Stratovarius Community

[Kmasters]

[Liberty]

Well, the goal of going on tour usually involves the benefit of making money. Isn't it also the goal of every other bands...

They should bring Mr. Staropoli with them, but then, it's not him or his band saying farewell to the fans.

Isn't that farewell tour going to confuse the fans ?
Hope that Mr. Staropoli gets some $$ out of it too.

quote adrian 9: ''the bad blood between luca and straropoli seems to be the real shit !''

I didn't find any evidence of that online, only heard Mr. Starapoli saying that there was some difficulties working with a member of the band, but he didn't say who.

The way i see it, Mr. Staropoli is more comfortable in one band and developping material for it. But Mr. Lione, he's good at whatever he does and probably prefers variety. He could sing whatever type of music he wants, and it will sound good.

[Kmasters]

According to Alex Holtzwarth they did invited Mr. Staropoli but he was not interested bc he wanted to focus 100% on ROF

[Liberty]

Rhapsody of fire Legendary Years (article with video)

http://www.metalunderground.com/news/ details.cfm?newsid=134510

I thought that they would create something new, but it looks like it is only going to be covers.

--------------
http://www.lagrosseradio.com/metal/ webzine-metal/actu-metal/p17358- rhapsody-of-fire-1er-extrait-de- legendary-years.html

google translation, part of the text:

Rhapsody Of Fire unveiled the artwork of their album and release date. Legendary Years will be released on May 26, 2017!

Concerning this announcement, the group said: "It is an album that aims to give a new dimension to the history of the band. In other words: another look, another sound that flows from the The deepest source of the identity of Rhapsody Of Fire. "

[Empathica1928]

Some people on Facebook have been giving the band shit for rerecording the old songs but I am very excited to hear it. I was really surprised to hear Giacomo do such a good job on When Demons Awake, for example. And I am so excited they picked songs like Dark Tower of Abyss and Dargor to rerecord.

I hope it's awesome. Rhapsody of Fire always has my support.

[SentineLEX]

Really been warming up to Into the Legend lately.

I don't know how to feel about the rerecording though. I think I would've preferred a live album where Giacomo sings all the old songs. Seems kinda more natural that way. Same way Nightwish's first record with Floor was that Wacken show where she sang a bunch of their old songs.

[Empathica1928]

I never thought of that. A live album with Giacomo might have been a warmer way to introduce him to the fans! Maybe they did this to pump up interest for their next album (since a lot of people wrote them off after Luca's departure... and especially Fabio's).

I was just playing Into The Legend a lost last month. It's really becoming one of my favorite Rhapsody albums, although Rage of Darkness, Valley of Shadows, Realms of Light - all three of those sound a bit too standard/generic power metal even for Rhapsody. Still good tunes but the choir part of Valley of Shadows makes me feel like it was Alex going through the motions, it doesn't sound very compelling.

[SentineLEX]

[Empathica1928]

Man Dark Wings was disappointing, definitely bottom of the Rhapsody catalogue for me. A Tale of Magic, Sad Mystic Moon, and Silver Lake of Tears are the only ones I return to from that album. All the ballads seem to start the same exact way, too.

I fucking love Shining Star though, oh man. It's so slow, but it sounds much more musically honest and organic than, say, Anima Perduta, or any of the snorefests on Dark Wings. Hell even Lost In Cold Dreams isn't nearly as good imo.

Kiss of Life is also where they knocked it out of the park for me (although that middle section with just guitar and vocals is pretty bare, and the guitar repeats itself quite a lot). That somber violin and that epic chorus, that last one especially with the lead guitar's sexy tone screaming underneath those triumphic vocals. That's what gets my dick hard. Fuck yeah.

[SentineLEX]

Yeah the middle section definitely drags on.

Personally Rhapsody seems to follow the rule of 3 for me. I hate one album, then love the next two. Legendary Tales feels unfinished and bland when stacked against all of the other albums. Rain of a Thousand Flames had a nice heavy element, but nothing particularly stood out to me as memorable. Triumph or Agony was just so goddamn slow. I feel like Alex/Luca were trying to not use double bass pedal at all in 2006, because Luca's third solo album suffers from exactly the same speed issue. And then there's Dark Wings.

So looks like I'm going to love the next record, but hate the one after it.

[Kmasters]

Here-s the first 2 singles of the new ROF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti- qWQaVlO4

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=PidC0IgacUk

Thoughts

[Liberty]

[Empathica1928]

Love Land of Immortals. Giacomo's a great fit for this band. When Demons Awake - he does a very good job on that one, although that song's never been one of my favorites.

Can't wait to hear Dark Tower of Abyss and others.

[Empathica1928]

Holy shit, the original Rhapsody is playing the entire Symphony of Enchanted Lands album on their reunion tour. Including Dark Tower of Abyss.

https://youtu.be/oirapQxqiOs

That song means so damn much to me. It was I think the very first Rhapsody song I ever heard, and to me is still one of the perfect blends of classical and metal music. It's a stellar masterpiece of a song that I never even hear Rhapsody fans talk about (granted it's 20 years old but still). I love this song so much I used it for two different transcription projects while working for my music degree in school.

God I love this band.

[Empathica1928]

Which leads me to this... I'm bored and gonna rank the albums as I feel today, from most to least favorite.

1. Dawn of Victory
2. Legendary Tales
3. Symphony of Enchanted Lands
4. Power of the Dragonflame
5. Symphony of Enchanted Lands 2
6. Triumph or Agony
7. The Frozen Tears of Angels
8. Into the Legend
9. From Chaos To Eternity
10. Rain of a Thousand Flames
11. Dark Wings of Steel
12. The Cold Embrace of Fear

For me, a few things I've noticed upon looking at this: the Rhapsody sound, as it is, is defined in their very first two, maybe three albums. Certainly by Dragonflame, most of their range is apparent, and as you can see in the list, I generally think the quality of the albums has decreased over time - that said, Rhapsody's first few albums are some of my all-time favorite albums, so they're a very, very high bar to reach. Those top three albums could be interchangeable. I love absolutely everything about all three of them. Even Forest of Unicorns.

The other is that I do not enjoy their two EPs (Cold Embrace and Rain...). Cold Embrace is just a boring 45 or whatever minutes with bad acting and one good song that is too long for its own good. Rain... has three songs I like and two are just a bit too long, Queen overstays its welcome early on.

Another is that between Triumph or Agony, Frozen Tears, and ITL, that is about the point where the albums stop being 'fantastic' and start entering murkier waters, but with some absolutely phenomenal music on them, no knock to them whatsoever. There are just a few songs I don't care much about.

Dark Wings is a huge disappointment with songs that sound too safe, uninspired, and similar to each other, but with a few gems in Silver Lake of Tears and A Tale of Magic.

From Chaos to Eternity is starting to annoy me 6 years later - some of the songs just do not sound like Rhapsody at all, and the production annoys me, the guitars have zero punch, the orchestration isn't all there, it's a shame the title track is so phenomenal and it drops off immediately after that.

Triumph or Agony is a goddamn great album and I will fight people who shit on this one. Mystic Prophecy defines epic symphonic metal. Nobody talks about Bloody Red Dungeons either, which is my other favorite from this one.

Into the Legend has the potential to climb higher. The only songs I don't love on it are Valley of Shadows and Realms of Light, but all the others are awesome. A Voice In The Cold Wind sounds like it could've come straight off Dawn of Victory.

I am a pretty big nerd.

[Kmasters]

New Single

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=w1u2my5bHZA