Edguy / Avantasia / Tobias Sammet

Murder of Rue Morgue said:
Been rediscovering Theater of Salvation - Mandrake - Hellfire Club lately.

Tobi's talent for chorus writing and arranging is unmatched. On Mandrake in particular he did an awesome job.
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Quick tbt

Theater of Salvation
  1. The Healing Vision - An "orchestral" overture led by piano and synth strings introduces us to the theme of the album, which is loosely a concept: religion, corruption, sin and salvation. The Metal Opera pt. 0. Rate: 6, works but it has nothing particularly worth noticing.
  2. Babylon - Now we're talking! The opener is a melodic uptempo, very Helloween-inspired, with a great chorus - not the first in a long series still going on. Rate: 8+, it has all the clichés, but uses them well.
  3. The Headless Game - The pace immediately slows down with a midtempo while the next albums will prefer a more aggressive approach. Works fine, the chorus is cool. Rate: 7.5, a bit cliché'd.
  4. Land of the Miracle - This record's ballad is probably their most famous. It's more like a power ballad. The finale unleashes Tobi's passion for overlapping melodies. I like the lyrics too. Rate: 8.5.
  5. Wake Up The King - Another uptempo with orchestra hits. Cool chorus, cool lyrics ("Tears flow to rivers and rivers to oceans of broken dreams"), GREAT operetta interlude. I also always loved the harpsichord under the chorus and the interlude itself. Rate: 8.
  6. Falling Down - Not memorable. A filler. Rate: 6-.
  7. Arrows Fly - Another filler, mostly. Cool guitar riff at the beginning tho. Rate: 8-.
  8. Holy Shadows - Definitely a filler and not a particularly good one. Frankly I didn't even remember it existed. Rate: 5.5.
  9. Another Time - Another ballad, this time a fully ballad piece. But sadly, not one of Tobi's best ones. Scarlet Rose remains unmatched. Rate: 6+.
  10. The Unbeliever - The most aggressive riff of the lot. By a long shot. Rate: 6.5.
  11. Theater of Salvation - Tobi's masterpiece until that moment. Absolutely incredible track, a triumph of melody, love the guitar solos. (And the chorus is probably inspired by Run Silent, Run Deep). Rate: 9+.
Mandrake
  1. Tears of a Mandrake - Their Fear of the Dark, in some ways. A marked turn from their style for TOS, it begins with electronic synths overlapped by organ, to become a heavy, powerful track with an epic chorus. The change is marked also when it comes to production and sounds, which are better compared to TOS. Rate: 9-.
  2. Golden Dawn - This is a more classic power metal track, but HOLY COW Tobi is incredible on the chorus. Again religion and corruption of modern times: basically a better and faster version of Holy Smoke. Rate: 8+.
  3. Jerusalem - Always LOVED this track. Nothing to do with Bruce's masterpiece, it continues the themes already explored by Golden Dawn. Love the interlude and that it does not have a solo. Rate: 8.5.
  4. All The Clowns - An over-melodic, funny, captivating shorter with a singalong chorus. Funny to think they only debuted it on stage in 2014. Rate: 8.
  5. Nailed To The Wheel - We're moving to heavier stuff here. There is no much space for melody and easy listening choruses here. Only gallops and Tobi's screeches. Rate: 8-.
  6. The Pharaoh - This might be Tobi's best and most balanced epic with Edguy, although The Piper Never Dies occasionally has better moments. The chorus is an absolute masterpiece. Rate: 9.5.
  7. Wash Away The Poison - The record's ballad. Not his best work tho. Rate: 6.5.
  8. Fallen Angels - More of the same as Golden Dawn. Rate: 7-, it has good parts ("Welcome my friends to the ship of the damned") but it is quite repetitive given track 2.
  9. Painting On The Wall - Mid tempo with HUGE chorus, always loved this track. Rate: 8+.
  10. Save Us Now - The gimmick track of the album, basically they're making funny of Felix lmao. It's not bad, but c'mon it's not good enough either to be included in the record. It would have made a good bonus track tho. Rate: 5+.
  11. The Devil And The Savant - On the other hand, this actually was a bonus and it shows. Diverges from the album's general style, and inevitably a filler compared to the rest. Rate: 4.5.
Hellfire Club
  1. Mysteria - If TOAM was heavy/power metal, this one is straight up heavy/thrash. Fast, aggressive, skeletal melody against guitar-driven riffs and double bass. Rate: 8.5.
  2. The Piper Never Dies - This one starts as a hard rock/heavy metal song and is prolonged mainly by the interlude. As I said it has better moments than The Pharaoh from the previous album tho, namely the fast finale (love the guitar section leading to the concluding jam session). It also epitomizes the album, in general. Rate: 9+.
  3. We Don't Need A Hero - An obscure, aggressive, fast track, kinda reminiscent of the second Metal Opera (The Final Sacrifice...). Rate: 9.
  4. Down To The Devil - Which practically is the previous track's lighter and more melodic version. Rate: 8+.
  5. King of Fools - A first approach to the hard rock style that will dominate the next albums. Never liked the track, I'll be honest. Rate: 6+.
  6. Forever - Kinda... anonymous? Another acoustic ballad. Which works but it also gives me the vibes that he put it there because he felt he had to necessarily put a ballad somewhere in the album. When The Spirit Will Remain works way better. Rate: 6-.
  7. Under The Moon - Kinda this album's Nailed To The Wheel, with slightly more melody. Great chorus, again. Rate: 8-.
  8. Lavatory Love Machine - Tobi's best hard rocker for sure. Hilarious track, but done with taste. "And I reply, what about your pie?" is the best line anyone has ever written. Rate: 7.5.
  9. Rise Of The Morning Glory - Troll track of the album, but works better than Save Us Now. LOL. Rate: it would be 10 for the subject and 7- for the track itself, so i'd say 6.5 in general.
  10. Lucifer in Love - Down To The Devil intro rearranged. Rate: s.v.
  11. Navigator - Purely solo Bruce, Accident of Birth/The Chemical Wedding era. Rate: 7.
  12. The Spirit Will Remain - The general rehearsals for What Kind Of Love. Rate: 7.5.
 
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