Hands Of Time

In the 1980s, the often-repeated joke about Kingdom Come was that the band should have called itself "Kingdom Clone" because it was nothing more than a shameless clone of Led Zeppelin. And, to be sure, the headbangers' Zeppelin worship was so slavish in the '80s that its albums were totally devoid of originality. Zep influenced countless artists, but the most accomplished Zep lovers (everyone from Heart to Mother's Finest) strived for uniqueness and ended up becoming quite distinctive themselves. Creatively, things hadn't improved for Kingdom by 1991, when Hands of Time was released. Whether rocking out on "Blood On the Land" and "Stay" or taking a moodier, more atmospheric approach on "You'll Never Know," "You're Not the Only....I Know" and "I've Been Trying," Kingdom was still without an identity of its own. Lead singer/producer Lenny Wolf continued to emulate Robert Plant, though he's never as soulful. With all of Zep's great albums in print, why does anyone need Kingdom Come? Hands of Time is a CD to pass on. ~ Alex Henderson