Edguy - Rocket ride 3/5
Reviewed: 12-30-05
Tracklist:
1. Sacrifice
2. Rocket ride
3. Wasted time
4. Matrix
5. Return to the tribe
6. The asylum
7. Save me
8. Catch of the century
9. Out of vogue
10. Superheroes
11. Trinidad
12. Fucking with fire (The hairforce one)
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Tobias Sammet, the leader and songwriter of Edguy, is undoubtedly one of the most talented musicians in metal. He has a great melodic sense in his songwriting and an exceptional voice, combining power and personality. However, he also struggles with taking himself seriously. When he does he can equal, and sometimes maybe surpass, what the giants of melodic metal, like Iron Maiden, have done. However sometimes he cannot help himself and allows his silly side to show too much – at that point he becomes mostly a parody of himself which is unfortunate. On 'Rocket ride' Edguy shows some of their silly side, some of their brilliance and, unfortunately, more mediocrity than they have shown in the past.
The phrase “it is what it is” or “you are what you are” has become popular these days and, for big fans of the old Edguy style anyway, this band should have paid attention to it. There are clearly some tracks on this CD that fit past Edguy CDs like “Sacrifice”, the title track, “Return to the tribe” and “Superheroes”. “Return to the tribe”, in particular, is a spectacular track. The rest of the CD is mostly just average to above average, they are tracks which simply are not of the same quality that Sammet is capable of writing and the style of pure power metal is starting to be lost too. The new style is somewhat different, having more of an 80s Def Leppard feel than the pure power metal bliss that Edguy has done before. The CD bottoms out at the end with the last 2 tracks. “Trinidad” has an Edguy-goes-reggae feel – and however bad you may envision that, it is as bad as you envision. The finale, “Fucking with fire” has a straightforward AC/DC type sound to it and adds nothing to the CD.
Edguy has been one of my favorite power metal CDs and they peaked with an unbelievable effort on 'Theater of salvation'. Slowly, CD by CD, the power and emotion of that peak have been drifting downward and the band has hit a low point with 'Rocket ride'. Sammet undoubtedly has the ability to still write great songs because they still show up from time to time. Whether he’s tired of writing power metal tracks or has just outwritten himself, having written a lot of tracks between Edguy and side band Avantasia, it is difficult to say. What can be said for sure, however, is that 'Rocket ride' is a mediocre effort from a band that seemed like it could have been one of the all time greats, but is in the process of squandering that chance.
DAVID
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