite Manowar album (Into Glory Ride or Hail To England) but I do get pissed off when people criticise it. You really had to be there.. and being 15 at the time and still into D&D and Conan books helped - haha!

Never quite got the love for this one. Definitely missing those muscular grooves of previous records. Sounds too much like chart-chasing. No shame in that, it's a living after all, but too radio friendly and marks the point where their music starts a consistent trend of being less interesting with each release moving forward.

I am in good company here.

Many people don't like this slip-up either. That doesn't mean the album is completely crap, but compared to the four before and two after it, it's just a bit disappointing. There are some good (Titel track, Blow Your Speakers and Violence And Bloodshed) to very good (Defender, Holy War and Black Wind, Fire And Steel) songs on the record but the rest is mediocore!

Great album, but some filler and ex-tre-mely cheezy lyrics (first two songs) drags it down a little.

As a 15 year old metal fan at the time used to Maiden and Metallica, coming across this was like stumbling across a new world.

I know this album comes in for some flack but Black Wind Fire and Steel is perhaps the most Manowar song ever.

Meanwhile, Fighting the World is catchy as hell, Carry On is chest beating steroids in song form, Holy War is a bit of a mini-epic (which they surely could have made more of) and Defender (with a real life Hollywood legend narrating) is every 1980s fighting fantasy film come to poetic life - while also showcasing Eric’s supreme ability for singing / storytelling (see also Power of Thy Sword, Heart of Steel, Bridge of Death).

Cheesy it may be. But this is the finest cheese in the whole god damn delicatessen.