Stairway to Fairyland

I'm kind of mystified by the reviews this album has received so far. I've listened to much of this band's okay-ish discography, and while I can confirm that this album is indeed the best of the lot of them, featuring a couple of the best songs they've ever recorded, that isn't exactly saying a whole lot, since this band tends to specialize in raw quantity over quality.

The first thing to notice about this album is that, for a collection of largely chorus-driven songs, the song lengths drag out for way too long. No song on this album really needs to be longer than, say, four-and-a-half minutes. There's just not enough 'there' there to justify the excessive, shallow ornamentation these songs receive. Everyone focuses on the 'happy' nature of the music, but nobody seems to focus on the quality of the songwriting. If you're going to go this direction, you need to deliver the hooks, and this album doesn't have enough of them. Many metal bands feel sheepish about putting out an album of songs entirely of pop-song length, and I have to think they succumbed to the desire to appear 'credible' as a metal outfit -- but I have infinitely more respect for a collection of great pop-metal songs than for a collection of songs that are clearly that and yet are dressed up to appear otherwise. The instrumentalists are all good at what they do, but nobody seems essential; there are instruments there because there need to be instruments to provide a foundation for the vocal melodies.

The two standout tracks, precisely for their unforgettable choruses, are 'Tears Falling', which has a beautiful, bittersweet chorus and a triumphant key change at the end, and closer 'Another Day', an uplifting farewell which is, to my ears, exactly what an album closer is supposed to sound like. These songs are truly euphoric. I imagine that others listening to this record must be getting something out of the remaining songs like what I am getting out of those two. Songs like 'Over the Rainbow' -- which has a neat organ intro -- as well as 'Shine On' and 'Fairyland' (Barbie would blush to be so cute and wholesome) are perfectly serviceable in this regard, but they feature nothing I haven't heard before. And since the songs are so unapologetically chorus-driven, I just don't get enough of a sense of urgency from the hooks. 'We Are One' is another song in this vein: the chorus starts out promisingly and then doesn't know what to do with itself.

This is a good album, no doubt; listening to it was a worthy use of my time. But the other reviews featured so far are overwhelmingly hyperbolic. This record is uplifting and distinctive, but it just doesn't deliver the hooks where it really promises to deliver, and for that reason I can't call it great.

Back in the 1990s, something brewed in the waters of Europe and spat out a legion of bands mixing classic 80s speed and traditional metal with something like the lovechild of ABBA and Europe’s “Final Countdown.” What resulted was an oft-controversial subset of metal that made waves in the scene and even burst the entire metal genre back to a reasonable status of popularity. One band in particular took the style to its sort of logical end – I am of course talking about Freedom Call, and their debut Stairway to Fairyland.

The whole basis for this sound is pretty much just to be as uplifting as possible. I haven’t really chronicled this, but I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to be depressed when listening to an early Freedom Call album. The base of their sound is German power metal riffing a la Gamma Ray, which is then laid over with colorful, romantic swathes of orchestrations and keys, and the high pitched vocals of singer Chris Bay. The songs are miniature epics that build up with marching tempos from the rhythm section and staccato riffing, and then explode into the trademarked Europower Chorus that has become a cliché over the years.

Freedom Call was right there at the beginning, though, and along with Edguy, Gamma Ray and Stratovarius, mastered the art of chorus writing. There isn’t a weak chorus on the disc. Part of the artistry of the whole thing is how Freedom Call builds up to the choruses. They take their time and put in a lot of build-ups with multiple verses and bridges, waiting for the right time to explode into the money-shot chorus. It’s a very well written album for its genre, incredibly tight for a debut. You wouldn’t think a debut would be this polished and pro-sounding, but Stairway to Fairyland is really well done overall.

Pretty much all these songs follow that formula, without any real diversions from it. They keep it interesting by changing up the tempo – you get pounding epics like opener “Over the Rainbow” and “Tears are Falling,” and then also more drawn-out, elaborate tunes like “Tears of Taragon” or the semi-titular track “Fairyland.” “Holy Knight” is an outlier in that it’s fairly heavy and riffy, with a more traditional metal bent. The whole sound is reminiscent of a more bombastic Helloween circa Keepers albums – it would be easy to call this derivative beyond belief, especially on songs like “We Are One,” if this album wasn’t actually better than the Keepers albums in the long run. I'd name standout tracks, but really everything here is great. Maybe "Graceland" is a bit weak, but even that's far better than some of the filler tunes on Freedom Call's later albums.

On their best moments, like the shimmering majesty of "Shine On" or the sweeping "Tears of Taragon," Freedom Call absolutely burst with energy and enthusiasm like a newborn sun. The greatest thing about this album is just how feel-good it is – it’s so uplifting. You can listen to this and feel like you’re on top of the goddamn world. The band sounds jubilant and happy beyond belief. There’s just a real joy in listening to it, and the band intended that. It’s supposed to sound this happy. It’s meticulously, laboriously crafted happiness that in turn leads to it actually accomplishing all its goals. I have fun with this every time I put it on. Go hear it if you haven’t.

Freedom Call is a band that has, over the past couple of years, grown in popularity. As usual, growing in popularity is not indicative of growing in talent. In fact, for Freedom Call, this is exactly the opposite. While their new albums* are just tentative attempts at hard rock and jokes on what music should be about (think new Edguy), Freedom Call gets progressively better the farther back you look. I think the reason for this is that this was originally a side project of Dan Zimmerman (drummer for Gamma Ray), who wanted to try a new side of power metal. Over time, this grew from a side project into a legitimate band of its own, and they tried to gain their own sound rather than just be a variation on Gamma Ray. This, we can agree (judging by the reviews on this site), led to disastrous results.

But enough band history, lets get to this album. I give this album a review in the 90s, not because it is good in comparison to other releases by this band, but because it is great within the confines power metal as a genre. This is not a "their best work ever" review, this leans more towards the side of "one of the best power metal albums ever". I choose this approach because I hope that this review will help introduce a great album to power metal fans rather than validate the opinions of existing Freedom Call fans (which, if they wish to, they can do by themselves on their own time). I will, then, not compare songs to other FC (Freedom Call) songs and I will not make obscure references to band members other than founders Chris Bay (lead vocalist) and Dan Zimmerman (drummer).

So after an admittedly long (but hopefully necessary) preamble, lets talk about the music, and why it is one of the great power metal albums of the late 1990s. The album, thankfully, avoids one of the mistakes that many metal bands (including later FC) make: painfully pretentious intros. This album instead goes straight into the first song. Don't get me wrong, some intros can set a mood very well, but in the end, they stand in the way between the listener and the songs and in power meta, the individual songs are more important than the album as a whole. Now, there is an intro to this album, but it is included in "Over the Rainbow" (the first track), it is short, and it actually works within the track rather than from the outside (it transitions well into the song itself to the point where it becomes part of the song).

There are two things I will talk about in this review: First, why this is a solid power metal album (pretty much what it sounds like). The second is why this is an original album (how it is refreshingly different from other power metal). To start off with, this album is pretty intense. Expect a lot of double-bass drumming, fast guitar parts, high pitched vocals in the style of Helloween for the verses and big choral performances (with every member in the band singing) for the choruses. Expect pre-choruses that involve lower pitched harmonies that lead into fuller choruses with everybody singing. I have been told that the vocals are an acquired taste, but to me they are very similar to Michael Kiske (old Helloween). Expect a dense German accent and lyrics that make as much sense as Dragonforce's. Expect also a few slower songs (Hymn to the Brave), that still keep the big chorus concept but don't go at lightning speed.

At this point you have two options: If you are convinced that this album is worth a listen, go and get it. If you are still not sure if it's worth your time, keep reading. Next is a more detailed description of the aspects that make this album original and not just "another power metal release".

The song structure deserves to be mentioned, since it is slightly different than that of many power metal bands out there. First, I should mention that FC is not reinventing the wheel in power metal. It still has fast riffs, epic and catchy choruses and a simple verse-chorus-verse structure. The differences are minor, but important enough to make this album stand out. The first thing we note in song structures is that in several songs the choruses are introduced very late. For songs like "Over the Rainbow" and "Tears Falling", we get a verse, the pre-chorus, and when we expect a big bombastic chorus we instead are led back into another verse. We effectively end up with a verse-prechorus-verse-prechorus-chorus structure. For "Over the Rainbow" the chorus doesn't come in until the 4th minute (of a 6 minute song). This allows FC to build up tension and expectation, allowing you to enjoy the moment of the chorus much more (pretty much the musical version of foreplay). This also allows the listener to enjoy repeated listens, since they will now be expecting the chorus to come in and are kept on their toes throughout the entire song.

Another difference in song structure is the use of small breaks. "Tears Falling" is a perfect example when near the end of the song all the instruments stop, the chorus is sung 'a capella' and the instruments come in in an epic fashion to continue to the end of the song. Personally, I enjoy the break because it allows the song to repeat the effect it had in its first chorus, by suddenly exploding into it. I also understand the practical benefit to having a small break in a fast song: give the drummer a well deserved rest.

I mentioned the big choruses idea before, but I think it is necessary to expand on it, since it is one of the signatures of this band. All choruses involve an epic performance where every single band member sings his own part and the lead singer just becomes part of the group. The best moment in Freedom Call's choral history comes in at the end of Holy Knight. This song ends on a five part vocal performance with a level of technical precision and originality that I have never heard any other power metal band even approach. All songs make great use of the range and quality of vocalists in the band, with the baritone singers being a definite highlight.

But what about the riffs? Lots of people complain that most power metal bands are lacking when it comes to riffs, and I will not disagree. You will not find complex tech-death riffs or crushing doom riffs in this album, but FC has come up with their fair share of original and power-metal riffs. The opening riff for both "Holy Knight" and "Graceland" are probably the highlight guitar-wise of a band that is much more focused on vocals. I do not claim that FC's riffs are the best out there, just that after listening to the album, you will agree that more complex riffing is not only unnecessary but would also be detrimental to the sound of the band.

So why are you still reading? Go and listen to the album already!

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Highlights: Over the Rainbow, Tears Falling, Fairyland, Holy Knight.
Songs to Avoid: We are One (just a cheap copy of Helloween's "I Want Out")

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*up to Dimensions; as I write this review, Legend of the Shadowking has not come out yet

Freedom Call has been something of an interesting phenomenon within the melodic power metal umbrella. Although their sound is pretty much German in character, mostly resembling its better known founder Helloween and drummer Dan Zimmerman’s other project Gamma Ray, there isn’t really anyone out there quite like them. Their music is very light and happy sounding, but simultaneously it’s incredibly fast and the guitars often have a good amount of punch to them. Granted, the high and extremely clean sounding vocal work and the strongly present keyboards temper the sound into something that is pretty far removed from US power metal, not to mention that most of their choruses are of such a catchy fanfare nature that they dwarf Dio’s “Sacred Heart” album in this respect.

Of their various works, “Stairway to Fairyland” presents the band as the least confined artistically, and within a very formulaic structure are quite successful at changing things up. Anyone who doubts this should listen to the epic “Tears of Taragon” and the simplistic choral fanfare “Hymn of the Brave” back to back, then tell me that they don’t hear any variation in style. Chris Bay and Dan Zimmerman definitely put a lot of work and likely most of their spare time into this, at times getting as gratuitously fast and melodic as Dragonforce, but also giving us more than just one token ballad as a contrast to keep the entire listen from being one-dimensional.

Although the next two albums would also be concept oriented, this one listens the most like a concept album, putting forward a good amount of thematic similarities between several songs to give the entire listen a sense of unity. There is a recurring pipe organ that marks a couple of significant points in the album, the most memorable of which is an extremely epic sounding prelude that is built right into the opening song “Over the Rainbow”. For a song that is under 6 minutes, they definitely managed to cram a lot of good ideas in, and end up with a solid epic speed metal anthem with one of the most catchy choruses ever conceived. If you feel funny singing along with a song titled “Over the Rainbow”, just remember that in Viking mythology the rainbow held an import role in the lore of some very scary guys, not to mention that one of the forefathers of metal Ronnie Dio sings about them often.

A good amount of the album sees a recurring method of putting together epic speed metal that makes good use of interludes to give Dan Zimmerman a break from thundering away at the double bass. “Shine On”, “Tears Falling” and “Holy Knight” all characterize this approach that would be standardized on the next two albums, each approaching it a little bit differently between the fast and slow sections. “Holy Knight” is the most riff-oriented of the three, while “Shine On” has an effective half ballad approach trading between a slow piano driven intro, a couple of descending swing-like lead breaks, and a solid chunk of speed metal majesty. Meanwhile, “We Are One” doesn’t bother with slow sections at all and just cooks through the whole thing, trading between a verse and chorus that are only separated by a chant and lead vocal response during the chorus highly reminiscent of Helloween’s classic “I want out”.

It’s difficult to pick a highlight out of so many equally powerful and catchy songs, but a couple are so melodically compelling and ambitious that they can’t help but tower over the rest. “Tears of Taragon” doesn’t bother with any double bass pedal madness or any contrapuntal harmonic guitar work and just rocks out at a slower tempo in a cheesy melodic fashion befitting of Saxon during their heyday. The closing epic “Another Day” takes the same epic speed metal approach as “Over the Rainbow”, but elects for an extremely catchy yet simplistic bell theme and a simple 4 chord piano progression that has been reused by the band on every subsequent album since this one. You combine all of this with a nice chunky bottom ended verse riff and some large as hell sounding backup chorus work and you have an instant recipe for success.

Although I’ve been a pretty consistent fan of this band’s work, this album is the best and most varied presentation of their sound. There aren’t any real weak links on here other than maybe a slight bit too prominence of the vocals over the music during a couple of the choruses, which is often an unavoidable pitfall if you play in a genre that calls for 4 musicians to attempt to sound like a full orchestra. If you are not allergic to cheesy, and if you like epic power metal, this album is one of the best and most unique representations of its potential when married with the Queen/Styx ideal of catchy and big sounding choruses to sing along with at either the club or the arena.