Sign of the Hammer

Sign of the Hammer is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band Manowar, released in 1984 on 10/Virgin Records.

Sign of the Hammer
Studio album by
Manowar
ReleasedOctober 15, 1984
RecordedPhase One Studios, Toronto, Canada, November 1983,
Virgin Records' Manor Studios, Oxford, UK, 1984
GenreHeavy metal, power metal
Length40:33
Label10/Virgin
ProducerJack Richardson, Tony Platt (track 5)
Manowar chronology
Hail to England
(1984)		 Sign of the Hammer
(1984)		 Fighting the World
(1987)
Singles from Sign of the Hammer
  1. "All Men Play on 10"
    Released: September 1984 (UK) [1]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal9/10[3]
Rock Hard9.5/10[4]

Reception

In 2005, Sign of the Hammer was ranked number 418 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[5]

Track listing

All songs written by Joey DeMaio, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."All Men Play on 10" 4:01
2."Animals" 3:34
3."Thor (The Powerhead)" 5:23
4."Mountains" 7:39
5."Sign of the Hammer" 4:18
6."The Oath"Ross the Boss, DeMaio4:54
7."Thunderpick" (instrumental) 3:31
8."Guyana (Cult of the Damned)" 7:10

Song information
  • "Guyana (Cult of the Damned)" is a song about the 1978 mass suicide led by Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple group, at Jonestown, northwestern Guyana.[6][7][8]
  • "Thor (The Powerhead)" is about the Norse God Thor (as the name suggests), destroying the evil of the world and the Giants (enemies of the Gods) as well. The song often brings about the Ragnarök, with "live to fight on that final day" stated many times. The Norse people believed that at the end of the world the Gods and the Giants would battle for control. It is foreseen that the Gods would lose, and many of their deaths have been foretold before the battle. Regardless, the Gods still will fight on the final day for the right to control Earth. This song has been covered by symphonic metal band Therion on the album Crowning of Atlantis.

Personnel

Manowar

Production
  • Jack Richardson – producer
  • Tony Platt – producer on track 5, mixing
  • Arun Chakraverty – mastering
  • Rian Hughes – sleeve design
  • Lucifer Burns, Anthony "Chio" Chiofalo, Armand "The Arm" Biondi – technicians
  • Jay Bergen – management (representation)

Charts
Chart (1984) Peak
position
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[9] 34
UK Albums (OCC)[10] 73

References
  1. "Manowar singles".
  2. Rivadavia, Eduardo. Sign of the Hammer at AllMusic
  3. Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 213. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  4. Trojan, Frank (1984). "Review: Manowar – Sign of the Hammer". Rock Hard (in German). No. 8. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  5. Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 42. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
  6. "Manowar – Sign of the Hammer – Reviews – Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives".
  7. Petiteau, Frantz-E. CAMION BLANC: HEROIC FANTASY & METAL Volume 1. ISBN 9782357796065.
  8. "10 Songs About Cult Leader Jim Jones & Jonestown | Playlist". October 20, 2017.
  9. "Swedishcharts.com – Manowar – Sign of the Hammer". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  10. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
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