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

[Polarbear]

I listened to the album once, and I'll be honest I was not that into it!

There is some great stuff there definitely, but other times it feels like it's just going through the motions. The Wicked Rule The Night and Kill The Pain Away were my favorites on the first listen!

But, I'll be coming back to this! Others have said that this is a grower, and I'm hoping it is to me as well.

[ErHaO]

It is an/a okay/solid effort but this is the time I feel like it is by the numbers. Compared to the previous two, it does not have the catchyness and hooks of Ghostlights or the higlights of Moonglow. No real vocal standouts for me personally either, despite the talent on board. Don't get me wrong, everyone sounds good, but it misses the spark the previous albums had. And there is no creative use of the vocalists, at least not that I noticed. I was doing something else while listening, so perhaps my next listening will change my perception.

[cramx3]

I've had it on at work today, so not paying too close attention, but it may be better than what I initially expected but my expectations kind of were low from the singles. Kill the Pain Away and Arabesque stood out the most initially.  Honestly need more listens though to say much more.

I'm quite liking this album.  Yeah, there's lots of similarities to previous Avantasia, but I think this is much more consistently good than Moonglow.

[MirrorMask]

I'm warming up to the album as well. It's very solid. As I said, I truly believed that Tobi ranting over and over about having complete freedom and time would produce the ultimate Avantasia masterpiece, but at the very least the album is on par with the others.

Probably the best songs of this and Moonglow would make for a total masterpiece of an album.

[MirrorMask]

Ok, I followed my own advice and merged the two albums to create the ultimate compendium of the Moonflower / Moonglow saga.

It reaches a DT album lenght, I timed it - it's 1h16'24'', so it just fills up a CD very nicely 

THE MOONGLOW SAGA:

01 Welcome to the Shadows 5:05
02 Ghost in the Moon 9:51
03 Book of Shallows 5:00
04 The Wicked Rule the Night 4:25
05 Misplaced Among the Angels 5:17
06 The Inmost Light 3:27
07 The Raven Child 11:16
08 Moonglow 3:56
09 Kill the Pain Away 3:44
10 Starlight 3:38
11 Invincible 3:07
12 Alchemy 7:28
13 The Moonflower Society   5:14
14 Arabesque 10:10

I paced it this way: obvious opener, big epic that Tobi often puts second, two heavy songs, a  bit of respite with a ballad, another fast song, the bigass epic that becomes the centerpiece of the album, another breath with two short and catchy songs, a faster song (I guess you can swap it for I Tame the Storm), the other ballad, another mini epic, then we finish with a catchy song and the big closing epic.

[wolfking]

I feel silly.  I had no idea the albums were connected.  You'd think the whole Moon thing would give it away hey?! 

[ErHaO]

After having listened to it more, for me the album is enjoyable but forgettable. It is quite a bit weaker than other recent Avantasia albums for me personally.

[cramx3]

I've also come around to think The Moonflower Society is a really good song.  For me, that track, Arabesque and Kill the Pain Away are the top tracks here.  I'm not sure there's even a bad song.  I don't think this cracks the top 3 Avantasia albums for me, but it may end up in the top of the middle albums in my rankings.  It's definitely better than some of their previous albums.

[MirrorMask]

Ok, I've come around it. This is a really good album. I still think they're scraping the barrel of what can be done with Avantasia, but it's a great collection on songs and as I previously said the best ones of this with the best ones of Moonglow would make for a totally killer album.

I like to listen to it in its entirety but Paper Plane, Rhyme and Reason and Scars are the forgettable songs of the album, which make for a quite weak second half. They're not bad songs per se, but they're totally forgettable. The other 8 tracks are all solid and quite good. Not "Scarecrow" or "The Great Mystery" good, but very consistent and enjoyable.

[cramx3]

Yeah, I really like this overall.  Paper Plane and Rhyme and Reason may be the bottom tracks for me, but I still enjoy them.  Those two offer something a bit different.  I just find it a fairly consistent album.  The two Floor tracks are fantastic.  The epic is great.  I do like Scars quite a bit too. I'd say the rest of the songs are good, but don't particularly stand out. 

[gazinwales]

Totally underwhelmed so far, nothing that makes me want to listen to this ever again.

[wolfking]

I had a listen. There's some decent stuff and not so decent stuff.  To me, this sounds like it should have been an Edguy album.

[RodrigoAltaf]

My interview with Tobias came out today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tnszBU8XiQ