| The Legacy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 21, 1987 (1987-4-21) | |||
| Recorded | January 1987 | |||
| Studio | Pyramid Sound Studios,Ithaca, New York | |||
| Genre | Thrash metal | |||
| Length | 38:45 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Alex Perialas | |||
| Testament chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Legacy | ||||
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The Legacy is the debut studio album by Americanthrash metal bandTestament. It was released on April 21, 1987.
Prior to the album's recording in January 1987, Testament was known as Legacy. Their lineup consisted of singerSteve "Zetro" Souza, guitaristsAlex Skolnick andEric Peterson, bassistGreg Christian and drummerLouie Clemente. SingerChuck Billy was a member of another local band named Guilt.[1] He had performed with Legacy on a few occasions and was asked to become the new singer after Souza left to joinExodus.
About a month prior to the release ofThe Legacy, the band changed their name to Testament after finding out that there was an RnB hotel cover band named Legacy.[2] The Testament name was suggested byBilly Milano (fromS.O.D. andM.O.D.), who was a friend of the band in the early days.[3]
This was the only Testament album to feature songwriting contributions from Souza, who was credited as the co-writer of all the songs, except for "C.O.T.L.O.D." and "Do or Die", which were co-written by original Legacy singer Derrick Ramirez and Billy respectively. The closing track, "Apocalyptic City", was written by Skolnick and Peterson.
The album was recorded and mixed at Pyramid Sound Studios inIthaca, New York, and mastered at Frankford Wayne Mastering Labs inNew York City.
It was announced in June 2024 that the album andThe New Order were being remastered and would be released on July 12.[4]
In support ofThe Legacy, Testament went on a worldwide tour from June 1987 to April 1988.[5] During the American leg of their tour, they were the opening act forAnthrax on theAmong the Living tour, toured through theSouth and theEast Coast withOverkill and played two shows inNorthern California withMegadeth. After an appearance atDynamo Open Air in June 1987 (recorded for the live EPLive at Eindhoven), Testament embarked on their first tour of Europe as the opening act for Anthrax. Touring forThe Legacy ended in April 1988, shortly before the release ofThe New Order.[5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [6] |
The Legacy received favorable reviews by music critics.AllMusic's Alex Henderson rated the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, and said that it saw Testament earn respect in "thrash circles" and called it "a relentlessly heavy and promising effort focusing on such subjects as the occult, witchcraft, nuclear war, and global destruction." Henderson also praisedAlex Perialas' production onThe Legacy as "superb -- well respected in metal circles", and added that Perialas had "obviously encouraged Testament to play hard and let it rip."[6] Adam McCann of Metal Digest wrote, "If you're going to get out there and make a statement, thenThe Legacy is a way to establish your erm… legacy. This was thrash metal right to its core, it was full of passion and integrity that was starting to drift away from those bands which had become more established and signed to major labels. Even now,The Legacy sounds great with tracks like 'Apocalyptic City', 'The Haunting' and 'Burnt Offerings' leading the charge and although the production wasn't fantastic, thrash never needed that to create some spectacular."[7]
Within three years after its release in 1987,The Legacy had sold over 150,000 copies in the U.S.[8]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Over the Wall" | Souza | Peterson, Skolnick, Christian | 4:07 |
| 2. | "The Haunting" | Souza, Peterson | Skolnick, Peterson | 4:17 |
| 3. | "Burnt Offerings" | Souza, Peterson | Skolnick, Peterson | 5:07 |
| 4. | "Raging Waters" | Souza, Peterson | Peterson | 4:32 |
| 5. | "C.O.T.L.O.D." (Curse of the Legions of Death) | Ramirez, Peterson | Ramirez, Peterson | 2:32 |
| 6. | "First Strike Is Deadly" | Souza, Christian | Peterson, Skolnick | 3:43 |
| 7. | "Do or Die" | Skolnick, Peterson, Billy | Skolnick, Peterson, Clemente | 4:39 |
| 8. | "Alone in the Dark" | Souza | Skolnick, Peterson | 4:05 |
| 9. | "Apocalyptic City" | Skolnick, Peterson | Skolnick, Peterson | 5:51 |
| Total length: | 38:45 | |||
Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.[18]
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)| Studio albums | |
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