The official Avantasia and Edguy thread v Moonflower Society - Oct 21st

[MirrorMask]

Apparently Tobi wanted to do it, he was rightfully told "Come on man, it's a famous song and many others covered it already anyway", but he insisted because Trollol music shouldn't always be so serious.

[Art]

Book Of shallows is a killer song! Hansi and Petrozza on the same song! 

Raven Child is pretty cool too.

[Grappler]

HOLY SHIT.

Tate's vocals are incredible.  I never thought he'd sing this well ever again.  The songs that he's on blow Seduction of Decay out of the water.  Better songs and way better vocals.     

Tate F****** slays on this album!

Right now Alchemy is my favorite from the album. The album as a whole is a lot to take in, but I like it more than Ghostlights already!

I can't stop listening to Alchemy.  WE'RE GOING TO SHOVE IT DOWN THEIR THROOOOOOOOOOOATS!

I have to remind myself that there's more to the album than that one song.   

[The Walrus]

Only heard Ghost in the Moon so far but it's better than both the singles. Can't wait to play the whole thing today.

[MirrorMask]

Didn't find the CD at the chain store shop I bought Ghostlights (and The Astonishing) three years ago, my day is ruined.

[jingle.boy]

I can't stop listening to Alchemy.  WE'RE GOING TO SHOVE IT DOWN THEIR THROOOOOOOOOOOATS!

Yeah... that lyric (and the preceding line in the 2nd pre-chorus) is pretty in-your-face "We're gonna give them perfect harmony"

Kudo's to Tate for delivering it.

[cramx3]

Didn't find the CD at the chain store shop I bought Ghostlights (and The Astonishing) three years ago, my day is ruined.

It's all on youtube today, by Avantasia's official channel, you can listen and not feel you are robbing the band while you wait to get the CD.  I'm listening to Alchemy now, I'd rather listen to the whole album at once but I won't have time today and I am too excited to wait longer.  Definitely liking this so far only a couple minutes in 

[Samsara]

Alchemy is really, REALLY good. When Tate hits that sweet spot in his voice when he goes up, it harkens back to 1991. Man I've missed that.

On principle, I don't really refer to myself as a fan of Tate, nor of Queensryche any more. My fandom is rooted in the past. But its times like now where I remember WHY he was my favorite singer. Excellent performance here. I think Invincible is a little too "Tate Melodrama" for my tastes. But Alchemy really delivers.

[MirrorMask]

Didn't find the CD at the chain store shop I bought Ghostlights (and The Astonishing) three years ago, my day is ruined.

It's all on youtube today, by Avantasia's official channel, you can listen and not feel you are robbing the band while you wait to get the CD.

Oh, one way or another I was definitively going to listen to it today, I hoped to do it in the best possible way, with the actual CD. Uh, no biggie, I just hope next week I'll find Distance Over Time (they actually had a couple of DT CDs today so I'm confident)!

[Art]

Tate is really good on Alchemy, indeed! 

[senecadawg2]

Not even halfway through my first listen of this, but man The Raven Child is great.

[The Walrus]

Holy nuts this is a great album and the weakest tracks were the singles. Go figure. Piper... is incredible. Geoff Tate kills his tracks. Outstanding. Not quite as impressive as Ghostlights, and Tobi's obsession with unpoetic lyrics and constantly using "comprehend" is really beginning to bother me, but after 2 spins... god damn. Could be one of the stronger albums this year, easily.

[jingle.boy]

Could be one of the stronger albums this year, easily.

That's a pretty low bar, considering we're barely 6 weeks in to the year.

[senecadawg2]

I like the maniac cover but I agree that it's a little out of place, and I prefer the Firewind cover.

[jingle.boy]

I like the maniac cover but I agree that it's a little out of place, and I prefer the Firewind cover.

Agreed.

[The Walrus]

Could be one of the stronger albums this year, easily.

That's a pretty low bar, considering we're barely 6 weeks in to the year.

boi

I'm just saying, it's got some really strong elements and since I grew up on Tobi it's gonna be hard for something to mean as much to me as a new (and GOOD) Tobi album

[jingle.boy]

That's fair.

[Lowdz]

Underwhelmed on first listen. I enjoyed the opening track and the Tatetracks. Candice Night hasn’t got a strong enough voice to cut it.

[TAC]

One listen through.

Not great.

I skip all female tracks on Avantasia albums and this is no different.

The Raven Child is easily the best track. I also like Book Of Shallows too.

Seems like Tobi writes the same song for Kiske on each album.

Tate sounds pretty good. I have to listen with headphones. Feels like there's a little JLB style manipulation though.

Maniac? Give me a fucking break. And fuck Firewind too.

[The Walrus]

One listen through.

Not great.

I skip all female tracks on Avantasia albums and this is no different.

The Raven Child is easily the best track. I also like Book Of Shallows too.

Seems like Tobi writes the same song for Kiske on each album.

Tate sounds pretty good. I have to listen with headphones. Feels like there's a little JLB style manipulation though.

Maniac? Give me a fucking break. And fuck Firewind too.

Boo this man. And why skip all the female tracks? Do you just not like female voices?

[MirrorMask]

Heard it twice so far. It's good, but it's very classic, I'd call it an Avantasia album 100% through and through. Which is both a compliment and a critic, because there really aren't exciting surprises here and even the best track, The Raven Child, owes a lot in its final part to The Scarecrow.

[jingle.boy]

Heard it twice so far. It's good, but it's very classic, I'd call it an Avantasia album 100% through and through. Which is both a compliment and a critic, because there really aren't exciting surprises here and even the best track, The Raven Child, owes a lot in its final part to The Scarecrow.

[The Walrus]

The songs that are currently my favorites: Ghost in the Moon (major Jim Steinman worship on this one), The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Alchemy, Requiem for a Dream.

Book of Shallows would be among my favorites but Mille absolutely ruins it by turning it into a Korpiklaani song. GTFO.

[TAC]

How does he ruin it? It’s  easily the best part of the song.

[The Walrus]

How does he ruin it? It’s  easily the best part of the song.

It sounds like Korpiklaani's song Wooden Pints. It's honestly the only part of this album I dislike, but it ruins an otherwise excellent song. Whereas most other Avantasia vocalists display range and emotion, here all Mille does is shout. Should've had a singer who can actually sing.

[wolfking]

One listen through.

Not great.

I skip all female tracks on Avantasia albums and this is no different.

The Raven Child is easily the best track. I also like Book Of Shallows too.

Seems like Tobi writes the same song for Kiske on each album.

Tate sounds pretty good. I have to listen with headphones. Feels like there's a little JLB style manipulation though.

Maniac? Give me a fucking break. And fuck Firewind too.

Boo this man. And why skip all the female tracks? Do you just not like female voices?

I don't like most of the female tracks too.

[Polarbear]

I gotta say that I have been really enjoying Moonglow!

Only song I'm not feeling is Lavender, and even that is not bad. The Maniac cover is so out of place, but I still enjoyed the hell out of that .

This could be a top.3 Avantasia album for me!

[MirrorMask]

Only song I'm not feeling is Lavender, and even that is not bad. The Maniac cover is so out of place, but I still enjoyed the hell out of that .

I'm thinking of swapping it in the playlist, and have it after Heart (the actual bonus track) to close off the album.

To listen to an Avantasia album, then a cover of Maniac, and then another Avantasia song is so jarring, that it almost spoils the pleasure of the last two songs 

[jingle.boy]

Agreed.  I'm quite certain I'm just gonna delete it from my library.

[cramx3]

How does he ruin it? It’s  easily the best part of the song.

Yea, I got to say, I absolutely love him here.  I'm not really a fan of this style of singing and I've seen Kreator before and they really aren't totally my thing.  Like not bad, but I could never love it, mostly due to the style of vocals so similar to like Slayer per say, who I like, but I'll never love because of those harsh vocals that just don't do it for me.  However, since it's just a part in a song, I actually think it not only fits here but comes off well in the song.  It's a nice difference for Avantasia and that song is definitely one of my favorites from the album.

Having said that, I haven't listened as much as I thought I would have by now.  One full listen and a couple extra listens to some songs.  I must say, I am dissapointed.  It's not a bad album by any means, but it's not great and it's not as good as the last two (their best IMO so I guess it's hard to top that).   But there's something with this album, maybe the production, that just doesn't grasp me.  The first track is pretty solid, but I'm not a huge fan of Tobi's vocals so him doing this longer song solo kind of kills it when it otherwise is a good song.  I'll probably enjoy this more over time though.

Tate is probably the biggest impact guest.  I do really like Hansi, but he's not as big of a role I guess.  Tate really is good on Alchemy, another top song on the album.

Moonglow song sounds like a bad Nightwish rip off.  It does nothing for me when I really do like Nightwish, they just seemed to miss it with Candice.  She's probably going to be ranked as my least favorite female in Avantasia from this.  Raven Child is a fantastic song, another of the best. 

The rest just haven't seemed to separate themselves.  Like not bad music, but they didn't get me to go back and want to immediately listen again.  Eric is sounding good here too and nice to hear him not on a ballad.

Having said my negativity, it's still a good album overall though.  I think I may be a bit harsh because I love the last two so much and with the first single being so good, I thought this would be another top notch album and it's not quite there, but it is solid Avantasia music and I should make sure that comes off in my initial review as well.  Hopefully a few more listens and this really sinks in more.

[Samsara]

Being fairly new to Avantasia (my introduction was Ghostlights because of Seduction of Decay), I am just finishing my first listen of Moonglow, and I really liked it. Alchemy was a standout for me, as was Requiem of a Dream. Tate and Kiske sounded great on both of those.

I wasn't as big of a fan of Invincible (sounded way too melodramatic). I'll be re-listening this afternoon to see what else stands out to me, both good and bad.

[MirrorMask]

I think I may be a bit harsh because I love the last two so much and with the first single being so good, I thought this would be another top notch album and it's not quite there, but it is solid Avantasia music and I should make sure that comes off in my initial review as well.  Hopefully a few more listens and this really sinks in more.

I'm kinda with you there. It's an excellent album by any other band, but with Avantasia the bar is so insanely high, that even "a good and faithful Avantasia album" isn't enough.

[cramx3]

Yea, and I listened again since typing that and feel the same.  It's a good album for sure, and I wouldn't doubt any new fans would love it, but my expectations were just too high after the last two albums and then The Raven Child single.  I'd say it's probably middle of the road for Avantasia, but that's still a very good album overall.  I'm definitely excited to see some of this material live in May.

[The Walrus]

It's quite an interesting album for me, and almost as interesting reading the various reactions! Just gotta jot down my thoughts on each song for posterity...

Ghost In The Moon - epic. Huge Meat Loaf vibe and I love it. It's exemplary of what this album is great at: huge, inspired, catchy, powerful choruses. That's what Tobi does best and once again he does it all over this album and it really helps make this one of my favorite Avantasia albums, lyrical quibbles aside. But yeah this one rocks. "Grant me admission tonight into your tenebrous wicked star-bright golden gloom, ghost in the moon!" Hilariously worded but epic line. 

Book of Shallows - I might be one of the few who can't stand Mille and what he brings to this song but otherwise it is fantastic. I love the lyrics to the chorus: "Chase your dream! if you don't mind, don't be astounded by the things they make you do for amusement's sake"

Moonglow - mehglow. Not bad but not really great either. Candice Night has a fine voice but it's so wimpy on this track. Bad lyrics, catchy chorus, it's ight.

The Raven Child - grown on me. The last part is the best. Better lyrics would make this way way better. Should've just let Hansi write 'em tbh, but Jorn really shines when he lets loose with those "whoa-ho-ho-aaaaahhhh"s

Starlight - awesome song with infectious bridge/chorus, I just love it.

Invincible - awesome. Dramatic af chorus and Tate rules.

Alchemy - see above. Sounds too Nightwish-y in the riff but the chorus is one of the best on the album.

Piper at the Gates of Dawn - one of my favorite Tobias songs in recent years, I might like this one more than a lot of the songs on Ghostlights which is saying something. Classic Tobi-style power metal with a chorus that sounds like it could've come off of Edguy's Rocket Ride album. I LOVE this song.

Lavender - okay, this might be the weak song on the album for me, but only because I haven't played it enough. Definitely not bad and I like it when it's on, though.

Requiem for a Dream - it's nice to have a Kiske song that isn't the exact same freaking thing as the others before it. Like yeah it has his high notes later on but this is just a straight-up catchy, epic power metal anthem. This is the only song on the album with a lead guitar line that I really love.

Maniac & Heart - Firewind's cover of Maniac is better but this is still fun. Heart is good and I think fine, as a bonus track, but that's it. It's no Wake Up To The Moon...

I'm super happy with this album. Not sure yet if it'll reach the highs of Ghostlights but it's very evenly paced, consistent, and (to me) sounds inspired and fresh. I went through a period where I was really souring on Tobi (from about 2009 til early 2014) but these last 2 Avantasia albums and the last Edguy album have renewed my faith in him. Long live Tobi. 

[cramx3]

I should also add, I enjoy the cover of Maniac.  It's just fun and works for me, although the placement is a bit odd to not be the last track but I guess I simply just don't care. If the band says the album ends at Requiem, then mentally I get that and view the rest as extras so I guess placement isn't that big of a deal to me once I mentally check out of the "album listen" per say.  I guess maybe hearing a cover song forces you to knock out of the album flow?