15. Moonlight (from The Black Halo)
It’s tough to over-emphasize the importance of Michael Rodenberg, mostly known as “Miro” to Kamelot’s sound and the ensuing quality of their albums since he and Sascha Paeth began working with the band on 1999’s The Fourth Legacy. From then until the hiring of Oliver Palotai during The Black Halo tour in 2005, Kamelot went without a regular keyboardist, relying on Miro for studio work and hired guns (such as Günter Werno from Vanden Plas) for tours. Although the principal melodies are fleshed out by Khan and Youngblood, the orchestral bombast so integral to Kamelot’s sound is largely Miro’s doing. For example, it’s difficult to imagine a song like “Moonlight” showing up on Siége Perilous; the piano intro, the rich strings on the chorus, and the orchestra dominated mid-section would all sound so pale and weak. But not to give the impression that bombast and grandiosity is all Miro is capable of, “Moonlight” also exhibits the way he can subtly give songs another edge. Listen at 0:45 as the strings slowly creep in over the guitar, before moving to an organ, before fading to a simple pattern on the piano. Great stuff, and a great song.
14. Silence of the Darkness (from Ghost Opera)
Here’s an interesting little progression I don’t know if many Kamelot fans have noticed; the way one particular lyric has evolved over a couple of albums. In “Wander”, there was this lyric: “From ashes we were born/In silence we unite.” This got reprised in “When the Lights are Down,” except in a slightly different form; “In the silence of the darkness we unite.” In this case, it appears on Ghost Opera to provide the title for a song. Although lyrically there’s no connection (as far as I know) between the latter two, it’s just an amusing fact. Similarly, I’ve seen a lot of people complain that “On the Coldest Winter Night” wasn’t included on the One Cold Winter’s Night DVD, arguing that it provided the name for it. But it didn’t; it comes from a line on “The Haunting,” which is featured. Anyways, back on topic: “Silence of the Darkness” is a fantastic song. The guitar riffs are incredible, the orchestration is top-notch, the melodies sublime. The intro may be one of my favourite; just the way it builds from just the one guitar, to a massive enemble of instruments. Once again, the verses have an interesting syncopation to bely their 4/4 nature. While the keyboard solo isn’t that great, the build towards the end of it (that is also repeated at the end of the song) is awesome. I hope to see some more solos from Palotai in the future, as his keyboard solo on the DVD is phenomenal, and shows a keen, classical sense.
13. On the Coldest Winter Night (from Epica)
I think I’ve just about exhausted my praise for ballads. I think I’ll just focus on individual elements of “On the Coldest Winter Night” that make it great. First of all, the all-acoustic approach, like “Epilogue,” is a great touch to the song. For the most part, I loathe power-ballads, and by keeping things sparse, the song manages to be emotional without getting sappy. The lyrics are of course exceptional, and Khan’s performance is fantastic. The end of the second verse, when Khan goes up on “You found me here today” is magical. The solo is also quite well done, with Youngblood wisely restraining himself. The D-bass also adds a nice touch. Fantastic song, and it should definitely be brought out again live.
12. Elizabeth (from Karma)
I might face a little heat for putting this song so low. I know it’s a favourite of a lot of people’s, but I’ll do my best to explain my placement. The big issue I have with it as a “song” is that it isn’t, really; it’s more of a suite. Sure they play it live together, but it goes through three extremely distinct phases, and reprises a grand total of 0 melodies or lyrics during the last two. So, I judge it more on the strength of the three songs individually. Of course, the three are all strong; in my opinion, the quality decreases over the three, with “Mirror Mirror” being the strongest and “Fall From Grace” being the weakest. However, it still has some great melodies (in particular the “Have I found myself divinity/I’m no longer a slave/To the vicious hands of time” and the chorus in “Requiem for the Innocent”). It has very good lyrics, and some great riffery. However, due to its fractured nature, it doesn’t have the same cohesive qualities that make other metal epics so great. Sorry, “Elizabeth,” but if it’s any consolation, #12 for Kamelot is still a great place to be.
11. Ghost Opera (from Ghost Opera)
Befitting it’s name, “Ghost Opera” really displays Miro and Palotai’s talents, creating an extremely dense and furious showcase of strings. Once again, the deep guitar/strings combination that I’ve commented on before sounds fabulous, and really makes the song a benchmark for how “symphonic” symphonic metal should be. Amanda Somerville is once again a great contributor to this track, and her melody in the chorus is always a pleasure to hear. It was even put to great effect in the music video, which usually don’t impress me. Youngblood provides a great solo on this song; it seems to me, that as a soloist, he’s improved a lot over his career; his phrasing and melodic sense have improved a lot over the years, and he displays it a lot on Ghost Opera. Great song.
Topic: Kamelot Top 50 ***Updated for new album (Read 25317 times)
