Glory to the Brave
Glory to the Brave is the debut album by the Swedish power metal band HammerFall, released in 1997. Despite the fact that the band was formed in 1993, HammerFall performed mostly live music and covers before this album was released. "Steel Meets Steel" was composed by Oscar Dronjak just before the band was formed and is included on this album. The band signed a deal with the Dutch label Vic Records. Nuclear Blast approached Vic Records and obtained a license deal for the album. Later, Nuclear Blast bought the entire rights from Vic Records. Although the In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad was listed as the drummer, all the drums were actually played by session musician Patrik Räfling, who joined the band as a full-time member shortly after the album's release.
| Glory to the Brave | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 27 June 1997 | |||
| Recorded | February–April 1997, Studio Fredman, Gothenburg, Sweden | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal, power metal | |||
| Length | 44:58 | |||
| Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
| Producer | Fredrik Nordström | |||
| HammerFall chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Glory to the Brave | ||||
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The cover art was painted by Andreas Marschall.
"I Believe" was co-written with Peter Stålfors of Pure X and, later, the more famous Dream Evil.
Glory to the Brave was re-released in 2002 as a Deluxe Edition with the Stormwitch cover "Ravenlord" as a bonus track as well as a multimedia section including a music video.
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Rock Hard | 10/10[2] |
In 2005, Glory to the Brave was ranked number 295 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[3]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Dragon Lies Bleeding" | Jesper Strömblad, Joacim Cans, Oscar Dronjak | 4:22 |
| 2. | "The Metal Age" | Dronjak, Strömblad, Cans | 4:28 |
| 3. | "HammerFall" | Dronjak, Strömblad, Cans | 4:47 |
| 4. | "I Believe" | Cans, Peter Stålfors | 4:53 |
| 5. | "Child of the Damned" (Warlord cover) | Tsamis, Zonder | 3:42 |
| 6. | "Steel Meets Steel" | Dronjak | 4:02 |
| 7. | "Stone Cold" | Dronjak, Strömblad, Cans | 5:43 |
| 8. | "Unchained" | Dronjak, Strömblad, Cans | 5:38 |
| 9. | "Glory to the Brave" | Dronjak, Strömblad, Cans | 7:20 |
| 10. | "Ravenlord" (Stormwitch cover, bonus track) | Harald Spangler | 3:31 |
An eleventh track on the enhanced CD (bonus deluxe edition) contained multimedia content: a videoclip, wallpaper and e-card
"Ravenlord" was released on the Japanese, Brazilian and deluxe editions.
Special editions: LP, Shape CD (Saw-Shaped), Picture LP, Red Vinyl LP, Deluxe Edition (containing bonus material), Value Box (with "Renegade" CDs)
Personnel
- Joacim Cans – lead vocals, background harmonies
- Oscar Dronjak – guitars, backing vocals
- Fredrik Larsson – bass, backing vocals
- Glenn Ljungström – guitars
- Jesper Strömblad – drums (writing credit only)
- Patrik Räfling – drums
References
- Reesman, Bryan. "HammerFall Glory to the Brave review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- Schäfer, Wolfgang. "Rock Hard review". No. 122. Cite magazine requires
|magazine=(help) - Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. 2005. p. 95. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.