Kingdom Come is a hard rock band formed by German-born vocalist Lenny Wolf. They released their self-titled debut in 1988 which spawned the moderate hit "Get It On". That song peaked in the US at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. The album went platinum and peaked at number 12 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200 Album chart.
I recall that Kingdom Come received a lot of negative criticism after their debut for being more of a Led Zeppelin clone than an original band. Although they recorded original music. When you listen to that debut you do hear a Zeppelinesque sound in my opinion. I however have no problem with that. I would guess that they were fans of and influenced by Zeppelin and thus enjoy creating a similar sound. More often than not we reference bands as sounding like other bands that have come before them. For some reason Kingdom Come seemed to have this work against them. They never achieved the same moderate success with their future releases after their debut and numerous lineup changes. The current lineup only has Lenny Wolf from the original band.
Lenny Wolf gets a lot of credit for keeping the band alive in one form or another all these years. If not for the success of the single "Get It On" off their debut I believe Kingdom Come would have a story similar only to Anvil. That being a best case scenario.
Lenny and his now all German lineup have returned with a new Kingdom Come release, "Rendered Waters". It is a CD of eight classic tracks reworked and three new tracks. I understand wanting to release your earlier music because you felt it did not get a fair shake the first time around. I also think that redoing your old songs over two decades later to get new listeners is not the way to go about it. A full CD of new music that touched the masses would send them racing to iTunes, Amazon and the handful of places still selling CDs to find your catalog. That said redoing songs from the late 80s in 2011 does allow for better production and recording. Anyhow, although sold as a new Kingdom Come CD it is really a best of collection with three new bonus tracks. At least that is how I see it.
Lenny has a great voice and his vocals throughout this CD on songs new and old is fantastic. He has surrounded himself with solid sounding musicians that compliment his singing style. "Rendered Waters" may be more a collection of older material than newer songs but all eleven tracks are good songs and deserve a fair listen to. So what if sometimes you hear a Zeppelin influence. Have you ever heard a Zebra CD or Zebra performance. The same Zeppelin sound criticism can be made for them as was Kingdom Come. Actually that criticism found its way to a lot of bands but Kingdom Come took the brunt of it and unfairly so. Check it out and decide for yourself.
I recall that Kingdom Come received a lot of negative criticism after their debut for being more of a Led Zeppelin clone than an original band. Although they recorded original music. When you listen to that debut you do hear a Zeppelinesque sound in my opinion. I however have no problem with that. I would guess that they were fans of and influenced by Zeppelin and thus enjoy creating a similar sound. More often than not we reference bands as sounding like other bands that have come before them. For some reason Kingdom Come seemed to have this work against them. They never achieved the same moderate success with their future releases after their debut and numerous lineup changes. The current lineup only has Lenny Wolf from the original band.
Lenny Wolf gets a lot of credit for keeping the band alive in one form or another all these years. If not for the success of the single "Get It On" off their debut I believe Kingdom Come would have a story similar only to Anvil. That being a best case scenario.
Lenny and his now all German lineup have returned with a new Kingdom Come release, "Rendered Waters". It is a CD of eight classic tracks reworked and three new tracks. I understand wanting to release your earlier music because you felt it did not get a fair shake the first time around. I also think that redoing your old songs over two decades later to get new listeners is not the way to go about it. A full CD of new music that touched the masses would send them racing to iTunes, Amazon and the handful of places still selling CDs to find your catalog. That said redoing songs from the late 80s in 2011 does allow for better production and recording. Anyhow, although sold as a new Kingdom Come CD it is really a best of collection with three new bonus tracks. At least that is how I see it.
Lenny has a great voice and his vocals throughout this CD on songs new and old is fantastic. He has surrounded himself with solid sounding musicians that compliment his singing style. "Rendered Waters" may be more a collection of older material than newer songs but all eleven tracks are good songs and deserve a fair listen to. So what if sometimes you hear a Zeppelin influence. Have you ever heard a Zebra CD or Zebra performance. The same Zeppelin sound criticism can be made for them as was Kingdom Come. Actually that criticism found its way to a lot of bands but Kingdom Come took the brunt of it and unfairly so. Check it out and decide for yourself.
KINGDOM COME RENDERED WATERS COMPLETE TRACK LISTING
- Can't Deny
- The Wind
- Blue Trees
- Should I
- I've Been Trying
- Pushing Hard
- Seventeen
- Is It Fair
- Living Out of Touch
- Don't Remember
- Break Down the Wall
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