Hey guys, about Fifth Angel. Yeah, there's a lot going on with that band. Suffice it to say, for whatever his reasons, Kendall up and ditched them at the worst possible time. It's not really my place to explain what the band thinks, and what was going on behind the scenes, but lets just say that they were blown away Kendall would up and leave, particularly after spending so much time and effort over the past year and a half writing and recording such a well received new album, and taking over as lead singer. But he up and left his other band, TKO, a year or so ago as well, so something is up with him. What that is, isn't my place to speculate on. He's a great player, and has treated me with a lot of kindness and class over the years. I wish him the best.
And Third Secret, while good, to me, isn't up to par. And the reason for that is simple -- Ed Archer (who is now back with the band) writes all the music for Fifth Angel, and he has ZERO writing on the new one (nor did he play on it). He was out of the band (by choice) when they wrote and recorded it, and then was asked to return when they realized they needed him. And its great they are solid once again (Ed, Ken Mary, John Macko), but that's why it sounds different. The way Ed writes, and the way Fifth Angel's rhythm guitars sound are much different then how Kendall did them. Its good, but it lacks the unique identifiers that make it Fifth Angel. That's why I am always skeptical when a band loses its major writer (Queensryche with DeGarmo, for example). Because it changes the dynamic completely. Sometimes it works, often it doesn't. I am glad they did another record, but truth be told, I consider the record to be something other than Fifth Angel. When you don't have Ed (music, arrangements, lyrics), and you don't have Ted (lyrics, vocal melodies, THAT VOICE), you really don't have what made the band distinct.
As for the new band members, I honestly don't know them. I had heard of Ethan Brosh before because of his guest appearance on Michael Sweet's last album. Fantastic lead player. He's been working with Ed quite a bit to learn the rhythms that Kendall would play. Its been funny (well, not so funny) for Ed, because while he wrote all those guitar parts, he;s become accustomed to just playing the ones he chose to play over the years. So now, he has both guitar parts down cold, because he is showing them to Ethan.
But Ed said that Ethan's lead playing is amazing. He can play both Kendall Bechtel's leads and James Byrd's leads note-for-note, which if you know about the two of them, that's REALLY hard to do. So I think at least musically, Fifth Angel will be fine.
Vocally, I don't know anything about the new singer. Image-wise, he doesn't really fit, IMO. But his voice seems to have the character to pull off Ted and Kendall. But range-wise, I don't know if he can get those higher notes Ted hit. Maybe he can. But I haven't heard rehearsals, so I have no idea.
All I know is, I really wish that they get some stability. They made a band choice to let Peter Orullian go, and while Peter wasn't "the best" fit for them, he was the only voice that ever sang for them live since they reunited (and truth be told, back in the 80s, they never played live, just a couple of local record showcases), and for stability's sake, they should have kept him. He was gung-ho to do it. But it is what it is.
Thankfully, for Ed, Ken, and John, Fifth Angel isn't a full time job. THey all have careers outside of the band, and only Ken is in the music industry full time. Ed and John have regular jobs like all of us. All this music stuff is, is for their entertainment and enjoyment. So whether Fifth Angel continues after their shows, or calls it a day again, it won't hurt them. But my hope is they are able to solidify the foundation with the three of them, and then see where the future takes them after this show in a couple of weeks.
Topic: The Official Hard Rock / Classic Metal Music Discussion and Memorabilia Thread! (Read 904085 times)