Poll

Which do you prefer?

Avantasia
49 (84.5%)
Edguy
9 (15.5%)

Total Members Voted: 58

Author Topic: The official Avantasia and Edguy thread v Moonflower Society - Oct 21st  (Read 209296 times)

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Offline Scorpion

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Favourite songs from the album, anyone? I'd probably say Where Clock Hands Freeze, Black Orchid and Savior in the Clockwork.
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After the first listen, the first song, need more listens though.  Also, how good is the bonus track, The Cross and You?  That's one of my favs on first listen too.
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Offline kirksnosehair

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Favourite songs from the album, anyone? I'd probably say Where Clock Hands Freeze, Black Orchid and Savior in the Clockwork.


Probably "Savior In The Clockwork"  or "The Great Mystery"

Offline Nick

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After enough spins I have to say this album is just too bland compared to the last three albums. The guest vocalists don't stand out nearly as much and not too many songs grab and wow me. Decent effort, but was hoping for better.
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Offline philmcson

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Favourite songs from the album, anyone? I'd probably say Where Clock Hands Freeze, Black Orchid and Savior in the Clockwork.

Spectres, Black Orchid, Savior and Invoke the machine.

Online wolfking

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The guest vocalists don't stand out nearly as much

This was my thought on the first listen too, even though I love JLT, Biff and Ronnie.  I just don't think they are given much time or room to leave a mark.  The songs make up for it though.
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After listening to this a couple more times, it's really good, really well done by Tobi.  A couple of things I'd like to point out;

*The chorus if Spectres is incredible
*Arjen's solo in The Watchmaker's Dream is the best guitar solo on the album and could be the best moment on the entire album, it's unbelievable.
*Where Clock Hands Freeze is awesome and one of Tobi's best songs he's ever come up with
*Ronnie should be featured on more than one song.
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Offline kirksnosehair

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I listened to "The Wicked Symphony" while mowing the lawn yesterday.  It's a bit more diverse sounding, but I still think I like this new one more.

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It's hard to judge so early, but I'm not sure if it tops Symphony yet, but it has the potential. I think it has already surprassed Babylon IMO.
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Offline Shadow Ninja 2.0

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Finally got this album. Thoughts so far: Maybe it's just because I don't listen to a lot of melodic/hard rock, but most of the vocalists don't seem to stand out. I wish Jorn had come back. I would have liked a bit more of Bob Catley as well.

Other than that, though, I think the album is fantastic. Not as good as the previous three, though that could change as it grows on me. Arjen's solo is brilliant, one of my favorite solos. Tobi sounds really good, especially on Spectres and Sleepwalking.

 Saviour In The Clockwork is great, (although, when he says "saviour in the clockwork", does anyone else here "devil in the belfry"?) Invoke The Machine is great, Where Clock Hands Freeze is great. Overall, very good album.:tup

« Last Edit: June 16, 2013, 07:59:42 PM by Shadow Ninja 2.0 »

Offline jingle.boy

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What an amazing show last night. Will post a full review and pics in the coming days (when I'm back home and at a PC), but damn!  Just DAMN!!! 
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What an amazing show last night. Will post a full review and pics in the coming days (when I'm back home and at a PC), but damn!  Just DAMN!!!

So jealous.
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Offline Shadow Ninja 2.0

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Tobi always puts on a great show.

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I saw Tobi and Edguy on the Hellfire Club tour where they played a small club with no more than 150 people.  They still put on an incredible show.
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Offline jingle.boy

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Ok, here are my thoughts and a few pics.

I purposely didn't follow anything about previous concerts, so I had no clue as to the setlist, or even which vocalists were going to be there.  I caught a bit of the sound check as I was walking around the festival in the afternoon.  Got to the venue about 15 minutes after they opened the gates (it was in an open field, about the size of a soccer/football field, with temporary fencing surrounding the entire space).  Because I was a little late, I wasn't able to get right up front, so I decided to take a spot about 30-40 feet from the stage, as the field started to incline, that way I could see over the 'pit' (there was a temporary floor setup).  First couple of acts were awful (for my tastes)... local Quebec based thrash-metal bands.  They both had lots of fans, but it was painful to endure for me.

Avantasia came on at 9:15, and played for a solid 2 hours.  Here's the set:

Spectres
Watchmaker's Dream
Tobi sounded great on both of these, and Hartmann did a great job on JLT's parts.
The Story Ain't Over - Catley rises up from the back, just like in the DVD, and does a great job on this one.  Found it surprising he came out for one song (somewhat odd he did it all on his own) and then disappeared again.
Reach Out for the Light - Kiske!  When he first came out (before hitting the mic) I swear from the distance I was at, I was scared it was Tate!!!  :lol... then when he started singing I knew it wasn't.
Avantasia - here's where I knew something was up.  Kiske announced he was going to be doing a bunch of parts he hadn't done before, and had a monitor with the lyrics at the front of the stage to help him through it.  He did this one on his own (with Somerville and Thomas Rettke on backing vocals).  We'd find out later that Tobi was down with a fever all afternoon, and it was a virtual miracle that he even made it on stage at all - but being their first show in North America, I'm sure he wasn't going to miss it for anything.
Scales of Justice - Tobi came out just to introduce Rettke (who's done backing vocals for Edguy and Avantasia) as the lead for this one.  Damn he did a fine job, and nailed all those high notes just as good as Ripper.
What's Left of Me - Eric Martin!  Always was a big Mr. Big fan, so to see him on stage was awesome.  This song was surprisingly fantastic.
Dying for an Angel - Martin/Kiske.  Sounded great.  Apparently it was the first time on the tour that Martin and Kiske sung together.
Promised Land - Martin/Tobi.  Weird to not hear Jorn doing this one, especially since it's one of my favorite Avantasia songs, but Martin did a good job none-the-less.  The guitar solos/unisons rocked it!
The Wicked Symphony - Catley did Tobi's parts; Rettke did Allen's; Hartmann did Lande's.  Great to hear this track, dulled a little by the fact that it didn't have any of the original lead voices.
Farewell - Tobi stuck around for this one
Lost in Space - and this one
Stargazers - Like Wicked Symphony, Hartley did Tobi's part, Rettke did Allen's and Hartmann did Lande's.  Obviously, Kiske and Hartman did their own.  Sounded great regardless
The Scarecrow - Tobi came out for this as the closer.  Was damned impressive for Hartmann to do all of Lande's parts ... especially the final stanza's.  The solo's that Paeth and Hartmann exchanged were bone chilling.
Encore - Twisted Mind + Sign of the Cross.  As usual, Tobi introduced the band during Sign, but they cluster fucked the ending.... looked like Bohnke (drums) closed it out earlier anyone else expected.

Overall, amazing show.  So worth the time and dollars to go to Quebec City for it.  Only had my shitty iPhone for pics.  Took a video of the opening moments, but there are a couple of better ones out on YT already:

Spectres - Official Festival video

Fan video - Spectres + Watchmaker's Dream










After the show, a few people were mulling around where their trailers were (on the other side of the temporary fences/barier), and a few of the band came out to chat, sign autographs, take pics.  Kiske stayed for about 10-15 mins just chatting, but unfortunately there were too many people around him for me to get a good pic.  But ....







Damn Amanda is one fine woman - looking, and just as a person in general.  Very kind and gracious.  She was talking about how she was able to fly her parents in for this show (she's from Michigan, only a couple hour flight away), and it was quite a thrill for her. 

So, I leave and go back to the hotel, and am just sitting in the lobby writing down my thoughts about the concert, and who strolls in?  Somerville with her parents.  We give each other a little smile/laugh of recognition.  I didn't get all stalky on her, and just let her be with her parents, but kinda wish I'd gotten a better picture with her.  Oh well.

All in all, it was awesome.  I was kinda surprised they only did 3 from The Mystery of Time, but they did the three signature songs from each album of the Scarecrow Saga, so that was the cat's ass!

You are all envious!  :lol
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Reach Out for the Light - Kiske!  When he first came out (before hitting the mic) I swear from the distance I was at, I was scared it was Tate!!!  :lol... then when he started singing I knew it wasn't.
:lol
Damn right!


Avantasia - here's where I knew something was up.  Kiske announced he was going to be doing a bunch of parts he hadn't done before, and had a monitor with the lyrics at the front of the stage to help him through it.  He did this one on his own (with Somerville and Thomas Rettke on backing vocals).  We'd find out later that Tobi was down with a fever all afternoon, and it was a virtual miracle that he even made it on stage at all - but being their first show in North America, I'm sure he wasn't going to miss it for anything.

Nice! Avantasia with less Tobi and MORE KISKE! :tup :tup :tup

Seriously, for me, Vocally Tobi is easily the weak link in Avantasia and has really stopped me from getting into them. Gotta give the man some props though for his songwriting and putting the whole thing together though.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

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Fuck, if I saw Amanda in a hotel room, look out.  Very jealous my good friend.

Interesting choice of singers for some of those songs.  Catley handling Tobi's parts and Oli doing The Scarecrow would have been a challenge.  Also Martin singing Promised Land.

Really good setlist though and great to see Rippers song.  A shame Tobi was ill, he puts on a great show.
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Just watched a boot of The Scarecrow out of interest as to how Oli tackled it.  I gotta say, he fucking nails it.  He was probably my fav part of the DVD, such a talent and I'm glad to see he was used more on the album and gets more time to shine live.  He is now a crucial part of Avantasia, perhaps IMO more than Paeth.
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Offline jingle.boy

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Fuck, if I saw Amanda in a hotel room, look out.

To be fair, I only saw her in the lobby.   :lol

Almost agree with you re: Oli.  On Stage, he's definitely more important than Sascha now with (almost) all the Lande vocal duties along with his own and backing.  However, overall contributions to Avantasia, Sascha is still more crucial.

Despite being sick and not able to do the normal quantity of singing, Tobi's quality and stage presence sure didn't suffer.
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Online wolfking

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Fuck, if I saw Amanda in a hotel room, look out.

To be fair, I only saw her in the lobby.   :lol

Almost agree with you re: Oli.  On Stage, he's definitely more important than Sascha now with (almost) all the Lande vocal duties along with his own and backing.  However, overall contributions to Avantasia, Sascha is still more crucial.

Despite being sick and not able to do the normal quantity of singing, Tobi's quality and stage presence sure didn't suffer.

That's good enough for me.
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Offline Shadow Ninja 2.0

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Amanda :heart

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The Mystery Of Time may actually make my Top 5 of the year. This album is fantastic!
I'm loving it. Michael Kiske sounds incredible. When Clock Hands Freeze is a perfect song for him.

The parts written for Biff Byford are great, and although his voice is barely recognizable, JLT sounds fantastic.

"The final hour
When Never and Now become one"

Brilliant!!!
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline jingle.boy

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Yeah, I listened to it a few of times leading up to the concert, and it just got better with every listen.  It's definitely Top 5 at the moment.  Not sure it will get to #1, but it's definitely one of the best so far.
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I fear for the day when something happens on the right that is SO nuts that even Stadler says "That's crazy".
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Yeah, I listened to it a few of times leading up to the concert, and it just got better with every listen.  It's definitely Top 5 at the moment.  Not sure it will get to #1, but it's definitely one of the best so far.

#1 is reserved for Dream Theater! :D

I'm not even a huge Tobi guy (vocally), but even he sounds fantastic. What a great songwriter.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Shadow Ninja 2.0

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I wasn't a big fan of Tobi initially, either. His style really grows on you, though.

What's everyone's favorite song from The Mystery Of Time? Mine's probably still The Watchmaker's Dream.

Offline jingle.boy

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Gotta go with Saviour in the Clockwork.  Black Orchid is pretty hot though too

Yeah, I listened to it a few of times leading up to the concert, and it just got better with every listen.  It's definitely Top 5 at the moment.  Not sure it will get to #1, but it's definitely one of the best so far.

#1 is reserved for Dream Theater! :D

I'm not even a huge Tobi guy (vocally), but even he sounds fantastic. What a great songwriter.

I hadn't noticed!   ::)
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I love The Watchmaker's Dream.  The bass and the organ solo are fantastic!
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Offline Shadow Ninja 2.0

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Hmm, you didn't mention Arjen's glorious guitar solo.

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Hmm, you didn't mention Arjen's glorious guitar solo.

That too!
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When Clock Hands Freeze is the best Kiske sung song since Instant Clarity came out.

I wish Tobi would write Kiske's next album.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Shadow Ninja 2.0

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Album ranking time!

The Wicked Symphony
The Scarecrow
Angel Of Babylon
The Mystery Of Time
The Metal Opera Part I
The Metal Opera Part II

Offline Nick

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Album ranking time!

The Wicked Symphony
The Scarecrow
Angel Of Babylon
The Mystery Of Time
The Metal Opera Part I
The Metal Opera Part II

Probably my exact ranking.
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Offline Shadow Ninja 2.0

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The only Avantasia CDs that I really listen to are The Wicked Symphony (Scales Of Justice  :metal) and The Scarecrow (any CD with both Alice Cooper AND Michael Kiske is all win) , but I like The Mystery Of Time much better than both.

I'm really not familiar enough with their other stuff to finish out my rankings, but suffice to say that I have had my Avantasia epiphany!
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Shadow Ninja 2.0

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Get Angel Of Babylon. It's not as good as Wicked Symphony or Scarecrow, but it's got it's fair share of awesome moments.