by Justin Gaines
– Senior Columnist —
It’s hard to believe that German power metal band Mob Rules has been around long enough to be celebrating their 20th anniversary. Their debut album was released 15 years ago, but apparently they’ve been active a full two decades now. The band is celebrating in style with a deluxe 4-disc retrospective called Timekeeper – 20th Anniversary Box. Here’s what you get:
Disc 1 is titled Timekeeper: The Best, and is exactly what the name implies. It has 15 of the best Mob Rules songs, covering all of the band’s studio albums from 1999’s Savage Land through 2012’s Cannibal Nation. Honestly, one disc doesn’t do this band’s catalog justice, and many of their better, more recent songs are omitted. Two full discs of “best of” material would have been perfect.
Disc 2 is titled Timekeeper: Friends, and it’s this disc that will get serious Mob Rules fans to open their wallets for this set. It includes ten new recordings, all of which feature at least one guest performer. Guests include Udo Dirkschneider (ex-Accept, U.D.O.), Bernhard Weiss (Axxis), Amanda Somerville, Herman Frank (Victory), Chity Somapala (ex-Firewind) and others. Seven of the ten are re-recordings of older Mob Rules songs, and it’s very cool to see how the guest performers influence those songs. One is a high energy cover of UFO’s “Lights Out.” There are two new songs as well.
Disc 3 is a 2-song single. It features the single version of “My Kingdom Come” and a live version of “Meet You in Heaven.” As cool as these songs are, this disc seems like a giant missed opportunity. They could easily have collected the various b-sides and bonus tracks they’ve released over the years as a treat to those fans who can’t always afford the pricey imports and EP releases.
Disc 4 (which we were not provided for review) is a DVD featuring the full Mob Rules performance from ProgPower USA, five video clips and additional live footage. This should be another highlight of the Timekeeper set, especially for those who were in attendance at that ProgPower USA performance.
It’s not perfect, but there’s really no way for any serious Mob Rules fan to skip this set. Timekeeper is loaded with great German power metal songs, and has more than enough extras to make it a worthwhile purchase even if you already own all of the Mob Rules albums. And the price point is about what you’d expect to pay for a DVD alone, making this an even more impressive set.
Genre: Power Metal
Band:
Klaus Dirks (v)
Matthias Mineur (g)
Sven Ludke (g)
Markus Brinkmann (b)
Nikolas Fritz (d)
Jan Christian Halfbrodt (k)
Track Listing:
Disc 1 – Timekeeper: The Best
1. Temple Fanfare
2. Pilot of Earth
3. Black Rain
4. Cannibal Nation
5. Astral Hand
6. Close My Eyes
7. Dead Man’s Face
8. Among the Gods
9. In the Land of Wind and Rain
10. Hollowed Be Thy Name
11. Last Farewell
12. Ice and Fire
13. Lord of Madness (live)
14. With Sparrows
15. Rain Song (live)
Disc 2 – Timekeeper: Friends
1. Insurgeria
2. Celebration Day
3. Lights Out
4. End of All Days
5. Broken
6. All Above the Atmosphere
7. Coast to Coast
8. How the Gypsy Was Born
9. Run With the Wolf
10. My Kingdom Come
Disc 3 – Single
1. My Kingdom Come
2. Meet You in Heaven (live)
Label: AFM Records
Website: www.mobrules.de
Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5/10
