Review | Kingdom Come ‘Rendered Waters’

Lenny Wolf

Well they never actually went away. With a new line-up (only original vocalist Lenny Wolf remained) Kingdom Come released their third studio record in 1991 titled ‘Hands Of Time‘ (their last with Polygram records). Though the line-up has changed over the years singer/songwriter Lenny Wolf has stayed true to his heart and released a total of eleven studio records with the twelfth titled Rendered Waters due out in the U. S. April 5th, 2011.

Rendered Waters is a bit of a best of in a roundabout way. The new record will have three new original songs with the current line-up of Kingdom Come re-recording songs from the earlier days. Lenny Wolf explains,

“I purposely chose tracks from the very early days to show how we play, hear and feel the songs nowadays,” says Wolf. “Listening habits have changed dramatically, especially among the younger audience, which made it exciting for me to breathe new life into numbers which have not been heard for a while.”

And breathe new life they did. Rendered Waters is a very modern sounding record of Kingdom Come classic’s and new songs that ROCK! This is what Lenny Wolf and his band Kingdom Come have been doing since their 1988 self titled debut, creating heavy, hard rock music from the gut. Never caring about trends, the record industry or what people thought he should do, Lenny has written and recorded music that he loved first, from the heart, from his soul and that’s a formula for the best kind of hard rocking music that will stand the test of time. This is music of substance that doesn’t reflect the latest trend, gimmick or flavor of the week. On the other hand Kingdom Come doesn’t bring anything new to the table in terms of groundbreaking or innovation, it’s simply music from a talented songwriter and his bands take on this genre, Hard Rock and Metal, that we all love so much.

Lenny’s voice has stood the test of time and it sounds as powerful as when I first heard it on their breakthrough song ‘Get It On‘ (see video below).

Rendered Waters kicks of with the song ‘Can’t Deny‘ that sets the tone for a record of hard hitting re-tooled classic’s and originals that showcase the maturity and cohesiveness of the current line-up of Kingdom Come and how they have jelled as a unit. I love the riff on ‘The Wind‘ a tune that chugs along in heavy metal mode with the guitar accents on the downbeats as drummer Nada Rahy and bassist Frank Renke lay down a rock solid rhythm.

The song ‘Should I‘ is an epic tune that totally grooves and I can’t resist a slow head bang as Lenny’s emotional vocals and the soulful tastey guitar solo’s and eerie keyboards take me on a musical journey that I wish would never end. Man this is powerful stuff! ‘Pushing Hard‘ is a riff ladened hard rocker with a driving drum beat that breaks down in the middle with a cool little mellow section that sets up Forster’s scorching guitar solo.

The remake of ‘Seventeen‘ is an even sexier tune this time around that is a super heavy metal version with modern effects and treatments on Lenny’s vocals that brings it into the 21st century with taste. Frank Binke’s growling bass line and soaring guitar solo’s from guitarist Eric Forster, WOW!

The new tracks ‘Blue Trees‘ and ‘Is It fair Enough‘ are more upbeat tunes while the other new song ‘Don’t Remember‘ is a bit heavier and bluesier.

Rendered Waters will not disappoint any Kingdom Come fans that have been along for the ride the whole time and they shouldn’t have any problems with the new versions of these killer songs. And for anyone that is hearing this awesome band for the first time, you are in for a treat.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Favorite Track: ‘Should I‘

Rendered Waters

Rendered Waters Track Listing:
1. Can´t Deny (new version)
2. The Wind (new version)
3. Blue Trees (new song)
4. Should I (new version)
5. I´ve Been Trying (new version)
6. Pushing Hard (new version)
7. Seventeen (new version)
8. Is It Fair Enough (new song)
9. Linving Out Of Touch (new version)
10. Don`t Remember (new song)
11. Break Down The Wall (new version)

Kingdom Come are:
Lenny Wolf – Vocals
Eric Förster – Guitars
Nada Rahy – Drums
Frank Binke – Bass