HEAVY METAL ANTHEM

Heavy Metal Anthem, released on 21 April 2000 by Victor Entertainment as VICP-60992, is a project album produced by Chris Tsangarides, Naoto Shibata and Yorimasa Hisatake. It began as a plan to make a record of Graham Bonnet singing Anthem songs. The name had lain dormant since the 1992 split, but Shibata and Akio Shimizu recorded fresh backing tracks for Bonnet to sing over, and with that the Anthem name was revived. All ten songs come from the band's King Records years: it opens with "Gypsy Ways (Win, Lose Or Draw)" and goes on through "Evil Touch", "Show Must Go On!", "The Juggler" and "Hunting Time", each re-sung with English lyrics. "Gypsy Ways (Win, Lose Or Draw)" preceded the album as a single on 23 March 2000, and a Japanese tour followed. The whole undertaking revived calls for a reunion and led straight to Seven Hills the following year. The friendship with Bonnet lasted: in 2020 the two made another record together, Explosive!! -studio jam-.