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Fatal Portrait
1986 studio album by King Diamond From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Fatal Portrait is the debut album by Danish heavy metal band King Diamond. It was produced by Rune Hoyer and released on 14 March 1986 through Roadrunner Records.[3] Guitarist Andy LaRocque joined the album recording sessions at the last minute, as the band's second guitarist at the time "wasn't working out" in the studio.[4] As a result, it is the only King Diamond album which does not feature any writing credits from LaRocque. Recording a solo for "Dressed in White" functioned as his audition for joining the band.[4] Along with The Spider's Lullabye, it is one of the band's only albums which is not a whole concept album.
Fatal Portrait has sold over 100,000 copies in North America alone.[5] The title of the album comes from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Wilde describes the painting as "the fatal portrait" several times throughout the novel.
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Plot
Five songs on this album (first four and "Haunted") form a short story. The narrator sees a face in "every candle that [he] burns". The face speaks one word to him: "Jonah". So he finds an old book, speaks a rhyme and frees the spirit from the candle. It's the spirit of a little girl named Molly, who tells him the story of what happened to her seven years before. Mrs. Jane kept her 4-year-old daughter Molly in the attic until she (Molly) died. Before that, Mrs. Jane painted Molly's portrait and put it above the fireplace, so that Molly would become immortal; however, Molly made the portrait speak to her mother, so that Jane would know about Molly's pain. Mrs. Jane then speaks a rhyme and burns the portrait. The free spirit of Molly returns to haunt her until she goes insane.
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Track listing
All lyrics are written by King Diamond; all music is composed by King Diamond except where noted.
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Personnel
- Band members
- King Diamond – vocals, guitars on "Voices from the Past"
- Andy LaRocque – guitars
- Michael Denner – guitars
- Timi Hansen – bass
- Mikkey Dee – drums
- Production
- King Diamond – production
- Rune Höyer – production
- Michael Denner – assistant production
- Roberto Falcao – engineering
References
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