Revisiting the entire Royal Hunt catalogue ...

[introclaus]

I must have too much time on my hands nowadays being locked inside all the time, as I managed to make it through the entire Royal Hunt catalogue over the past few days. I've gotta say, that for a band with 15 studio albums and a bunch of live albums, EPs etc they've been surprisingly consistent. I can honestly admit to liking every single album (for various reasons), and half of them I actually will go as far as saying that I love them!

---
Mark 1 - Brockman-era:
That's where I began years ago, living in the same college dorm as a few of the band members, and being "force-fed" their debut by them - interestingly enough they themselves referred to it as Saga meets Malmsteen, which I think was a peculiar mixture on paper and even more so on album. I definitely hear the Malmsteen influences on the first albums, although not as flashy in the guitar department, but rather in the keyboards. I always loved Henrik Brockman's voice, even if he isn't as technically skilled as any of those who followed (heck, we pulled him in later for when we did the Evil Masquerade debut). I remember seeing them live a few times locally in small places and they still played as if they were the biggest band in the world. Andre Andersen's ego has never been tiny, that's for sure.

Full album stream - "Land of Broken Hearts" (1992):
https://youtu.be/601MViiqXLI

Full album stream - "Clown in the Mirror" (1994)"
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... oP38epjhtc

---
Mark 2 - DC Cooper-era
The band engaged American vocalist DC Cooper and were instantly a different beast - more pomp, more proggy, and suddenly they also got the success they were aiming for. DC's voice is obviously amazing; I can't say enough great things about it - but also the songwriting got a notch upwards. "Paradox" is one of the very best melodic progressive metal albums ever written! Again, I saw the band live multiple times in this era, and they were just on fire!

Full album stream - "Moving Target" (1995):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... ok5M-laUeE

Full album stream - "Paradox" (1997):
https://youtu.be/IyWsWlxRq_Y

---
Mark 3 - West-era
My least favorite era of the band guess, and it's honestly not because the albums were bad in any way, it just seemed like a different band here with less focus on the "fun" and more about being serious and dark and laid-back, which wasn't really what I wanted from these guys. "Fear" is a wonderful disc that I truly love, don't get me wrong, (and John West is fantastic!), but it starts off sooooo slow and meandering, and it's like it never finds a clear path to follow for the listener. It took me a while to appreciate for sure. Seeing the band live twice (or three times perhaps, can't remember) at this period made their "vision" a bit clearer to me, but I still don't feel strongly about this era as much as I did with the previous and later eras. It didn't help either that bass player Steen left the band towards the end of this period as he always stood out to me as the heart of the band (whereas Andre was the brain / leader).

Side note 1: Steen's solo project Cornerstone was absolutely wonderful, but that's for another post later on!
Side note 2: This was also the time where Andre did his solo albums "Second Skin" (with Kenny Lubcke on vocals) and "Black on Black" (with Ian Parry). Both really great albums, but that's also for another post later on!

Full album stream - "Fear" (1999):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... nl4FAB9z5w

Full album stream - "The Mission" (2001):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... kSoMNFjqUs

Various tracks - "Eyewitness" (2003):
https://youtu.be/vJzSZct-RJk
https://youtu.be/A2wFN_O5qcM
https://youtu.be/I0pJ3jF6SQg

Full album stream - "Paper Blood" (2005):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... 6rB3c6sXLA

---
Mark 4 - Boals-era
Ahh yes, Mark Boals - one of the most underrated metal vocalists ever; a guy who should have been big (in my opinion), but for some reason ended up becoming a "journey-man" trading one band in for the other after 1 or 2 albums. Such a shame. When he joined Royal Hunt I had really high hopes for this, and the first album to come out of this union "Paradox 2 - Collision Course" was great (not perfect, but really strong overall). It brought back some of the "fun" in Royal Hunt (although the subject matter obviously wasn't, seeing as this was a successor to "Paradox"). However, the second and last album here ("X") was pretty weak with very little memorable things about it (it also felt like they were going for a more hard rock style than prog here, and I still don't like this disc much. This is the only era of the band I never saw live.

Full album stream - "Paradox 2 - Collision Course" (2008):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... 4tLRQNFiew

Full album stream - "X" (2010):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... ugEzlMzIVk

---
Mark 2 Reboot - DC Cooper-return
In 2011 Andre and DC patched things up between them, and the once-most-successful era of the band got a reboot with DC returning to the fold. Right from the get-go the band went back to the sound of "Moving Target" and "Paradox" with the great "Show Me How to Live" and the follow up "A Life to Die For". Awesome stuff! By doing this entire trip through their discography I realized I missed our on one album (now remedied, I purchased on iTunes yesterday) "The Devil's Dozen" - one spin through it, and I like it well enough Will obviously have to give it more spins. Their latest album "Cast in Stone" I honestly didn't like much when it came out (mainly due to a very raw/organic production that sounded very 70's), but I've been spinning it quite a lot since then and it actually is a solid album. I did manage to catch them at ProgPower USA in 2015 when they did the full "Paradox" album - wonderful show.

Full album stream - "Show Me How to Live" (2011):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... z2FurBthC4

Full album stream - "A Life to Die For" (2013):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... i7B2o5wmQM

Full album stream - "The Devil's Dozen" (2015):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... n1BgZieXuv

Full album stream - "Cast in Stone" (2018):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... 3WikTGjY90

...

Phew, that brings us through Royal Hunt's history seen through my eyes, from 1992 to now! One of the best "progressive"/"symphonic" melodic metal bands ever ... I'm such a fanboy, I know

I'm looking forward to hearing what y'all think of RH, and which albums stands out for you (and why).

[LarryD]

*****This is a bad ass post ...... good stuff here.
I think my introduction to Royal Hunt ( if I remember ) was the Moving Target disc......

---

Mark 1 - Brockman-era:
That's where I began years ago, living in the same college dorm as a few of the band members, and being "force-fed" their debut by them - interestingly enough they themselves referred to it as Saga meets Malmsteen, which I think was a peculiar mixture on paper and even more so on album. I definitely hear the Malmsteen influences on the first albums, although not as flashy in the guitar department, but rather in the keyboards. I always loved Henrik Brockman's voice, even if he isn't as technically skilled as any of those who followed (heck, we pulled him in later for when we did the Evil Masquerade debut). I remember seeing them live a few times locally in small places and they still played as if they were the biggest band in the world. Andre Andersen's ego has never been tiny, that's for sure.

Full album stream - "Land of Broken Hearts" (1992):
https://youtu.be/601MViiqXLI

Full album stream - "Clown in the Mirror" (1994)"
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... oP38epjhtc

****I've got these discs - but I rarely, if ever, go back to them ......I can't remember the last time I did, but I have no desire to .......if I pick up a RH disc, it's usually Paradox, Collision Course, Fear, or some of the others mentioned here......


---

Mark 2 - DC Cooper-era
The band engaged American vocalist DC Cooper and were instantly a different beast - more pomp, more proggy, and suddenly they also got the success they were aiming for. DC's voice is obviously amazing; I can't say enough great things about it - but also the songwriting got a notch upwards. "Paradox" is one of the very best melodic progressive metal albums ever written! Again, I saw the band live multiple times in this era, and they were just on fire!

Full album stream - "Moving Target" (1995):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... ok5M-laUeE

Full album stream - "Paradox" (1997):
https://youtu.be/IyWsWlxRq_Y

****Definitely agree with this .......I actually played Paradox last week, and while dissecting it, I realized how little bass there was in the music ......I had to tweak my settings to get some thump out of it ...... DC just killed it on this disc, and being able to see the show on dvd finally was quite a thrill .......


---

Mark 3 - West-era
My least favorite era of the band guess, and it's honestly not because the albums were bad in any way, it just seemed like a different band here with less focus on the "fun" and more about being serious and dark and laid-back, which wasn't really what I wanted from these guys. "Fear" is a wonderful disc that I truly love, don't get me wrong, (and John West is fantastic!), but it starts off sooooo slow and meandering, and it's like it never finds a clear path to follow for the listener. It took me a while to appreciate for sure. Seeing the band live twice (or three times perhaps, can't remember) at this period made their "vision" a bit clearer to me, but I still don't feel strongly about this era as much as I did with the previous and later eras. It didn't help either that bass player Steen left the band towards the end of this period as he always stood out to me as the heart of the band (whereas Andre was the brain / leader).

***When bands change singers, I don't do well .....( no surprise ) ...... however, bringing in John West helped, but while Fear was very good and well done, I didn't care for The Mission .......

Full album stream - "Paper Blood" (2005):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=O ... 6rB3c6sXLA

****I don't even remember this ..........

---

Mark 4 - Boals-era
Ahh yes, Mark Boals - one of the most underrated metal vocalists ever; a guy who should have been big (in my opinion), but for some reason ended up becoming a "journey-man" trading one band in for the other after 1 or 2 albums. Such a shame. When he joined Royal Hunt I had really high hopes for this, and the first album to come out of this union "Paradox 2 - Collision Course" was great (not perfect, but really strong overall). It brought back some of the "fun" in Royal Hunt (although the subject matter obviously wasn't, seeing as this was a successor to "Paradox"). However, the second and last album here ("X") was pretty weak with very little memorable things about it (it also felt like they were going for a more hard rock style than prog here, and I still don't like this disc much. This is the only era of the band I never saw live.

****Mark Boals is a great singer, and it is tough to keep him around for more than one disc ....... I do wish he stuck around with this band, for Collision Course was excellent, despite it's 80s sound ........


---

Mark 2 Reboot - DC Cooper-return
In 2011 Andre and DC patched things up between them, and the once-most-successful era of the band got a reboot with DC returning to the fold. Right from the get-go the band went back to the sound of "Moving Target" and "Paradox" with the great "Show Me How to Live" and the follow up "A Life to Die For". Awesome stuff! By doing this entire trip through their discography I realized I missed our on one album (now remedied, I purchased on iTunes yesterday) "The Devil's Dozen" - one spin through it, and I like it well enough Will obviously have to give it more spins. Their latest album "Cast in Stone" I honestly didn't like much when it came out (mainly due to a very raw/organic production that sounded very 70's), but I've been spinning it quite a lot since then and it actually is a solid album. I did manage to catch them at ProgPower USA in 2015 when they did the full "Paradox" album - wonderful show.

****Have not heard a note of anything when DC returned ......and I don't care to. This is just one of those bands that just faded into glory for me and I break out one or two discs every now and then ..... seeing the shows at Prog Power was sort of like a send off for me .......it was great to see them, and I figured I waved good bye at the time .......

Obviously my favorite disc is Paradox ........ but I do like Fear and especially Collision Course ..........this band had great singers thru the years ..... I'll give Andre that for finding these great singers...... I need to pull out CC and Fear some time soon -- there is just so much music out there right now, it's hard to find time to go back and listen to them ........

Great post .......

[Kez]

Paradox. That is all...

No, not really, but it's definitely the standout disc for me, though I do put on Live 1996 regularly, because DC's take on the previous songs is great.

I was a major fanboy during the original DC era, but have sort of cooled on them since then. The newer DC stuff is good, just pales in comparison to Paradox.

[Random Axe]

I actually have the entire discography but have really only played Paradox. I bought the Boals era albums but never took them out of the case. I have no idea why I've waited except I've got a backlog of unheard music that could fill a small car. IT doesn't help that I keep buying more. I just brought in a 25 CD haul last week, 18 of them from Sentinel Steel(Dennis). HE's freakin awesome as is his selection. He's got stuff I hadn't seen offered since 2005. About this time last year I purchased the Royal Hunt Discography minus Clown and Moving Target. I was never huge on Cooper. There is a bombast to his voice that can be off-putting and an audible arrogance/pretense that comes through the recordings, at least for me.

[Sir Exar Kun]

Royal Hunt is one of those bands that has stood the test of time for me for 20+ years now, without ever really evolving their sound a whole lot. I stumbled on them by accident, picking up "Land of Broken Hearts" for $1 at a party store used CD bin in Kalamazoo MI. Just a blind buy that turned out to be (at the time) a keyboard driven Malmsteen homage.

As with everyone else, "Paradox" was without question the high water mark, and while they never again equaled that masterpiece they have also never put out a bad album.

John West was a solid fit for his era, and gave them a slightly more mature, but less hungry sound. Songs felt a little more full and fleshed out. I was already a fan of John from Artension, so it was an easy sell when I heard he was taking over vocals, even though DC was such a perfect fit.

When Mark Boals was brought in, it was again a seemingly perfect fit, but (as I recall) the mix on his albums weren't as crisp so I thought his vocals came out a bit fuzzy..... Granted, it's been a long time since I've listened, so could be mis-remembering things.

The DC Cooper return has never really filled its potential, as every album has been solid but has also felt a bit short and half-assed. That being said, the face that they made a BED SHEET SET (no joke!) that you could order for the last album with the cover art ALMOST makes up for the lack of album content.... Almost.

So long as they keep putting out new material, I'm onboard.

[introclaus]

I actually have the entire discography but have really only played Paradox. I bought the Boals era albums but never took them out of the case. I have no idea why I've waited except I've got a backlog of unheard music that could fill a small car. IT doesn't help that I keep buying more. I just brought in a 25 CD haul last week, 18 of them from Sentinel Steel(Dennis). HE's freakin awesome as is his selection. He's got stuff I hadn't seen offered since 2005. About this time last year I purchased the Royal Hunt Discography minus Clown and Moving Target. I was never huge on Cooper. There is a bombast to his voice that can be off-putting and an audible arrogance/pretense that comes through the recordings, at least for me.

Why did you miss out on Clown in the Mirror and Moving Target? Those are amazing albums in my opinion. Cooper isn't the one singing on Clown in the Mirror if that's why you didn't get it ...

On some days I might rank Moving Target higher than Paradox!

I totally understand what you're saying about his voice having a certain arrogance to it. I've always thought the same, but it doesn't take away from the quality of his singing (same thing with LaBrie if you ask me).

[Random Axe]

I bought the RH as a set, it just didn't have those. I'm totally open to getting those. Claus, as usual thank you for showing me my errors! lol. I actually am going to track those others down to satisfy the completist in me.

[Locust0311]

So Claus inspired me to do the same thing so over the last couple weeks I went through every Royal Hunt studio album, some I'm sure for the first time in over a decade. The first 2 were definitely better than I remembered and were quite enjoyable. DC is still one of my favorite vocalists and his albums are my favorites but you really can't go wrong with any of them as West and Boals are fantastic as well. Overall I like them all, Paradox still being my favorite and probably Eyewitness being the most pedestrian.

Now I'm going through the much shorter Andromeda discography. Chimera is such monster album...

[introclaus]

I bought the RH as a set, it just didn't have those. I'm totally open to getting those. Claus, as usual thank you for showing me my errors! lol. I actually am going to track those others down to satisfy the completist in me.

LOL )))
Being a completist is an expensive hobby, but so worth it.

[introclaus]

So Claus inspired me to do the same thing so over the last couple weeks I went through every Royal Hunt studio album, some I'm sure for the first time in over a decade. The first 2 were definitely better than I remembered and were quite enjoyable. DC is still one of my favorite vocalists and his albums are my favorites but you really can't go wrong with any of them as West and Boals are fantastic as well. Overall I like them all, Paradox still being my favorite and probably Eyewitness being the most pedestrian.

Now I'm going through the much shorter Andromeda discography. Chimera is such monster album...

Glad to inspiring you - please make a similar post about the Andromeda discs once you’re through them. I’ll give em all a spin as well next.

[Psychotic Symphony]

My favourite is The Mission. There I said it. I really do love a lot of other things, and West RH edges out DC Cooper for me, with the exception of Paradox. West/Cooper album when?

[introclaus]

My favourite is The Mission. There I said it. I really do love a lot of other things, and West RH edges out DC Cooper for me, with the exception of Paradox. West/Cooper album when?

Meh, that's just crazy talk

"The Mission" isn't a bad album (I don't think any of the albums are bad), but it honestly isn't no where near my favorites of theirs. I can see why some prefer John West, he is wonderful singer (I love his solo stuff, the Artlantica disc and the Artension albums ... his stint with Feinstein not so much).