Running Wild
Port Royal-Expanded Version (2017 Remastered)

Legendary album from legendary formation! Everything about this group and their early 'pirate' vibe is just perfect. One of the best pearls in their discography. Must have for a fan!

Running Wild is a relentless metal band that doesn't let you take a breath. This is looking metal straight in the face.

After Under Jolly Roger, Running Wild embraced the bucaneer and pirate themes further, so Port Royal pretty much represents their 1st significant shift towards the style they're known for today. Amazing album!

I consider this album to be the best in the discography of this legendary group. I probably can’t name it completely Speed-Power. In my opinion, they play all the same hard Hard'n'Heavy material. And so about the album. Compared to "Under Jolly Roger", the 1988 album compares favorably. You ask what it is? I will answer you with pleasure. I’ll start the analysis with my favorite rhythm section, before the recording of the album it completely changed. New people didn’t just amplify the sound, they brought it closer to the ideal, brought it to the heights, which at that time could only submit to “Iron Maiden.” Technique drummer’s games are beyond praise. Each note is clearly audible, separately about twin barrels, so elegantly and at the same time aggressively and powerfully at “Running” no one played anymore (Jorg is also not bad as a drummer, but he’s closer in technique to slaughter), knocking down perfectly to the place, in general aerobatics. Bass Man! It's just a “song”, you listen and still want it! “Final Gates” is a classic of the whole direction! Again associations with “Iron Maiden” and with the unforgettable Steve Harris! Now for the dual guitars. Again on this release, we have the good fortune of hearing the best running duet in history: Rolf & Majk. The solos are thoughtful and masterly, the speed is solid, they change as if they had been playing together all their lives! Now about the music itself. In my opinion, this was just the moment when Rolf and his comrades were at a creative peak. All the compositions are marked with a seal of inspiration, they are listened in one breath, as if a musically presented monolith appeared before us! Plus, it also consists in we really hear a team of like-minded people (the music was composed and brought together to the standard, the musicians together). I will separately speak about the Rolfa vocals. He sang cleanly and high, which he had not done before. The voice sounds like a tense string, not rattling but ringing! "Port R oyal " Separately, I want to note the work of the sound engineer. The instruments sound just crystal! True, it seems to some that it would be possible to add volume to the supporting guitar, they say that riffs are not heard, but I think that this is a matter of taste! "Port Royal" is the golden legacy of the romantic 80s. Buy and listen to the classics of the German Metal scene, you will not regret it.

Super new edition of famous album from Hamburg Metal Pirates!

Classic!!This is the fourth album of Running Wild,simply amazing!

After redefining their image, Rolf took a plenty of steps forward. He took singing lessons and enlisted two new members, Jens on bass and Stefan on drums, and the results can be heard on Port Royal. I think that even though Port Royal is far from perfect, it is still superior to Under Jolly Roger, but hey, that's what progress is about. Stefan established himself as one of the best german drummers around, and finally Rolf could concentrate on songwriting and his guitars, because Jens was more than capable of playing bass. As I've written before, the record is not perfect: the first half of the songs are all great, but after Conquistadores come the more mediocre ones, but they still have something about them, that makes them interesting. I also have the original cd, it sounds pretty weak, it needed a treatment badly, you get it with the remaster. The bonus tracks are the 2003 re-designed versions and a re-recording from the Pile of Skulls era. I've read complaints about the layout of the artwork: well, the cover of my original cd looks very pale, this one's more colorful, but yeah, I have to admit that there's something strange about it. Anyway: I think it's worth buying it, even if you're not a die hard fan of the group. Port Royal is a perfect blueprint of '80's metal, without being too cheesy.