Description
Krigsman is the third album by the Swedish hard rock band Jerusalem, released on the Swedish gospel label Prim in 1981. (An English version of the album, entitled Warrior, was released in the US on Lamb & Lion Records the following year.) The album was recorded during three weeks at Supreme Studio in Stockholm, Sweden; with Andy Kidd producing and engineering. All songs written and arranged by the band’s lead singer/guitarist Ulf Christiansson.
Jerusalem features Ulf Christiansson on guitar and vocals, Dan Tibell on keyboards, Peter Carlsohn
on bass, and Klas Anderhell on drums.
The first two efforts by Jerusalem showed sparks of musical brilliance and powerful, heavy blues influenced rock, but nothing that could have prepared the fans for the onslaught that is Krigsman. Krigsman was followed by Jerusalem frontman Ulf Christiansson’s solo debut album, I mina drömmar, a pop album released on Prim in 1982.
Trivia: Jerusalem became the first band signed to a CCM label to have a video featured on MTV. (Jerusalem was as well the first Swedish rock band on MTV.) The band’s “It’s Mad” video was aired for the first time late November 1982. The video was directed and financed by Jan Petrus, a Hollywood producer who knew the band in Sweden, where the video was shot. According to a note featured in Billboard Magazine November 20, 1982, Prim (Jerusalem’s Swedish label), forwarded the video to MTV who according to a MTV spokesperson accepted it “on the quality of the video first, the music second. We didn’t know it was a Christian rock group, and that is irrelevant to our uses.” Jerusalem also made a video for the song “Constantly Changing” which was aired on MTV as well. Both songs were taken from Krigsman.
Jerusalem, the Christian heavy metal band from Sweden, presents their third and finest album, ‘Warrior’ (Lamb & Lion LL-1065) to the ever-enthusiastic American Christian rock audience. While Jerusalem’s earlier offerings, Volumes 1 and 2, were hindered by weak production and less-than-great translation of originally Swedish lyrics into English, ‘Warrior’ has the sound and clarity of any top-flight English rock project.
Ulf Christiansson, Jerusalem’s creative force, guitarist, and vocalist, writes with a directness and musical intensity that is matched by few artists in Christian rock. And I mean rock – the loud, hard-hitting, finger-blistering kind. A secular equivalent might be Deep Purple and the likes. This is no-holds-barred music with lyrics that are the same.
The title track speaks of “figthing for God” on the side that has “already won in the Son.” «Constantly Changing» and «Pilgrim» encourage Christians onward through life’s changes on the journey of faith. «Man of the World», «Ashes in Your Hands», and the 12-minute opus «Sodom» decry the culture and kingdoms of this world, calling individuals to repentance.
‘Warrior’ may be one of the finest-sounding records of its kind in Christian music. Andy Kidd produced and assisted in the translation of the lyrics, giving the album a clear, professional quality sound. The powerful rhythms of bassist Peter Carlsson and drummer Klas Anderhell are embellished by the synthesizer and keyboards of Dan Tibell, while Christiansson’s power chords, smooth strat lines, and energetic vocals are centerstage. Jerusalem may well be the warrior God uses to speak to a generation into the harder rock sounds. [Quincy Smith-Newcomb, CCM, November 1982]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/krigsman/1225663467)
LP tracklist (original Swedish release):
Side One
A1. “Ständig förändring” – 5:48
A2. “Krigsman” – 6:17
A3. “Du är” – 4:14
A4. “It’s Mad” – 5:36
Side Two
B1. “Moderne man” – 4:26
B2. “Sodom” – 12:10
B3. “Domedagsprofeter” – 4:36
B4. “Farväl” – 6:08
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Prim. Re-issued on CD as a part of Jerusalem Classics 2. The Swedish editions of the band’s first three albums were remastered and re-issued as a 3CD Digipak compilation on Fruit Records in April 2014.
Gatefold Cover Artwork
Gatefold Cover, Inside
“Constantly Changing” (MUSIC VIDEO)
“It’s Mad” (MUSIC VIDEO)
Jerusalem – Live on TV1, Sweden’s National Public Television, December 1980. Tracklist: “Domedagsprofeter” / “Pass på” / “It’s mad” / “Krigsman” / “Pappa vem har gjort”.
Jerusalem with British producer Andy Kidd (left) at Prim studio in Stockholm during the Warrior sessions.
A Cable Music First? Lamb & Lion act to be seen and heard on MTV. (Billboard Magazine, November 20, 1982, page 43). + Billboard, Dec. 4, 1982: For The Record. “The MTV-aired video clip of Lamb & Lion recording act Jerusalem is co-produced by the Benson Co., owner of Lamb & Lion. It was incorrectly identified in Billboard’s Nov. 20 issue as a production of Prim Records, the group’s Swedish label.”
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