Ok, I guess A.C.T. was a dud - even though I know King likes 'em, and RJ surely would have about 4 years ago. Moving on then, hopefully this will bring out some opinions ...
Kamelot / Epica [2003]; The Black Halo [2005] I was first exposed to Kamelot in the Power Ballad round of my first roulette. Obscure chose to send Zodiac, and it tanked. Hard. I'm not sure exactly why, but it certainly soured me on Kamelot. It was probably a year or two later that she sent me a tune by an act/album later to appear on this countdown, which featured both Thomas Youngblood and Casey Grillo. I loved that. Which then got me to check out Kamelot. Because of the depth of their discography, and the 'new' vocalist, I started with what was just coming out at the time, Silverthorn. Opinions around here seemed to be mixed on which of their previous albums were their best, so I went with a couple of live releases just to latch on to their 'best of'. It wasn't until the late 2020s that I went back and got the 6-album run that finished Khan's time with them.
Epica one starts with an absolute cracker (one of my Top 5 all-time Kamelot tunes, and imo one of the greatest and purist definitions and examples of Power Metal). An absolute classic. The follow up track, is pretty terrific as well, and (but?) the album pretty much coasts on those two tracks for the next 30 minutes, before finishing strong. The bookend songs are as good as it gets from Khan-era Kamelot. Song for song, I like The Black Halo a little better than Epica. Though, I sometimes find the three interlude tracks take me out of the flow of the former.
Ultimately, I just haven't spent enough time with these two albums (start to finish) to really sink into the story (and I don't know jack about Goethe's Faust), and thus cannot rate them any higher here.
Fave Song -
When the Lights Are DownFave Song -
Centre of the Universe<both live versions, from One Cold Winter's Night - glorious DVD!>