The Benja-man Is Verbose

Since I've done Avantasia before, I ended up forgoing the usual two-posts thing.  So, this'll be it. When does The Scarecrow generate excitement for a listener of my particular tastes.  Pretty much from minute one.  The moment "Twisted Mind" hit, I was grinning.  Yeah, this is what I came for  Da-da-da-daDAH!  The main riff is positively groovy, sounds heavy, sounds electronic.  Instantly memorable.  Speaking of memorable, Roy Khan's unmistakable vocals immediately set the mood to go to the slightly darker side of power metal, sticking to his great low range to let Tobias handle the high stuff in a way that quickly turns up the intensity higher than you get with Kamelot.  So I was intrigued pretty early.   Now, when does that buzz fade?  It was a little later each time.  On the first listen it was at the chorus of that song.  My mind started wandering early.  The record seemed more full of downtuned meanderings than ...

Much like with the previous record, I don't have any particular preconceptions going into  Mr. Bad Example  or any real sense of its reputation.  I think Zevon was by this point firmly a has-been who'd never be a megastar again, his former cast of millions reduced to longtime friends and collaborators like Waddy Wachtel, who produced and is all over the guitar work.  I think Zevon was also by this point firmly a critical darling who had a devoted cult audience that he probably didn't properly appreciate.  And of all of his albums, our 1991 effort here is firmly one of them. Track One:  "Finishing Touches" This is increasingly becoming the song to which I look forward to coming back whilst exploring the record.  True, I sometimes complain about one-riff songs.  All I can say is that I'll forgive a lot for a really, really good riff.  On that backdrop we have Zevon in articulate bitter mode, with yet another classic opening line ...