10.RHAPSODYLEGENDARY TALESSymphonic Power Metalreleased October 27th, 1997
via LMP
1. Ira Tenax [1:13]
2. Warrior of Ice [5:58]
3. Rage of the Winter [6:09]
4. Forest of Unicorns [3:26]
5. Flames of Revenge [5:33]
6. Virgin Skies (instrumental) [1:22]
7. Land of Immortals [4:50]
8. Echoes of Tragedy [3:35]
9. Lord of the Thunder [5:33]
10. Legendary Tales [7:51]
LEGENDARY TALES is
Fabio Lione (Lead and backing vocals)
Luca Turilli (Guitars / Choir)
Alex Staropoli (Keyboards / Choir)
Daniele Carbonera (Drums)
WITHManuel Staropoli (Baroque recorder)
Sascha Paeth (Bass / Mandolin / Acoustic guitars)
Anne Schnyder (Lead violin)
Helia Davis (Violin)
Oliver Kopf (Biolion)
Paul F. Boehnke (Cello)
André Neygenfind (Contrabass)
Robert Hunecke-Rizzo (Bass / Choir)
Ricky Rizzo (Choir)
Michael ‘Miro’ Rodenberg (Choir)
Wolfgang Herbst (Choir)
Tatiana Bloch (Choir)
Cinzia Rizzo (Backing vocals and choir)
Thomas Rettke (Backing vocals and choir)
Legendary Tales is Rhapsody’s debut album and a landmark album for power metal. This is a bonafide pioneer in the symphonic metal game, one of the first albums of its kind, coming out before Nightwish, before Blind Guardian started spending 4-5 years per album writing orchestral fluff, before Epica… “Oh god, he’s going off again, isn’t he?”
Ahem. Reasons I like this album!
1. Tracklisting – Basically every word in the tracklist is a keyword for fantasy, every title is epic. Yeah almost all of them are [blank] of [blank] but it works!
2. Unique choir sound. No other Rhapsody album sounds like the warm, vibrant choirs on this record, and in fact although the quality has improved over the last ten years, it sounds sterile and lifeless in that way most professional choirs do, which is ironic, because the more professional a choir sounds, the better they are, right? I don’t know. The latest Luca records have this extremely slick epic Latin choir element, but again… the warmth of the choirs on Legendary Tales resonate with me. Bigly.
3. Epic. Power. Metal. Soaring choruses. Big motifs. Even in songs like Flames of Revenge that have orchestral breaks, they feel like a part of the song, the energy and momentum of the song isn’t completely dashed and there isn’t a huge tonal shift between sections. In his later career Luca tends to lose the plot of what makes a song great in the first place – he will move to a completely unfitting B section (“One Ring To Rule Them All” for example) or he’ll just kill the fucking song in favor of putting in some narration to draw out an already overlong song (“Of Michael the Archangel and Lucifer’s Fall” – both parts). Also, unlike this writeup, which is already rambling.
4. I have a weakness for fantasy and music that complements epic fantasy (no shit, right?). When I was a kid I would do most of my music listening while playing video games, and my favorite video games were epic RPGs, fantasy stories full of fighting monsters and saving the world. And I also love classical music and heavy metal and keyboards. Legendary Tales – and by extension Rhapsody’s whole discography – really blends all of that into one high quality piece of art.
5. Look at that art. LOOK AT IT! HOW EPIC IS THAT?! I have a poster of that on my living room wall along with 3 other Rhapsody flags.
In Summary: I recall entire summers spent listening to Rhapsody, Dream Theater, Dragonforce, etc. obsessively. Rhapsody reminds me of good times in my life, embodies my love for fantasy and music, and that’s why Legendary Tales is my favorite of theirs and one of my favorite albums of all time. I don’t find this music cheesy, because Luca Turilli put authenticity and passion into both the concept and the music. Luca might be hating on his early works nowadays, but I think this is far less corny than his current obsession with Deepak Chopra. At least back in the day Luca didn’t believe he was a real medieval warrior making friends with dragons and dwarves. Now he’s all about believing he’s a quantum waveform born of nuclear stellar fire and that he saw the revealing math of god through celestial geometry. I want what he’s smoking, because I haven’t been that high in a hot minute.
Katt’s Favorites: Rage of the Winter, Flames of Revenge, Echoes of Tragedy, Lord of the Thunder, Legendary Tales
Rage of the Winter,
Flames of Revenge,
Echoes of Tragedy,
Lord of the Thunder,
Legendary TalesListen to “Legendary Tales” by Rhapsody on Spotify