Roland Grapow - The Four Seasons of Life

1.] PRELUDE NO.1/PRESTO. A short instrumental with a strong Vivaldi influence. Nice clear Strat sound backed by fanfares from the keyboards building in intensity to….
2.] THE WINNER. Opening with a neo-classical theme backed by a crushing rhythm, this track is a very powerful opener. Energetic drumming from Uli forces the track along at breakneck speed and the result is breathtaking. The songs lyrics centre around good against evil and are quite good - "Like a sniper fire of demons, when were merging our souls. We shed the blood of our saviour, Blind leading the blind". Roland voice is quite unusual and takes a few listens to get used to. He hasn’t got the strongest voice but what he does with it is quite effective. The solo starts with a classical arpeggio section [like Yngwie has used on tracks like: Liar, Fire & Ice etc.] before breaking into a superb rendition of Paganini’s Caprice #24, this sounds ultra-powerful backed by the rest of the band. Another solo follows which this time is by guest Axel Rudi Pell, the solo does a good job is contrasting with what Roland did earlier giving you a clear indication of who plays what. Back to the verse/chorus and the last 5 ½ minutes has whizzed by. A great track with great playing by all involved.
3.] NO MORE DISGUISE. Opening with monk like chanting into another double-bass drum stomper. Roland plays a melodic line over the backing. Here the tracks breaks up nicely with just bass, drums and keyboards while Roland sounds very aggressive singing the lyrics which centre around how others opinions will not affect his standpoint. "Why can’t you give me a chance? No reason to judge my competence. The goal which I personally strive for wouldn’t impress you at all". The solo is absolutely breathtaking and again displays more Malmsteen-esque phrases which Roland manages to make his own with his own original guitar ideas mixed in with the more traditional ideas. A few more repeats of the chorus end the track.
4.] SHOW ME THE WAY. This track is one of my favourites. Although structurally different it gives the same sort of vibe that Malmsteen had on the song ‘Meant To Be’ off ‘Seventh Sign’. The solo is again first class and the lyrics deal with the complexity of how to deal with life. A good solid song with original ideas.
5.] I REMEMBER. Quite a commercial sounding track. One of Roland’s best vocal performances is on this track evoking some phrasing similar to what Bruce Dickinson did on some of Maiden’s more melodic moments. The lyrics deal with losing and finding again an old love - "I Remember the first time, Green emerald eyes and the sweetest smile". This track is quite different to the rest of the album in its sing-along quality of the chorus. Again Roland does the business on the solo which evoke Dave Murray finest moments.
6.] DEDICATED TO…? The second instrumental on the album and an absolutely beautiful piece of work it is. The tempo is slow allowing the guitar to really sing. You can really hear Roland’s soul shining through and makes it one of the highlights on the record. The style is blues based in the way that John Norum and Steve Vai have been known to use this genre. Some acoustic/classical guitar blends nicely with piano and organ at the end to round off this great track.
7.] SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS. Very Helloween sounding with the track ‘Future World’ being a reference point. Very heavy and fast. I’m overly keen on this track though as I feel that the vocal melody line doesn’t really gel with the rest of the music. The solo is again top notch with some great solo trade-offs with Ferdy Doernberg that bring Rising Force/Symphony X comparisons to mind. However, it is probably a track I wouldn’t rush to listen to again.
8.] STRANGE FRIEND. A slow tempo track that is again very heavy, a strong gothic feel is evident throughout this track. The lyrics are good again "Its hard to understand, Why do we kill each other-friend, When I look into your eyes and see myself and cry" and deal with the pointless idea of war, this is backed up by some good sound effects which bring you into the battlefield. The solo again is very classical and excellently executed.
9.] BREAD OF CHARITY. Another track I am not too keen on, again the problem is Roland’s phrasing with the vocal, The music however is good and this redeems it somewhat. The lyrics deal with a man who is struggling to get away from bad ways and to be honest are not that great. Solo-wise Roland does the business again and includes a snippet from Grieg’s ‘Hall Of The Mountain King’ which is the highlight of this track.
10.] THE FOUR SEASONS OF LIFE Clocking in at over 9 minutes this track is the ‘epic’ of the album. Starting with some sitar work [ala YJM] is a great intro to this the highlight of the album. This is followed up by and absolute monster of a riff. Things settle down for the verse which see Roland best vocal performance on the album and here he really does sound good which makes you wonder what happened on a few of the other tracks. The lyrics conjure up magical/mystical images and use the different seasons as a theme to tell a tale of a life’s journey. There are several off shoot riffs all very heavy and completely captivating. A great keyboard solo is followed by another verse and intense full-on riffing, there are some great screams by Roland and the best solo on the album. This tracks recalls some of my personal Helloween favourite tracks like ‘Time Of The Oath’. There are two solo’s by Roland one fast and furious, the other melodic and using some great arpeggio’s to build the solo up to the end. Roland has a very distinct Strat sound somewhere between that of Yngwie and James Byrd but it is probably a little more distorted which helps the chunky riffs found on this track. A great track which will keep begging you to listen to it again,
11.] FINALE DE SOUVENIR. A short instrumental piece that is like a counterpoint to the first track, Roland’s guitar plays the melody line from the chorus to ‘The Winner’ and it rounds off this album nicely.