Following up a 2-disc best-of collection with a covers collection? I’m not quite sure what is up with HammerFall these days. Less than a year after releasing Steel Meets Steel – Ten Years of Glory, they bring us Masterpieces – not a new album, but a compilation of all of the cover songs they have ever released (and three newly recorded ones.) I must say I was more excited about this release before I realized just how much of it I had already heard and/or owned either digitally or on CD. But, HammerFall’s cover versions have always been pretty cool, so in that regard this is a pretty cool release, especially to a covers nerd like myself. A friend of mine put it best when he said, “If I didn’t know these were covers, I’d say this is a damn fine new HammerFall album.”
Maybe it’s because I’ve heard them all before, but the collection’s first half, which includes covers of songs originally performed by Warlord, Pretty Maids, Rainbow, and Picture, stands out. A couple of them even feature members from the original bands (Kai Hansen on Helloween’s “I Want Out” and Udo Dirkschneider on Accept’s “Head Over Heels”) which is a nice touch. Those two even jump in on “Man on the Silver Mountain.” For my money, things peak here with Twisted Sister’s anthemic “We’re Gonna Make It,” which Joacim Cans stamps with a shouted “Can you hear me / Twisted fucking Sister? / We are HammerFall / from fucking Sweden!”
Amazingly, things fall flat right afterwards with an uninspired rendition of Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law,” a track that you would think these guys could hit right out of the park. Maybe it’s the vocals, clearly not those of Cans, but not credited to anyone else, either. It’s a sign of things to come, as their takes on “Detroit Rock City” (Kiss) and new recording “Youth Gone Wild” (Skid Row) are played straight but end up coming off as more a novelty than anything. Faring better are Loudness’s “Crazy Nights” and Riot’s “Flight of the Warrior,” the latter also being a new recording.
Much like the aforementioned Steel Meets Steel, Masterpieces is one for the fans, combining 15 scattered tracks and 3 new ones into one manageable package. Some are great, some are merely good, but nothing is unlistenable. Now if we can just get that elusive new studio album, I’ll be happy.
Album Track Listing (title, original artist, original release; * denotes choice cut:)
1. Child of the Damned (Warlord) (Glory to the Brave)*
2. Ravenlord (Stormwitch) (“Glory to the Brave” single)*
3. Eternal Dark (Picture) (“Heeding the Call” single)*
4. Back to Back (Pretty Maids) (Legacy of Kings)*
5. I Want Out (Helloween) (I Want Out EP)*
6. Man on the Silver Mountain (Rainbow) (I Want Out EP/Holy Dio tribute)*
7. Head Over Heels (Accept) (“Renegade” single/Tribute to Accept)
8. Run With the Devil (Heavy Load) (“Renegade” single/Power From the North compilation)
9. We’re Gonna Make It (Twisted Sister) (“Hearts on Fire” single/Twisted Forever: A Tribute to Twisted Sister)*
10. Breaking the Law (Judas Priest) (“Always Will Be” single)
11. Angel of Mercy (Chastain) (Crimson Thunder)
12. Rising Force (Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force) (Crimson Thunder, European release)*
13. Detroit Rock City (KISS) (Crimson Thunder, US release)
14. Crazy Nights (Loudness) (Crimson Thunder, Japanese release)*
15. Nar Vindarna Mitt Namn (Roger Pontare) (Melodifestivalen 50 Ar compilation)
16. Flight of the Warrior (Riot) (new recording)*
17. Youth Gone Wild (Skid Row) (new recording)
18. Aphasia (Europe) (new recording)
