UMUR "Under Jolly Roger" is the 3rd full-length studio album by German speed/power metal act Running Wild. The album was released through Noise International in May 1987. It´s the successor to "Branded and Exiled" from 1985 and features the same four-piece lineup who recorded the predecessor. Running Wild enjoyed a lot of success with the album, and it´s among their best selling releases, shifting around 250.000 copies.

Stylistically "Under Jolly Roger" is a transition album sandwiched between the band´s first two occult themed speed/heavy metal albums, and their later pirate themed power/heavy metal releases. "Under Jolly Roger" features a little from both worlds, but there is a noticeable change in musical direction (and especially in band image) compared to the first two albums. The music often features a more epic atmosphere and an uplifting spirit, and the occult darkness of the first releases is more or less gone here.

"Under Jolly Roger" is still a pretty gritty release though, so those who think all Euro power/heavy metal releases are polished and neo-classical influenced vanilla metal couldn´t be more wrong. Some of the grit is a result of the raw sound production but the basis on the music is still also a relatively raw speed/heavy metal influenced style. Rock 'n' Rolf probably isn´t what most listeners would think of as a classic power metal vocalist either, as his voice is rough and his delivery is only semi-melodic.

The album features strong musicianship and relatively intriguing songwriting, but to my ears "Under Jolly Roger" does suffer a bit as a result of the undecided musical direction. Some transition albums work pretty well and help bridge otherwise major transitions in an artist´s sound, and while "Under Jolly Roger" ultimately successfully does that too, it doesn´t work as well as a consistent release and listening experience. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.

666sharon666 Under Jolly Roger is the third Running Wild album from 1987. As you can probably tell from the album's title and cover artwork, this is the point that Running Wild discovered pirates. It is also the point that their transition into a power metal band begins. But only begins, as sound wise this is quite a transitional sounding album from Running Wild.

That doesn't mean however that Under Jolly Roger wasn't their best album up until that point, or at least for me, it was. The band sticks with the rather short eight track album formula, but the level of song-writing is the highest they'd had so far, with almost every track being memorable. The sound of the album is traditional heavy metal mixed with some faster ideas that closer resemble a very early European style power metal sound rather than the speed metal of earlier releases. This is most evidence in the final song Merciless Game but others, notable the opening title track, also feature guitar riffs in more of a power metal vein. The title track for me is the album's best and most addictive song but the two that immediately follow it, Beggar's Night and Diamonds of the Black Chest also deserve recognition. Like much of the early Running Wild material a good portion of Under Jolly Roger was later re-recorded but I don't find either version of the songs overly better this time around, which certainly wasn't the case with the band's last album Branded and Exiled, where I find the later versions much stronger. While I do like the band's debut Gates to Purgatory quite a bit, Under Jolly Roger is the first true must own for any fan of the band. 4.5 stars.

Warthur Running Wild's Under Jolly Roger unfurls the band's pirate obsession in epic fashion, as well as setting the formula for much of their subsequent output - to wit, lead off with a strong opener, display diminishing returns as the album progresses, lose this listener's interest entirely towards the end of the first side. It's competent enough stuff, but it's rather basic and forgettable, and there were bands pulling this sort of populist traditional heavy metal off far better in the 1980s (though without the pirate schtick). Add another half-star if you really, really like pirates and wish bands would just sing about piratey stuff all the time, I guess.