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Review: Grave Digger - The Ballad of Mary
Grave Digger
www.grave-digger-clan.com
The Ballad of Mary

Label: Napalm Records
Year released: 2011
Duration: 22:24
Tracks: 5
Genre: Heavy Metal

Rating:
3.5/5


Review online: March 13, 2011
Reviewed by: MetalMike
Readers' Rating
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Rated 3.69/5 (73.85%) (13 Votes)
Review

Looking back over the career of Grave Digger, one can see they have made a habit of releasing EPs and "extended" singles. While many have included new or unreleased songs, 2011's The Ballad of Mary consists only of re-recorded songs; two from 1996's Tunes of War and two from 2010's The Clans Will Rise Again (there are a total of five songs, with two different versions of "The Ballad of Mary.")

According to Napalm Records, these re-recordings were inspired by the band's 30th anniversary and their performance at the Wacken Festival, where they were joined on stage by several guests. Now, if these were the live versions, with those guest performances, I could see the point of this release, but they aren't. They are simply new studio versions with Doro Pesch ("The Ballad of Mary"), Hansi Kursch ("Rebellion") and Van Canto (both of the previous songs.) And, to be truthful, they are so close to the originals as to be pointless. If you enjoy Grave Digger's take on Scottish Heavy Metal, you'll certainly like these songs. Of course, if you like Grave Digger's take on Scottish Heavy Metal, you probably HAVE these songs. So, unless you are a Grave Digger completist, Doro or Hansi Kursch fanatic or for some inexplicable reason, you like Van Canto, you can safely pass on The Ballad of Mary and stick with the original albums.

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