Holy crap solo and background riff in Savior In The Clockwork!
Bosk, Savior In The Clockwork my Song Of The Year!!
Like you, I also had my Avantasia epiphany with this album. I actually owned 3 of their albums before this came out, and while I thought they were OK, I just never "got" them. I'm also generally not a fan of the multi vocalist thing.
And while I liked early Edguy very much, They really lost me along the way. I'm not a huge fan of Toby's voice, as I feel he tries to be both Michael Kiske AND Jon Bon Jovi all at once, while not being either. But his vocals really stand out on Mystery Of Time.
Being a huge Kiske fan, I'm obviously drawn to him, but Biff Byford is perfectly cast, and the dusting off of old Joe Lynn Turner was a brilliant move, as he really delivers here.
Because of this album, this might be the first year where a Dream Theater released album is not my Album Of The Year.