Second only to The Wicked Symphony
Joseph P. Hodgson | 04/14/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I went into greater detail on both "The Wicked Symphony" and "Angel of Babylon" in my review on the deluxe edition, but I wanted to share some thoughts on AoB here.
It is true that TWS is probably better than AoB, but just because AoB isn't quite as good does not mean it isn't a five-star release. It's an ambitious release, even more so than TWS, and contains some great vocal performances by Avantasia regulars Tobias Sammet, Jorn Lande, and Bob Catley, as well as some excellent debuts from Jon Oliva and Cloudy Yang.
The album takes more chances and isn't afraid to bring in more rock elements. There's still plenty of bombastic power elements to go around. The opener "Stargazers" is a typical Avantasia epic. While I think the chorus could be better, it's still an excellent song. "Angel of Babylon" brings the speed for those craving it and throws in some cool time changes for good measure.
It's with the next two tracks that things change-up. "Your Love is Evil" is pretty much a hard rock number. A little Bon Jovi-like, it's a catchy number and one of my favorite tracks on the album though it wouldn't shock me to learn some people don't care for it. "Death is Just a Feeling" features Jon Oliva on lead vocal duties singing the role of The Toy Master formerly played by Alice Cooper. Here the Toy Master is no longer among the living and somewhat fearful of anyone who is still attached to a mortal body. It's a very emotive and colorful performance and the show-stopper of the album. It's the type of song that can only be found on a concept album. I think it works incredibly well though some may be put off by it.
Where AoB falls a little short of TWS is in the songs designed to be more straight-forward rock/metal tracks. "Rat Race" is a high tempo number that stumbles a bit. It doesn't really go anywhere though does have a pleasing rhythm section. "Down in the Dark" has a fairly catchy chorus but doesn't hold up as well next to other songs. Some seem to not care for the Sascha Paeth penned "Symphony of Life," though I find it to be an excellent track with a lot of mood and atmosphere (Cloudy Yang comes off extremely well here).
"Journey to Arcadia" is the closing number and a good one. It's a mid-tempo epic with a big cast that's tastefully done. That's one of Avantasia's greatest strengths in that Tobias Sammet is able to craft these big, over the top, bombastic songs that come across as being tastefully done. Some of that comes from producer/guitarist Sascha Paeth who is one of the best in the business, but ultimately the credit goes to Tobi.
Make no mistake, "Angel of Babylon" is a great album. Perhaps it is out-shined some by "The Wicked Symphony" but the gap is small. Ask me tomorrow and maybe I'll say AoB is my preferred album, I don't really know. I don't much care. I know what I like and this is a great way for Tobi to end his Wicked Trilogy."
End of the Scarecrow trilogy
Murat Batmaz | Istanbul, Turkey | 04/13/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Angel of Babylon marks the end of Tobias Sammet's successful Scarecrow trilogy. This is the final part -- interestingly, the second part, The Wicked Symphony, will be released Stateside a month later.
As with all previous Avantasia discs, Angel of Babylon has a great array of guests, both vocalists and musicians. Besides Sascha Paeth's guitar parts, duties are shared by other great players including Bruce Kulick, Oliver Hartmann, and Henjo Richter. Each guitarist plays in his most suitable role: Kulick has been chosen to shine on the album's hard-rocking numbers, such as the nine-minute opener "Stargazers", the fast-paced "Rat Race", and the brilliant finale "Journey to Arcadia". Of these, "Stargazers" is easily the highlight of the album -- it sees vocal deities like Jorn Lande, Michael Kiske, and Russell Allen giving their best, with sweeing harmonies, excellent fretwork, thunderous drum parts, and of course Sammet's own touch.
Unlike the Metal Opera discs, Angel of Babylon is more like a compilation record with more varied songs. This gives it a more diverse nature, as it consists of the typical Euro power metal style songs like "Promised Land"; the more hard rock-based cuts "Angel of Babylon" and "Your Love is Evil" (check the 80's vocal choruses!); and even the more daring, somewhat goth metal-like "Symphony of Life", sung by Cloudy Yang. This is a song with lots of synth parts, in part electronical, a huge chorus in the mould of Anneke van Giersbergen circa The Gathering's If_Then_Else period. Also, there are the very typical 80's ballad kind of songs on this album: "Blowing Out the Flame". Here, Sammet sings exactly like Jon Bon Jovi. Think their These Days album, which was basically an album of a million ballads. The singing is almost identical to Jon Bon Jovi's: low, gruff, and bluesy. "Down in the Dark" will stand out after repeat listens. It is atypical in that the guitar work is very experimental, almost progressive, with plenty of stop-start parts, weird bending, unusual tone selections, and drive.
"Death is Just Like a Feeling" is the song with Jon Oliva. It is amazing to hear him in a chorus-laden piece, since he has never sung like this before. It starts off with his trademark laugh, his evil delivery, but grows into a huge, Avantasia-worthy chorus -- it's simply amazing. I would have never thought it possible to hear Jon Oliva in such a musical setting. Sammet concludes the last part of the piece with some female backing harmonies and gripping melodies.
Bob Catley is easily the most stand-out vocalist on the album. His performance on "Journey to Arcadia" is breathtaking, especially in the parts where he is supported by Jorn Lande. This is the kind of music that suits Catley best, unlike on the last Ayreon disc where he was given too little space. When allowed to carry whole verses and even choruses, the man becomes a vocal god. This song is also important because it explains how the main character in the trilogy ends up in a mental institution still resisting the temptation brought on by the character of Jorn Lande.
That said, The Wicked Symphony is a superior release to Angel of Babylon. It is more focused and heavier in scope. This album is way too diverse, and at times feels more like a compilation with Sammet's take on various genres. While there are some truly amazing songs and performances here, I feel he outdoes himself on The Wicked Symphony, given the tracks by Ripper Owens, Klaus Meine, as well as mainstays Jorn Lande, Russell Allen, and others.
On another note, the production is fantastic, on both new releases."
Weaker than The Wicked Symphony, but still good
John | Greece | 04/13/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Avantasia is a project composed and put together by vocalist Tobias Sammet of Edguy. The first Avantasia release was 'The Metal Opera' in 2001 and its sequel followed in 2002. The albums featured numerous guest musicians such as Michael Kiske, Kai Hansen, David DeFeis, Timo Tolkki, Henjo Ritcher and Sharon Den Adel. Both Metal Opera's are regarded as some of the best, modern power metal albums. The Avantasia project was revived in 2007 with the release of two EP's and the album 'The Scarecrow' in 2008. The Scarecrow featured famous guests such as Alice Cooper, Jorn Lande, Rudolf Schenker and Roy Khan, among others. The music leaned more towards hard rock rather than power metal and the release was amongst the twenty best selling albums in Europe.
On April 3, 2010, Tobias Sammet released the sequel of The Scarecrow, as a double album named 'The Wicked Symphony & Angel Of Babylon' or as two separate disks. The main musicians remain the same, as in the previous release, with Tobias Sammet on bass and lead vocals, Sascha Paeth (ex-Heaven's Gate) on guitars and Eric Singer (Kiss) on drums.
The list of guest vocalists is shorter than the one on The Wicked Symphony, but still impressive! Jon Oliva (Savatage, Jon Oliva's Pain), Jorn Lande (ex-Ark, Masterplan, etc), Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween, Place Vendome, etc), Russell Allen (Symphony X), Bob Catley (Magnum) and Cloudy Yang.
Guest musicians include Bruce Kulick (ex-Kiss, ex-Meat Loaf) on lead guitar, Oliver Hartmann (ex-At Vance) on lead guitar, Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody) on drums, Felix Bohnke (Edguy) on drums and Jens Johansson (Stratovarius) on keyboards.
"Angel Of Babylon" is a very solid release, but weaker in comparison to The Wicked Symphony. As in The Scarecrow, the music focuses more on hard rock with bombastic choruses and great guitar melodies. Nevertheless, there is at least one fast paced power metal track, one heavier piece, some ballads and a few progressive touches. Additionally, big choirs with many backing vocalists and some extended guitar solos add further colors to the music.
Most of the songs manage to stand out and only a few fall a bit short.
"Stargazers" is one of the longest tracks on offer and features vocals by Tobias Sammet, Jorn Lande, Michael Kiske, Russell Allen and a brief performance by Oliver Hartmann. On guitars we have Bruce Kulick and Sascha Paeth. The song begins with a ballad type intro, as several voices sing in turns. After a minute and a half it explodes into fast paced double bass tempo, heading for the bridge and chorus. Half way to the song the music switches to a slow lead guitar passage, changes into faster speed again for an impressive guitar battle and drops to a mid-tempo hard rock mode, continuing in that vein until the end. Stargazers contains a memorable power metal chorus, good vocal transitions, impressive solos, tempo changes and both Michael Kiske and Jorn Lande in top form. Definitely the best song on this album and one of the strongest tracks on both releases.
"Death Is Just A Feeling" featuring Jon Oliva is the most theatrical song and another highlight. It begins in a slow tempo and gets heavier in the pre-chorus. Oliva sings in an eerie way, reminding of Alice Cooper on The Toy Master, while the verses provide a creepy atmosphere. The chorus is bombastic, memorable and fitting for Oliva's voice.
"Your Love Is Evil" is another simple, but catchy mid-tempo rock track. It has a late Edguy feel, an enjoyable chorus and a memorable vocal performance by Sammet.
A different version of "Promised Land" (originally found on the Lost In Space EP 2), were Michael Kiske's vocal part is sang by Jorn Lande, is included in this release. Promised Land is an up tempo hard rock/melodic metal tune, with a very powerful chorus and an enjoyable guitar solo. While the track remains a highlight, it looses some of its old magic brought by the contrast of Kiske's clean voice.
"Symphony Of Life" is a very nice mid tempo gothic/metal song. The track is sang by the female vocalist Cloudy Yang and features symphonic backings, choirs and a very good chorus. While memorable, Symphony Of Life, sounds very out of place on the album.
"Journey To Arcadia" is another theatrical highlight, with great melodies and Bob Catley's strongest vocal performance on the new albums. Nice vocal transitions between Sammet and Allen and a good chorus. All in all, a wonderful closing track.
"Down In The Dark" is an overall good rock track, with a memorable chorus. The verses hint back to Whitesnake and Jorn Lande turns in another good performance.
The title track begins in a power metal form, with the backing of melodic keyboards and double bass drumming. The musical backing on the verses is minimal, as they are powered by some of the most powerful vocal performances by Sammet and especially Jorn Lande. A good keyboard solo enriches the song, but the chorus is too simple and weird, at least for my taste.
The remaining songs are quality offerings as well, but not to the extend of the aforementioned tracks. "Rate Race" is your standard mid tempo rocker, with a melodic but unimpressive chorus. "Blowing Out The Flame" is a simple and average ballad, sang entirely by Sammet. "Alone I Remember" has a very Skid Row reminiscent main riff and mood, in the verses and an AOR chorus, which is in my opinion bad and out of place. Probably one of the weakest songs on both albums.
Angel Of Babylon has some disadvantages, especially when compared to its brother release. One of the major drawbacks of previous Avantasia releases was the fact that Sammet got the lion's share of the vocals. Unfortunately this is somewhat repeated here as well. With the exception of Death Is Just A Feeling, Symphony Of Life, Stargazers and Journey To Arcadia, the release is dominated by vocal duets of Sammet and Lande. While both of them are exceptional vocalists, their duels are overused on the album, especially when compared to the vocal diversity found on The Wicked Symphony. The final disadvantage is the inclusion of many mid tempo and slower rock songs and not enough heavier or faster tracks to perfectly balance the release.
If 'The Wicked Symphony & Angel Of Babylon' is judged as a single release, it amazes and probably surpasses all previous Avantasia efforts. On the other hand, if Angel Of Babylon is viewed as a separate album, while good, it pales in comparison to past Avantasia releases. When compared to The Wicked Symphony, Angel Of Babylon is the weaker album, as it contains fewer stand out songs and a smaller number of guest vocalists. Nevertheless, there are several memorable songs, a few modern ideas, some incredible vocal performances and pleasant guitar work to be found on this album. Tobias Sammet should be congratulated for creating this impressive rock opera and for being one of the best modern day songwriters in both rock and metal.
(Be sure to check out The Wicked Symphony and The Scarecrow)"
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1