Hail to England

The title is a thank-you. At the time, Joey DeMaio said that after the American label dropped Manowar it was the British press and fans who kept the band going, called England its spiritual home, and named the album for them. Music for Nations, Into Glory Ride's British label, released this one too. Music Week reported in its issue of 18 February 1984 that the new Manowar album, recorded specifically for the British market, was being rush-released ahead of the band's first UK tour, and the band itself later described the production as rushed and compromised. The producer was Jack Richardson of Canada. Ross the Boss has said the band worshipped "Battlescar", the track Richardson had recorded with Rush and Max Webster, and trusted him to cope with its volume; DeMaio recalled first approaching Jon Mathias again, whose manager declined on hearing there was no advance. The album was recorded at Phase One Studios in Toronto. Ross remembered a budget of about $20,000 and a twelve-day session that produced almost two albums' worth of songs, many of which ended up on Sign of the Hammer; in 2025 the band told it differently, saying that thirteen songs for the two albums were cut in a single day and only "Guyana" was left for the next. Eric Adams sang, Ross played guitars and keyboards, DeMaio played four- and eight-string bass, piccolo bass and bass pedals, and Scott Columbus played drums and percussion. St. Mary's Cathedral Choir appears on the title track, and "Black Arrows" is played on piccolo bass. DeMaio wrote every song, "Each Dawn I Die" and "Army of the Immortals" together with Ross, and Ross has said that "Each Dawn I Die" and "Bridge of Death" were played in his tuning with only the sixth string dropped to C sharp. Robin Brouwers engineered, and Ken Landgraf painted the cover. It reached No. 83 in the UK albums chart, two weeks in all, the band's first British Top 100 entry. It was remixed and remastered in 2019 as Hail to England Imperial Edition MMXIX.