After a couple of years hiatus we decided to venture back to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra once again in Albany - $20 seats being too good to pass up for this entertaining show. This would be our 3rd time seeing TSO's Christmas spectacular, all here in Albany. I didn't get a chance to catch any reviews in the paper, yet, if they were there, I'll include commentary of those if warranted. The TU review in 2005 was a disgrace.
I wrote a review of the 2005 show that I will refer to here: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - a Review
The short version would go something like this: The first half was pretty typical with no surprises and muted guitars (crank 'em up, boys!). Jay Pierce, as always, stole the show with his bring-down-the-roof 'The Prince of Peace' (oddly enough vocalized on the album by a female). 2nd half was up and down. Some was great, some was OK. 'Wizards in Winter', as usual, lacked the volume on the guitars to make it drive as hard as it does on the album. The Beethoven's Last Night stuff was fun. The finale reprise of 'Christmas Eve' really sends you out on a high. The effects were overdone. They managed to find the line and crossed it. Would rather have seen less lights and better sound.
The long version has some more details:
The band eventually opened with 'Night Enchanted', the recently released song from the eternally 'coming soon' Night Castle, which we're told, again, might be out next summer. Now they're talking about a double album. How about just one good one, guys? The start-to-finish rendition of Christmas Eve And Other Stories no longer feels like an old friend, but a relative that has overstayed their welcome. I guess if you've never seen the show live it would be nice, but it feels a little lifeless, lacking in the energy seen in the 2nd half of the show. The show was a good 20-30 minutes late starting for reasons unknown to us in the crowd, which caused the removal of an intermission, which was OK with us. This was the 3 PM show, by the way. So they had to be done in time for the 2nd show in the evening.
Again I was disappointed a bit in 'An Angel Came Down' and 'An Angel Returned'. Rock singer vocals just cannot compare to the 'I don't need no stinking microphone' power that the guy they had in 2004 showed. He was an opera singer and was only slightly edged out by Jay Pierce for the best vocal performance of the night. As I said above, Jay dominated again and it was wonderful that he has mixed up his delivery, no longer delivering it quite the same way. Just a real treat that had people hooting before he even started singing. Jay, do us a favor and record something so we can buy it! There are so many people, at least with the vocalists, that I'm not going to get them all right, but I'll see if I can't give a quick rundown using the site to help me. I know I'll be leaving off some vocalists, but if I don't remember them there and they don't have a tour indication on their site, not much else I can do. I wish they'd break down the site by east and west groups.
Vocals: Steve Broderick. Sorry, Steve. I still loathe your interpretation of 'Old City Bar'...or, as you would call it...'Old City Bear' or something. I don't know who sings this on the left coast, but I wish they'd switch or something. This guy's been here all three times and I hate this wonderful song each time. I actually started to nod off during it. I see now that it looks like Bart Shatto, a stage performer, does the song on the west coast and seems to be well received. Rats.
Keys: Luci Butler. She was fine. According to her website she's performed with Moby...interesting.
Guitar: Chris Caffery. Toned down his act a bit. Does a fine job as 2nd half ringleader and host. Does a lot of the shredding while leaving Alex the more technical stuff. Still a member of Savatage, I believe.
Strings: Roddy Chong. Good.
Vocals: Alexa Goddard. No idea what she might have sung.
Narrator: Bryan Hicks. Good, as usual. But I wish he'd mix it up a bit from year to year, he doesn't even change his inflections. They might as well play a recording.
Vocals: Tim Hockenberry. Not sure what he sang.
Keys: Co-creator Bob Kinkel. Yes, great, your keyboard spins around.
Vocals: Danielle Landherr. I think she was there.
Vocals: James Lewis. I think he was there and did, again, 'This Christmas Day', which he does really REALLY well.
Bass: Johnny Lee Middleton. Fine job, member of Savatage since forever.
String Master: Anna Phoebe. She certainly gets around that stage. Nice to see her heading up the violins this tour instead of Mark Wood, who I assume is on the West tour this year. Not because she's especially better, just the change of pace.
Vocals: Jay Pierce. Roof. Down.
Drums: Jeff Plate. He's fine, has been around, last I heard drumming with Savatage, though I'm not sure what they're up to. Played a solo that was OK. He's steady if not spectacular.
Vocals: Valentina Porter. If I'm thinking of the right person she performed a really nice rendition of, I think, 'Good King Joy' (though this is performed by a male vocalist on the album, which is what is confusing me). Like top 3 of the night good.
DID NOT SEE: Vocals: Jeff Scott Soto, who must be on the west coast. Damn, I would've LOVED to have heard him in this show.
Guitar: Alex Skolnick. Though Chris always calls him 'the master of jazzaster', Alex will always be the long-haired shredder of Testament to me and many others, despite his late turn to jazz. Looks like he's growing his hair out a bit - maybe because of the Testament reunion? Alex shredded as always and handled the classical stuff with effortless aplomb. Many of those on stage could do MUCH worse than watch Alex playing to see how to really handle performing on a big stage in front of large audiences. Talk about 'old hat', Alex handles it all with ease and seems to be enjoying himself as well.
So, there, I missed at least 3 vocalists, I think. Sorry, ladies.
As I said, the lights were impressive and then too much. There's a point where you accomplish more by doing less. I'll use that to nicely segue into one of the better parts of the 2nd part of the show - an homage to Criss Oliva with the performance of not 1, but 2 Savatage songs. I say it's a nice segue because I love Criss Oliva's playing to this day. I've probably said this before, but when I describe Criss' playing I always say something along the lines of 'Criss never played the fastest in a time of shredding, he never played the most complex pieces in a time of thrash and speed...he just always played the right notes at the right time, he never overdid it.' First up was an absolutely rocking rendition of 'Prelude to Madness', which appeared on Hall Of The Mountain King and is a metal reworking of Grieg's 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' from Peer Gynt. It's a quality piece that really worked nicely here. Made me wonder if it will make its way onto Night Castle. After that they played a really nice version of 'Believe' from Streets: A Rock Opera.
I don't know who did 'Queen of the Winter Night', I thought it was passable, but this song, one of my wife's favorites, let her down. Last time it was handled masterfully by Tany Ling, who I believe is an opera singer. Ms. Ling had the 2nd strongest vocal in 2005 after Mr. Pierce. This wasn't as good.
'Wish Liszt' again was good. As was 'Flight of the Bumblebee'. I'd still rather here an opera cast perform 'Carmina Burana', though the music was fun.
I'd seen rumors before that this would be the last year of them doing 'Christmas Eve...' and might move on to like The Christmas Attic, which is one of the reasons I wanted to go this year. But, frankly, as much as I love the music this time of year, if they don't change things up we'll likely skip a few more years before going again. You can't just shake up the lights and lasers, you need to shake up the music, which, after all, is what we're really there to see.
A solid 'C' that most the crowd really seemed to enjoy.
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UPDATE: Well, as expected the Times Union review was written with someone that has no more than a passing knowledge of anything TSO or especially Savatage. The Gazette's review was fun and quite accurate - overall well done. So I'll leave that alone.
However, off the top of my head I find the following blatant, easily checked errors in the Times Union review by David Malachowski (who I hope did not receive any compensation for his review - or at least it is withheld until the errors are corrected). Note that I am assuming this show, the 7:30 one, was identical to the 3:00 one, which seems a reasonable assumption.
1) Jon Oliva's name is not "Jon Olivia".
2) Robert Kinkel is not a member of Savatage, though he may have been involved as a studio keyboardist.
3) The opening was not "a prog-rock overture of sorts", it was the recently released song 'Night Enchanted'. Well, part of it. With some other stuff seemingly thrown in.
4) Bryon Hicks' name is not "Byron Hicks".
5) There is no 'Away In a Manger', though parts of that classic appear elsewhere.
6?) I think there was but one cello.
7) "Soon, singers used "American Idol" vocal bombastic to engage the crowd..." First, the grammar is cringe-inducing. Second, TSO has been around longer, doing this, than 'American Idol'.
8) 'O Come All Ye Faithful' is not "Oh come All Ye Faithful"
9) There is no "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", although there is a part of it in 'The Prince of Peace'. And it is a journalistic debacle to not mention the performance of Jay Pierce on this song.
It wasn't a long review and there were at least 9 errors, not to mention the seemingly unedited writing? Take for instance these two items mere sentences apart:
a) "There was a huge display of flames and fireworks. In fact, it looked more like Fourth of July at the Plaza than Christmas. No one complained."
vs.
b) "A man sitting nearby whined 'My eyes hurt!'"
I would guess the last part was supposed to be some 'I'm such a good writer, check out this cool closing!' moment - but, uh, when you personally report that people near you were whining about the overdose of lights and effects it's time to rethink your 'cool closing'.
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Final Note: Doing some poking around I came across this school paper review that has this funny item in it: "For all you TSO fans, immediately after their holiday tour is completed they will be going back to the studio to record their new album, Night Castle, which is a non-holiday album."
The date of the review? 2004.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Edguy - Tinnitus Sanctus - European Powerless Metal
(Final Update added 6-23-09 - parts of this album, which started out as a slab of suck, have grown on me. Anything I've added in the final update are in red text.)
Somewhere Blind Guardian is raising a toast & seating their crowns a bit more firmly on their heads.
For a while now Edguy has been gaining ground on the current overlords of European fantasy power metal. Scratching and clawing their way up the slope with some really strong releases in the category - Vain Glory Opera (with an appearance by Hansi, to boot) and Mandrake before the blistering Hellfire Club and its majestic song selection including "Mysteria", "The Piper Never Dies", and my personal favorite "Navigator".
A bit ahead of them Blind Guardian was releasing such dominant classics as Imaginations From The Other Side, Somewhere Far Beyond, and the mind-bogglingly excellent Nightfall In Middle-Earth, which got me to do something I'd tried and failed several times to do - read Tolkien's The Silmarillian. Taking a little time away after these masterpieces, head honcho Hansi sits down with Iced Earth axemaster Jon Schaffer to make pure magic. The initial Demons & Wizards release both rocked and grooved. Blind Guardian continues very ambitious projects, A Night At The Opera containing the exhausting Trojan war novella, "And Then There Was Silence". At times catchy, at times crunchy, this album worked for me in large part, though I find I enjoy it more in pieces than digested all at once. Back goes Hansi to the welcoming arms of Demons & Wizards where they craft one of my favorite albums of all time - Touched By The Crimson King. My jaw spent most of the first listen on the floor. Just wow. "Beneath These Waves" is one of my all-time favorite songs (particularly the edited version without the needless near-silent interlude). "Terror Train", "Crimson King", "Dorian", "Seize the Day", "The Gunslinger"...packed with hits. Apart from some very troubling low points, VERY troubling, like "White Witch" (and the agonizingly slower and worse edit of same) and bizarrely chosen and executed "Immigrant Song", this is a great album. Then, back to BG to face a real challenge. You're churning out magic with your side band and your 'real' band just produced an album that many consider a letdown. You've got to make a statement to save the band. Out comes A Twist In The Myth. Mission accomplished. Not their best, but a very strong effort including "This Will Never End", the hate it or love it "Fly" (I like it a lot), and some real highlights - "Turn the Page", their most haunting and beautiful song, yet, "Carry the Blessed Home" and the wonderful bard tale "Skalds and Shadows". I wrote a full review here: link. Funnily enough, you'll see that at this time I was comparing the bards not-so-favorably to Edguy, although they had just released a so-so album of their own. To summarize this long story, Blind Guardian climbed back on top of the heap.
Back to Tobi and Edguy. Here, at their peak, Tobi took some time from Edguy and was tinkering with Avantasia. Even more his project than Edguy, the eponymous initial release was excellent, featuring truly memorable tracks. The second, not so very much. Back to Edguy out comes the highly anticipated Rocket Ride. Ugh. Cripes, what's up with that? I mean, yeah it's not a bad album, hardly a stinker, but after Hellfire Club it's like, what were you thinking? Best moment is the hard-rocking "The Asylum", what a great song. More humor than power. European comedic metal? Where'd your nuts go, Tobi?
Oh, I see. They're with Avantasia. Out comes another of my favorite all-time albums, The Scarecrow. Wow. Freaking wow. Damn. Wow. Practically without a flaw. If you don't have it, go buy the damned thing. Wow.
So what will Tobi do back with Edguy. Tinnitus Sanctus. Well, the title's hopeful, right? They're gonna power this one out of the park and snatch the crown right off Blind Guardian's head, right? Damn (in a totally different way). Sad me. Where's the blistering face tearing off wave of metal guitar might implied by the title? What, in the name of all of Tobi's helicopter dreams, has happened to the thing that drew so many of us to Edguy in the first place - the catchy, hooky, yeah-a-bit-corny, shout-along choruses that drop an anchor in your brain and hang out there for a few tide cycles? Again it seems that Tobi has decided that Edguy is a humorous party band that should primarily sing about sex and leave "The Piper Never Dies" for Avantasia. This is bad, folks. Not that it's a really horrible album, it's probably better than a lot of power metal out there, but I honestly think it is their worst album - yes, worse than Rocket Ride, worse than Savage Poetry, and much worse than Kingdom Of Madness. I see that Tobi wrote the whole thing, too. Did he just walk in and go 'OK, guys, we're going to do a whole album that's an homage to "Lavatory Love Machine"'? Sadly I get the same feeling as I got with the latest Tool release, that Maynard spent all his energies doing what he really wanted to do on A Perfect Circle and returned to his 'home' with creative dregs. Say it ain't so, Tobi, get your fanny back up that hill and climb!
Ministry of Saints - A pretty strong start, actually. Having seen this video before getting the album, I was cautiously optimistic. Not an overwhelmingly good song, but a nice, rocking, strong opener, typical of better Edguy releases. For this album it's got an unusually strong chorus. Maybe the only "Edguy song" on the album? No, not the only one, but this remains one of the better efforts.
Sex Fire Religion - A plodding, juvenile pile of 'whatever'. Stop saying 'sex fire religion visionary position', it's just stupid and would have been stupid on a Motley Crue album from the 80s. I expect this will soon leave my mp3 player. And leave it did...just a stupid, half-arsed effort.
The Pride of Creation - Not sure what to make of this song. It's sneaky. I don't want to like it because the last song leaves such a bad taste in my brain, but I think I do. It sort of worms its way into my head and whispers 'I'm not so bad, like me'. Hey! Are those guitars? Neat! Oh, carp. Is that more potty humor? Hey, is that a catchy chorus? You don't say! How about a big ending, guy? No? Rats. (update: Bit silly, but I end up liking it.) In the end this is one of my favorite songs. The chorus is such an Edguy chorus. This could fit in on a couple of the other albums, though it would be near the bottom of those albums, whereas here it's one of the best.
Nine Lives - Not terrible. Juvenile lyrics. Music is pretty classic Edguy. I enjoy it as I listen, then it just fades off the radar. Maybe because it ends badly.
Wake Up Dreaming Black - You're not Warrel Dane, Tobi. Try a little harder with the titles, m'kay? Not bad though, rocks pretty well. However, repeating "dying angels" is not a chorus.
Dragonfly - Confusion abounds, but nevertheless this is a pretty cool track. No, it doesn't make any sense, but half the time Hansi's stuff doesn't either. 'Bring me the sirens and we'll chop off their heads'? Nice song. Deserves better than to be on this album. Deserves better than yet more lame sexual innuendo. Pick up the pace and you've got a nice song. Have some sense to the chorus for singalongability and you've got a real winner. (update: OK, so it's about snorting coke, I guess. A bit faster and you've got a winner, though it's no Master of Puppets.)
Thorn Without a Rose - Trust me, guys, a ballad isn't what you're lacking here. Is it over, yet? It's Ok, it's a ballad, move on. OK, now here's a song that has benefited from moving away from the songs around it. I really like this song, now. Well sung, well executed. My initial reaction was driven by frustration of the lack of rock on this album. Removed from that situation, it's a decent song on its own.
9-2-9 - Yawn. Oh, sorry, I'm still sleepy after the last song and this isn't helping much. Hint: "9-2-9" is not as catchy as "and the navigator, is headed to hell" for a chorus. Were there supposed to be some guitarists involved with this song? Could've fooled me. This hasn't improved with age. It's still a middle-of-the-road song with a guitar solo that could have been, and sounds as if it were, played on a synthesizer. It doesn't utterly suck, it's just not that great. Forgettable.
Speedhoven - I don't know what the hell this is about, but it might be the best song on the album. It's fresh and creative and only lacks enough catchiness so that I can remember ANY of it after it's done to make it a solid, if not spectacular, addition to an Edguy release. Tobi clearly thought he was writing his high point for this album here - shout along vocals, pounding beat. Probably should have led off the album, but then the dropoff would have been really steep. Tobi really worked on his vocals for this one. This could work on The Scarecrow if that's a tip off. Drums, nice. Guitars. What guitars? Morecowbell guitars!
Dead or Rock - No, this one doesn't make any sense, either. But it's actually a pretty good song as long as you don't want to sing along with it. More wallowing in teenager lyrics. Funny, these guys were writing better songs when they were teenagers. Yeah, if you ignore the lyrics and don't pay much attention it's not bad. The drums sound good.
Aren't You a Little Pervert Too?! - Oh, for crying out loud. What the hell is this? I listened to it exactly twice before removing it from my mp3 player to ensure that I don't have to hear it again. And I still haven't heard it again and have no desire to. The worst person to say what is beneath them is that person themselves. Edguy, this song is beneath you, despite what you think.
So. What do we really have here? Basically a juvenile record that I would have expected from the guys a decade ago. There's no maturation here. There's regression. Is it a career-killer? Probably not, but it's definitely strike two. If you're not an Edguy fan already I don't see much to tempt you. Not much at all. I suspect this will sell like carp. It should. I find it hard to believe that anyone turned off by Rocket Ride will shell out for this one after seeing the reviews. Guys, it's one thing to say 'to hell with what people say, we're not going to keep doing the same thing, we're going to do what we want' and knowing when you need to listen to the people saying 'this isn't good, what you did before was good, can't you do something almost like that stuff that is still good?'. Blind Guardian did that with Twist. Make a note, Edguy, make a note.
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I chipped in for the digipack release with the Live In Los Angeles bonus disc. Oops. Well, it's not THAT bad. The quality is OK, even if it sounds like Tobi is phoning it in. Actually there are some nice song choices here, it's just sort of, eh. I dunno. Maybe I was just hoping for more of the more powerful stuff. Track list includes:
Catch of the Century
Sacrifice (neat choice)
Babylon (VERY neat choice)
Lavatory Love Machine (fun song in small doses)
Tears of a Mandrake
Vain Glory Opera
Superheroes
F*cking with Fire (I'd be ticked if I went to see them live and they played this instead of something good)
Avantasia
King of Fools
Somewhere Blind Guardian is raising a toast & seating their crowns a bit more firmly on their heads.
For a while now Edguy has been gaining ground on the current overlords of European fantasy power metal. Scratching and clawing their way up the slope with some really strong releases in the category - Vain Glory Opera (with an appearance by Hansi, to boot) and Mandrake before the blistering Hellfire Club and its majestic song selection including "Mysteria", "The Piper Never Dies", and my personal favorite "Navigator".
A bit ahead of them Blind Guardian was releasing such dominant classics as Imaginations From The Other Side, Somewhere Far Beyond, and the mind-bogglingly excellent Nightfall In Middle-Earth, which got me to do something I'd tried and failed several times to do - read Tolkien's The Silmarillian. Taking a little time away after these masterpieces, head honcho Hansi sits down with Iced Earth axemaster Jon Schaffer to make pure magic. The initial Demons & Wizards release both rocked and grooved. Blind Guardian continues very ambitious projects, A Night At The Opera containing the exhausting Trojan war novella, "And Then There Was Silence". At times catchy, at times crunchy, this album worked for me in large part, though I find I enjoy it more in pieces than digested all at once. Back goes Hansi to the welcoming arms of Demons & Wizards where they craft one of my favorite albums of all time - Touched By The Crimson King. My jaw spent most of the first listen on the floor. Just wow. "Beneath These Waves" is one of my all-time favorite songs (particularly the edited version without the needless near-silent interlude). "Terror Train", "Crimson King", "Dorian", "Seize the Day", "The Gunslinger"...packed with hits. Apart from some very troubling low points, VERY troubling, like "White Witch" (and the agonizingly slower and worse edit of same) and bizarrely chosen and executed "Immigrant Song", this is a great album. Then, back to BG to face a real challenge. You're churning out magic with your side band and your 'real' band just produced an album that many consider a letdown. You've got to make a statement to save the band. Out comes A Twist In The Myth. Mission accomplished. Not their best, but a very strong effort including "This Will Never End", the hate it or love it "Fly" (I like it a lot), and some real highlights - "Turn the Page", their most haunting and beautiful song, yet, "Carry the Blessed Home" and the wonderful bard tale "Skalds and Shadows". I wrote a full review here: link. Funnily enough, you'll see that at this time I was comparing the bards not-so-favorably to Edguy, although they had just released a so-so album of their own. To summarize this long story, Blind Guardian climbed back on top of the heap.
Back to Tobi and Edguy. Here, at their peak, Tobi took some time from Edguy and was tinkering with Avantasia. Even more his project than Edguy, the eponymous initial release was excellent, featuring truly memorable tracks. The second, not so very much. Back to Edguy out comes the highly anticipated Rocket Ride. Ugh. Cripes, what's up with that? I mean, yeah it's not a bad album, hardly a stinker, but after Hellfire Club it's like, what were you thinking? Best moment is the hard-rocking "The Asylum", what a great song. More humor than power. European comedic metal? Where'd your nuts go, Tobi?
Oh, I see. They're with Avantasia. Out comes another of my favorite all-time albums, The Scarecrow. Wow. Freaking wow. Damn. Wow. Practically without a flaw. If you don't have it, go buy the damned thing. Wow.
So what will Tobi do back with Edguy. Tinnitus Sanctus. Well, the title's hopeful, right? They're gonna power this one out of the park and snatch the crown right off Blind Guardian's head, right? Damn (in a totally different way). Sad me. Where's the blistering face tearing off wave of metal guitar might implied by the title? What, in the name of all of Tobi's helicopter dreams, has happened to the thing that drew so many of us to Edguy in the first place - the catchy, hooky, yeah-a-bit-corny, shout-along choruses that drop an anchor in your brain and hang out there for a few tide cycles? Again it seems that Tobi has decided that Edguy is a humorous party band that should primarily sing about sex and leave "The Piper Never Dies" for Avantasia. This is bad, folks. Not that it's a really horrible album, it's probably better than a lot of power metal out there, but I honestly think it is their worst album - yes, worse than Rocket Ride, worse than Savage Poetry, and much worse than Kingdom Of Madness. I see that Tobi wrote the whole thing, too. Did he just walk in and go 'OK, guys, we're going to do a whole album that's an homage to "Lavatory Love Machine"'? Sadly I get the same feeling as I got with the latest Tool release, that Maynard spent all his energies doing what he really wanted to do on A Perfect Circle and returned to his 'home' with creative dregs. Say it ain't so, Tobi, get your fanny back up that hill and climb!
Ministry of Saints - A pretty strong start, actually. Having seen this video before getting the album, I was cautiously optimistic. Not an overwhelmingly good song, but a nice, rocking, strong opener, typical of better Edguy releases. For this album it's got an unusually strong chorus. Maybe the only "Edguy song" on the album? No, not the only one, but this remains one of the better efforts.
Sex Fire Religion - A plodding, juvenile pile of 'whatever'. Stop saying 'sex fire religion visionary position', it's just stupid and would have been stupid on a Motley Crue album from the 80s. I expect this will soon leave my mp3 player. And leave it did...just a stupid, half-arsed effort.
The Pride of Creation - Not sure what to make of this song. It's sneaky. I don't want to like it because the last song leaves such a bad taste in my brain, but I think I do. It sort of worms its way into my head and whispers 'I'm not so bad, like me'. Hey! Are those guitars? Neat! Oh, carp. Is that more potty humor? Hey, is that a catchy chorus? You don't say! How about a big ending, guy? No? Rats. (update: Bit silly, but I end up liking it.) In the end this is one of my favorite songs. The chorus is such an Edguy chorus. This could fit in on a couple of the other albums, though it would be near the bottom of those albums, whereas here it's one of the best.
Nine Lives - Not terrible. Juvenile lyrics. Music is pretty classic Edguy. I enjoy it as I listen, then it just fades off the radar. Maybe because it ends badly.
Wake Up Dreaming Black - You're not Warrel Dane, Tobi. Try a little harder with the titles, m'kay? Not bad though, rocks pretty well. However, repeating "dying angels" is not a chorus.
Dragonfly - Confusion abounds, but nevertheless this is a pretty cool track. No, it doesn't make any sense, but half the time Hansi's stuff doesn't either. 'Bring me the sirens and we'll chop off their heads'? Nice song. Deserves better than to be on this album. Deserves better than yet more lame sexual innuendo. Pick up the pace and you've got a nice song. Have some sense to the chorus for singalongability and you've got a real winner. (update: OK, so it's about snorting coke, I guess. A bit faster and you've got a winner, though it's no Master of Puppets.)
Thorn Without a Rose - Trust me, guys, a ballad isn't what you're lacking here. Is it over, yet? It's Ok, it's a ballad, move on. OK, now here's a song that has benefited from moving away from the songs around it. I really like this song, now. Well sung, well executed. My initial reaction was driven by frustration of the lack of rock on this album. Removed from that situation, it's a decent song on its own.
9-2-9 - Yawn. Oh, sorry, I'm still sleepy after the last song and this isn't helping much. Hint: "9-2-9" is not as catchy as "and the navigator, is headed to hell" for a chorus. Were there supposed to be some guitarists involved with this song? Could've fooled me. This hasn't improved with age. It's still a middle-of-the-road song with a guitar solo that could have been, and sounds as if it were, played on a synthesizer. It doesn't utterly suck, it's just not that great. Forgettable.
Speedhoven - I don't know what the hell this is about, but it might be the best song on the album. It's fresh and creative and only lacks enough catchiness so that I can remember ANY of it after it's done to make it a solid, if not spectacular, addition to an Edguy release. Tobi clearly thought he was writing his high point for this album here - shout along vocals, pounding beat. Probably should have led off the album, but then the dropoff would have been really steep. Tobi really worked on his vocals for this one. This could work on The Scarecrow if that's a tip off. Drums, nice. Guitars. What guitars? More
Dead or Rock - No, this one doesn't make any sense, either. But it's actually a pretty good song as long as you don't want to sing along with it. More wallowing in teenager lyrics. Funny, these guys were writing better songs when they were teenagers. Yeah, if you ignore the lyrics and don't pay much attention it's not bad. The drums sound good.
Aren't You a Little Pervert Too?! - Oh, for crying out loud. What the hell is this? I listened to it exactly twice before removing it from my mp3 player to ensure that I don't have to hear it again. And I still haven't heard it again and have no desire to. The worst person to say what is beneath them is that person themselves. Edguy, this song is beneath you, despite what you think.
So. What do we really have here? Basically a juvenile record that I would have expected from the guys a decade ago. There's no maturation here. There's regression. Is it a career-killer? Probably not, but it's definitely strike two. If you're not an Edguy fan already I don't see much to tempt you. Not much at all. I suspect this will sell like carp. It should. I find it hard to believe that anyone turned off by Rocket Ride will shell out for this one after seeing the reviews. Guys, it's one thing to say 'to hell with what people say, we're not going to keep doing the same thing, we're going to do what we want' and knowing when you need to listen to the people saying 'this isn't good, what you did before was good, can't you do something almost like that stuff that is still good?'. Blind Guardian did that with Twist. Make a note, Edguy, make a note.
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I chipped in for the digipack release with the Live In Los Angeles bonus disc. Oops. Well, it's not THAT bad. The quality is OK, even if it sounds like Tobi is phoning it in. Actually there are some nice song choices here, it's just sort of, eh. I dunno. Maybe I was just hoping for more of the more powerful stuff. Track list includes:
Catch of the Century
Sacrifice (neat choice)
Babylon (VERY neat choice)
Lavatory Love Machine (fun song in small doses)
Tears of a Mandrake
Vain Glory Opera
Superheroes
F*cking with Fire (I'd be ticked if I went to see them live and they played this instead of something good)
Avantasia
King of Fools
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