Northern German melodic power metallers Mob Rules are celebrating their 30th anniversary. Time to let it rip! With "Celebration Day - 30 Years Of Mob Rules", the band around singer Klaus Dirks releases a compilation that could hardly have become more extensive and of higher quality. With over 150 minutes of playing time (spread over two CDs), the capacity of the medium is stretched to the limit with 30 hand-picked songs, including not only obvious band classics such as "Black Rain", "Hollowed Be Thy Name" and "Rain Song", but also songs that have previously been less in the spotlight.
"I immediately have to think of "Way Of The World", which was the last song on our "Hollowed Be Thy Name" album from 2002," explains Klaus. "We were able to get ex-Helloween/Masterplan guitarist Roland Grapow for a guest appearance and in the end the eight-and-a-half-minute track became one of the best in our repertoire."
In addition to this great cross-section of the band's career, there are also some tracks that were previously only available digitally (for example the latest single "Hymn Of The Damned" and the Amon Amarth cover "Raven's Flight"). Especially for this compilation, all these tracks have been carefully remastered by Markus Teske.
With three brand new cover songs, "Celebration Day - 30 Years Of Mob Rules" also contains previously unreleased material. With great attention to detail, the band took on songs as different as "Run To The Hills" (Iron Maiden), "Fame" (Irene Cara) and "Square Hammer" (Ghost).
French artist Stan-W Decker (Primal Fear, Blue Öyster Cult, Rage) was enlisted for the visual design of the anniversary release, creating the perfect setting with a breathtaking cover illustration containing numerous cross-references to the Mob Rules band history.
All in all, every detail of "Celebration Day - 30 Years Of Mob Rules" displays the incredibly high quality standards of a band that doesn't do things by halves. Here's to the next 30 years!
Tracklisting:
CD 1
01. Way Of The World
02. Run To The Hills (Iron Maiden Cover)
new unreleased track
03. Fame (Irene Cara Cover)
new unreleased track
04. Square Hammer (Ghost Cover)
new unreleased track
05 Ghost Town (re-recorded)
previously digital only
06. Sacred Heart (Dio Cover)
07. Ghost Of A Chance
08. Hollowed Be Thy Name
09. Sinister Light
10. Black Rain
11. Ice & Fire
12. Somerled
13. Flag Of Life
14. Unholy War
15. Fuel To The Fire
CD2
01. Raven's Flight (Amon Amarth Cover)
previously digital only
02. Hymn Of The Damned
previously digital only
03 Lord Of Madness (re-recorded)
04. Evolution's Falling
05. Shores Ahead
06. Hydrophobia
07. Hold Back The Light
08. Tele Box Fool
09. Desperate Son
10. The Sirens
11. Better Morning
12. Trial By Fire
13. On The Edge
14. Rain Song
15. Dykemaster's Tale
"Celebration Day - 30 Years Of Mob Rules" will be released on May 3, 2024 worldwide through SPV/Steamhammer as 2CD digipak, download and stream: https://MobRules.lnk.to/CelebrationDay
MOB RULES live 2024:
03.05 DE-Bremen - Meisenfrei
04.05. DE-Duisburg - Parkhaus Meiderich
05.05. DE-Waldbronn - Soundcheck One
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