This is it!!! The best Manowar album ever. The album in which their entire discography should be judged by. Hail to England is their masterpiece and to me it is by far the best record they've ever done.
What makes Hail to England so great is the songwriting which is more advanced (by Manowar standards) than any other album. Each song has an unbelievably good amount of hooks and catchiness that will leave you singing for hours. This straightforward approach is much more enjoyable than the snoozefest that is The Triumph of Steel. Maybe the decision to have a 30 minute album was a good one. After all, I prefer half an hour of killer material than an hour of average one. Anyway the songs annihilate, killing everything in their path and that what's important.
Lyrically, it is the familiar theme you've come to expect from these guys: kings, queens, wizards, potions, dragons, etc. But cheesiness aside, the music backs up their themes, making this album strong from start to finish. Production-wise it is good by today's standards, but considering they did this in 1984 and the fact that it was recorded in six days, it is amazing.
The only real negative about Hail to England is "Black Arrows", which is a 3 minute bass (solo) instrumental which I usually skip. While it is good, it should have been condensed in half and it would have been a lot cooler than it is.
Special mention has to go to "Bridge of Death" which is the best song of their career, better than "Valhalla", "Battle Hymn", "Guyana (Cult of the Damned)" - you name it. Different from the cheesiness about dungeons and dragons, this is cheesiness about Satan, and it rules. Featuring great haunting vocal from Eric Adams and 2:37 into the song a riff from hell comes in and doesn't let you go. Every time that I listen to it, it gives me chills in my spine, that's how good it is. This song rules over everything and after it kicks your ass several times it rules some more, easily in the top 15 of all time.
If you are going to have only one Manowar album, this is the one to get. They might still be ridiculous, cheesy and over the top, but the awesomeness of "Bridge of Death" is worth the price of the entire CD.
