UMUR "Welcome To The Ball" is the 4th full-length studio album by US, California based power/heavy metal act Vicious Rumors. The album was released through Atlantic Records in July 1991. It´s the successor to the eponymously titled album from 1989 and features the same lineup who recorded the predecessor.

"Welcome To The Ball" features a slightly harder edged sound and style than it´s direct predecessor, and although the majority of the material are still power/heavy metal, there are a couple of more thrash metal oriented parts found on the album too (an example is album opener "Abandoned"). The darker and heavier sound production also contributes to the feeling, that "Welcome To The Ball" is the heaviest Vicious Rumors album up until that point. The softer and in the case of the latter, more commercially oriented "Children" and "When Love Comes Down" pull in the other direction though, and "Welcome To The Ball" is a pretty diverse album within the confines of the US power/heavy metal genre.

The material on the 11 track, 45:03 minutes long album are overall well written, catchy, and memorable, but the real strength of Vicious Rumors is the brilliant musicianship. They are an incredibly well playing band, and each note and rhythm are played with great conviction and passion. Lead vocalist Carl Albert deserves a special mention as he is a singer extraordinaire and his performance here is among his strongest. He hits the perfect balance between raw and powerful heavy metal vocals and more melodic and paatos filled ditto. Upon conclusion "Welcome To The Ball" is another high quality release by Vicious Rumors and to my ears it would make a great starting point to newcommers to the band. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Stephen The fourth release of Vicious Rumors, "Welcome To The Ball", is a real deal of what we called a true American power metal, slicing between the melodic edge of British heavy metal with some furious thrashy edge, while Carl Albert's screaming voice is purely a great blend of Rob Halford and Sebastian Bach. This album was their best selling release and the style is probably not new if you're already with their previous releases, but what makes this album is more interesting than the rest is it contained a necessary commercial element but generally most of the songs are still idealistic and brutally fast.

"Abandoned" is my first fave track of the album. A superb slab of heavy metal with an intense screamer and dense riffs. "You Only Live Twice" is faster, and the thrashy and violent riffs reminds me of Skid Row's "Slave To The Grind". "Raise Your Hands" introduced a double pedal assault, melodic riffs, dynamic drumming, and a beautiful harmonic chorus. This is quite similar to "Six Stepsisters", another wonderful track to love. "Children" is a decent ballad and I think "When Love Comes Down" is much better. The song is a reminiscent of Whitesnake's style and Albert's powerful vocal at the end of the song is outstanding.

Of course the album is not without flaw. I see a string of fillers such as "Savior From Anger", "Strange Behaviour", or "Ends of The Earth" but all of them are still acceptable. The strength of the album, beside what I've stated above, is also on the musical variety of each track which prevented the album from being monotonous and enjoyable for repetitive spins. "Welcome To The Ball" is one of the great legacies of the late Carl Albert, he has such a volcanic pipes and his vocal is definitely one of the valuable point on the album. For fans of heavy metal, Vicious Rumors had done such a monstrous job and this release deserved at least four-stars.