Pile_of_Skulls
Pile of Skulls
1992 studio album by Running Wild
Pile of Skulls is the seventh studio album by Running Wild, released in 1992. It is their last album with guitarist Axel Morgan.
| Pile of Skulls | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 21 October 1992 | |||
| Recorded | June - August 1992 | |||
| Studio | Studio M, Hannover, Germany | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal, power metal | |||
| Length | 50:35 | |||
| Label | Electrola | |||
| Producer | Rolf Kasparek, Karl-Ulrich Walterbach | |||
| Running Wild chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Pile of Skulls | ||||
| ||||
The song "Jennings' Revenge" tells about the exploits of pirate Henry Jennings.
The lyrics of "Treasure Island" are based on the book of the same title by 19th century author Robert Louis Stevenson.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 7/10[2] |
| Rock Hard | 9.0/10[3] |
Pile of Skulls was met with mostly positive reviews from critics. Steve Huey of All Music Guide called it one of Running Wild's strongest efforts. While calling it too ambitious, he thought Pile of Skulls combined the group's trademark pirate subject matter with a unifying concept about corruption and abuse of power throughout history.[1]
In a 2013 interview, Rolf Kasparek spoke about the song "Bloody Island" from the 2013 album Resilient and explained that the demo version of the song would've been a great fit on the album.
Music and lyrics written by Rolf Kasparek, except "Pile of Skulls" by Kasparek and Axel Morgan and "Win or Be Drowned" by Kasparek and Piotr Smuszynski.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Whirlwind" | 4:52 |
| 2. | "Sinister Eyes" | 5:06 |
| 3. | "Black Wings of Death" | 5:17 |
| 4. | "Fistful of Dynamite" | 4:06 |
| 5. | "Roaring Thunder" | 5:56 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Pile of Skulls" | 4:39 |
| 7. | "Lead or Gold" | 5:06 |
| 8. | "Jennings' Revenge" | 4:17 |
| 9. | "Treasure Island" | 11:14 |
| Total length: | 50:35 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Chamber of Lies" (Intro) | 2:21 |
| 2. | "Whirlwind" | 4:52 |
| 3. | "Sinister Eyes" | 5:06 |
| 4. | "Black Wings of Death" | 5:17 |
| 5. | "Fistful of Dynamite" | 4:06 |
| 6. | "Roaring Thunder" | 5:56 |
| 7. | "Pile of Skulls" | 4:39 |
| 8. | "Lead or Gold" | 5:06 |
| 9. | "White Buffalo" | 5:17 |
| 10. | "Jennings' Revenge" | 4:17 |
| 11. | "Treasure Island" | 11:14 |
| Total length: | 58:13 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Beggar's Night '92" | 5:00 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Hanged, Drawn and Quartered" | 4:38 |
| 14. | "Win or Be Drowned" | 4:17 |
| 15. | "Uaschitschun '92" | 4:53 |
| Total length: | 67:02 | |
- The 2017 Remastered version contains a second disc, featuring the following songs
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Beggars' Night" (1992 Alternate version) | 5:01 |
| 2. | "Hanged, Drawn and Quartered" (From the Lead or Gold EP) | 4:38 |
| 3. | "Win or Be Drowned" (From the Lead or Gold EP) | 4:17 |
| 4. | "Uaschitschum '92" (1992 Updated version) | 4:53 |
| 5. | "Whirlwind" (2003 Re-recorded version) | 4:54 |
| 6. | "Treasure Island" (2003 Re-recorded version) | 11:16 |
- Rolf Kasparek – vocals, guitar
- Axel Morgan – guitar
- Thomas Smuszynski – bass
- Stefan Schwarzmann – drums
- Additional Musician
- Production
- Jan Němec – engineer, mixing
- Thomas Körge – engineer
- Karl-U. Walterbach – executive producer
- Rock 'n' Rolf – producer
- Andreas Marschall – cover art
| Chart (1992) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[4] | 54 |
- Huey, Steve. "Running Wild - Pile of Skulls review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
- Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 372–373. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- Kühnemund, Götz (1992). "Review Album: Running Wild - Pile of Skulls review". Rock Hard (in German). No. 66. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
- "Offiziellecharts.de – Running Wild – Pile of Skulls" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2017-04-10.