I can see the Christmas thing with it.
I don't get associating Ghostlights and awful though.
Me neither. The only volumes I'm not huge on are the Angel of Babylon and Wicked Symphony. Not played them as much as the others.
Have to say I've never bothered with the stories in any of them. The first album put me off bothering with them
This is pretty much my view as well. For me, there's a noticeable dip after The Scarecrow with AoB / TWS, then a jump back up TMoT and Ghostlights. Not that those two were terrible, just not as memorable.
(BTW - The Scarecrow - what a song!!)
Avantasia has been the discovery of 2016 for me. I just love the bombastic high energy, combined with good melodies and the guest vocalists.
I don't pay much attention to the story, and as a native English speaker, the lyrics can be a bit "wonky" at times
, but somehow that's part of the charm.