Year : 1992 (Japan Edition)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , Melodic Heavy Metal
Country : Germany
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 140 mb
Bio:
Victory is a German heavy metal and hard rock band from Hanover, most successful in the 1980s. With extensive tours and radio airplay, the band also made a breakthrough in North America.Victory was formed in 1984 from the remnants of the band Fargo. Bassist Peter Knorn, the two guitarists Tommy Newton and John Lockton and drummer Bernie Van de Graaf had all previously worked together in that band. After originally working with singer Pedro Schemm, former Gary Moore- and Ted Nugent-singer Charlie Huhn became the band's singer. Recommended by Scorpions' guitarist Rudolph Schenker, the band sign a management deal with David Krebs (who managed, among others, Scorpions and Aerosmith).A self-titled album appeared in 1985 on CBS Records to mild controversy because of the cover art: a scantily-dressed woman lying on her back with her legs spread, forming a V. The hype worked and the album made the charts. But before the first US tour, drummer Van de Graaf was replaced by Fritz Randow (ex-Eloy). Apart from playing 60 concerts, the band was also in the two largest festivals of the country, Day In The Green in Oakland before 60,000 and the Texxas Jam in front of over 80,000 spectators. After his return to Germany, John Lockton was replaced by the former Accept guitarist, Herman Frank.With their second album Don't Get Mad... Get Even the band again toured through Europe and America and the single Check's In The Mail gave them a radio hit in the USA. The third album Hungry Hearts came out in 1987 leading to yet more European and North American live work. A concert in Hamburg was recorded for a live album, which appeared in 1988 under the title That's Live. After its release, Huhn left the band, in order to join Humble Pie. For his replacement the band auditioned, among others, later Thunderhead-frontman Ted Bullet, but eventually decided for a 22-year-old Swiss, Fernando Garcia.The fourth album Culture Killed The Native achieved #19 in the German charts and also entered the charts in the USA again. A Europe tour as support for Gary Moore followed, before Victory started their first headline tour through America, as well as their first concert in Canada. Both Singles Never Satisfied and Don't Tell No Lies again received airplay on Radio and MTV. By 1990 a second studio album with Garcia was released: Temples Of Gold appeared in the top 20 in Germany and the first edition of it added a six song live EP, of recordings made in Los Angeles. An additional US-Tour followed, before 1992 the Album You Bought It You Name It was released.Victory now ranked alongside Scorpions, Accept and Helloween as the most successful German band but announced their split in 1994 with the double live album Liveline. But two years later they returned with the new album Voiceprint. Frank was replaced by the new, then Los Angeles–based guitarist Jake Paland (who has also worked with PFL, Timo Maas and Jimmy Somerville amongst others), and Randow by Matthias Liebetruth (who some years later would play for Running Wild). The album's release was accompanied by an extensive tour and the single releases Deep Inside The World and Cyberia, of which the latter again received airplay on all major music-TV channels. Varying personal interests among the band members though led to the final dissolution for the band.Newton made a name as a producer (he worked on Helloween's Keeper of the seven keys), Knorn became manager of Uli Jon Roth, Glenn Hughes and Michael Schenker. Huhn joined (in 2000) Foghat and Garcia (from 2004) sang for Swiss metal band Godiva. Randow in the meantime played for Saxon, Liebetruth became drummer for Running Wild and Paland continued working as a studio guitarist and focusing on his own projects.In 2002, rumours of a reunion of Victory started. Garcia declined to participate, which made it all the more surprising that in 2003, the album Instinct appeared with the almost original lineup of Huhn, Newton, Frank, Knorn and Randow. Victory played some concerts in Russia and Bulgaria as well as Wacken Open Air - a festival in northern Germany. Since Huhn was living in America, tour activities were difficult and he was again replaced, now with Jioti Parcharidis, the singer of Human Fortress.With Parcharidis, the band released the album Fuel To The Fire, containing re-recordings of their best-known songs in January 2006. Thereafter yet another line-up change followed. Randow left Victory and was replaced by former Sanvoisen drummer Achim Keller. Appearances followed at Bang Your Head!!! and Sweden Rock-festival as well as a European tour in support of Metal Church in May and June 2007. Four years later the band released Don't Talk Science in what they were calling their final album. The album was recorded in 2009 and was releasecd in May 2011 on Label Golden Core /ZYX music.In 2013 Herman Frank who is member with Accept since their reunion in 2009 decided to continue Victory together with singer Jioti Parcharidis, guitarist Christos Mamalitsidis, Peter Pichl on bass guitar Running Wild and drummer Michael Wolpers. Since their first show at Rock of Ages-festival in July 2013 Victory keeps on succeeding. So upcoming rumours can´t be stopped about recording the next Victory album.
Album:
Great Japan edition with 3 bonus tracks.The German band Victory has already achieved cult status among hard rock fans across the Oder. In the mid-1990s, the band’s history was quite turbulent, with lineup changes; the band broke up in 1994, but then returned two years later with the album *Voiceprint*, only to break up again immediately after its release—this time for good. Unfortunately, the album discussed here presents the band in a weaker form than before; the songs aren’t as catchy as they used to be, which significantly diminishes the album’s value and doesn’t encourage frequent listening.The album features some new members in the lineup there’s been a change in the guitarist and drummer positions—but it’s hard to say whether this has had any particular impact on the music. Rumor has it that this album was supposed to be more commercial for the time it was recorded, but you can’t really hear that all that much anyway. The band hasn’t really lost any old fans, but, as is usually the case, it hasn’t gained many new ones either. Despite everything, the musicians continue to explore hard rock sounds, though the melodies have suffered. “Run And Hide” is a fairly heavy track that opens with talkbox-distorted guitars and is built on fairly unsophisticated riffs. The verse is very weak; the chorus is better, but it’s still not a hit candidate—especially given the year the album was released, and particularly when compared to earlier entries in Victory’s discography. The song is really saved only by a neat solo. “Salamander Fire” is much better; this track could easily have been included on an album like *Temples Of Gold*. It’s still heavy, but the whole thing seems more thought-out. The band drew on tried-and-true formulas such as a bass line driven by eighth notes, full-sounding sharp guitars, and classic hair metal vocal lines. More melody, more hit potential, and—surprisingly—a solo that’s more bluesy this time around. A very good track to listen to while driving two or four wheels. It’s a shame the band’s energy ran out so quickly, and they follow it up with “Cyberi,” a track that’s completely devoid of expression. The highlight of the track is the guitar riff in the chorus backing track, and if you listen to the song loud enough, it’s perfectly acceptable to the ear. I get the impression that the vocalist isn’t quite prominent enough throughout the entire album, and that’s where it’s most noticeable. Next up is a “cowboy” ballad titled “Deep Inside The World,” and it’s a successful track—I’d even say it’s nice to hear something like this after the previous songs. The band needed a breather, and playing a ballad was a bull’s-eye. “Won’t Bring Me Down” is a blues-rock track that gradually shifts more toward hard rock. There’s hope that the band will get back on track; finally, there’s something here that could be a hit. Some keyboards in the chorus would have been nice—we’d probably have a hit but we can make up for the lack of keyboards by turning the volume knob all the way up. In contrast, Victory decided to play their next track, “The Answer,” faster, with more energy and dynamism. There’s a punk edge to it, but also a fast hard rock riff; overall, the band skillfully managed to weave in a few interesting elements from other musical genres here—for example, a solo straight out of country music surprisingly fits the composition, and the bass also makes its presence felt in an interesting way in several places. The band seems to be targeting American fans, as the next track, “Black And White,” is also a mix of hard rock and country-blues. The song itself is okay, but Garcia didn’t really shine here, and his parts seem terribly out of The elements borrowed from other filler tracks don’t bode well; after listening to the whole thing, it’s easy to conclude that the pre-chorus stands out the most. There’s no need to dwell on it. In “Way Too Far,” the band wanted to give it another go and really let loose, resulting in a faster-paced composition. It’s hard to say whether it’s good or not, because now, in turn, the production is terrible. The instruments are so muddled that they blend into some shapeless mass, and the backing vocals weren’t chosen very well either—they clash rather badly with Garcia’s actually quite good parts in the choruses. Who knows, maybe it would be better without them. Setting these flaws aside, however, I conclude that this is a successful track.The last track in the official set is the quite decent ballad “Not The One”; all in all, it could have been placed closer to the beginning of the album, as it’s one of the best tracks on the album. The song has an interesting arrangement with a few stronger accents, though not strong enough to disrupt the composition’s “ballad-like” quality. The Japanese release of the album and its subsequent reissue include three additional bonus tracks, which I haven’t had the chance to hear, however. On one of them, DC Cooper the vocalist known from Royal Hunt takes the mic as a guest, and I’d love to hear how he fares on a Judas Priest cover.The album has a few strong points, but unfortunately, the good songs are in the minority here, and half of the tracks come across as half-baked. Taking all this into account, I’m not even surprised that right after recording the album, Victory said “goodbye” to their fans for good. Apparently, after more than ten years together, the musicians didn’t have much left to say—they simply burned out. I suspect that if they had recorded one more album at that time, it wouldn’t have been all that interesting. Voiceprint fans are probably already familiar with it; other listeners can check it out at their own risk.
Line-Up:
Fernando Garcia - Vocals (1989-1996) - See also: ex-Godiva, ex-Biss, ex-Wicked Sensation, ex-Netz
Tommy Newton - Guitars (1984-1996, 2003-2011) - See also: ex-Fargo, ex-Joal, ex-Pancake, ex-Sphinx
Jake Paland - Guitars (1993-1996)
Fargo Peter Knorn - Bass (1984-1996, 2003-2011) - See also: Fargo
Matthias Liebetruth - Drums (1993-1996) - See also: Ö-Band, Trommelfeuer, ex-Grailknights, ex-Running Wild, ex-Thomsen (live), ex-[Matthæus], ex-]distermino[, ex-HeadCrash, ex-Klangstrahler Projekt, ex-Mousse T., ex-Toxic Taste, ex-Treibhaus, ex-Blue Note (live), ex-Daddy Long Legs (live), ex-NDR Orchester (live)
+ guests:
D.C. Cooper - Vocals - See also: Royal Hunt, D.C. Cooper, ex-Missa Mercuria, ex-Silent Force, ex-The Tung Bandits - tracks: 13, 14
Roy Khan - Vocals - See also: Conception, Roy Khan, ex-Kamelot - tracks: 14, 15
Production:
Engineered At – Stairway To Heaven Studio
Mixed At – Stairway To Heaven Studio
Mastered At – PolyGram Mastering Studios, Hannover
Published By – Wintrup Musikverlag
Manufactured By – Memory-Tech
Design [Packaging] – Satzcontor
Engineer [Assistant] – Stefano Scheiba, Tore Fuego Østby
Engineer, Mixed By – Tommy Newton
Illustration – Andreas Zickert
Management – United Talents
Mastered By – Willem Makkee
Photography By [Band Photo] – Mathias Bothor
Photography By [Frontcover Photo] – Tim Street-Porter
Producer – Victory
Producer [Guitars] – Tore Fuego Østby
Words By, Music By – B. Graaf (tracks: 14), C. Huhn (tracks: 14), F. Garcia (tracks: 1 to 12), J.Lockton (tracks: 14), M. Newton (tracks: 1 to 12), Peter Green (2) (tracks: 13), P.Knorn (tracks: 14), R. Browde (tracks: 14), T. Newton (tracks: 1 to 12, 14), Victory (tracks: 15)
Tracklist:
01. Run And Hide 3:14
02. Salamander Fire 3:12
03. Cyberia 4:06
04. Fighting The Reality 2:53
05. Deep Inside The World 3:31
06. Won't Bring Me Down 4:28
07. The Answer 3:10
08. Black And White 4:02
09. Right Up 3:55
10. Victimised 3:37
11. Way Too Far 2:51
12. Not The One 4:56
13. Green Manalishi 4:03 (Bonus Track)
14. The Hunter 3:50 (Bonus Track)
15. On The Loose 6:20 (Bonus Track)
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