Running Wild is a Speed/Heavy Metal band from Germany. They formed in 1976 as Granite Hearts before changing their name to Running Wild after a Judas Priest song. They used to have occult and satanic imagery on their earlier work, but by the time of the third album of the band the frontman and leader Rolf Kasparek wanted something different, and he chose Pirates. This has became the main turning point in the band's career, and they never looked back.The band was split-up in 2009 and came back in 2011.Although piracy composes Running Wild's main imagery, they're not as gimmicky as you'd think. The topics of their songs range from ancient conspiracies, literature, Heavy Meta and environmetal issues to history in general, and pirate histories (including rogues) in particular.
Discography:
1984 - Gates to Purgatory
1985 - Branded and Exiled
1987 - Under Jolly Roger
1988 - Port Royal
1989 - Death or Glory
1990 - Wild Animal (EP)
1991 - Blazon Stone
1992 - Pile of Skulls
1994 - Black Hand Inn
1995 - Masquerade
1998 - The Rivalry
2000 - Victory
2002 - The Brotherhood
2005 - Rogues en Vogue
2012 - Shadowmaker
This band provides examples of:
After the End: "Straight to Hell", from Blazon Stone, is about "stumbling few" people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.
Age Progression Song: "The Ghost (T.E. Lawrence)", from The Brotherhood, has hints of this.
Alien Invasion: "Iron Heads", from the infamous Death Metal split-album, (with Helloween, Hellhammer and Dark Avenger) and the Masquerade remaster.
Badass Creed: "Prisoner of Our Time", "Branded and Exiled", "Chains and Leather", "Under Jolly Roger" "Raise Your Fist" and "Unation".
Ballad of X: "Ballad of William Kidd", from The Rivalry.
The Band Minus the Face: X-Wild was one, their members were all (except the singer Frank Knight) ex-Running Wild members. They even mimic Kasparek's Signature Style on some of their songs.
Book Ends: The Victory album begins and ends with a gong sound. (Reversed on the first track, normal on the last)
Burn the Witch!: John Xenir gets burned at the stake in the intro ("The Curse") of Black Hand Inn, for being guilty of "being in league with the devil and having used heathen and forbidden rituals".
Concept Album: Part of the album Black Hand Inn talks about a man called John Xenir, who fights against Corrupt Church and such.
Cool Boat: "Adventure Galley" from The Rivalry is about the privateer William Kidd's ship with the same name.
Crystal Ball: John Xenir has one which can tell "tales of past and future", in Black Hand Inn.
Dark World: "Realm of Shades", from Branded and Exiled.
Dragon Rider: "Dragonmen" from Black Hand Inn is all about this trope.
Epic Rocking: "Calico Jack", "The Battle of Waterloo", "Treasure Island", "Genesis (The Making and the Fall of Man)", "Ballad of William Kidd", "Fire and Thunder", "War and Peace", "Tsar", "The Ghost (T.E. Lawrence)" and "The War".
Go Mad from the Revelation: After a lifetime of searching, the protagonist of the song "Diamonds of the Black Chest" (from Under Jolly Roger) finds the titular chest. And it's empty.
Greatest Hits Album: Several, two of them are more worthwhile compared to others: The First Years of Piracy, which has songs from first three albums remade by the 1991 line-up and 20 Years in History, which has couple of new songs and little touches of improvement in their past catalog. There's another one, Best of Adrian, which only covers the era between The Rivalry and Rogues En Vogue, including the live album Live 2002.
The Greys: "Sinister Eyes", from Pile of Skulls. The cover art for this single (which was never released) has one holding a key and shedding a tear.
The Grim Reaper: "Black Wings of Death" from Pile of Skulls.
Heavy Meta: "Chains and Leather" from Branded and Exiled.
Heavy Mithril: Lots of it, the albums Black Hand Inn and Victory being prime examples.
I Am the Band: Rolf Kasparek, who wrote the majority of the songs.
Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: A limited edition of Masquerade came in a wooden box which featured the album, the Death or Glory VHS, and a treasure map. There was also an even rarer edition which came with a bottle of rum.
Our Angels Are Different: "Angel of Mercy", from Rogues en Vogue, is about a sole angel rescuing the world from darkness. (Or, perhaps, a divine mecha)
Our Dragons Are Different: In "Return of the Dragon", from The Rivalry, the dragons are benevolent beings, and the dragon slayers and serpents are evil.
Satan Is Good: "Satan", on the "Victim of States Power" single and the Gates to Purgatory rerelease, portrays the titular character as a rebel who destroys the worst of the mankind ("Nazis, moralists and conservatives") and brings "liberty and peace to the good".
Self Plagiarism: The solo section in "Timeriders" is very similar to the one in "Merciless Game".
Port Royal: Album intro and the trial on "Calico Jack".
Death or Glory: A doctor diagnosing the title character of "Renegade".
Black Hand Inn: Opening track "The Curse" and ending track "Genesis".
Masquerade: Redcoat recruiting his agents of evil in "The Contract" and giving the Reason You Suck Speech at the end of "Underworld".
Subdued Section: "Chains and Leather" and "Prisoners of Our Time" have moments where the chorus is backed only by drums.
Take That: The song "Purgatory" on the Ready for Boarding live-album was a hard hit for the PMRC.
Time Travel: "Land of Ice", from Under Jolly Roger, talks about a group of people travelling to the future to find powerful weapons. Instead, they find a world caught in nuclear winter and its mutant inhabitants.
To The Tune Of: The main riff of "Little Big Horn" (from Blazon Stone) uses the main melody of old american folk song "Girl I Left Behind Me".
The main melody of "Chamber of Lies" (the intro for Pile of Skulls) came from The Nineties' Treasure Island movie.
X-Wild, the aforementioned band which consisted of Running Wild's ex-members, based their song "Skybolter" on an unused Running Wild song called "Skulldozer".
The outro melody of "Tsar" (from Victory) is taken from an old Russian silent film.
0 reviews 
