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Rapid Foray is the 16th album from German Power Metal veterans Running Wild and it's getting pretty obvious that main man Rock 'n' Rolf is running out of ideas. Crunchy German Power Metal has been Running Wild's stock and trade and Rapid Foray certainly sounds like a Running Wild album. Rolf's rough vocals shout the choruses in a Biff Byford sort of way, the guitars have great tone and many of the songs move along at a brisk pace. The lyrics are pretty generic even for a band that mined the "Pirate Metal" vein for so many years and it's no surprise the best track on the album, "The Depth of the Sea (Nautilus)" is an instrumental. Slow, moody and atmospheric, this song evokes some of those old "ballads" by Accept like "Guardians of the Night" or "Princess of the Dawn." Running Wild then go back to the pirate well for the fun "Black Bart," the only other decent song on Rapid Foray. This wouldn't be so bad if it were just a run-of-the-mill Running Wild album, but for a few songs Rolf and the boys channel the silly, slightly psychedelic Hard Rock band Slade (the band that wrote "Cum on Feel the Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now") and their bluesy, pop sound. Every time I hear the opening riff of "Rapid Foray" with its Celtic reel vibe I think of Slade's 80s hit "Run, Runaway." When he's not rehashing his own material, Rolf is rehashing someone else's and it isn't even from a good band. Rapid Foray misses so many marks. Other than a couple of songs, it's either boring or annoying. Go back to Port Royal or Under Jolly Roger if you want to hear something decent by Running Wild.