Kingdom Come

I always thought these guys were a hippie type band -
A lot of people didn't like them because....if you can believe it -
the people thought they were 'ripping off' Led Zeppelin -
I have 3 releases of them - like them all -
Saw them live - in a 500 person venue - great crowd vibe -
even outside the venue before the show - lol -
They were opening up for Warrant -
at the end of the concert - both bands played 'Rock n Roll' together.
Any cool info - would be fun to read.

I recently scored a Kingdom Come best-of, which pretty much covers everything I will ever need from 'em.

My most vivid memory of Kingdom Come was seeing them get boo'd off the stage @ the Van Halen's Monsters of Rock gig at Giants Stadium in '88, haha. They went on before Metallica, who pretty much everyone was there to see, so they got hammered.

I have the Millennium Collection of them which will do for now. It's actually pretty good. I wouldn't mind collecting their releases on cd (had the debut on cassette years ago and thought it was rather good).

I saw them at the Monsters Of Rock as well. As far as I can remember, they were received rather well.

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I have the Millennium Collection of them

Yep, that's the one I got too.

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I saw them at the Monsters Of Rock as well. As far as I can remember, they were received rather well.

The Giants Stadium show I went to was pretty much an all-Metallica crowd, so KC were treated like an obstacle. Haha.

Fat Freddy wrote:

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I have the Millennium Collection of them

Yep, that's the one I got too.

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I saw them at the Monsters Of Rock as well. As far as I can remember, they were received rather well.

The Giants Stadium show I went to was pretty much an all-Metallica crowd, so KC were treated like an obstacle. Haha.

I remember hearing about an epic food fight that broke out at that gig. True?

I have the first Kingdom Come albums which I like ok. When I saw them at Monsters of Rock they reaction to them was a bit underwhelming, because the poor bastards had to be on before Metallica

corplhicks wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

The Giants Stadium show I went to was pretty much an all-Metallica crowd, so KC were treated like an obstacle. Haha.

I remember hearing about an epic food fight that broke out at that gig. True?

Not exactly a food fight, but about 3/4 thru the day (if memory serves it was during the Scorpions' set), everyone on the upper tier of the stadium started tossing their garbage over the railing down onto the lower tier, creating a "waterfall" effect that went on for several minutes.

I was in the upper section (thankfully) and I have to say that it was actually a pretty impressive sight... cascades of falling cans, cups, papers, and Lord knows what else, raining down all around the stadium. I had been pretty pissed about my crappy seats when I first got to that show (upper tier, behind the stage! We were looking at everyone's backs for most of the day), but at that point I was glad I wasn't in one of the "better" seats down below, cuz I can only imagine how bad those people were getting pelted.

"Obviously it can get to the point where it gets past being a compliment,
and it can be rather annoying,
when you've got things like Kingdom Come,
actually ripping riffs right off, that's a different thing altogether."

— Led Zeppelin's guitarist and producer Jimmy Page commented in 1988[7]

I never paid any mind to them back during their 15 minutes of fame. Perhaps I should give them a listen.

I liked the first album. But my favorite was their 2nd one In Your Face.

I have a couple of their albums somewhere on my shelves. Haven't played them in years as they did not do much for me at the time. Maybe i will give them a fresh listen this weekend.

"Can't Deny"

You pretend you're so cool
It's not you who's the fool
Says the voice on your shoulder

You pretend you're so calm
And you've never been harmed
But you're crying inside
Can't deny





You would like to believe
You could never deceive
Not yourself or another
When the going gets rough
You pretend you're so tough
But you're hurting inside

What you need is a friend
You can trust 'till the end
And you don't need no other
After all you've been through
l can see why you choose
Living life in disguise

Found the first album last year on vinyl for 99 cents and grabbed it. I had it on cassette when it was new. What drew me to them was the Zeppelin sound. I heard them on the local radio station but they said "We are not allowed to tell you the name of this band but they sound a lot like Led Zeppelin". So I called them trying to get info from the radio station DJ and he would not tell me who it was. Ended up finding out anyway (forgot how) and bought the cassette. I have no idea why it was some big secret but the first album is pretty good. As I listen to it now I think it sounds less like Zep than I originally thought but I do see the comparisons.

On a somewhat strange note, original guitarist Danny Stag is the brother of Pittsburgh Penguins long time television ply by play announcer, Paul Steigerwald. I never knew that info until long after he left the band.


Since he's from around here, maybe that explains the better reception they got at our Monsters Of Rock show.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I never paid any mind to them back during their 15 minutes of fame. Perhaps I should give them a listen.

I played their first album through on YouTube yesterday. Not bad, but probably something I can live without. I definitely heard the Led Zep comparisons, but it was still an enjoyable listen. If I found a cheap copy in Goodwill or a flea market I'd grab it.

Glower wrote:

"Obviously it can get to the point where it gets past being a compliment,
and it can be rather annoying,
when you've got things like Kingdom Come,
actually ripping riffs right off, that's a different thing altogether."

— Led Zeppelin's guitarist and producer Jimmy Page commented in 1988[7]

That's a now funny quote from Jimmy seeing how they actually have been sued(and lost) by doing that themselves. I think there is a current lawsuit concerning "Stairway" and a Spirit song.

I've always enjoyed his band Stone Fury as well as the first three Kingdom Come albums.

I found an interesting old article looking back on the 1988 VH Monsters of Rock tour that doesn't paint the Kingdom Come guys in a very good light. Lenny Wolf in particular comes off like a walking ego.

http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/the-original-monsters-of-rock.aspx

I won't copy/paste the whole thing but here are some KC related highlights:

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Stag’s wireless system has been picking up chatter from nearby airport control towers. As luck would have it, there’s one conveniently located next to the Rubber Bowl, close to the former hangar of the Goodyear blimp and the Derby Downs, home of the world-famous Soapbox Derby. Oddly, the Pittsburgh-born guitarist does not complain about being in one of the most derivative bands to ever taint the charts.

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I encounter Kingdom Come’s leader Lenny Wolf deep in the belly of the Rubber Bowl.
“You know what really bothers me about this?” Wolf shouts, clutching the July issue of Musician magazine. “That we have to keep justifying our album.” In that issue, Jimmy Page has slagged Wolf’s group’s eponymous debut, calling the band “Kingdom Clone” and disputing Stag’s reported claim he’s never heard of Led Zeppelin, which would, of course, be ludicrous even if Stag’s repertoire on the album wasn’t almost entirely based on Page’s signature riffs.

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I feel for both of these guys. Stag is a talented guitarist in a lackey’s gig. Wolf is a 26-year-old under a lot of pressure. His first band Stone Fury was dropped from the majors like a live hand grenade, and Kingdom Come played their first club gig just three months earlier and are now playing to 70,000 on a good day with the Monsters.

Wolf, on the other hand, comes off like a fist-pumping bonehead. Stag would end his membership in the band two years later. Improbably, Wolf and Kingdom Come still soldier on.

I have their first two albums and they are completely derivative Led Zep clones - the first album much more than the second. That being said, I still enjoy them very much. I remember the controversy raging about them back in 1988 and I didn't care back then either. My metric for judging these things is if I enjoy their music, not how inventive they are.

Witchfinder wrote:

I have their first two albums and they are completely derivative Led Zep clones - the first album much more than the second.  That being said, I still enjoy them very much.  I remember the controversy raging about them back in 1988 and I didn't care back then either.  My metric for judging these things is if I enjoy their music, not how inventive they are.  

Bing!

I wore their first record out. I'm a big Zeppelin fan and I was happy with them. Didn't mid them ripping them off.

I have 9 albums by this band as well as 2 stone fury albums... really cool band..I encourage everyone to look into their later albums... here is a taste..

I played a few tunes from bad image last night. Really good stuff. Maybe i need to invest more in them.

Their albums are enjoyable and has time, members moved on, their Led Zeppelin influence became less and less. None the less the first album is still a fun listen, even if its just to play the game of name that Zeppelin riff.

Their album was a platinum success, but the reaction to them was swift, even inspired the Gary Moore song 'Led Clones'

I have the first 5 albums and listen to the Stone Fury stuff pretty reg. on the Tube. Love these guys (and Lenny). I have lost count on how many times I have played the first 2 albums. I never cared much for the fact that they were called "Kingdom Clone" or any number of equally unfunny LZ rip off names. I just always loved them and have vivid memories of the debut just ruling my Summer of '88. Plus, a lot of bands from 1980 onwards sound like Zeppelin.