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TOBIAS SAMMET'S AVANTASIA :
THE METAL OPERA PT. II

Thank god this has been out for a while, that way I won't feel so bad for having to bash the snot out of it. They say never judge a book by its cover, but in Metal, you can often do just that. So, when I saw the grade "Z" Lord of the Rings rip-off of a cover, filled with little elves and wizards, I knew exactly what type of cheese I was in for. In this day and age, does anyone actually respond well to a cover like this? I mean even in Europe where this sort of Power-Metal actually lands on sales charts, surely even there this has to look silly. Granted, if I was twelve, and it was 1981, I might have been drawn to this image. But now, as an adult (so they tell me) and it being 2004, I can't imagine anyone over the age of 10 picking this up and thinking, "great cover, I have to own this". Then again, I keep seeing grown men and women reading Harry Potter books, so what do I know. Anyway, here's the deal, in 2001 Edguy vocalist Tobias Sammet, got a shit-load of Metal dudes together to form a Neo-Classical, Power-Metal "super group", and in 2001 they released "Avantasia - The Metal Opera Pt. 1". This, is the "long awaited" 2nd part of the all-star-project. The line-up is apparently similar to last time, appearing are; Michael Kiske (Gamma Ray / Helloween), Kai Hansen (Helloween / Gamma Ray / Blind Guardian), Andre Matos (Angra / Shaman), Henjo Richter (Gamma Ray / Helloween), Markus Grosskopf (Helloween), Alex Holzwarth (Angra / Rhapsody), David de Feis (Virgin Steel), Oliver Hartmann (Edguy), Ralf Zdiarstek (Edguy), Timo Tolkki (Stratovarius), Bob Catley (Magnum), Eric Singer (Kiss), plus many more. As you can see from that list of bands, this is not destined to be a Thrash classic. I will give credit when it's deserved however, and I must confess that the playing, and vocals here are both top notch. But the music is of the lamest, limp-wristed, Power-Metal variety known to man. If the members of Iron Maiden all wore frilly dresses, and sang about cute little hobbits, cuddly puppies, and pretty flowers, this is what it would sound like. This is the sort of stuff I'm embarrassed about when discussing Metal music with non-fans. I can't even imagine trying to argue the merits of this to my Punk friends. I mean, even if Metal isn't their thing, Punks still get why Metal heads like Slayer, Judas Priest, Dimmu Borgir, etc. ...they can understand how someone would be into that stuff, hell, even Rush can be respected by these guys, but this? Not a chance. Avantasia is the sort of CD I envision being spun in dank, dark, windowless basements all over the world. The ones playing it are members of one of the lowest rankings in the social stratum, the now ultra-rare "Metal Nerd", which in 2004, has almost been hunted to extinction. Now, I'm not talking about those smart Metal Nerds, no... they all have their own place and computer jobs now. No, these are the dumb-asses, nerds that weren't nerdy enough to get a decent job and move out of their parent's house. These are the guys that are 35 years old, have no girlfriend, no job (unless you want to count working at McDonalds), could still be sportin' a mullet, and ultimately have no future. If this is you, then by all means, put this disc on your "must tape for free from my buddy" list. All others should think long and hard before they put this platter in their shopping cart. Oh, and one final annoying aspect. The disc has ten tracks listed, but on my copy it's all one big long track, so no skipping ahead or back, major pain in the ass.
RATING = 3 Power-Metal (Released 2002)

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