Two bands exist called Kingdom Come - it is also an alias of Ron Allen, hou… Read Full Bio ↴Two bands exist called Kingdom Come - it is also an alias of Ron Allen, house music producer.

For the first, see: Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come. Melodic hard rock band Kingdom Come was formed in 1987 by singer-songwriter Lenny Wolf in Hamburg, Germany, with the revolving cast of other band members soon leaving Wolf the focus. After the release of their first single, 1988's "Get It On", many fans mistakenly regarded the band as a Led Zeppelin reunion. Kingdom Come's close resemblance to that group, particularly with Wolf's Robert Plant like vocals, has led to continuing controversy. Although the bands had a great deal in common, as shown by critics' nickname 'Kingdom Clone', Wolf has pursued his own personal vision of mixing slick rock hooks with a heavy metal ethos for decades.

The group's first album, the self-titled 'Kingdom Come', became quite popular due to its arena-ready hard rock sound. As the guys gained more and more commercial success, the 1988 album had three Billboard top 40 singles: "Get It On", "Living Out Of Touch", and "What Love Can Be". As stated before, supporters and detractors both felt strongly reminded of Led Zeppelin as well as, to a lesser extent, fellow German group Scorpions. Ironically, former Kingdom Come drummer James Kottak later joined the latter band.

Kingdom Come came about after the breakup a moderately successful rock project of Wolf's, known as Stone Fury. Wolf's new record company, Polygram, allowed him incredible freedom to assemble Kingdom Come's lineup and direct its sound. Recruiting Pittsburgh-based lead guitarist Danny Stag, Louisvillians Rick Steier (guitar) and James Kottak (drums), and Californian Johnny B. Frank (bass), this new outfit marked the first band where Wolf sang without playing guitar. The frontman later admitted that, for a while, it was a very awkward adjustment.

As stated before, Kingdom Come's sound was thought by many to be highly derivative of Led Zeppelin's, to the point that some listeners initially thought that Kingdom Come was actually a reunion effort. The band's first single was called "Get It On", being a great example of their aggressive sound. Before long, the group's eponymous debut went gold. Their second single ended up being the power ballad "What Love Can Be", receiving much airplay and having a music video created for it that picked up MTV airplay. By the time the single "Loving You" was released, the album had reached platinum status, fans in United States, Germany, and Canada loving the group despite the controversy.

The guys toured in England supporting Magnum on their "Wings Of Heaven" tour. As well, the band opened for the North American "Monsters of Rock" tour in 1988, supporting the artists Dokken, Scorpions, Metallica, and Van Halen. Following that, the guys were tapped to support the Scorpions on their North American "Savage Amusement" tour, at least until they were forced off. According to Stag, Lenny Wolf found the stage ramps reserved for the Scorpions' set irresistible. After several reprimands from the Scorpions' management, the singer continued to use the full stage, and Kingdom Come were asked to forfeit the rest of the tour.

The band were directed by management and the people at Polygram to get a new recording available soon. In 1989, Kingdom Come released their next album, called 'In Your Face', but some fans believed that the group seemed to have peaked too early. The continuing backlash against the band's perceived appropriating of other artists' sounds (earning them the derisive moniker "Kingdom Clone") hurt their commercial appeal. After time went on and the band's second album simply failed to sell well, all members other than Wolf quit the group.

The 90s would see several releases by the outfit, though with Kingdom Come receiving some critical scorn as well as being unable to breakthrough commercially the same way again. Music critic Jason Anderson has remarked for Allmusic that the band experienced "one of hard rock's most intense backlashes". For his part, Stag went back to Pittsburgh and immersed himself in blues and rock n rock projects. Steier and Kottak went back to Kentucky and assembled the short-lived Wild Horses project, the two of them releasing a poor-selling album on Atlantic Records. Both would later resurface in Warrant. Kottak also has served with Scorpions.

With an all new line-up, Kingdom Come had one more release on Polygram, titled 'Hands of Time', which Wolf managed to see sold internationally. By 1993, Wolf had returned to Germany to regroup, focusing his efforts on central Europe hard rock fans. In recent years, the group is often billed as "Kingdom Come & Lenny Wolf", "Lenny Wolf & Kingdom Come", "Lenny Wolf's Kingdom Come", et cetera. Their latest work as of 2015 is the album 'Outlier', which came out on May 7, 2013.

Website: www.lennywolf.com/

Secondly, Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come (often billed as just "Kingdom Come") was the name of a project by enigmatic British singer-songwriter Arthur Brown. With his larger-than-life stage presence, Brown represented a key link in the evolution of psychedelic rock into what would be become heavy metal. He also had a project by the name of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.

Joe English
Kingdom Come Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

(Rehearsal Room "Hello")

Hello, call me Joe
Got a big mouth, that I know

Used to be a problem, didn't care at all
The only ones I've listened to were John & Paul
Hello I'm just Joe

Disbelieve and hate has risen more and more
Getting out of bed, meant another war
Hello, I'm just your Joe

[Chorus:]
Pardon me for sharing planet earth with you
I didn't mean no harm
To live and let live, is what I'm trying to say
It cannot be that hard

Hello, call me joe
Got a big mouth, now you know - yeah

Once I got a six-string, I could ease my mind
She saved me lot's of trouble, kept me out of sight
Hello, yeah

All the schools around have given up on me
Being left alone is all I've asked to be
Hello, I'm just Joe

Pardon me guys, for being alive
I didn't mean no harm
To live and let live, is what I'm trying to say
It cannot so hard

Hello I'm your Joe...

Helloooooooooooooo... - aaa !!!

Overall Meaning

The song "Joe English" by Lenny Wolf of Kingdom Come is a hard rock track that expresses the frustration and alienation of a man named Joe who just wants to live and let live, but finds himself the target of hate and disbelieve. He introduces himself as Joe, a man with a big mouth but not heedless of the opinions of others, as he has only ever listened to John and Paul. He admits that he used to be a problem and didn't care at all, but now he realizes that he has to care, especially as disbelieve and hate continue to rise. Every day he wakes up feeling like he's entering a new war.

Joe's only solace is his six-string guitar, which he says has saved him a lot of trouble and kept him out of sight. The schools have given up on him and he just wants to be left alone. Joe begs for pardon for just being alive and declares that he isn't trying to cause any harm. He is just trying to live and let live, something he believes shouldn't be so difficult. The song ends with a prolonged scream from Joe, as if venting his long-held frustrations to the world.

Line by Line Meaning

Hello, call me Joe
Introducing himself as Joe

Got a big mouth, that I know
Admitting to being outspoken

Used to be a problem, didn't care at all
Was once a troublesome person with no regard for others

The only ones I've listened to were John & Paul
Only listened to The Beatles

Disbelieve and hate has risen more and more
Cynicism and animosity have increased

Getting out of bed, meant another war
Everyday was a struggle

Pardon me for sharing planet earth with you
Apologizing for coexisting with others

I didn't mean no harm
Joe doesn't intend to harm anyone

To live and let live, is what I'm trying to say
Joe wants to live peacefully with others

It cannot be that hard
Joe doesn't think it should be difficult to coexist

Once I got a six-string, I could ease my mind
Playing guitar helped him relax