Search - Tobias Sammet :: Avantasia: The Metal Opera Part 1

Not innovative, but a great power metal album: buy it!

I. MUNOZ | Montreal, PQ, Canada | 11/02/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Made with passion and honesty, although too much influenced by the Helloween of the early years, this is a wonderful album for power metal fans. I won't say "masterpiece" because I don't want to be blinded by the love that I have for this kind of music, but I can say that this is a superb artwork that no rocker must miss. Its production is exquisite, and not to mention the playing and singing!This album is performed by an "all star" team. Henjo Richter (from Gamma Ray) in guitar duties does an exceptional job, even going neoclassical by times, but always imposing the power metal style with those speedy riffs and his characteristic aggressiveness. The bass (Markus Grosskopf, from Helloween) and drums (Alex Holzwarth, from Rhapsody) are also great. And vocals, well... what can be said? Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween, remember? AKA "Ernie" now ;-)) comes back to power metal better than ever; while Tobias Sammet (the leader of this project, from Edguy) is in good shape as always, with his Dickinson-like sound and his higher pitched singing. Perhaps they are the two most "visible" performers in this album, but here you'll also find some other power metal vocalists playing secondary roles, such as Kai Hansen -who is not so brilliant this time, but that decorously does his job.However, in a less positive vein, I have to say that characters are not easily differentiable because the similarity of the performers' voices. Probably with Hansi Kursh (Blind Guardian) and Mathias Blad (Falconer) in the line-up, things could sound differently for better. In addition, backing vocals and orchestrations, although good enough to please exigent ears, probably are the weakest part of this release. That's why I think that calling this "A Metal Opera" is fairly pretentious, given the not-so-classical sound of the interludes and the lack of "mass" in choirs (Hey, if you're not agree with me in this last assertion, please listen "Nightfall In The Middle Earth" from Blind Guardian or any good release from Queen, and then come back to talk about choirs and "opera" in rock ;-)). Because of that I would say that this is rather a concept album, featured by many seasoned musicians, than an "opera".Talking now about songwriting, Tobias Sammet has demonstrated that he is able to write smarter lyrics than the average found in the genre. Lyrics are good and far less ridiculous than what you listen over there (Well... I think that Rhapsody is a good example of poor and kitschy poetry, as well as Falconer, aren't they?). Sammet tells us a story that contains all the ingredients needed to catch power metal fans, but without being too much silly. I sincerely admire this, and I think that he's a very capable musician and a great songwriter in spite of his age and his BIG ego. He is also able to write catchy melodies, which needs more talent than what you would need to write complex(ified ;-)) themes.In few words: this is a great album, a tad pretentious but that succeeds in giving us the sound of power metal as we use to like it. I give to it four stars because it is not innovative at all, but I think that this is anyway one of the bests releases of the year for its fine quality. I strongly recommend this CD. I'll be looking forward to purchasing Part II, and in the meanwhile I'll be listening this. Good work, Mr. Sammet!"

Is this guy a genius or what?

Johan | Strängnäs, Sweden | 10/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What can you say about Tobias Sammet? Well, very much! A gifted song writer, one hell of a singer and a genius! Avantasia is his first (I hope not the last) solo album away from his band Edguy. The massive reunion of singers and guitar players are the guests on Avantasia. Like Rhapsody and Freedom Call, this album is a story of some sort (I have not read it yet I`m afraid). I have to be totaly honest with you, I had to listen to it twice to be able to like it as much as I do. Tobias did us a favour by not making Avantasia sound like Edguy, at least that was what I expected. Yeah, sure you can hear the Edguy sound sometimes but Tobias has made a little anti-Edguy. And that is fine with me, as long as he keeps staying.
Now back to Avantasia. I really love this masterpiece Tobias made, it`s so personal in a way. A struggle of belief, betrayal, friendship and a lost family member (sounds like a great Hollywood movie). Timo Tolkki from Stratovarius and Kai Hansen from Gamma Ray along with many more sings. Henjo Richter from Gamma Ray and Jens Ludwig from (yes that`s right) Edguy, plays the guitars. Tobias Sammet, or "Gabriel" in the story, has (as always) a exellent voice. Songs like "Reach out for the light", "Serpents in paradise", "Breaking away", "The glory of Rome", "Avantasia", "Sign of the cross" and "The Tower" just gives me goose bumps! And I think I have never heard a better song by Tobias than Farewell, I LOVE THAT FLUTE!!!If I could give this CD more stars I would, no CD collection is complete without this album!"

This CD is one of the best that I've heard lately

Reinaldo Cortez | Iquique, Iquique Chile | 09/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I do not share the same opinion as the other reviewers. I think this album it's a masterpiece. Every single song just carry me through a magical trip. The voices of the recording are just incredible. I think Tobias Sammet and Michael Kiske are one of the best singers in the whole world. The guests singers are excellents too:Kai Hansen, Andre Matos, David DeFeis, Rob Rock, Sharon Den Adel (she has a beatiful voice). In the instrumental part, we have Henjo Richter from Gamma Ray doing guitars, Markus Grosskopf from Helloween doing bass guitars and Alex Holzwarth from Rhapsody in the drums (he's one hell of a player). Personally the track I love is Reach Out For The Light, but all of them are simply perfect. I think the CD worths every cent that I paid for it.
I think the title of the CD (The Metal Opera) doesn't fit too much, but the choir work in every song is excellent. The arrangements are great, the melodies are cool, and voices are perfect.
I recommend it for every fan of Edguy, Stratovarius, Rhapsody, etc etc.... It's simply amazing!!"