Search - Kingdom Come :: The Best of Kingdom Come: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection

Gratifying compilation

sauerkraut | 11/25/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This compilation, released in 2003, is made up of 11 songs that are taken from Kingdom Come's first three albums. The track listing is in chronological order. "Living Out of Touch," "What Love Can Be," "Get It On," and "Pushin' Hard" come from their self-titled debut album from 1988. "Do You Like It," "Who Do You Love," "Gotta Go (Can't Wage a War)," and "Overrated" are taken from 1989's In Your Face. "I've Been Trying," "Should I," and "You're Not the Only...I Know" come from Hands of Time (1991). I find all of the compositions to be satisfying. The material is in a straight-ahead hard rock musical direction. Altogether, the songwriting is good, the musicianship is tight, and the sound quality is gratifying. I like Lenny Wolf's vocals. I also enjoy the guitar work throughout--there are some catchy riffs (this is manifest on "Living Out of Touch" and "Do You Like It," for example). My favorite cuts are "What Love Can Be," "Get It On," "Who Do You Love," "Gotta Go (Can't Wage a War)," and "Should I." The nice, memorable power ballad "What Love Can Be" exhibits pleasing, industrious singing from Wolf. The unforgettable "Get It On" sports a cool drum intro and infectious rhythm guitar playing. "Who Do You Love" displays pleasing guitar and keyboard work. "Gotta Go (Can't Wage a War)" has an attractive chorus, and "Should I" features engaging rhythm guitar playing, a taut, driving bass guitar line, a pleasant refrain, and smooth keyboard playing. The disc is just over 50 minutes. Even though the song lyrics are not included in the CD packaging, there is an informative essay of the band. This is a satisfying compilation."

Just A Quick Commnent

W. Malone | 07/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just listened to the Eddie Trunk hard rock/heavy metal radio show and the finale was "What Love Can Be" by Kingdom Come...well it's the best ballad of this genre, ever! Buying my copy now and I suggest you do the same. Can't wait to hear the rest!"

Heavy Zep Influenced Band Has Its Moments

Bill Appel | Virginia USA | 04/10/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Lenny Wolf has to be the best Robert Plant voice-style clone singer that I have ever heard (Randy Jackson of the great Zebra comes very close) and with that gift has driven Kingdom Come to pound out some decent metal to sound like the mighty Zep. Why not? With a formula geared towards Zeppelin, the greatest metal band of all time, you can't go wrong.The problem is for one, that you will never in all probability be even in the same league as the Zep, and secondly, because you will not be, you will be labeled a Zep rip off band. True to a degree with Kingdom Come. Yes, Wolf is superb as a Plant-Zep influenced singer and pulls off some talented, energizing interest in songs such as "Living Out Of Touch", "Pushin Hard", "Get It On" (I like the clever "Kashmir" rhythm in this one) and the excellent, "Since I've Been Loving You"-like, power ballad "What Love Can Be" superbly showcasing Wolf's Plant-style versatility. However, the overall songwriting is made up of mainly unsustaining, contriving, formula commercial-friendly tracks that may sound good a few times but then fades in interest and freshness as it lacks that special creativity for successful staying power. Secondly, Wolf's vocals drives this group nicely but that's it really. For one, there is an overall lack of identity in that special interplay of the guitar with the vocal that was the main ingredient that made the mighty Zep rule. Now, it is unfair to compare any band to Zeppelin. They had it all from songwriting, musicianship, creativity, showmanship and that special heavy metal charisma. The fact that Kingdom Come assimilated their given talents and love in combining a heavy Zep influence is a feat in itself for any band to make it with the huge shadow of the great Zep always lurking. Unfortunately, most times any success in going against the "real" thing, and Kingdom Come did have some measureable success in the late 80's, is short lived.Still some good music and talent here - worth a listen or two, maybe three.........."