Ranking the Studio Albums: Running Wild (w/Rich Catino & Ryan Skow) 

ok, here in Germany, it almost midnight when this video will start...So I go to bed, because I have to go to work tommorow, and know that there is a video waiting for me which will make my Monday a bit brighter...Thank you, Pete!

Running Wild has a new album coming out on October 29th entitled Blood on Blood! It will be the band's first album since 2016's Rapid Foray!

Hell yeah!!! Good to see you finally got around to doing an episode on them. The 84-95 era will always be my favorite era from them.

Gates to Purgatory is a pretty amazing album. Just some pure German heavy metal

The great thing about this and the Grave Digger video, Pete is allowing other people to rank albums which Pete hasn't really been into or heard much material, which is a welcome brilliant change to the channel to cater for more and different bands. Running Wild Jolly Roger, Port Royal, Death or Glory, Black Hand Inn The Rivalry you could put those in any order, but it shows even in the grunge era there is so much great stuff in the 90s which has yet to be covered. 🤘🤘

Hello from Sweden! Running Wild played Sweden Rock festival in 2000 and 2017 and they kicked ass! I've been a fan since 1985.

so cool to see one of my fave bands being reviewed! My Top 5: 1 Death or glory 2 Black hand inn 3 The rivalry 4 Pile of skulls 5 Blazon stone and indeed the golden period is from 1987 till 1998!

I was never big on the pirate themed albums, but I want to go back and give them another listen... but, Gates To Purgatory and the EP are my favorite!!!

I've been waiting for this show for a long time: 1. Death or Glory 2. Port Royal 3. Blazon Stone 4. Gates to Purgatory 5. Under Jolly Roger 6. Pile of Skulls 7. Wild Animal (E.P.) 8. Ready for Boarding (Live Album)

Pete, I highly recommend giving a chance to that band, as Rich said, the 20 Years in History compilation is a good point to get into that band. My Top 5 would be: 1-Death Of Glory 2-Black Hand Inn 3-Pile Of Skulls 4-Under Jolly Roger 5-Victory

I only know the pre-Pirate stuff, but these are killer records so I'll definitely listen to their 80s and 90s Pirate records

Really cool loved this! The kings of pirate metal. This band reminds me of the video game called claw which I used to love. My picks 1. Black hand inn 2. Under Jolly Roger 3. Port royal 4. Death or glory 5. Gates to purgatory

It's obvious from the comments, that Running Wild never made it in the USA market. So many people that listen to heavy and power metal never heard of them, it's crazy! On the contrary in Europe we love Running Wild. Their 80's and 90's run of albums is amazing! My top 5 5. Pile of skulls 4. The Rivalry 3. Port Royal 2. Black Hand Inn 1. Death or Glory

Always interest in hearing Rich talk about power metal bands that he enjoys. And a great pleasure to have Ryan participate as well. Thanks, Pete, for this show or yet another band which now required tracking down some CDs. Listened to some recommended songs on RU-vid after the show and some great tunes.

i dont think i could rank their 88-98 albums, they're all great

Completely agree with Black Hand Inn, it is their perfect album. Not a single dud!

Great job guys!! Heard the name never the band. Checked out Black Hand Inn on Spotify absolutely epic sound. Will be joining Pete in a deep dive into Running Wild.

Pile of skulks is amazing because it has my favorite song treasure island

Running Wild had a 25 date tour of North America in 1986, playing with Voivod and Celtic Frost on those dates. I was lucky enough to see them at the 6-3-86 date in Denver.

I go with HS and watch it tomorrow. Great idea to review Running Wild! Greetings from Germany

Not a band I ever got into but got Black Hand Inn for Christmas and am about to dive in. I have high hopes after watching this vid

The best is the incredible first album Gates to Purgatory.

Killer lists. Mine: 1 Gates to Purgatory 2 Branded and Exiled 3 Death or Glory 4 Port Royal 5 Black Hand Inn

small factoid: The riff played during trial in Calico Jack (Port Royal) , was copied by the death metal band Dismember in the song 'Time heals nothing' (album: God that never was). Probably not intentionally, but who knows...

Blind Guardian? Checked. Halloween? Checked. Running Wild? Checked. Maybe time will come for a Grave Digger and Rage album ranking shows?

My top 5 : 1-Death or Glory 2-Black Hand Inn 3-Port Royal 4-Blazon Stone 5-Pile of Skulls

1) Death or Glory 2) Under Jolly Roger 3) Port Royal 4) Gates to Purgatory 5) Branded and Exiled 6) The Rivalry 7) Blazon Stone 8) Pile of Skulls 9) Black Hand Inn 10) Masquerade 11) The Brotherhood 12) Victory 13) Rogues en Vogue 14) Rapid Foray 15) Resilient 16) Shadowmaker

My top five would be: #5 Pile of Skulls #4 Blazon Stone #3 The Rivalry #2 Death or Glory #1 Black Hand Inn

They did a US tour in 1986 ("Prepare for the Blitz Tour"), where they played 8 cities with Celtic Frost and VoiVod as supporting acts. That is the only time they've toured the USA, as far as I can tell.

Great of you Pete to lend SOT as platform to showcase these hidden gems. Hint: perhaps invite Butch for a Stryper ranking?

Another Great Show! Looking forward the GAMMA RAY ranking!

1. Death Or Glory 2. Black Hand Inn 3. Blazon Stone 4. Port Royal 5. Masquerade 6. Pile of Skulls 7. The Rivalry 8. Under Jolly Roger 9. Resilient 10.The Brotherhood

I’m jealous of Pete he gets to experience the glory of RW for the first time! Rich and Nick, love your picks! Running Wild are from Hamburg and if you’ve been there you can tell how it shaped their pirate aesthetic. Here’s my complete list: 1. Port Royal 2. Death or Glory 3. Black Hand Inn 4. Gates To Purgatory 5. Under Jolly Roger 6. Pile of Skulls 7. Branded and Exiled 8. Rapid Foray 9. Blazon Stone 10. The Rivalry 11. Masquerade 12. Brotherhood 13. Victory 14. Shadowmaker 15. Resilient 16. Rogues En Vogue It was tough, but for me Calico Jack and Battle of Waterloo are two of my favorite epics, along with Treasure Island. Next week I may have Black Hand Inn 1 or 2 but for now I gotta give it to Death or Glory’s more classic production. The Jorg Michael period starts to get repetitive after a while. I also have to put the “Angelo Sasso” albums at the bottom (if you don’t know what that means look it up, pretty hilarious.) Even though there are some killer songs during that period. They are just spoiled by the literal lifelessness of the drums. I think the technology has improved to the point where it’s harder to tell that it’s a drum machine (I thought Rapid Foray was excellent), but it’s like c’mon Rolf get a drummer, dude!

Running Wild is my best power metal band. Very underrated band. Catchy riffs, great solos, interesting vocals, epic vibe. My 5 best albums: 1. Port Royal 2. Death Or Glory 3. Black Hand Inn 4. Gates to Purgatory 5. Under Jolly Roger

1. Under Jolly Roger 2. Gates to Purgatory 3. Death or Glory 4. Shadowmaker 5. Blazen Stone

Rogues en Vogue is underrated!

Nice to know that somebody still remembers this great band. My numero uno will always be Under Jolly Roger.

5. Blazon Stone 4. Under Jolly Roger 3. Black Hand Inn 2. Death or Glory 1. Pile of Skulls

I've always avoided this band too. Just thought that they were more like an example of bad German humour. You know the stage name of Rolf's, pirate theme and power metal combined isn't that great of a selling point for me. I did hear Jolly Roger at the time it came out and just remember it didn't make a huge impression. Somehow Spotify recommended them for me a few times a couple of months ago. Bit of a mystery since I basically don't go for German or any other power metal at all. But I thought that I could give them another try. After all they've had such a long career and are so highly regarded in their genre that ther's got to be something in there. So back in the beginning of June I made a playlist of their late 80s to mid 90s stuff and boy have I missed a lot! Port Royal, Black Hand Inn, Death or Glory, Blazon Stone so many great tunes there! Already bought some of them and keep digging further. The "new" band for me this summer. They're highly melodic and catchy but somehow a huge bit more aggressive and raw than so many other typical power metal bands. I needed something a bit more uplifting yet still heavy for a change and they've filled that void perfectly.

My rank: 1. Death or Glory 10/10 2. Port Royal 9/10 3. Branded and Exiled 9/10 4. Gates to Purgatory 8/10 5. Under Jolly Roger 8/10 6. Pile of Skulls 8/10 7. Blazon Stone 8/10 8. Black Hand Inn 7/10 9. Masquerade 7/10 10. The Brotherhood 7/10 11. The Rivarly 6/10 12. Victory 6/10 13. Resilient 6/10 14. Shadowmaker 5/10 15. Rapid Foray 5/10 16. Rogues en Vogue 4/10

Riding the Storm is one of the greatest opening tracks of all time. So many albums, have a lot of catching up to do.

1- Branded and Exiled. 2- Gates of Purgatory. 3- Port Royal

Hi i life in hamburg since 90, an i meet rolf, he does believe in in his vision. and he is right,humans follow the ideas of fullfillment of what you want .

I would start with Treasure Island from Pile of Skulls if i were you Pete. A long epic song with great guitars and wonderful melodies. Few bands have done so many great albums with so many great riffs.

My top 5: 1. Branded and Exiled 2. Death or Glory 3. Black Hand Inn 4. Gates to Purgatory 5. Port Royal

Never checked em out. Thanks for the heads up!

My top 5 albums are their releases from '88 till '94: Port Royal, Death or Glory, Blazon Stone, Pile of Skulls, Black Hand Inn. But these cannot be ranked. They're all incredible. Look at the comment section and you'll see these five be the most recurring ones! Isn't it amazing that this band has so many albums that are similarly awesome? Can't say the same about most big metal bands. Personally, I think The Rivalry comes close to these five as well. It's just that out of 13 tracks a couple aren't as interesting. But who cares, we can skip those and enjoy ~10 awesome tracks!

Thanks guys, very well done! I have been fan since I came across "Death or Glory", and Running Wild was one of my favorite bands in the late 80's, beginning of the 90's, when I was teenager. Then I lost track of them a bit, but I think I will re-listen to some of their newer stuff again..... I very much agree what Rich and Ryan said about the band, so here is my Top-5-List: 1. Death or Glory 2. Blazon Stone 3. Port Royal 4. Under Jolly Roger 5. Ready for Boarding (Live-Album from 1988, containing only songs from the 1st three albums - damn good!) And I am very excited to hear what Pete has to say when I heard some more of Running Wild!

I got the Doomsday News compilation on VHS in 1998. I was like: what is THIS!? This is RAD! It was the video to Conquistadors. I worked at a music store and was able to order imports. I quickly got a slew of Running Wild. It's all I'd listen to for the next two years straight.

My favorite album is Pile of skulls

I had the pleasure of watching Running Wild at Wacken in 2009 and it was magnificent. I remember it started raining halfway through the show and it was just perfect. Hymns like Raise your fist and Under Jolly Roger will forever be etched into my memory. Oh, and how about you get Ryan, Nick and perhaps Keeler to do a Bathory album ranking? That would be great!

Great ranking guys. I would put Pile Of Skulls on my top 5 list. I think Treasure Island is one of their best songs. Take care🤘.

Under Jolly Roger Port Royal Death or Glory Those 3 albums are gems between the power metal genre. As Ryan said Riding The Storm is one of the best power metal songs ever!!! The pirate theme really made them into something unique!!! Blazon Stone is pretty awesome also!!!!

Running Wild did a brilliant version of Thin Lizzy's Genocide. Blazon Stone is a good album!

As far as playing in the US, there’s some fantastic footage on RU-vid of RW playing Long Beach, CA at a club somewhere, but it was one of only a few shows they’ve ever played in the States. Allegedly, Rolf is terrified of flying, but I don’t know if that’s 100 percent accurate. Andreas Marschall did the artwork for a good chunk of RW’s 90s catalog, including singles and merch, he also did Blind Guardian’s albums in that time too. Incredible work.

Like Pete I've never listened to them. The guys really sold it though.

I always had wondered about this band as well. When opportunities came to get the albums a while ago, I’d pass and get something else. Finally I tried them out and loved it quickly. I have all 80’s albums and now need to get 90’s and more. Really like the first two albums and agree that when the pirate thing kicked off, they progressed better as they went

My top 5: 1. Blazon Stone 2. Death Or Glory 3. Pile Of Skulls 4. Port Royal 5. The Rivalry

1. Pile of skulls 2. Blazon stone 3. Black hand inn 4. Death or glory 5. Port royal

Great show on a well deserving band. 5. Port Royal 4. Death or Glory 3. Blazon Stone 2. Pile of Skulls 1. Black Hand Inn

1. Black Hand Inn 2. Death Or Glory 3. Port Royal 4. Under Jolly Rogger 5. Pile Of Skuls

What are the best albums according to their opinion?

1. Pile of Skulls 2. Rogues en Vogue 3. Gates to Purgatory 4. Masquerade 5. Victory

Great show Pete, any chance of ranking the albums of Spiritual Beggars? 👍

BLAZON STONE: "Lonewolf"; "Little Big Horn"!!!

Part of the problem with Running Wild was until those Noise remasters came out you couldn't buy the albums unless you were at a festival. And touring America is very expensive for European bands. If you read the Damn The Machine book Rolf says he thought touring America was too much of an expensive venture. Not to mention that tour with Celtic Frost and Voivod was a bad experience for him (though he didn't help by having a roadie announce them as "the heaviest band in the world" which wasn't ever true, as much as I love Running Wild).

My top 5: Death or Glory Black Hand Inn Port Royal Masquerade Under Jolly Roger

Gates to Purgatory and Port Royal are masterpieces.Their Best albums.😄👍🤘🤘

Black hand inn is perfect. And has great album art showing 3 ages of Rolf.

Had heard of them and some tracks. I have liked what i heard just for some reason didn't collect or know what I ought to own beyond a video I have on VHS -Death Or Glory live I liked years ago I picked up for $1 at bargain bin at record store many years ago. Haven't watched for long time cause don't have and need VHS player again. I know you guys will let me know what I need to have on cd or vinyl. Thanks.

My rank: 1 Death or Glory 2 Pile of Skulls 3 Under Jolly Roger 4 Blazon Stone 5 Port Royal 6 Black Hand Inn 7 Gates to Purgatory 8 The Rivalry 9 Branded and Exiled 10 Masquerade 11 The Brotherhood 12 Victory 13 Rapid Foray 14 Blood on Blood 15 Resilient 16 Rogues en Vogue 17 Shadowmaker Almost all albums between 1984 to 1998 are real masterpiece! Unfortunately Rolf's XXI century stuff is much weaker.

These guys have a good following in Europe.

1. Port Royal or Death Or Glory (can't decide between them, Port Royal has the greatest tracks, but Death Or Glory is the most consistent, both brilliant albums) 3. Gates To Purgatory 4. Blazon Stone 5. Under Jolly Roger 6. Branded And Exiled 7. Black Hand Inn 8. Pile Of Skulls 9. Masquerade 10. The Rivalry 11. Victory 12. Rogues En Vogue 14. The Brotherhood 14. Rapid foray 15. Shadowmaker 16. Resilient One of the greatest Heavy Metal bands ever.

Pete, you gotta get in2 RUNNING WILD 🤘

My problem with this band is the constant line up changes, it's worse than Rage ! it's obvious that it's Rolf's band.

Great band as well is Iron Savior and Gamma Ray.

Wait there's a new album this year?!?!

I got into Running Wild because both Jorg Michael and Stefan Schwartzmann from U.D.O./Accept were in the band. Pete, I second the boys, please for the love of dog go check them out. The album Death or Glory is a wonderful jumping off point, Riding the Storm is indeed one of the best album openers ever. Speaking of which, maybe a ranking of U.D.O. albums...? My (partial) list: 11. Victory--It's alright, this was the first album I got of theirs that I didn't love. Also started the trend with this band of awful programmed/computer drums. 10. Branded & Exiled--Exactly what Ryan said, nothing wrong with the album, but they had stronger stuff. 9. Under Jolly Roger--A bit low on my list, I know, but everything from here on out I think is god-tier Running Wild. Musicianship was still a bit amateurish compared to later albums, but the songs are there. 8. Blazon Stone--Perhaps their most accessible album. Nothing wrong with that, but not *quite* as ballsy as other albums. Still great. 7. Gates To Purgatory--Again, I echo what Ryan said about it. Real unique in their catalog, awesome sound, I just slightly favor their later more power metal sound. 6. Black Hand Inn--This album forward is really hard for me to rank. Something had to go here, though. Really consistent album. 5. Masquerade--What can I say? Another killer album. 4. The Rivalry--The last great, god-tier album they made, in my opinion. My 4-6 could be swapped around easily, depending on my mood. Jorg Michael's drums are killer, the riffs are on fire, Rolf sounds great. Unforgiveably terrible album art, though. 3. Port Royal--Their first uncompromisingly excellent album, I think. The addition of Stefan Schwartzmann was the last needed touch. 2. Pile Of Skulls--This was so close to being my #1. Amazing cover art, bangers beginning to end. 1. Death or Glory-- #1 realistically couldn't be anything else for me. My first Running Wild album, still the one that simply blows me away every time. Everything from The Brotherhood on I haven't gotten or deeply listened to, I can't quite get over the programmed drum sound that Rolf seems to favor on a lot of those later albums. But I owe it to the band to pick the rest of the albums up at some point, I'm just not in a rush. Fun fact, the current lineup of the band is the longest-lasting in its history (6 whole years!).

Same thing for Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride goddamnt it!

1- PORT ROYAL 2 - DEATH OR GLORY 3 - BLACK HAND INN

What happened Ryan, if you read the recent Noise limited remasters, is [Rolf talking in the interview for “Branded”] the guy writing the majority of lyrics on the first album was into satanism, and then he left, leaving Rolf & Co. to come up with the second album from scratch. So the rest of the group was just trying to pull shit together for that second LP; that’s why it’s uneven. Indeed, even Rolf says they settled into a groove starting on Port Royal.

Under Jolly Roger is my fav, even though Port Royal has stronger melodies and Death Or Glory is their most accomplished recording. From the 90s I love the crushing Masquerade, but the stiffness of the drumming on the rest of albums annoys me a bit.

All I care about are the first two

1) Death or Glory 2) Pile of Skulls 3) Port Royal 4) Black Hand Inn 5) Under Jolly Roger 6) Blazon Stone 7) Masquerade 8) Rivalry 9) Gates to Purgatory 10) Rapid Foray. Pete you are missing such good stuff. Unfortunately for 20 years it is like a solo project and just some good songs here and then. History and influence as big as Helloween. Rich I think Black Hand Inn should have been out five or six years later. They have toured with Motley too.

Running Wild at Wacken 2003 was awesome!!!

To echo Ryan, yessss if you do not dig Riding the Storm, this band is not for you. The same applies to “Treasure Island”. Try this one. More on the epic side but I swear. The briefest 11 minutes of your life.

can i please join im a metal nerd how can i join

Gates to Purgatory. Branded and Exiled. Shadowmaker. That's about it, not a fan of their Pirate material in between.

Cmon rich, intro to a band doesn’t mean you go straight into this album that album that song. We wanna know where they from, since when, how many albums, who they sound like and change in styles. You gave same answer for grave digger.

Gates and B&E are the best. Jolly Roger was good. Then they lost me the further they got into the pirate metal schtick. Found it to be pretty boring stuff.

Never ever heard of this band. I’ll probably never hear about them again, either.

Genuinely never heard of them and clearly don't deserve to be ranked.