THE GLOVES (OF METAL) ARE OFF

Adrian Begrand, a writer I wish I'd thought to invite to contribute to Marooned, has written a superb Popmatters column on Manowar. He's done a terrific job of articulating all their flaws and strengths, which is a much more difficult task than it might initially seem. Manowar are so...so...so Manowar that it's actually really hard to write about them, because you get overwhelmed by the absurdity and your critical faculties (along with the rest of your brain) begin to shut down. You begin to doubt your own sanity, especially when you start to like what they're doing. So kudos to Adrian for managing to get all the way through their new, ultra-overblown multi-disc DVD (I couldn't manage it myself) and explain it all for, and on behalf of, the rest of us. Hail to you, Begrand! (His blog's decent, too.)