Everyone expects me to write about Cain's Offering but fuck it, let's talk Sonata.
I'm too young to remember Ecliptica days, for me the adventure started with Die With Your Boots on when I was ~12 (yarround 2003 I guess) soon followed by Wolf and Raven and the whole Silence album. My first touch with Replica songs started arround For The Sake of Revenge live dvd when I heard an awesome version of Fullmoon (still my favourite, with outro stolen from White Pearl, Black Oceans), as well as 8th Commandement, My Land (japanese audience- I salute you one more time, you guys rock), Kingdom For A Heart and Replica. Naturally I bought the original album after listening to this stuff live and hell, I wasn't disappointed. Every song except for the outro was a hit power metal song.
And now a revisited version, which kinda seems unnecessary, but let's see. Does the original hold up? Can Sonata beat the original with some fancy stuff over the years? Or is it another attempt to squeeze even more money from old fans, as with Pariah Child?
Blank File
The original is as awesome as ever, very agressive drumming accompanied by riffs that may seem poor but they hold up, early Jani was always bad at riffing. Vocals shine here, lyrics are hard to hear but Tony sings extremely high and I won't be upset if he can't sing as high after 15 years. Solo is as crazy as me, guitar and keys turn this song about 720 degrees- it continues like nothing happened but your stomach squeezed its contents through your ass and mouth at the same time . Outro is not worse, fast finish to a super fast song, exciting like a public sex. Sound quality doesn't hold up as well as for example Stratovarius "Hunting High And Low" but it's not bad.
Revisited version has slightly better riffs, Tony sounds way more sad? Tommy's drumming is as good as always, with better sound quality it's a pure joy to hear. I'm kinda disappointed with background, I expected more variety with Henkka keys. Bass guitar is just as unheard of as in the original. Tony doesn't disappoint with chorus, it's not as high but his voice does what it can. Solo is so far the worst, especially when it comes to keys, what the hell happened? Only the solo outro is decent. But wait.. what the hell? Before Tony's vocals jump in there is a small pause with a "bass fart"
Why?
What the hell?
Is my copy wrong and they left it in?
Tony kinda sucks during the talking part, but Elias has a small addition that I like, the rest of the added stuff is also not bad
My Land
if there's a song that holds on with the sound- it must be My Land. First notes make my spine shiver with excitement. Original mix is practically perfect and there's no way remaking this into something better. Jani's riffing is way better than on Blank File, drums are less powerful but vocals and composition is way more complex here, with solos stuffed here and there. It's so good it's hard to write about it, I can't focus on writing while listening to it :D Stop reading this shitty review and listen to it, have a link (I'm so nice today, fuck me).
The outro fucking blasts. Finland must be a country full of retards as they didn't make this song a national anthem or something.
Ok, what can a revisited version do with this monster?
Oh god, they got the first notes wrong. It's not a fantasy-dragon-slaying-song, damn it? Vocals start way better, I also like clearer sound of the drums. Tony is kinda overdoing the vocals during the start, riffs are also worse than in the original. Thankfully during the solo Elias can show some more skillful approach. The worst part of this song are vocals during "You can't keep me here forever", Tony, what happened? You should be able to deliver it, it's not as out of your scale. I also hear some wasted room for additions, why leave them empty? The talking part is ok, but the scream is just awful. I know it's hard to replace but damn, if you can't remake the song, why remaking the whole album? This idea sounds so dumb now, after that failed scream. The rest of the outro is ok, actually I kinda like it how it ends.
8th Commandement
Crazy song but easy to play on the guitar I heard. Original mix has vocals put way too back, chorus riffs are lackluster but solo after them is nice as always. Drums are fast and very Tommy-style.
Revisited has clearer sounding drums which I love, some small guitar additions and Tony's singing is actually quite on the spot. Even additions are not annoying, as the song live is usually sang very lightly. This time Tony can replace high original singing with some good lower vocals. So far it's the best from the remade songs.
Uhh, if not for the solo, why keys are set like that? Who thought it would be a good idea? Outro is good, I think I like the outro more than the original one (again, I forgive Tony that he can't sing as high as before).
After 3 songs I can say this: so far Tony and Henrik fuck this up the most, Elias is great on the guitar and old fart Tommy is fucking flawless on drums. Fuck bass, no one can hear this shit on both versions.
Replica
The serious song. Sang stupidly joyfully live sometimes but fuck it. First song I can hear some bass in, and it's surprisingly good. We all know this song is almost perfect, vocals during the chorus are put too way back, riffing could do some polishing but it's all nitpicking. Should I say how I love drums here? Fine? Oh, how I love drums here. Keys are also neat. Outro is just a madness, with those echo vocals, best possible outro for this pseudo-mid-tempo-ballad
Revisited starts good, vocals pushed more front, and sung with more joyful approach (good, like live), also more like a ballad. As I predicted this can be good song vocally as long as Tony doesn't overdo it with his weird ideas, lets see.. Except maybe for chorus start it's good, Elias also shines here way more than Jani in the original, background keys are also solid, as Elias riffing later, pushed maybe a bit to far front, but I don't mind solid guitar work. Ok, first half solid. Second has finally some good keys, and both solos are solid! A bit too weird moment before the calm part but it can do. Surprisingly solid outro, especially thanks to Elias.
This is the first song I like more than the original (but not more than some live version), less serious and overpacked with additional sounds and better mixing. So at least, in the end I can say that 10% of the cd is good
Kingdom For A Heart
The weird song. Extremely catchy vocals all over the place. Solid solo and interesting part with echo afterwards. Outro is solid and high, typical live song and shouldn't be too hard to remake.
Revisited is set lower, with more interesting vocals. Not much is added, Elias is crazy as always (why was he so ignored in Pariah child? He is really in my top 10 guitarists) but keys suck again (a little). The calm part is done.. differently, but I give it a pass. Nothing much is changed after all and I can't really say I like any of the versions more.
Fullmoon
Titanium's version is better. Ok, shameful advertising aside the original is very serious and epic. I guess I can't really say anything interesting about the band's signature song. Oh, maybe that they 99% of a time skip the "mess on the floor, again" part. I don't really like the original solo compared to all those live versions, keys are set too high and the breaks between keyboard and guitar are too long. Also the final note of the song is weird. This version doesn't hold up well after all that time, let's see the remake
Starts nicer and I actually dig this pretty well, Elias is also trying his best to throw in some additional sounds. Less keyboard oriented than the original, and considering how Henrik sucks on this cd so far it's good. Chorus is a bit overdone with lyrics but I give it a pass. Guitar part of the solo is great, with some heavy drums before the watered down keyboard part which sucks, surprise.. At least they didn't forget heavier keys on the outro (as they often do live). Drums are great as always but an extra mention for heavy focus during the outro.
While some people say that the vocals lack power in the revisited version I disagree- original wasn't much better in this regard, live versions (from live dvds and cds) are better than both album versions.
Letter To Dana
Ah yes, a mother of all power metal ballads out there and it's drum intro from hell. Good riffing for Jani and heavy focus on Tony's vocals which are nothing short of amazing here, I especially love "bad", almost hysterical screams "Dana, Dana, Dana, DAANAA!" and the solo that comes out after it. This whole song is just pure, majestic chaos, like any letter of a emotionally unstable lover would be- perfect song.
Remake starts softer but with slightly more variety, Tony also starts softer. Repeated "be so bad" totally unnecessary. Drums and guitar start is good, and Tony actually delivers some good emotions in the chorus, with worse screams but very passable. I'm still bothered why couldn't he record similar during My Land. The outro isn't great but it's hard to beat the original, so overall "they didn't fuck this up"
Unopened
The only song from this damn album I was decent at singing, original mix has keyboard way up front and vocals shoved in the background, not a great thing but the song is so extremely fucking catchy and fast that I don't care. Poor drumming compared to other songs (so still solid in general). Mostly a keyboard song so I guess remake will fuck it up.
Uh, vocals have a lot of problems here, keys during solo are fucked as predicted. When Elias starts rocking I just want to unplug his guitar, pass him the beer and say "shh, don't try to save it, next time, I promise". I can't even say that drums rock it, I think Tommy could hit a bit harder here, especially during the outro, more crashes. Overall worse than the original
Picturing The Past
My personal favourite from this album, crazy sounds, one of my favourite drum patterns and highest vocals Tony could ever do. As with most Ecliptica songs I can only say that vocals are too much back and Jani's riffing during chorus is lackluster. Oh well, let's see how bad is the revisited version
Tony takes more of a "let's tell a story" approach which is fresh, Elias riffing is slightly better but pushed behind bad keyboards. Chorus is without power, but I guess as good as Tony could make it without growling screams which would ruin it. Drumming is solid, but sudden scream is so unexpected it actually doesn't fit. But way better than I feared it would be, actually now it sounds possible to sing live and be very enjoyable. I give it a huge plus, just for how unexpected it ended up becoming.
Destruction Preventer
Finally, the only not hit song, a typical album outro song. But how different from the others! Intro is just pure Stratovarius, epic and serious. Agree or not, it's a typical "Sonata Arctica long song" like "The Power Of One", "Gravenimage" , "White Pearl, Black Oceans", "Caleb" , "Juliet" , "Wildfire II & III" and, uhh, "Larger Than Life". So many different ideas and tempo changes squeezed into one songs all connected by super strong lyrics. This variety always defined the band as my favourite band for years- sure, they are poppy, predictable and with flashy solos, but songs like these always reminded me that the band can deliver some extremely well thought songs when needed
Revisited version stays true to the original, with guitars and drums as the main force dragging the song. Chorus is sang without the old power, but Tony didn't overdo it, and the emotionless start of the chorus actually fits the mood of the song. Original was sounding a bit too happy (even thought it wasn't meant to, high vocals just sounded like that). Also, Tony made a good job in the middle part, as well as ok job in the climax.
I can't dance cover is just a bonus so I won't judge it.
Ok, some final thoughts. I admit, I was wrong about the remake initially, mostly because I didn't listen to most songs (like last 2 which are good). The main flaw of this album is still one thing: It's unnecessary. Ecliptica holds up pretty well, even if I had some minor nitpicking connected to the mix. If the revisited version was a marketing thing then I have a way better idea: full Sonata Arctica collection, with ep Successor, all singles and ALL BONUS TRACKS. You could throw this revisited album to the bundle to get more people to buy it, and even if they would say that Revisited was bad, then they would have some great bonus songs like "They Follow", "In My Eyes You're Giant" and "Nothing More". As far as musicians are concerned I must say that I gave too much shit to Tony for his performance, it wasn't as bad as i thought, and he didn't overdo it like on Pariah Child so much less experimenting. He actually managed to turn some songs he couldn't perform into something interesting. But when he fails, oh man, it is bad. The first songs are the worst with vocals. Tommy is as wonderful as 15 years ago and I can't praise him enough, fuck bass, Elias shines and really tries to show Jani that he can play too. I won't compare them as I actually like Elias and Jani is one of my favourites so let's go to Henrik.
Mr Henrik. You suck. You turned about 30% of this album to shit. Keyboards are not interesting here and they are set way too high to fit, I don't know whose decision was it but keyboards are really a moodkiller.
Score:
Original
Vocals: 10/10
Guitars: 10/10
Bass: haha
Keys: 8/10
Drums: 10/10
Others:
++ so fucking catchy
Total score: 100%
Revisited
Vocals: 6/10
Guitars: 10+/10
Bass: yea, sure
Keys: 2/10
Drums: 10/10
Others:
- totally unnecessary
- more stuff could be added
- Blank File has a blank spot (maybe it was a clever joke?)
- the album has no interesting artwork and was poorly manufactured in general
Total score: 60% (40% purely for Elias and Tommy, they fucking rock)
No comments:
Post a Comment