EDGUY + AVANTASIA
http://www.myspace.com/tobiassammet
Savage Poetry (1995)
Kingdom of Madness (1997)
Vain Glory Opera (1998)
Theater of Salvation (1999)
The Savage Poetry (2000) (re-recorded Savage Poetry)
Mandrake (2001)
Hellfire Club (2004)
Rocket Ride (2006)
Edguy's lyrics are often metaphorical, alluding to metaphysical or social themes: conformity ("The Headless Game", "Mysteria", "King of Fools"), dictation by the church ("The Kingdom", "Theater of Salvation"), and dangers of modern civilization ("Navigator", "The Devil and the Savant"). To express such themes, Edguy sometimes use esoteric and hermetic expressions. Yet some of their songs are light-hearted or comedic ("Das Reh", "Save Us Now", "Lavatory Love Machine", "Life and Times of a Bonus Track", "Trinidad"). Edguy does not claim to represent any ideology; Tobias Sammet claimed "[the band is] not political and we are not religious; at least there is no key message in our songs telling you what to think in terms of anything". Edguy also employs lengthy and epic sections in almost every album.
Hellfire Club revealed Edguy's interest in experimenting within music by integrating an orchestra into the production. The album featured a variation on Edguy's style, with a less grandiose, more traditional heavy metal approach being embraced. The band's album, Rocket Ride, features even less symphonic and power metal elements, and is arguably more oriented towards hard rock. Their latest album, Tinnitus Sanctus, contains even more hard rock orientated songs, as the obvious lack of double bass drumming is evident, much unlike Edguy's old albums such as Vain Glory Opera.
Style
Edguy's lyrics are often metaphorical, alluding to metaphysical or social themes: conformity ("The Headless Game", "Mysteria", "King of Fools"), dictation by the church ("The Kingdom", "Theater of Salvation"), and dangers of modern civilization ("Navigator", "The Devil and the Savant"). To express such themes, Edguy sometimes use esoteric and hermetic expressions. Yet some of their songs are light-hearted or comedic ("Das Reh", "Save Us Now", "Lavatory Love Machine", "Life and Times of a Bonus Track", "Trinidad"). Edguy does not claim to represent any ideology; Tobias Sammet claimed "[the band is] not political and we are not religious; at least there is no key message in our songs telling you what to think in terms of anything". Edguy also employs lengthy and epic sections in almost every album.
Hellfire Club revealed Edguy's interest in experimenting within music by integrating an orchestra into the production. The album featured a variation on Edguy's style, with a less grandiose, more traditional heavy metal approach being embraced. The band's album, Rocket Ride, features even less symphonic and power metal elements, and is arguably more oriented towards hard rock. Their latest album, Tinnitus Sanctus, contains even more hard rock orientated songs, as the obvious lack of double bass drumming is evident, much unlike Edguy's old albums such as Vain Glory Opera.
Current members
Tobias Sammet - vocals
Jens Ludwig - lead guitar
Dirk Sauer - rhythm guitar
Tobias Exxel - bass guitar
Felix Bohnke - drums
Former members
Dominik Storch - drums (1992-98)
Frank Lindenthal - drums (session musician, 1998)
Demos
Evil Minded (1994)
Children of Steel (1994)
Savage Poetry (1995)
Studio albums
Kingdom of Madness (1997)
Vain Glory Opera (1998)
Theater of Salvation (1999)
The Savage Poetry (2000) (re-recorded Savage Poetry)
Mandrake (2001)
Hellfire Club (2004)
Rocket Ride (2006)
Tinnitus Sanctus (2008) [2]
Live albums
Burning Down the Opera (2003)
AVANTASIA
In Spring 1999, during Edguy's Theater of Salvation tour, Tobias Sammet began to write down his ideas for a metal opera, a concept album with many guest musicians. When the tour was finished, he carried this plan out, recruiting well-known metal players like Kai Hansen and the ex-Helloween singer Michael Kiske. The project was recorded with a core band of four members - Sammet playing keyboards and arranging orchestration, Henjo Richter playing guitar, Markus Grosskopf playing bass and Alex Holzwarth on drums. In 2001, the self-titled EP and the first full-length album, The Metal Opera, were released. The project was completed in September 2002 with the release of The Metal Opera Pt. II. At the end of 2006, Sammet confirmed the rumours of a third Avantasia album, due for release in 2008. On March 24th 2007, the name was stated to be "The Scarecrow". The confirmed guests are Rudolf Schenker, Sascha Paeth, drummer Eric Singer and singers Bob Catley, Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, Roy Khan and Oliver Hartmann
The project is described as a "Metal Opera" because it has an underlying plot and each role has its own singer, though it's not an opera by the classical definition. It's merely a collection of pieces, which refer to the individual points of the plot printed in the booklet.
From a stylistic view, the majority of the songs are melodic power metal meshed with a voluminous sound, many orchestral passages and choral parts, gaining Avantasia recognition as symphonic power metal. One song from each part, "Inside" and "In Quest For" respectively, is accompanied almost exclusively by piano. The first part also contains three short instrumental pieces.
The most complex piece is the first song of Part II, "The Seven Angels", featuring seven of the eleven singers. The song is over 14 minutes long and contains a classical "stanza/refrain" part, two guitar solos, choirs, a passage with piano accompaniment, and an epic finale. It also plays an important part in the plot, as it serves as summation of the first part, and has caused discussion due to the inclusion of lyrics not printed in the booklet.
Christendom and the Roman Catholic Church play an important role in the plot. Men of the Church like Pope Clement VIII are criticised for thinking that they hold the only truth and that they have to keep the normal people ignorant for their own good, not realising that the Church men themselves are too blinded to recognise the truth. Criticism like this appears very often in Sammet's works: many Edguy songs like "The Kingdom" (1996) or "Theater of Salvation" (1999) contain themes, plot and dialogue very similar to those found in Avantasia.
Tobias Sammet's new Avantasia album "The Scarecrow" has been officially one of the 20 best selling albums in whole Europe during the fourth week of January. The record label has just announced that it has also reached #27 in the Spanish album charts and #36 in the official charts in Norway. For the first time one of Tobias' releases has entered the Italian charts as well, on #65. To check the album click here! Official album chart positions so far read as follows:
#6 Czech Republic
#8 Germany
#10 Sweden
#10 Hungary
#16 Austria
#17 Switzerland
#26 Finland
#27 Spain
#29 England (Independent)
#36 Norway
#49 Japan
#50 Belgium
#58 France
#65 Netherlands
#65 Italy
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