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?Classics? of power metal #8: KAMELOT - Epica (2003), early impressions

Past exposure to this band/record:   As mentioned before, I had a moment with Austrian symphonic-power-proggers Serenity * around the time of their first two records, at which time anything written about them involved a comparison to Kamelot.  So, with my limited piggy bank money - after getting confused and spending a little time with Katatonia, a very different sort of interesting metal band - I ended up grabbing a copy of  Ghost Opera .  I liked it quite a bit, even if it wasn't an all-timer, and still find myself humming "Rule The World" from time to time.  But then Poetry For The Poisoned  just somehow failed to grab me, and not for lack of trying.  So I drifted away from all things Kamelot, until now.  It sounds like some would argue I picked the right time to jump off that train, but since I never really rode it much to begin with, this is a great opportunity! I'm a classifier when it comes to music just because there's so ...
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HINDU LOVE GODS - Hindu Love Gods (1990)

Released  in 1990, but actually recorded on a whim by Zevon and the non-Stipe R.E.M. guys during the Sentimental Hygiene  sessions.  If I'm a little cursory in my exploration of  Hindu Love Gods , well, the material kinda demands it.  The quip about this record is that they recorded it in less time than it takes to listen to, or something to that effect.  So it's entirely possible that I'll spend more time and effort composing this post then went into recording Hindu Love Gods .   Not everyone involved even agreed to have the session released to the public before it happened.  So... yeah.  I'm never tremendously enthusiastic about covers records in which I don't know most of the originals, but let's dig shallowly in. Track One:  "Walkin' Blues" [Robert Johnson] It's worth noting that most of these songs are blues standards.  My knowledge of the blues is mostly confined to the fact that I lived in Chicago for about ten yea...
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?Classics? of power metal #7: FALCONER - Falconer (2001), upon further review

A few days ago, I was having a day that wasn't bad, per se, but involved feeling overwhelmed with little things to do of equal unimportance, needing to force myself to do a certain detail oriented task, and just exhausted.  I was absolutley not in the mood for power metal, and needed mopier, downbeat, avant-gard sort of music for the occasion.  Late in the afternoon, I did put on  Falconer , though.  The record as a whole, and "Wings Of Serenity" in particular, hit the spot.  The next day was a much better day for high-energy anthems.  Falconer  fit in well there, too, and "Wings Of Serenity" in particular hit the spot.  I've long been a believer in the premise that good enough music ought not to be limited to one's mood, at least not for me personally.  Sure, certain stuff is a better fit for certain times, but I like to listen to what I like to listen, and listening to what I like makes me feel good.  So I choose to read some...
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?Classics? of power metal #7: FALCONER - Falconer (2001), early impressions

Past exposure to this band/record:   Zero. I've been looking forward to this one way too much, I think.   I come in ready to open some new horizons with Falconer, since they always pop up as the supposed unique PM band that everyone needs to know about.  Since we finished with Adramelch, I've spent a lot of time basically in the realm of traditional German-style power metal and, well, the last few records I've written about are variations on that theme.  Often interesting variations, to be sure.  We had traditional German PM in the vein of Helloween except in its rawer form with Death Or Glory , except backcrossed with various early-80s forms of metal with Glory To The Brave , except front-crossed with the rest of the rock and metal world with The Dark Ride , * and except with an ensemble cast with The Metal Opera .  Fine, fine.  But, look, I started this writing project wanting vicissitudes.  I wanted to hear some bands pushing at t...
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WARREN ZEVON - Sentimental Hygiene (1987)

Warren Zevon's career is one of those that had a bunch of "comebacks," "returns to form," etc.  That's what happens when you peak... well, early-ish.  As chronicled, he'd certainly paid his dues and spent a decade bumming around the music business before hitting it big with the self-titled and then  Excitable Boy .  Yet I seriously wanted just now to call them "the first two albums," despite knowing full well that they weren't.  Point is, he hit his commercial and to some artistic peak very soon after people started having heard of him at all, and then within a couple years his career was on the downswing.  And so, like artists who peak early, fans of each record would inevitably hail it as a return to form .   After  The Envoy  flopped,  Sentimental Hygiene  was the first of a series of mini-comebacks.  You've got Zevon newly sober and getting back in touch with his roots, you've got the promising pairing with a little band ca...
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?Classics? of power metal #6: AVANTASIA - The Metal Opera (2001), upon further review

Picking up the twin questions of whether The Metal Opera succeeds as a power metal record and as a concept album.  I'm a bit surprised to find that its success with the former is part of the reason I'm more mixed on the latter. So, the songs here are generally good.  A bunch of catchy metal songs is what you need first and foremost to make a top-tier power metal record.  They nailed that part.  One aspect of Tobias's songwriting that I think needs proper mention is the transition game.  If you're going to play with anything resembling a complex song structure, the pieces need to fit together.  Not only does that happen here, but it's often the source of the hooks.  [Chant, instruments drop out] -> "What is going ooooooon?!" -> [drumroll] -> "Reach out for the light... [chugchugchug]."  Together, that adds up to a hook.  There's an innate understanding here of how one piece of a song should set up another.  End what sounds like i...
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?Classics? of power metal #6: AVANTASIA - The Metal Opera (2001), early impressions

Past exposure to this band/record : I don't think any. A few years ago I did listen to a then-new symphonic power-prog record with a lot of guest vocalists.  I remember that whatever band put out the record was a legacy act, pretty well respected, and that I was struck by how song after song seemed to have the right elements yet never once grabbed me. What I no longer have even the slightest memory of is the name of that band or that record.  Since the name "Avantasia" probably didn't mean anything to me back then, I can't say that it definitely wasn't them. But, anyway, as far as I know , I've not listened to Avantasia before.   Fun with names :  As best as I can tell, the official name of the band is "Avantasia" rather than "Tobias Sammet's Avantasia," despite what's on the album cover.  While we're at it, it might be worth noting that coming in, I know Tobias Sammet only through reputation.  His work is a big back bo...
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WARREN ZEVON - The Envoy (1982)

If a record for as established an artist as Zevon doesn't even get included except as an "album series" inclusion on one of my streaming services, it's gotta be minor work, right?  And if it flopped hard enough to drive its singer out of the mainstream for what seemed like it'd be forever, it's gotta be really minor work, right?  Well, let's find out. Track One:  "The Envoy" Well, the way the song comes in drowned in synthesizers immediately dates the song and the record that bears its name.  I like what "The Envoy" is going to with its tribute to the kind of superhero diplomat who, well, doesn't usually get his own rock song.  I'm a little torn between wishing the chorus were more than "[verb] the Envoy," and moments when it gets stuck in my head.  I do wish the song weren't so overproduced and... busy.  And I wish it had a third verse instead of the first one again.  Pretty good overall, though.   Tra...
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