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Upon first listen to Narnia, and each listen thereafter, you will most likely get the strange feeling of deja vu. That somehow you've heard all this before, long ago, and in fact, you have. The band is frighteningly similiar to mid 80s Yngwie Malmsteen. Comparisons instantly pop up between "Awakening" and Yngwie's "Trilogy", "Odyssey", and "Eclipse" discs. In fact, the solos, the songs, and basic rhythms themselves seem to be lifted right off the albums, changed around a little and released as something new. What's really sad is that I can openly point out the songs some of this stuff was lifted from.. there are parts of Yngwie's "Crying", "What Do You Want", "Fury", "You Dont Remember, I'll Never Forget", and many more. Its almost scary at times, but if you have to emulate something, it might as well be the best, and in that area, I cant really complain. Especially since Yngwie's music has taken a different direction since the mid 80 glory days. So even though obviously HEAVILY influenced by The Maestro's work...its still a pleasant journey with what seems like an old friend, even if it is a mere clone of one.

The guitar work is one thing... and its a Malmsteen copy all the way, nothing original about this axework, but, the riffs themselves are fantastic, just pretend its Yngwie playing. You often wont know the difference, as you wont be able to tell these aren't Yngwie songs in general. They all sound like tunes overlooked for the Trilogy album, and like the guitar work, its a worthy set of songs with enough punch and flair to make them interesting. Its just very disturbing since it sounds so much like Malmsteen, but oddly endearing at the same time. In fact, I came to like the band even more because of the similiarities. However, its not totally Yngwie-like, Narnia also ripped a page out of Dokken's book. The songs drip with lots of Dokken-ish melodies and guitar chugging/galloping. But the dominate sound is of course, well you know. Even their vocalist, Christian Liljegren, reminds me of Mark Boals (from Trilogy). He's also a mish mash of ex-Europe's Joey Tempest, Don Dokken, and the foreign tilt to the voice like Angra's Andre Matos. Even with all these comparisions to the Maestro, however, there is one difference, the lyrics are religiously Christian in nature. I didnt even pick up on this the first time through the album, I was just so dazed by the fact this sounded like Yngwie, but yet, wasn't. In fact, the disc itself is 'dedicated to God'. But as jawdroppingly sound-alike as this seems, its quite remarkable that the 'band' Narnia consists of only two musicians. Christian Liljegren does all the vocals, while Carljohan Grimmark manages to pull off a fabulous performance, in all other areas. Yes, Grimmark is listed as playing *all* the instruments, with some help of course, by a host of various guest musicians, but as you listen to the music, and realize all of the sounds you are hearing are being produced (basically) by one man, you will see just how much talent this man was blessed with. To make this even more incredible and top it all off, Carljohan also produces the album, and does a stellar job with giving it a clean, crisp, and overall very sharp sound. All the highs and lows are present and allow his musical talent to be represented at its fullest. No wonder he dedicated his efforts to God.

1. Break the Chains - infested with happy blistering solo, this is the first song off the album, and the first one to make you stare in amazement as you wonder if you accidentally plopped the wrong disc into the stereo. I assure you, if it sounds like Yngwie's "Trilogy" upbeat tunes, then you have the right album. Frantically fast paced. The solo flirts with sounding like the extended one on Yngwie's "Making Love".
2. Shadows From the Past - the solo is quite a dramatic piece, but of course you have heard it before, check out "You Dont Remember I'll Never Forget" on Yng's Trilogy and you'll hear basically the same thing. Overall its a tight upbeat tune.
3. Return of Aslan - A cleverly titled instrumental (I assume that is the lion Aslan on the cover, from "The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe", which is set in the world of Narnia, for those who might not know). It tosses pieces of "Crying", "Icarus Dream Suite" and a few others together and bam - Aslan returns.
4. Heavenly Love - what the hell is "Dreamin (Tell Me)" doing on this album??? Oh wait... just another attempt at copying 'You Know Who' and a damn good one at that. The chorus is different enough to shake the listener up a bit. The end however goes back into "Dreamin.." mode... irrie...
5. Time of Changes - umm you already know what it sounds like. This song is a bit of a reminder about the changes being seen throughout the world in its current state in the present day, and the people learning to 'hate' (as oppose to love and be tolerant and all that wishing for peace on earth stuff, I suppose). Vocals just dripping with vibrato and an axeslinging performance to match. "Firefall in the night" would have been just as good of a title judging by the number of times the phrase is repeated.
6. The Awakening - heavy backbone, bursting out of the starting gates with a bit of the Symphony X sound and retains this on the riff driven sections. Hmmm kind of reminds me of "C'este La Vie" here and there. It goes nuts at the end, which is worth mentioning.
7. Touch From You - Oh my goodness, here we go with that shameless copying. The opening pulsating synthesizer, the crystal clear high hit guitar notes bubbling out the top, and the entire feel of the song is without a doubt, "What Do You Want". I guess you could call this Narnia's sendup for a sequel perhaps, this time instead of being about love between human beings, its about the creation and love from our Heavenly Father, different themes, granted, but not much else to seperate it. I love Yngwie's original tune, so of course this one went over big time with me, and became one of my favorites from the album.
8. Sign of the Times - slower and melodic, and refreshing in a sense I cant just point to a Malmsteen tune and go "yeah its from this", but it plods just a little too much for its own good, and thus I quickly lose interest. Even the chorus pokes around too much, with uninspired vocals that sound bored (perhaps they were suppose to sound more... full of regret, but it comes off as sounding bored). Even with the blistering solo, its not enough to win me over. A poor choice for an ending song, leaving me feeling a little flat, even if a bit overwhelmed from the no holds barred display of musical virtuosity.