Mercyful Fate/ King Diamond

So if I'm going to start buying stuff by these guys where do I start?

From the beginning...

MF- Melissa & Don't Break the Oath
KD - Fatal Portrait & Abigail

CRIMSONMASK wrote:

From the beginning...

MF- Melissa & Don't Break the Oath
KD - Fatal Portrait & Abigail

This

I only own the 1986-1990 roadrunner box set which, as i recall, contains the first five KD albums. I remember my favourites being fatal portrait, abigail and them.

I own nothing by mercyful fate yet, so i too am open for any suggestions here.

My first introduction to the man/band was this comp...



Nice combination of MF/King Diamond tunes.I'll assume you're already familiar with what they sound like, so this might be kinda pointless for you if you want the full albums. But for a beginner, it's a nice place to start.

Otherwise, I'd agree with Crimsonmask.

CRIMSONMASK wrote:

From the beginning...

MF- Melissa & Don't Break the Oath
KD - Fatal Portrait & Abigail

^^ what he said.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

My first introduction to the man/band was this comp...



Nice combination of MF/King Diamond tunes.I'll assume you're already familiar with what they sound like, so this might be kinda pointless for you if you want the full albums. But for a beginner, it's a nice place to start.

Otherwise, I'd agree with Crimsonmask.

I have this, too. And never bought more, though I've heard them all.

If I had a chance to do it again, I'd do chronological order. Well, I guess I still could. But I've discovered I don't like it all that much to begin with to invest in individual Fate/Diamond albums.

MERCYFUL FATE - " TIME " CD is his best

I have most of King's releases. Seen him in concert.
I have various bootleg concert dvds too.
It just sort of happened. He's not in my top ten.
I bought " Don't Break the Oath " album when it first came out.
I thought that was very - black metal - at the time. Great sound.
In fact, I recently bought Denner and Shermman CD " Angel's Blood "
The cover looks quite similar....and much more sinister.
I've watched many YouTube interviews also.
I have no idea how he writes these outrageously complex songs
After all these years - there's still a shroud of mystery about him.

Lari wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

My first introduction to the man/band was this comp...



Nice combination of MF/King Diamond tunes.I'll assume you're already familiar with what they sound like, so this might be kinda pointless for you if you want the full albums. But for a beginner, it's a nice place to start.

Otherwise, I'd agree with Crimsonmask.

I have this, too. And never bought more, though I've heard them all.

If I had a chance to do it again, I'd do chronological order. Well, I guess I still could. But I've discovered I don't like it all that much to begin with to invest in individual Fate/Diamond albums.

For a long time, this comp was all I needed too. Since then, I never got much more into the King Diamond discography, but I have added quite a few MF discs to my collection.

Buy Melissa. If you like that buy the rest of the Mercyful Fate & King Diamond albums chronologically.

brokentulsa wrote:

So if I'm going to start buying stuff by these guys where do I start?

Well whenever I get into a new band, I try to start at the beginning of their career, and get them in order of release. So if you are planning on going deep, then start out with Melissa, DBTO, Fatal Portrait, Abigail. Somewhere along the line you might wanna pick up The Beginning, which has their debut self titled ep on it, and other songs from the Melissa era, but different versions of the songs.

If you're only testing the waters, then I would go with that compilation CD A Dangerous Meeting, or maybe the live King Diamond album, Deadly Lullabyes. Both will give you an idea of what you're in for.

Welcome to the coven.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

brokentulsa wrote:

So if I'm going to start buying stuff by these guys where do I start?

Well whenever I get into a new band, I try to start at the beginning of their career, and get them in order of release. So if you are planning on going deep, then start out with Melissa, DBTO, Fatal Portrait, Abigail. Somewhere along the line you might wanna pick up The Beginning, which has their debut self titled ep on it, and other songs from the Melissa era, but different versions of the songs.

If you're only testing the waters, then I would go with that compilation CD A Dangerous Meeting, or maybe the live King Diamond album, Deadly Lullabyes. Both will give you an idea of what you're in for.

Welcome to the coven.

Along those same lines, Roadrunner has a best of King comp out there as well

Be warned: a lot of the early King Diamond and Mercyful Fate albums are currently OOP

CRIMSONMASK wrote:

From the beginning...

MF- Melissa & Don't Break the Oath
KD - Fatal Portrait & Abigail

Follow these instructions1

Mellissa & Don't Break the Oath, then Fatal Portrait. Fatal Portrait sound a lot like Mercyful Fate, but Abagail, not so much. I had a hard time getting into Abagail.

metalinmyveins wrote:

I had a hard time getting into Abagail.

So did I. I was actually kind of pissed off about it, because it was so much different than the early MF stuff. Absolutely love that album now, but back then I almost started to hate King Diamond for it.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Be warned: a lot of the early King Diamond and Mercyful Fate albums are currently OOP

I kind of doubted this as Melissa, Don't Break the Oath and Fatal Portrait are about as essential as it gets but sure enough they are really expensive to get on CD! With just about every half decent metal album from the '80s getting a reissue these classics must be due.

Boris2008 wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Be warned: a lot of the early King Diamond and Mercyful Fate albums are currently OOP

I kind of doubted this as Melissa, Don't Break the Oath and Fatal Portrait are about as essential as it gets but sure enough they are really expensive to get on CD! With just about every half decent metal album from the '80s getting a reissue these classics must be due.

Roadrunnder did the Complete Roadrunner Collection for KD a few years back...so it may be a while. But even that now is OOP. They also just did a 2-CD collection of KD...so it may be a while.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Boris2008 wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Be warned: a lot of the early King Diamond and Mercyful Fate albums are currently OOP

I kind of doubted this as Melissa, Don't Break the Oath and Fatal Portrait are about as essential as it gets but sure enough they are really expensive to get on CD! With just about every half decent metal album from the '80s getting a reissue these classics must be due.

Roadrunnder did the Complete Roadrunner Collection for KD a few years back...so it may be a while. But even that now is OOP. They also just did a 2-CD collection of KD...so it may be a while.

I was able to get the last 2 MF albums I needed (Into the Unknown and Dead Again) without breaking the bank. But yea, some Amazon/ebay sellers want ridiculous amounts, but if you search around you can find bargains.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Boris2008 wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Be warned: a lot of the early King Diamond and Mercyful Fate albums are currently OOP

I kind of doubted this as Melissa, Don't Break the Oath and Fatal Portrait are about as essential as it gets but sure enough they are really expensive to get on CD! With just about every half decent metal album from the '80s getting a reissue these classics must be due.

Roadrunnder did the Complete Roadrunner Collection for KD a few years back...so it may be a while. But even that now is OOP. They also just did a 2-CD collection of KD...so it may be a while.

I was able to get the last 2 MF albums I needed (Into the Unknown and Dead Again) without breaking the bank. But yea, some Amazon/ebay sellers want ridiculous amounts, but if you search around you can find bargains.

The Metal Blade era isn't too hard to come by....it's the Roadrunner stuff that's deleted at this point.

That collection that MG71 referred to is the best place to start IMHO because it can be bought for like 5 bucks. Keep in mind though that both bands have a ton of other good songs that didn't make it on that comp though.

For me, Mercyful Fate has always been much preferable to King Diamond. In KD, there is just a little too much theatrics for my taste.

Melissa is mesmerizing. It is a perfect album IMO. Hearing Melissa back when it came out was just amazing! Don't Break the Oath is great, as are some other MF albums, but nothing tops Melissa for me.

Quote :

For me, Mercyful Fate has always been much preferable to King Diamond.

Ditto. There's just something about the combo of King's vox and the Shermann/Denner guitar team.

Even those last couple of MF albums, when Denner was replaced by Mike Wead, didn't quite have that same "somethin' somethin'" IMO

Mercyful Fate had the best riffs by far. VERY influential band. One of the people that helped (inadvertently) inspire thrash. King's riffs that he writes himself tend to be generic and bland, comparatively. But KD does have LaRoque, one of the best metal soloists ever.

"Melissa" is amazing, and I absolutely love "In the Shadows".