Hell on Wheels - Live

Being a big Manowar fan myself, it's hard for me to remain unbiased on this review, but here goes. This attempt at a live album is anything but good. The idea is great, but being the loudest band in the world has it's disadvantages as well. To begin with, you can't hear the damned crown when they do the typical sing-along shit. It's not that there aren't many people there, it's just that they can't possibly make themselves present over the amps.

Aside from the lack of a decent crowd presence, the tracks they picked to put on the cd from their tour were good. Unfortunately with a song like Kings Of Metal, which is one killer song, the vocals really lack, especially considering the power which comes from layering in the studio that we've all come to expect. Wheel's Of Fire falls prey to the same problem, no back-up vocals....I could go on, but I think there's really only one song that stands out on this disc as being done good live, and thats Battle Hymn, and thus the end of the 2nd disc.

The quality of the recording is pretty decent, but you can expect that from live discs these days, what with overdubs and whatnot. I'm not entirely sure about this, but truly it does sound as though they decided not to tinker too much in the post-production department and keep it true to the live experience. Having never seen them, I wouldn't know what they're like live, but if this is any indication, ticket prices better be fucking cheap.