Artist: Manowar
Label: Magic Circle Music
Released: 2006
Say what you want about Manowar. You can think their music is silly and shallow, mostly thanks to their mantra “We are metal – we are power!”, which after 25 years sounds downright clichéd and unconvincing. Even those of us who don’t quite get what Manowar are really about have to admit in one voice that with every new release, Manowar give their fans a lot more than most of today’s heavy metal bands. The freshly released DVD album THE DAY THE EARTH SHOOK: THE ABSOLUTE POWER is the best proof of that. Two DVDs, 7 hours of material, and good material at that: those are the aces that earn the band the name MANOWAR.
MANOWAR didn’t exactly need a new release to keep up their status right now, since they put out the EP “THE SONS OF ODIN” barely a month ago and the album “GODS OF WAR” is in the works, but none of that affects the quality of “THE ABSOLUTE POWER” or makes it feel worn out. I can say without any shyness that the first DVD offers one of the best concert recordings since music video filming began. They used no fewer than 20 camera setups (following the recipe of the National Football League – NFL), which gives almost 100% coverage of the venue and puts them a step ahead of the competition. Pure perfection, the kind of thing you’d sooner expect from, say, Pink Floyd. The show itself is typically MANOWAR-flavored, with all their obligatory braggadocious songs, and the setlist inevitably includes “Hell On Wheels”, “Warriors Of The World”, “Hail And Kill”, “Battle Hymn”, to name just a few. Even if you already own the “HELL ON EARTH I-IV” concert DVD series, “THE ABSOLUTE POWER” is a must-have precisely because of how the show is produced.
The second “THE ABSOLUTE POWER” disc offers something different. If the first one is outstanding on the production side, the main draw of the second is the footage and coverage of the “Manowar Fan Convention”. If you’re a hardcore, longtime MANOWAR fan, this is the real deal and worth buying. The footage shows, for example, the return of former guitarist “Ross The Boss”, who formed the core of MANOWAR from 1980 to 1988, at a guitar clinic. That guitar clinic (workshop) was organized by another former and indispensable super-guitarist, David Shankle. David played in MANOWAR from 1989 to 1993, after being picked from 150 guitarists at an audition to replace Ross the Boss. Before that he was a fairly unknown session guitarist in Chicago, where Eric and Joey met him in 1988 while recording the album “Kings of Metal”. The disc also has some pretty comical bits, like a beer-drinking demo, or rather beer-swallowing, courtesy of crazy bassist Joey DeMaio, and the Miss Manowar contest. “Because a Manowar product without girls would be only half a product!” Then come some fairly typical Q&A interviews and, as is quite trendy lately, assorted recorded fan comments.
In short, MANOWAR carry on their legacy and mission exactly the way their fans demand of them, and this DVD is no exception. It’s packed with lots and lots of good, new stuff, especially on the technical and production side. If they keep going like this, their bombastic DVD releases will soon be able to compete with Iron Maiden, putting quality back in the spotlight. Everything is collected and everything is here on the DVD set “THE DAY THE EARTH SHOOK: THE ABSOLUTE POWER” by MANOWAR.
Lineup
Eric Adams – vocals
Karl Logan – guitar, keyboards
Joey DeMaio – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards
Scott Columbus – drums and percussion
Tracklist
1. Manowar
2. Brothers Of Metal
3. Call To Arms
4. Sun Of Death
5. Kings Of Metal
6. Sign Of The Hammer
7. Blood Of My Enemies
8. Kill With Power
9. Metal Warriors
10. The Glory Of Achilles
11. Metal Daze
12. Dark Avenger
13. Outlaw
14. House Of Death
15. Herz Aus Stahl
16. Prelude To Act III (Lohengrin)
17. King Of Kings
18. Warriors Of The World United
19. Hail And Kill
20. Black Wind, Fire And Steel
21. Battle Hymn
22. The Crown And The Ring
DVD running time (2CD): 390min
