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King Diamond - The Best of King Diamond Audio CD

A fair review of the King Diamond "The Best of King Diamond" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all King Diamond reviews here, or go back to the King Diamond tabs.

King Diamond Band: King Diamond
Title: The Best of King Diamond
Rating:
Release Date: 2003-09-23
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Candle 2: Charon 3: Halloween 4: No Presents for Christmas 5: Arrival 6: Mansion in Darkness 7: Family Ghost 8: Abigail 9: Welcome Home 10: Invisible Guests 11: Tea 12: At the Graves 13: Sleepless Nights 14: Eye of the Witch 15: Burn

King Diamond on it's maximum expression
. This is a brilliant recopilation of King Diamond's hits, when i listen to this Heavy Metal perfection made by the incredible Andy La Roque on lead guitars and the awesome f***ing voice of King Diamond i only want to hang around with my friends hearing this beautiful music, drinking a good bottle of rum, i only tell you this, if you don't get this record, not even GOD is going to forgive you.


Rushed overview of King Diamond's Roadrunner days
Mercyful Fate frontman King Diamond's solo career was just as influential and underrated and well revered as his band's, and this "Best Of" compilation is just as rushed and as much a cash in attempt as the Mercyful Fate "Best Of". Like the CD package says, these are the roots of Roadrunner Records. The tracks you'd expect to be on here are here, including "Abigail", and "Mansion in Darkness", but with the way CD's are being released these days, you'd figure that a few bonuses would be included like some unreleased tracks, rare demos, or live cuts, but there are none of those here. Not to mention that King Diamond's albums have always told a story, and hearing them all in no real particular order makes this come off as a puzzle without the pieces. This may be worth picking up if your a new fan to King Diamond, but you'd be better off checking out "Abigail" first and then the rest of his releases.


Some idiot wonders where the Metal Blade Tracks are! DUH!
Hey, to the little boy who complained in his "review" of this Best Of Kind Diamond set. . DUH!!! Check out the label, you moron! Kind Diamond made 5 classic albums for Roadrunner/Roadracer throughout the 80's, and that's what this compilation is. Well, I guess he made "six" albums for Roadrunner/Roadracer, if you count the now out-of-print "Live 1987:Abigail" album.

As to the guys who noted that a Kind Diamond compilation is sort of an oxymoron since he does in fact write concept albums, this is only half true. When the King tours now, he basically performs songs from his entire career, no more "stage show" in the sense of impaling Abigail with seven knives, etc. Yeah, King still puts on a highly visual show, but the fact is he plays most of his "jamming" songs like "A Mansion In Drakness", "The Candle", "No Presents For Christmas", "The Loa House", etc. This is actually cool, because King Diamond has never really had the dough to put on a true theatrical presntation of the story lines of his various albums. Now it's more like a heavy metal show, kinda like Mercyful Fate, except Andy Laroque blows Denner and Sherman away!

As to the track listing, this is as good as it gets. BUT, if you REALLY want a "true King Diamond compilation", then I urge you to buy the awesome (and excellent sounding) "Deadly Lullabyes Live". . . . this will satisfy the nimwit who wonders where the Metal Blade songs are on theis Roadrunner release!

Thanks.


Ridiculous
5 album, because some of the songs are actually quite good. Yeah, I know, King Diamond has a great voice, but he is a little goofy, don't you think? This is more like a 2. But most of the song lyrics are a little too goofily evil. And that stupid makeup! KISS did a much better job. This is okay if you like this kind of music, but in my eyes it's kind of dumb.


Adequate overview of the early years
Unfortunately, while the King's material is among the best and most distinctive in the realm of metal (and who can argue with that voice?), most of his songs lose a good deal of their meaning when they are removed from the setting of the album they're a part of. With Roadrunner's catalogue becoming clogged of late with radio rock dross and lame nu-metal bands, it seems someone has decided to dig up some of the gems that once made this label one of the greats, and there would be few better places to start than with King Diamond. King Diamond writes concept albums, and collecting individual tracks from several different records randomly like this is like trying to understand a novelist's body of work by only reading a handful of chapters from different books. Nevertheless, the songs are great, lifted from King's first five albums (the ones he recorded for Roadrunner) which are arguably his best period. It's an adequate place to start for someone just discovering the genius of King Diamond, but for those who already know him, it won't be an essential purchase.


You can see a complete list of all King Diamond discography, or go back to the King Diamond tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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