Running Wild is a German heavy metal band formed in Hamburg in 1976. They w… Read Full Bio ↴Running Wild is a German heavy metal band formed in Hamburg in 1976. They were part of the German metal scene to emerge in the early to mid-1980s, and are also considered to be one of the country's so-called "big four" of power metal, along with Grave Digger, Helloween and Rage. Over the course of their career, they have released 17 studio albums, three live albums, five compilation albums, and six singles/EPs.
Although their earlier releases contained Satanic themes and imagery, from the third album on, the band's primary subject matter centered around pirates, sailing and other historical events. In 1987, the band released the album Under Jolly Roger, which was a switch to pirate-based and historical themes, creating and influencing the later named pirate metal subgenre of heavy metal in the 2000s in the process. While the historical lyrics were very superficial at first, the lyrics for later albums were intensively researched, by frontman Rolf Kasparek in particular.
After this album, from 1988 to 1992 (for the albums Port Royal, Death or Glory, Blazon Stone and Pile of Skulls), Running Wild mainly wrote historically based lyrics. In addition to lyrics about pirates, the band also addressed subjects like the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Waterloo, or the colonization of the New World by the Conquistadors.
In April 2009, Kasparek announced that Running Wild had split up. Their intended last show was at Wacken Open Air in July that year. It was recorded for CD and DVD release and appeared as The Final Jolly Roger in 2011. The split would prove temporary as they reunited in 2012. Running Wild played live for the Wacken Open Air festival in 2015. As of 2021, the band have released 17 studio albums, with their most recent being Blood on Blood.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_Wild_(band)
Studio albums
Gates to Purgatory (1984)
Branded and Exiled (1985)
Under Jolly Roger (1987)
Port Royal (1988)
Death or Glory (1989)
Blazon Stone (1991)
Pile of Skulls (1992)
Black Hand Inn (1994)
Masquerade (1995)
The Rivalry (1998)
Victory (2000)
The Brotherhood (2002)
Rogues en Vogue (2005)
Shadowmaker (2012)
Resilient (2013)
Rapid Foray (2016)
Blood on Blood (2021)
Live albums
Ready for Boarding (1988)
Death or Glory Tour – Live (1989)
Live (2002)
The Final Jolly Roger (2011)
Compilation albums
The First Years of Piracy (1991)
The Story of Jolly Roger (1998)
The Legendary Tales (2002)
20 Years in History (2003)
Best of Adrian (2006)
Black Demons on Stage (2010)
Greatest Hits (2011)
Riding the Storm: Very Best of the Noise Years 1983-1995 (2016)
Singles and EPs
"Victim of States Power" (1984)
"Bad to the Bone" (1989)
"Wild Animal" (1990)
"Little Big Horn" (1991)
"Lead or Gold" (1992)
"The Privateer" (1994)
"The Rivalry" (1998)
"Revolution" (2000)
"Crossing the Blades" (2019)
Although their earlier releases contained Satanic themes and imagery, from the third album on, the band's primary subject matter centered around pirates, sailing and other historical events. In 1987, the band released the album Under Jolly Roger, which was a switch to pirate-based and historical themes, creating and influencing the later named pirate metal subgenre of heavy metal in the 2000s in the process. While the historical lyrics were very superficial at first, the lyrics for later albums were intensively researched, by frontman Rolf Kasparek in particular.
After this album, from 1988 to 1992 (for the albums Port Royal, Death or Glory, Blazon Stone and Pile of Skulls), Running Wild mainly wrote historically based lyrics. In addition to lyrics about pirates, the band also addressed subjects like the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Waterloo, or the colonization of the New World by the Conquistadors.
In April 2009, Kasparek announced that Running Wild had split up. Their intended last show was at Wacken Open Air in July that year. It was recorded for CD and DVD release and appeared as The Final Jolly Roger in 2011. The split would prove temporary as they reunited in 2012. Running Wild played live for the Wacken Open Air festival in 2015. As of 2021, the band have released 17 studio albums, with their most recent being Blood on Blood.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_Wild_(band)
Studio albums
Gates to Purgatory (1984)
Branded and Exiled (1985)
Under Jolly Roger (1987)
Port Royal (1988)
Death or Glory (1989)
Blazon Stone (1991)
Pile of Skulls (1992)
Black Hand Inn (1994)
Masquerade (1995)
The Rivalry (1998)
Victory (2000)
The Brotherhood (2002)
Rogues en Vogue (2005)
Shadowmaker (2012)
Resilient (2013)
Rapid Foray (2016)
Blood on Blood (2021)
Live albums
Ready for Boarding (1988)
Death or Glory Tour – Live (1989)
Live (2002)
The Final Jolly Roger (2011)
Compilation albums
The First Years of Piracy (1991)
The Story of Jolly Roger (1998)
The Legendary Tales (2002)
20 Years in History (2003)
Best of Adrian (2006)
Black Demons on Stage (2010)
Greatest Hits (2011)
Riding the Storm: Very Best of the Noise Years 1983-1995 (2016)
Singles and EPs
"Victim of States Power" (1984)
"Bad to the Bone" (1989)
"Wild Animal" (1990)
"Little Big Horn" (1991)
"Lead or Gold" (1992)
"The Privateer" (1994)
"The Rivalry" (1998)
"Revolution" (2000)
"Crossing the Blades" (2019)
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
Under Jolly Roger
Running Wild Lyrics
Beggar's Night Blood, blood, bloody night The poor stand up and fight Marqu…
Diamonds of the Black Chest Since then he heard about the chest He's so wild he…
Land of Ice In 1987 they build a new machine To conquer our future,…
Merciless Game The fruits of the earth are dried up in the…
Raise Your Fist Friday night, dressed to kill, hell bent for the show Shiny…
Raw Ride Racing through the night Pounding engine's roar There's no…
Under Jolly Roger Weigh anchor, hoist the sails Cruisin' for booty on watery…
War In the Gutter Warriors of the street want to beat their enemies The shar…