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Digitally remastered by Chris Gehringer (The Hit Factory, New York, New York).
The old performers' adage about not overstaying one's welcome proved itself timeless and infinitely applicable when King Diamond decided to follow a pair of stunningly successful musical horror stories -- 1987's Abigail and 1988's "Them" -- with a third, decidedly flawed episode, 1989's Conspiracy. Actually, the King's biggest mistake may have been attempting to pick up the "Them" story line again (18 years after the previous album's chronological conclusion) instead of concocting a fresh one from scratch, thus limiting Conspiracy's character development options somewhat and inviting inevitable comparisons to its clearly superior predecessor. Not that these issues were glaringly evident at Conspiracy's promising outset, following the carnival-esque vignette and epic, eight-minute variety of opener "At the Graves" with an instantly striking first single in "Sleepless Nights." But holes in the overall fabric begin to appear as soon as the ensuing "Lies" tries to chomp deeper into the meat of Conspiracy's story, which, in summary, sees the King Diamond character's questionable sanity exploited by his own mother and shrink -- who are now wed and keen on swindling him out of his inherited house, still haunted by the spirits of both Grandma and "Them"! Key, plot-advancing songs such as "The Wedding Dream," "'Amon' Belongs to 'Them,'" and "Victimized" are repeatedly encumbered by unnecessarily involved arrangements, their thematic flow lost in maze-like musical corners, so that, by the time you arrive at the climatic "Cremation," it's Andy LaRocque's distinctive needlework guitar that stands out in your memory -- not the fact that King's character is being burned alive! Clearly, Conspiracy's disappointing end-result must be blamed upon its overwrought music, which overwhelms the words instead of supporting them. After all, this chapter's story line is really no more preposterous than the first! Still, for all its narrative flaws and inconsistent songwriting, some King Diamond fans insist on defending Conspiracy exactly because it isn't as explicitly spelled out as prior works, therefore leaving some of the work for their own imaginations. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia
Recorded at Rumbo Recorders, Canoga Park, California. Includes liner notes by Don Kaye.
Producers: Roberto Falcao, King Diamond, Andy LaRocque.
King Diamond: King Diamond (vocals); Andy La Rocque, Pete Blakk (guitar); Hal Patino (bass); Mikkey Dee (drums).
Additional personnel: Roberto Falcao (keyboards).
Re-Issue
King Diamond - Conspiracy Songs
Conspiracy Music Review
Average Rating: (4.9 out of 5 stars)    List All 10 Reviews Among the best albums in metal history
This is without a doubt one of the best albums i've ever heard, and surely is among the top classic metal ambums like Metallica's "Master of puppets", and slayer's "reign in blood". Excellent.
Submitted by Jorge Bugueno Z. (Chile, south america) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No king diamond is the man
if you like king diamond this is a great cd! go see him live its worth it!
Submitted by rlanglois (florida)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No CLASSIC METAL
This is one of Heavy Metal's greatest masterpiece's. The second part to the album "THEM" is an absolute ripper with magical lead guitar work that was years ahead of it's time. Andy La Rocque made guitar sound easy and King Diamond's voice complements this perfectly.
Songs to look out for are "AT THE GRAVES","A VISIT FROM THE DEAD",THE WEDDING DREAM" and "AMON BELONGS TO THEM"
Brilliant vocals, compelling storyline and music so powerful yet so melodic.
This album is a definite 5 star effort!
Submitted by a reviewer (Adelaide,S.A.)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No what an album
this is just killer, in his style of songwriting, no one touches him, his horror like influence, and scary stuff is done to a t, and killer players, if you like guitar solos, amazing,
Submitted by halenroth84 (thunder bay, ontario canada)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No AWESOME GUITAR WORK!
My favorite KD album! I think this album has some of the best riffs and leads ever!
Submitted by NightOwlMusic (Chicago)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No List All Reviews | Have you heard this album? |  |
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