The Triumph of Steel is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Manowar, released in 1992. It is the only Manowar album to feature guitarist David Shankle and drummer Kenny Earl "Rhino" Edwards. The cover art was illustrated by Ken Kelly.
| The Triumph of Steel | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover art by Ken Kelly | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 29, 1992 | |||
| Recorded | Haus Wahnfried, New York | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 69:09 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | Manowar, John Pettigrass | |||
| Manowar chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 9/10[2] |
Album content
edit"Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts" is the longest (28 minutes and 38 seconds) and most complex Manowar song, and probably an anticipation of a concept album that was never accomplished. Because of its Homeric content, "Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts" has attracted the attention of a group of scholars at Bologna University in Italy. Mrs. Eleonora Cavallini, Professor in Classics, has written about this song:
"Joey DeMaio’s lyrics imply a careful and scrupulous reading of the Iliad. The songwriter has focused his attention essentially on the crucial fight between Hector and Achilles, has paraphrased some passages of the poem adapting them to the melodic structure with a certain fluency and partly reinterpreting them, but never altering or upsetting Homer’s storyline. The purpose of the lyrics (and of the music as well) is to evoke some characteristic Homeric sceneries: the raging storm of the battle, the barbaric, ferocious exultance of the winner, the grief and anguish of the warrior who feels death impending over him. The whole action hinges upon Hector and Achilles, who are represented as specular characters, divided by an irreducible hatred and yet destined to share a similar destiny. Both are caught in the moment of the greatest exaltation, as they savagely rejoice for the blood of their killed enemies, but also in the one of the extreme pain, when the daemon of war finally pounces on them. Furthermore, differently than in the irreverent and iconoclastic movie Troy, in "Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts", the divine is a constant and ineluctable presence, determining human destinies with inscrutable and steely will, and, despite the generic reference to 'the gods', the real master of human lives is Zeus, the only God to whom both Hector and Achilles address their prayers"[3]
Track listing
editAll songs written by Joey DeMaio except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts"
| 28:37 | |
| 2. | "Metal Warriors" | 3:54 | |
| 3. | "Ride the Dragon" | David Shankle, DeMaio | 4:29 |
| 4. | "Spirit Horse of the Cherokee" | 6:00 | |
| 5. | "Burning" | Shankle, DeMaio | 5:08 |
| 6. | "The Power of Thy Sword" | 7:50 | |
| 7. | "The Demon's Whip" | Shankle, DeMaio | 7:45 |
| 8. | "Master of the Wind" | Shankle, DeMaio | 5:26 |
| Total length: | 69:09 | ||
Personnel
editManowar
edit- Eric Adams – vocals
- David Shankle – guitars, acoustic guitar, classical guitar
- Joey DeMaio – bass, 4-string, 8-string bass, piccolo bass, bass pedals
- Kenny Earl "Rhino" Edwards – drums, percussion
Production
edit- John Pettigrass – associate producer
- Rich Breen – engineer
- Dave Kresl, Doug McBride, Hank Neuberger, Dan Stout, Stefon Taylor, Bruce Breckenfeld, Andrew Rubin – mixing at Air Waves Studio, Chicago
- John McCortney, Paul Grigonis, Ehab Haddad – digital editing and transfers at C.R.C., Chicago
- Howie Weinberg – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
- Silvio "The Don" Bonvini – production co-ordination
Charts
edit| Chart (1992) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[4] | 22 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[5] | 8 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[6] | 68 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[7] | 20 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[8] | 22 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Germany (BVMI)[9] | Gold | 250,000^ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[10] | Gold | 50,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ Jeffries, Vincent. The Triumph of Steel at AllMusic
- ^ Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 262. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- ^ Eleonora Cavallini (2007). "Achilles in the age of metal". Mythimedia Project. University of Bologna.
- ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Manowar – The Triumph of Steel" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Manowar – The Triumph of Steel". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ "Manowar Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Manowar; 'The Triumph of Steel')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
- ^ Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (PDF) (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. p. 954. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. Retrieved August 23, 2019.