Pile of Skulls

Studio album by Running Wild

Released

21 October 1992

Recorded

June - August 1992

Genre

Heavy metal, power metal

Running Wild chronology

The First Years of Piracy
(1991)

Pile of Skulls
(1992)

Black Hand Inn
(1994)

Singles from Pile of Skulls

"Lead or Gold"
Released: 7 September 1992

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
Rock Hard	9.0/10^[2]

Pile of Skulls is the seventh studio album by Running Wild, released in 1992. It is their last album with guitarist Axel Morgan. It is the first album almost completely dominated by songwriting from band leader Rolf Kasparek but remains a fan favourite. The album has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide.

The song "Jennings' Revenge" tells about the exploits of pirate Henry Jennings.

The lyrics of "Treasure Island" are based on the book of the same title by 19th century author Robert Louis Stevenson.

Critical reception

Pile of Skulls was met with mostly positive reviews from critics. Steve Huey of All Music Guide called it one of Running Wild's strongest efforts. While calling it too ambitious, he thought Pile of Skulls combined the group's trademark pirate subject matter with a unifying concept about corruption and abuse of power throughout history.

In a 2013 interview, Rolf Kasparek spoke about the song "Bloody Island" from the 2013 album Resilient and explained that the demo version of the song would've been a great fit on the album.

Track listing

Music and lyrics written by Rolf Kasparek and Axel Morgan except where noted

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Whirlwind"	4:52
2.	"Sinister Eyes"	5:06
3.	"Black Wings of Death"	5:17
4.	"Fistful of Dynamite"	4:06
5.	"Roaring Thunder"	5:56

Side B
No.	Title	Length
6.	"Pile of Skulls"	4:39
7.	"Lead or Gold"	5:06
8.	"Jennings' Revenge"	4:17
9.	"Treasure Island"	11:14
Total length:		50:35

CD Bonus Tracks
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Chamber of Lies" (Intro)	2:21
2.	"White Buffalo"	5:17
Total length:		58:13

Japanese Bonus Track
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Beggar's Night '92"	5:00
Total length:		55:35

Remastered Bonus Tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hanged, Drawn and Quartered"		4:38
2.	"Win or Be Drowned"	Kasparek, Smuszynski	4:17
3.	"Uaschitschun '92"		4:53
Total length:			1:17:02

Personnel

Rolf Kasparek – vocals, guitar
Axel Morgan – guitar
Thomas Smuszynski – bass
Stefan Schwarzmann – drums

Additional Musician

Ralf Nowy – keyboards on "Chamber of Lies", effects on "Sinister Eyes"

Production

Jan Němec – Engineering, Mixing
Thomas Körge – Engineering
Karl-U. Walterbach – Executive producer
Rock 'n' Rolf – Producer
Andreas Marschall – Cover art

Charts

Chart (1992)	Peak position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[3]	54

References

↑ Pile of Skulls at AllMusic
↑ Kühnemund, Götz (1992). "Review Album: Running Wild - Pile of Skulls review". Rock Hard (in German). No. 66. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Running Wild – Pile of Skulls" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2017-04-10.

Running Wild
Studio albums	Gates to Purgatory Branded and Exiled Under Jolly Roger Port Royal Death or Glory Blazon Stone Pile of Skulls Black Hand Inn Masquerade The Rivalry Victory The Brotherhood Rogues en Vogue Shadowmaker Resilient Rapid Foray
Live albums	Ready for Boarding Live The Final Jolly Roger
Compilations	The First Years of Piracy 20 Years in History

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.