Into Glory Ride

After Battle Hymns, Manowar lost its American deal. Joey DeMaio has said that the label had dropped the band without any idea of how to market it and left it for dead. The next home was the young Megaforce Records, and according to Metal Hammer's Malcolm Dome the band signed that contract in its own blood. The back cover carries the band's own text about being struck down from behind in 1982 and rising again, stronger than before, with those who stayed loyal, and it ends by naming John Robert Currie as one who never wavered. Scott Columbus replaced Donnie Hamzik on drums, alongside Eric Adams on vocals, Ross the Boss on guitars and keyboards, and DeMaio on four- and eight-string bass and bass pedals. The production is credited to Manowar and Jon Mathias, who had mixed the debut. The labels credit every song to DeMaio, with "Secret of Steel" and "Gloves of Metal" written together with Ross the Boss. Ross has said he wrote "Gloves of Metal" in his own tuning, with only the sixth string dropped to C sharp, a tuning he used again on Hail to England. The cover painting is by Geoffrey Thomas. Megaforce Records released the album in the United States in July 1983 on LP (MRI 169-666). In Britain it was licensed to Music for Nations, and Music Week's issue of 30 July 1983 lists it among the new albums as MFN 6. A Silver Edition with liner notes by Vinny Cecolini followed in 2001. In 2019 the original multitrack tapes were transferred to digital at 96 kHz, remixed by Ronald Prent at the band's Valhalla Studios and remastered by Darcy Proper for Into Glory Ride Imperial Edition MMXIX, which was sold at the band's concerts from 29 March and in shops from 30 May. In June 2019 the album spent one week at No. 100 in the German albums chart.