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Kingdom Come (Polydor) 1988
1. "Living Out of
Touch" (4:17)
2. "Pushin' Hard" (4:47)
3. "What Love Can Be" (5:14)
4. "17" (5:26)
5. "The Shuffle" (3:40)
6. "Get It On" (4:21)
7. "Now Forever After" (5:36)
8. "Hideaway" (5:38)
9. "Loving You" (4:46)
10. "Shout It Out" (3:37)
This album caused quite a stir when it came out because of Lenny Wolf's uncanny similarity to Robert Plant and the band's obvious Zeppelin influence. However I don't know why, there were plenty of bands copying the Zeppelin style at the time and there are still tons of them to this day. One of the most popular band of the late 80's was Zeppelin worshippers Great White. "Get It On" from this disc was the band's one and only hit. After this the band's popularity dropped quickly due to the label. Despite the Kingdom Clone label, Kingdom Come's debut cd is a very good hard rock disc. The hooks, the musicianship, and the production are all there. After all, the band was working with studio guru Rob Rock. There is no denying the Zeppelinisms that were all over the place. I mean songs like "Loving You" could probably have had Jimmy Page suing the band for rights, however there are also similarities to bands like Whitesnake and Zebra as well. Hmmm, I guess those bands were also accused of being Zep-clones in their time as well.
Kingdom Come - In Your Face (Polydor) 1989
1. "Do You Like It"
(3:40)
2. "Who Do You Love" (4:14)
3. "The Wind" (5:00)
4. "Gotta Go (Can't Wage A War)" (4:25)
5. "Highway" (5:52)
6. "Perfect 'O'" (3:46)
7. "Just Like A Wild Rose" (4:31)
8. "Overrated" (4:04)
9. "Mean Dirty Joe" (4:08)
10. "Stargazer" (5:14)
After everyone accused Kingdom Come of being a Zep-clone band they returned with an album that showed they could rock without the immediate Zeppelin parallels. "In Your Face" freatures strong song writing and production. I am also partial to the simplistic cover art. While there really isn't much to it, the art still speaks volumes about the music contained herein. Kingdom Come are loud and proud American hard rock, like the best of Great White on one CD.
Kindgdom Come - Who Do You Love (Polydor) 1989
1. "Who Do You Love" (4:14)
This is nothing more than a promotional single that was sent out to radio stations. What is unique about this single is that the band logo is die cut out of the cover and the CD, which is a speaker, shows through. Pretty cool marketing idea.
Kingdom Come - Hands of Time (Polydor) 1991
1. "I've Been Trying"
(4:51)
2. "Should I" (5:38)
3. "You'll Never Know" (3:26)
4. "Both Of Us" (3:11)
5. "Stay" (3:09)
6. "Blood On The Land" (4:13)
7. "Shot Down" (3:09)
8. "You're Not The Only I Know" (4:16)
9. "Do I Belong" (3:32)
10. "Can't Deny" (3:29)
11. "Hands Of Time" (3:25)
Pretty much relegated to a Lenny Wolf solo act, "Hands of Time" features Wolf as main songwriter, producer, guitarist, bassist and vocalist. He even takes a stab at some lead guitar work. The sound, as might be expected, is much different from the pop metal of the band's first two albums. What we have here is melodic, blue collar, hard rock. However, even though the music has changed, I still hear a lot of Led Zeppelin influence. Songs like "Should I" and "Blood on the Land" are catchy and quite good. I can imagine that if some of these songs had been on the band's first couple albums they would have gone over rather well. I also like the somewhat eerie, yet enchanting "Shot Down". This song is somewhat keyboard heavy, but has an undeniable hook that could catch a whale. Despite some strong songs, the over all feel of "Hands of Time" is much more mellow than I was expecting. For me, that is not necessarily a bad thing, but at the same time I can see why fans might have been disappointed.
Kingdom Come - Bad Image (WEA) 1993
1. Passion Departed (4:51)
2. You're the One (5:20)
3. Fake Believer (3:48)
4. Friends (3:34)
5. Mad Queen (4:12)
6. Pardon the Difference (But I Like It) [instrumental] (1:51)
7. Little Wild Thing (3:18)
8. Can't Resist (5:02)
9. Talked Too Much (3:21)
10. Glove of Stone (5:00)
11. Outsider (4:35)
Kingdom Come return with their fourth studio album, though with Lenny Wolf the sole remaining original member, this is more of a Lenny Wolf solo album than a Kingdom Come album. Lenny is credited with vocals as well as rhythm guitar, some lead guitar, and bass, solidifying the fact that this is Lenny's baby moreso than a band project. I suppose Lenny is and always will be Kingdom Come. With "Bad Image" Lenny strays a bit from his original musical vision and explores some different musical ground. The album still has a handful of moody, melodic hard rock songs with the usual Zeppelin influences that Kingdom Come have been known for. However, there are some obvious attempts to break free from that connection. Of course the biggest connection to Zeppelin remains Wolf's Robert Plant sound-alike voice moreso than the music itself, especially on this album.
The album opens with a melodic, hard rocker that is laced with moody keys, which is odd since no keyboard player is listed in the credits. Still, the song could have easily been a hit for the band had it been released in 1988-89, rather than 1993 when this sort of hooky hard rock was no longer the in-thing. Track two departs from the usual hard rock fare and takes on a complete pop feel, almost like something you would hear on Peter Gabriel's "So" album. The song has some heavy guitars but they are mostly buried under heavy keys and an undeniably pop rhythm. If early Kingdom Come sounded like Led Zeppelin, this song sounds more like one of Robert Plant's solo albums. "Mad Queen" is another melodic, pop rocker with a bluesy feel. The somewhat stiff hard rock of "Little Wild Thing" is dramatically un-Zeppelin-like.
There are various attempts at 80's power ballads such as "Friends" that work well for Wolf's soulful voice. Much like the opening track, had this song been recorded a few years earlier it might have been a hit for the band. Much like the rest of the album the song is quite moody and doesn't really sound like some forced, sappy radio-ballad.
I'd be hard pressed to call "Bad Image" a hard rock album, but there is something quite endearing about this album. It's melodic, moody rock and roll with a definite '80's pop vibe. I quite like it. A quick search on-line revealed that "Bad Image" is actually a fan favorite with people calling it "a masterpiece" and some saying is was "their strongest album" and one guy on Heavy Harmonies calling Lenny "a musical genius." Obviously there is something here that people love.
Kingdom Come - Twilight Cruiser (Viceroy) 1995
1. Always On The Run (4:14)
2. Law Of Emotions (4:02)
3. Twilight Cruiser (6:39)
4. Janine (4:01)
5. Hope Is On Fire (3:28)
6. Thank You All (4:42)
7. Rather Be On My Own (3:08)
8. Can't Put Out And Not Take Back (4:19)
9. Cold Ground (4:17)
10. I Don't Care (5:27)
11. Gonna Change (3:46)
12. Should Have Known (4:32)
Well, Lenny Wolf and Kingdom Come are nothing if not consistent. There is no trend jumping here. Rather Wolf continues to travel down the same trails he has since that very first Kingdom Come release. However, while the musical direction stays the same, Wolf is not just making the same album over and over again. "Twilight Cruiser" is a very melodic, somewhat melancholy album. The Zeppelin-esque sound is still there, but it's tempered by a much more emotional and personal approach. That's not to say there isn't some heavy riffs and hard rock punch on here. Songs like "Hope is On Fire" and "Gonna Change" have some edge to it. However, the basis of the album is melody, melody and more melody. The title track may well be one of the band's best songs. I wonder if this song had been released as a since in 1989 if it wouldn't have been a huge hit. The keyboard-heavy song has an infectious hook and a sound that reminds me of Honeymoon Suite or perhaps some of Robert Plant's solo material. This song is worth the price of admission alone. "Janine" is a melancholy blues-based ballad-esque song that also sports a ton of melody as well as whale-sized hook. Markus Deml is the lead guitarist on this album and plays with plenty of feel, especially on bluesy number like "Janine". As usual, Lenny Wolf's vocals echo those of Robert Plant, which will bring about the usual comparisons.
Kingdom Come - Master Seven (Monsters of Rock Records) 1997
1. Only Rainbows Know (4:10)
2. More Restrictions (5:03)
3. Gonna Lose Her (5:29)
4. Can't Let Go (6:30)
5. Slow Down (4:01)
6. Seen Enough (5:51)
7. Can't Let Go (Director's Cut) (2:39)
8. Gonna Try (5:05)
9. Can't Take Affection (6:38)
10. Bad I Am (3:59)
11. High on Love (5:26)
12. Get Up My Friend (3:53)
13. Roses (3:02)
More of the same melodic, moody, "Kashmire"-inspired rock 'n' roll from Lenny Wolf and Kingdom Come. Overall, "Master Seven" is very similar to the 1995 release "Twilight Cruiser", though has less hard rock moment. For the most part "Master Seven" is a fairly mellow album, rarely breaking into much that is heavy or hard rocking. That's not to say it's all ballads, though there are plenty of those here, such as the melancholy "Can't Let Go" and "Gonna Try". I'm not sure why we needed two versions of "Can't Let Go", though the director's cut version is a much shorter and more acoustic in nature. The oddly titled "Slow Down" is one of the more upbeat tracks, this one reminding me of Zebra (Oh c'mon! You remember Zebra! 80's band. Had a hit with "Who's Behind the Door?".) "Bad Am I" is another more upbeat track. However, for the most part "Master Seven" is all about mood and melody.
"Master Seven" has been remastered and repacked by the band. The new cover is even more generic than the cover pictured above.