I will admit to be at the very least sympathetic, towards Luca Turrili, Rhapsody’s main composer and guitarist. In the past, I did a couple of interviews with him and he sounded the rather down on earth guy that had gone through health scares and was just happy to be alive. He was rather cool and animated.
Also my early youth, coincided with the release of the bands then very impressive debut and sophomore album, which I was at some point playing very frequently. Putting it on several years later, I could still detect what impressed me, back in the day, but I had to respectfully also accept the fact that it sounded as if it had dated somehow and that what sounded so damn impressive back in the day, had lost part of its charm and instant appeal, because of the time passed and the growth of the listener. Still, I did not quite instantly turn their later attempts, down, even through the years I found their interesting and quite unique style not only rivaled but also copied with better or worse results and I always felt a drop in terms of inspiration.
The band parted ways with their original company, to join Manowar’s own Magic Circle Music imprint, that led to a couple of good albums, a highly published collaboration with film legend, Sir Christopher Lee, a lawsuit, a name change and various other acts of shenanigans!
After that was settled the band, joined Nuclear Blast, to which they are still signed (at least this – version of the band) since not long into the contract, an under growing tension, led to a schism, between its two main composers, namely Luca and keyboard player Alex Staropolli, who both created different versions of the band. Staropolli kept vocalist Fabio Leone and the band’s Rhapsody Of Fire name while Luca placed his own name in front of the band’s original name, so as to avoid the legal implications that caused the band to change its name in the first place. He also drafted in the unknown Italian singer Alessandro Conti, who studied as a tenor at the Corale Lirica Rossini, the same school attended by the great Luciano Pavarotti.
So how would one view this new chapter in the band’s (and the bands - excuse the pun) evolution?
How could an old fan of the band, feel about it. It’s an interesting question, that begs a rather in depth answer.
The most profound thing, missing from the album is the fantasy heroic theme. While the overall style of the band is not a million miles away from its previous incarnations, the overall feel and mood is missing the folk influences. Conti, while not mimicking Leone, sounds pretty close and singing high, most of the time doesn’t help in trying to distinguish him from his predecessor. In fact, the first think that came to my mind was Kiske & Leone - which are fine cases to make comparisons to, although Conti sounds a bit more accented, maybe as accented as Leone - when he started. It’s during some lower passages that Conti, sounds his own man. He’s probably a little more impressive than Leone overall, but I’d also imagine younger as well and certainly he handles some pretty operatic parts, somewhat more impressively so he’s a mighty good, choice, but a singer can be only as good as the material he sings.
The songs are far more overblown, ambitious and grandiose - sounding than ever before but this is both a blessing and a curse. You cannot help but be impressed by the sheer scope and staggering ambition of their complex and usually beautiful orchestrations, of pieces like the title song, the superb, highly crossover p-operatic “Tormento E Passione” (sung in Italian), which is possibly one of the albums, highlights along with the single “Dark Fate Of Atlantis”, but this comes at the expense of them songs losing their power metal character and instead going for a very eclectic style that’s not very accessible, in all honesty! The most glaring example is the totally over the top 16 minute epic entitled “Of Michael the Archangel and Lucifer’s Fall”. Well, it’s got some amazing parts and especially an amazing hymnal climax and is a bit of a representation of what the album stands for “in scale” but it’s so labyrinthine and long winded, that it sort of verges on and on and on, somewhere losing the listeners focus and attention, along the way, which is what I think also this album suffers from, overall!
Artistic? Yes!
A bit overindulgent as well? Yes!
Worth a listen? Definitely!
Will I like it? Possibly!
Did you like it? Sort of!
Well, I’d like to listen to the other version, of the band’s output to decide, whether I prefer the one over the other, but what also begs question is - does the world need 2 versions of Rhapsody? I’d probably be negative, in reply! Good luck to both however! I’ll keep an ear open and they’ll both have my sympathy!
Also my early youth, coincided with the release of the bands then very impressive debut and sophomore album, which I was at some point playing very frequently. Putting it on several years later, I could still detect what impressed me, back in the day, but I had to respectfully also accept the fact that it sounded as if it had dated somehow and that what sounded so damn impressive back in the day, had lost part of its charm and instant appeal, because of the time passed and the growth of the listener. Still, I did not quite instantly turn their later attempts, down, even through the years I found their interesting and quite unique style not only rivaled but also copied with better or worse results and I always felt a drop in terms of inspiration.
The band parted ways with their original company, to join Manowar’s own Magic Circle Music imprint, that led to a couple of good albums, a highly published collaboration with film legend, Sir Christopher Lee, a lawsuit, a name change and various other acts of shenanigans!
After that was settled the band, joined Nuclear Blast, to which they are still signed (at least this – version of the band) since not long into the contract, an under growing tension, led to a schism, between its two main composers, namely Luca and keyboard player Alex Staropolli, who both created different versions of the band. Staropolli kept vocalist Fabio Leone and the band’s Rhapsody Of Fire name while Luca placed his own name in front of the band’s original name, so as to avoid the legal implications that caused the band to change its name in the first place. He also drafted in the unknown Italian singer Alessandro Conti, who studied as a tenor at the Corale Lirica Rossini, the same school attended by the great Luciano Pavarotti.
So how would one view this new chapter in the band’s (and the bands - excuse the pun) evolution?
How could an old fan of the band, feel about it. It’s an interesting question, that begs a rather in depth answer.
The most profound thing, missing from the album is the fantasy heroic theme. While the overall style of the band is not a million miles away from its previous incarnations, the overall feel and mood is missing the folk influences. Conti, while not mimicking Leone, sounds pretty close and singing high, most of the time doesn’t help in trying to distinguish him from his predecessor. In fact, the first think that came to my mind was Kiske & Leone - which are fine cases to make comparisons to, although Conti sounds a bit more accented, maybe as accented as Leone - when he started. It’s during some lower passages that Conti, sounds his own man. He’s probably a little more impressive than Leone overall, but I’d also imagine younger as well and certainly he handles some pretty operatic parts, somewhat more impressively so he’s a mighty good, choice, but a singer can be only as good as the material he sings.
The songs are far more overblown, ambitious and grandiose - sounding than ever before but this is both a blessing and a curse. You cannot help but be impressed by the sheer scope and staggering ambition of their complex and usually beautiful orchestrations, of pieces like the title song, the superb, highly crossover p-operatic “Tormento E Passione” (sung in Italian), which is possibly one of the albums, highlights along with the single “Dark Fate Of Atlantis”, but this comes at the expense of them songs losing their power metal character and instead going for a very eclectic style that’s not very accessible, in all honesty! The most glaring example is the totally over the top 16 minute epic entitled “Of Michael the Archangel and Lucifer’s Fall”. Well, it’s got some amazing parts and especially an amazing hymnal climax and is a bit of a representation of what the album stands for “in scale” but it’s so labyrinthine and long winded, that it sort of verges on and on and on, somewhere losing the listeners focus and attention, along the way, which is what I think also this album suffers from, overall!
Artistic? Yes!
A bit overindulgent as well? Yes!
Worth a listen? Definitely!
Will I like it? Possibly!
Did you like it? Sort of!
Well, I’d like to listen to the other version, of the band’s output to decide, whether I prefer the one over the other, but what also begs question is - does the world need 2 versions of Rhapsody? I’d probably be negative, in reply! Good luck to both however! I’ll keep an ear open and they’ll both have my sympathy!
