King of the Kill, being the first album that Jeff Waters exclusively sang on, paved the way for future Annihilator albums in the same vein. I think his voice really suits this album, and the other albums he fronted on. It is almost like he wrote the material molded around his voice. This is also the first of quite a few Annihilator disks that is almost purely a solo project. On this one, we also see Jeff moving a little away from the thrash that he was accustomed to at the time to a heavier, more aggressive way of playing. But don't let that throw you off, as I will explain later, there are still some SCORCHERS on here. Also being the most "successful" Annihilator album to date, only one that has come close to it in terms of sales wise has been All For You (2004). Also, the most extensive touring was done for this album over any other.

The first song on the album is one that has been played live many, many times. "The Box" is definitly a fan favorite, but actually it is one of my least favorite Annihilator songs on this disc. Next up is "King of the Kill", which is a very good song in my opinion, and is also one of those scorchers I mentioned. The third song, "Annihilator", which is damn catchy, could definitly be a good live song, because it could so easily be used for a fan sing-a-long. "Bad Child", which starts out really melodic (but doesn't stay that way), is a stab at the "heavier" sound I had mentioned about this album. "Twenty-One" is about a game of blackjack that turned to romance, and also one of my favorites from the cd. "Bliss" is one of those songs I would like to call "A Prelude To Madness", as it is one of those songs that is really quiet, melodic, and short, but then leads into the next scorcher of a song, "Second To None" And what a scorcher it is, definitly my favorite song off of the album, and it ranks pretty high when it comes to Annihilator songs in general in my book. "Hell is a War", great song, lots of emotion, but a funny story about it. A few years ago, we let my friend listen to Annihilator for the first time, and it just happened to be this album and this song. We heard something that wasn't on the cd and turned around and he was singing the song, but yet he had never heard the song before in his life. We asked him what he was doing, and he said he didn't know... that was one of the wierdest experiences ever. Back to the review though, "Speed" is next, very bluesy feeling, and obviously about racing. "In the Blood" is next, and besides "Bliss", it is the only truely melodic song from start to finish so far on the album. And a good follow up to it is, "Catch the Wind", which is still very much in the melodic vein of things, an instrumental one. The next full song(the one right before this one, is the "slate" that comes right before this one, slates will be explained later.), is "Fiasco", which i like very much, and is very much a thrasher. Now on to the bonus tracks, "Only Be Lonely", is a love song, but a good one, not one of those sappy bubblegum pop ballads. 10 minutes of "Jeffy Speak" is next, and he goes into more detail about the album, among other things. He also explains what a "slate" is. A "slate" is the little track that plays right before a song that identifies the song and what take and mix it is. The funny thing about this cd, is that it has A LOT of slates at the end that Jeff intentionally screwed up on and they are great for laughs.

I like this album a lot, but in the grand scale of Annihilator albums, it ranks in the middle. But if you were to listen to it, you would know why it sold so many copies, it is really good. And I know I am probably gonna be flammed for it, but some of the more melodic songs on here could have been on radio somewhere, but you know, if radio were to play anything off of this album, it would restore my faith back in it. If you like Annihilator, then this one should already be in your collection, but if not, then go get it, you won't be dissapointed. If you are not a big fan of Annihilator, but are wanting to explore what they have to offer, this one would be a good one to start off with, as it has a good range of different Annihilator stuff on it. Overall, this is a good album, not GREAT, but very good nonetheless.