Northern Kings

 Today in 2008 Northern Kings released the album Rejoined

Finland Symphonic metal, power metal, progressive metal

Status: On Hold

Years active 2007 - 2010

One of those oddities that could only come about in a culture soaked heavily in the sounds of heavy metal, Northern Kings are a symphonic power metal supergroup. While that may not be an oddity on its own, what has made Northern Kings unique is that they are a symphonic power metal supergroup that exclusively plays covers. And to make it even more peculiar, the band covers songs that were decidedly not metal -- Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero," "I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight" by Cutting Crew, and "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits, to name a few. Northern Kings are comprised of four vocalists from some of the leading bands in metal -- Tony Kakko of Sonata Arctica, Marco Hietala of Nightwish, Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto of Charon, and Jarkko Ahola of Teräsbetoni. Their first single, a cover of the aforementioned Tina Turner track from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, was a hit in Finland, and their debut album, Reborn, was released in October of 2007. The concept proved to be a success, as the debut full-length managed a Top Ten placement in the Finnish charts.

Warner Music Finland

Marco Hietala - vocals

Tony Kakko - vocals

Jarkko Ahola - vocals

Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto - vocals

with

Erkka Korhonen (of the Ari Koivunen band) - guitar[6]

Mirka Rantanen - Drums

Mikko P. Mustonen - Orchestrations

Two Finger Choir - Backing Vocals

Vili Olila - Piano, Keyboards

Erkki Silvennoinen - Bass

1"Training Montage" (Vince DiCola cover, from the film Rocky IV) - (Instrumental) - 3:36

2"Wanted Dead or Alive" (Bon Jovi cover) - (by Marco Hietala) - 3:56

3"Kiss from a Rose" (Seal cover) - (by all) - 4:56

4"A View to a Kill" (Duran Duran cover) - (by all) - 5:26

5"Nothing Compares 2 U" (Prince cover, although chiefly associated with Sinéad O'Connor) - (by Tony Kakko) - 6:51

6"My Way" (Frank Sinatra cover) - (by Jarkko Ahola) - 4:31

Instrumentals incorporate elements of Queen's "The Show Must Go On".

7"Strangelove" (Depeche Mode cover) - (by all) - 4:41

8"Take on Me" (A-ha cover) - (by all) - 4:01

9"I Should Be So Lucky" (Kylie Minogue cover) - (by Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto and Jarkko Ahola) - 4:51

10"Killer" (Adamski feat. Seal cover) - (by all) - 4:36

11"Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend" (Thin Lizzy cover) - (by Jarkko Ahola and Marco Hietala) - 7:36

12"They Don't Care About Us" (Michael Jackson cover) - (by Marco Hietala and Tony Kakko) - 4:46

Bonus track on the Japanese release.

13"They Don't Care About Us (Orchestral Edit)" (Michael Jackson cover) - (by Marco Hietala and Tony Kakko) - 4:46

iTunes bonus track

Rethroned is the second album by Finnish symphonic metal band Northern Kings. It was released on November 19, 2008, as a CD in Finland and to download via the European iTunes Store. Upon release, the album entered the Finnish charts at number 16.The album was released in Japan on February 25, 2009, with the Michael Jackson cover "They Don't Care About Us" as a bonus track. The iTunes edition included also the orchestral version of "They Don't Care About Us".

The first single and music video released off this album was the Seal cover "Kiss from a Rose" (originally from the soundtrack of the film Batman Forever).The album also includes two other movie-based tracks: "Training Montage" (from Rocky IV) and "A View to a Kill" (from the 1985 James Bond 007 film of the same title).