The Metal Opera Pt. II

Hot on the heels of the success of Avantasia’s 2001 debut record, Tobias Sammet released the second installment of his metal opera already one year later, relying on same cast of musicians and vocalists who had lent him their talents for Part 1. The overall approach has not changed much either relative to the first part: The Metal Opera Part 2 has the same ambition to unite the spirit of rock operas and Broadway musicals with that of heavy metal.

Sammet seems to have a clear idea of how to achieve this. His basic formula contains three key ingredients: 1) liberal inspiration from the heavy metal subgenres he admires the most (NWOBHM, classic heavy metal, European power metal), 2) a touch of theatrical flair by virtue of tasteful piano and keyboards arrangements, and 3) most importantly, a large cast of singers to interpret the songs, with each singer assigned to a different character as in a musical. The approach feels slightly primitive and visceral, and it lacks the sophistication and breadth of an Arjen Lucassen’s rock/metal opera, but it does work and it has certainly delivered a bunch of great songs across this and the previous record.

Sammet’s metal opera sounds most convincing when one can most clearly perceive a difference in songwriting between the songs written for Avantasia and those Sammet writes for his regular band, German speed/power metal veterans Edguy. On Part 1, this happened only sporadically, whereas here Sammet seems to have made a more conscious effort to avoid relying too much on standard speed/power metal aesthetics. This is what makes The Metal Opera Part 2 a more successful and satisfying album compared to its predecessor, in my opinion. The songwriting is more varied, spanning a wider array of styles in metal and rock, with nods to the great bands of the past (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Rainbow, Dio) as well as the contemporaneous German speed/power metal scene. This variety injects a sense of development and purpose to the album, which flows like a story should.

Two mellow, vaguely AOR songs like “The Looking Glass” and “In Quest For”, majestically interpreted by Bob Catley, may feel out of place on a metal album, but they are perfect in the context of a metal/rock opera, as they provide a suitable change of pace, mood and delivery compared to the faster and heavier material found in the rest of the album, thus adding another dimension to the music. The contrast with the following track “The Final Sacrifice”, which is one of the heaviest pieces here, fuelled by David DeFeis’s mighty roar, is wonderful and it is exactly what one needs to develop an overarching, dynamic narrative that can transcend individual songs and be more than the sum of its parts. The album’s opener “The Seven Angels” is another example of the considerable progress Sammet made in his songwriting in the span of a few months. Even though one could describe it as essentially two songs stitched together by a semi-ambient mid-section, the flow feels natural and works well, with good dynamics that allow the listener to engage with the music for the whole 14 minutes of the song’s duration.

Unfortunately, after an explosive and near-perfect first-half, the album inexplicably peters out in the second half, with a sequence of songs that are much more homogeneous in style and feel less inspired overall. Here the speed/power metal aesthetics seem to prevail, which may be a hint of auto-pilot songwriting on the part of Sammet. The fact these songs rely on a cast of singers who sound quite similar to one another (Rob Rock, Kai Hansen, Sammet himself) is another reason why I feel slightly underwhelmed every time I pass track #5 and go through the album’s final five songs. It is only with the closing song “Into the Unknown” that things get interesting again, mostly thanks to the beautiful vocal contribution by Sharon den Adel, who as in Part 1 feels again criminally underutilized by Sammet.

Overall, if Sammet’s ultimate goal was to forge a new genre of music (“the metal opera”), it’s fair to say that Avantasia only partially succeeded in doing so in their first two records. The speed/power metal dimension ultimately dominates proceedings here as in 2001’s Part 1 and the “opera” elements mostly come in the form of multiple singers interpreting the songs. However, The Metal Opera Part 2 comes a step closer to hitting the mark compared to Part 1, by virtue of a first-half which gives us glimpses of how one can accomplish a natural and successful hybridization between the worlds of metal and Broadway. I suspect this is ultimately why this album receives consistently less praise than its precursor in metal circles, as it is a step removed from metal orthodoxy but a step closer to realizing Sammet’s true vision for Avantasia.

After the great first part of this power metal musical with many memorable songs Avantasia seems to have decided to put the cut off filler material on a second disc to satisfy the high demand and good selling rates. Musically, this album is not only mostly pointless but also disappointing. There are two or maybe three really good songs and a truly beautiful cover artwork but that's about everything.

A part of the epic opener "The seven angels" that is somewhat a résumé of the first part where all the important personalities appear again and remind of the unique brilliance and diversity of the first strike, this album only presents the usual amount of average up speed power metal tracks like "No return", rather ordinary hard rock songs like "The looking glass" and poor kitsch ballads such as "In quest for". The only time a part of the opener when the albums gets a little kick of genius is with the heaviest track in the project's history, the straight "The final sacrifice", easily the best and most outstanding track on the record but we have already had this song on the "Avantasia" single almost two years ago. The fact that this song is suddenly included on this disc has probably three major reasons: First of all, Tobias Sammet realized the strong potential of this killer song, second, he had no more creative ideas to include on this follow up and third, there is not such a thing as a perfectly sought concrete story line as on the first and rather linear record. The last good track on this record might be the enjoyable "Neverland" but it has not the class of the two outstanding tracks on this record.

The album is only based on fast power metal tracks, boring ballads and average hard rock tracks but even if it is that simple, the songs aren't catchy at all and are somewhat difficult to approach. If there weren't "The seven angels" and "The final sacrifice", this album would have been the project's weakest effort and I would not even have given the rating of a traditional school passage result. It was a wise step to take a break from that project after the big efforts, high amount of creativity and the loads of passion that has especially been put into the first strike. Tobias Sammet recorded a really strong album with record afterwards and the project went back with a new and fresh story and interesting songs almost six years later by inventing something completely new that got finally away from the power metal roots and fantasy topics of the first two records. This album in here is only interesting because it is slightly related to the amazing first effort and if there wasn't that connection, I would not suggest to but this album but as the characters of the first strike come back and the story somewhat continues you don't really have the choice to finish the epic journey that began very well.

This is part 2 of the Metal Opera, though it doesn’t play like the first part. This plays like a standard power metal album. Part 1 seemed to tell a story, while this falls apart toward the middle. The first song and the last couple of songs fit into the story while retaining the more operatic sound of the first part, but everything in between could have been on any normal Edguy record. Also, to my ears at least, the production on this one sounds duller, whereas the first part had sharp, crisp sound that gave the guitars an electric edge, reminding me of Theater of Salvation’s sound. The choruses on this one, except the first song and the last couple, are much less intricate and dramatic than those on part 1.

Another point of contention with Sammet are his piano ballads. On the early Edguy albums there was always one boring song with just a piano and Sammet singing. Inside, on part 1, was like that, almost exactly the same as what he did in Edguy. I always skip these unnecessary songs because I can’t even sit through 60 seconds of it. On part 2 of the Metal Opera there is another one, though this one is different. In Quest For features a nice vocal interplay, leaving Sammet’s lifeless ballad singing out of it for the most part. It’s much better than any other such song he’s written, but still kind of boring. I even skip this one. Anywhere is far superior starting in a similar fashion but building to something interesting with the full band supporting the song, adding drama and keeping the listener awake for once.

I can’t help but compare this to the first one because it’s supposed to be a continuation of that one in many ways, and in most of those ways it seems to fall behind the expectations built by its predecessor. The story is not as easy to follow here, the sound is different, and the symphonic interludes are gone. Though these things make for a more album-like listening experience, the title says it’s the Metal Opera part 2. Part 1 was much closer to being a real metal opera than this one. Part 2 seems drab in comparison to part 1, in spite of the four or five great songs that save it. Indeed, The Seven Angles and Into the Unknown account for most of the eighty percent rating this album received from me.

If you heard the first Avantasia album, you know what to expect here. This is 100% power metal right down to the core; high pitched, melodic vocals, fast-paced and speedy riffs and melodies, double bass drums, and all drenched with a healthy layer of synths (buy some now and get one free!). How much can I actually write about the music here? It's a tried and true formula by a bunch of musicians who have been doing it for a long time, and this is no less than what anyone expected. It's not a newborn classic as behind the scenes mastermind and lead vocalist Tobias Sammet touts it as, nor is it anything close to horrible or disappointing. It's just another solid Avantasia outing.

Sammet made the mistake of putting the 14 minute behemoth "The Seven Angels" right at the front of the album here, and it's without a doubt the best song on the album and one of the best he ever penned. It's pretty much the only song on both current Avantasia albums worthy of the title "metal opera," with every single vocalist putting in a few parts, and even blending together a couple times to form a majestic, heavenly choir that revokes (once again) strong, strong images of Edguy's Theater of Salvation album, feeling as if it would not be out of place in a gigantic cathedral. Somber, driving melodies and even some slightly heavier riffs meet to form a kingly epic, and if Sammet could write a whole album of stuff on this level of quality instead of talking trash and bragging, we really would have the classic he promised. The other songs here are not near the quality of "The Seven Angels," but there are gems to be uncovered - the speedy, Helloweenesque "No Return," the pounding, riffy "Memory," the catchy "Chalice of Agony," and especially the monstrous, powerful smash of "The Final Sacrifice."

Aside from having a few too many ballads (and one really shitty one; the tepid "In Quest For"), this is still a grandiose tour de force in power metal, and I can only fault it for bringing nothing new to the table in comparison to Avantasia's first effort. If this is your thing, then don't bother reading this review a second time; just go get it.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com

Thanks to a couple of outstanding tracks, Avantasia pt. I had managed to be a bit more than an average power metal album from one of the most pretentious morons on this Earth, Mr Tobias Sammet. But the man wasn’t still content with it: unfortunately, he recorded a second part. This paragraph is for those who missed the first half of this captivating story.

Describing this second part is very simple. The first part showed 13 tracks, amongst them 4 useless interludes, 3 crappy tracks, 3 honest, but not outstanding tracks and 3 excellent ones. This one shows 10 tracks, no useless interlude (not that the interludes have become “useful”, but there simply are no more of them), 7 crappy tracks, 2 honest ones and an excellent one. And, worst of all, the excellent track is the first.

Never, NEVER put the longest track at the beginning of an album, especially if it’s the best one. This generally ruins the rest of the work, making it look pale in comparison (this could be called the X Factor Syndrome, you must guess what I mean). They might be exceptions, like Draconian’s Where Lovers Mourn, but for a good reason: Where Lovers Mourn is excellent from the beginning to the end. Of course this is far from being the case of Avantasia II. The “opera” concept was already questionable in the first part, Mr Sammet assuming 50% of the vocal duties, here, it tends to become a complete joke. Not only the man sings even more than on the first part, but every kind of dialogue between the different singers has almost disappeared. Generally only one single singer (plus Mr Sammet of course) appears in each song. For instance Neverland will be Rob Rock’s song, The Final Sacrifice is David Defeis’s song, Memory Ralf Zdiarstek’s song and so on. Oh, and I forgot the best: Anywhere is sung by Mr Tobias Sammet ONLY. It’s so grotesque it had to be mentioned!

Not only the whole opera concept now totally fails, but the music is generic at best. This doesn’t apply to the opener The Seven Angels, as said before an excellent track of melodic/symphonic power metal. Almost every singer is present, from high-pitched vocals master André Matos to the “pope” Oliver Hartmann (the character he plays couldn’t have been more fitting, as this man really IS the pope of power metal singers), without forgetting the characteristic, almost voiceless Kai Hansen, and of course Michael Kiske. The structure is complex, with its succession of different parts, tempo and vocalists changes and orchestral accompaniment, but avoids being totally messy. The slow, majestic end and its handful of choirs especially has to be underlined.

In comparison all the other tracks are desperately simple, and utterly easy. It’s evident: Mr Sammet spent on those tracks hardly 1/10 of the time he spent on the first Avantasia outfit. No Return and Chalice of Agony are high-paced power metal songs, nice and lively if you want but predictable as fuck, standard verse/chorus with keyboards in the background and the whole accompaniment of clichés. Worse, Mr Sammet didn’t even bother to write new songs: he simply shamelessly took some he had previously written. I’m talking about the fifth and sixth tracks especially. Avantasia is contemporary of Edguy’s album Mandrake, and there’s little to say against Mandrake: it’s a good power metal album from a good power metal band, as Edguy still was a good band at that time. Now just listen to both albums carefully: The Final Sacrifice is the perfect twin sister of Nailed to the Wheel, which is one of the weakest Mandrake songs to begin with, while Neverland is a mixture of Tears of a Mandrake, Golden Dawn and Fallen Angels. Remaining song are either the usual unlistenable piano-driven ballads (In Quest For, Anywhere), a cheesy orchestral conclusion featuring Sharon den Adel (but the song would have been terrible even without her to be honest) and two others tracks which aren’t very imaginative to begin with, but are indeed totally ruined by the singers (The Looking Glass, Memory).

So, the singers. Their part is reduced as mentioned before, but Mr Tobias Sammet could have at least selected the best of them to do the remaining job. Where is André Matos? Where is Oliver Hartmann? Even Michael Kiske, who played a large part in the previous opus, is now limited to the first two track. Instead of those what do we got? Rob Rock and his slightly eerie voice does a good job on Neverland, but the music doesn’t follow, and coming to Bob Catley and Ralf Zdiarstek, they’re simply abysmal. Ralf Zdiarstek doesn’t even sing, and Bob Catley, here is the problem, sings. With the most annoying off-key pop-ish tremolos you could ever imagine. I seriously wonder where Mr Sammet found those two singers, but what was sure is he didn’t run the risk to be eclipsed by them.

Maybe if someone should tell this pretentious buffoon to shut up and eventually write decent songs instead of shamelessly stealing money from listeners who felt elated by Avantasia I, by offering them this complete joke of an album as a follower. Or maybe everyone should stop buying anything from him. But I’m not even sure he would notice it.

Highlights: The Seven Angels

This is the second part of the highly praised ‘Avantasia – The Metal Opera Part I’. A project put together by the vocalist of Edguy, Tobbias Sammett. The musicians involved are the same ones as in part I; H.Richter (guitars),M.Grosskopf (bass) and A.Holzwarth (drums). The huge list of guest vocalists is also the same with the addition of two new faces: Michael Kiske, David Defeis, Andre Matos, Rob Rock, Oliver Hartmann, Bob Catley, Kai Hansen, Sharon den Adel and Ralf Zdiarstek! Pretty impressive!

Eventhough I didn't think that the first part was a masterpiece; it was nevertheless a great modern power metal album. It was bombastic, epic and contained outstanding songs like 'Reach Out For The Light', 'Sign Of The Cross', 'Farewell' and the epic 'The Tower'.

Well this sequel really disappointed me. The songs have less power than the ones on the first record, the guest vocalists get even smaller parts and the songwriting is worse and predictable. In addition, there is no continuity between the songs and the whole thing just falls apart.

The album features only two true highlights; "The Final Sacrifice" and "The Seven Angels"!

"The Final Sacrifice" is a fast paced, aggressive, type of power metal brilliance. Double bass drumming, thrashy guitar riffs, a strong chorus and great vocal performances by Tobias Sammett and David Defeis. Half way to the song the tempo slows down, for a memorable solo and then kicks into high gear again for the last chorus.

"The Seven Angels" counts the contribution of 7 guest vocalists and is one of the few tracks that manages to deliver the metal opera feeling. The song's length exceeds the 14 minute mark and the whole thing is overall excellent! Nice riffs, powerful drumming, good guitar solos, efficient tempo changes, strong choir like backing vocals and fine use of lead vocals by Sammett, Defeis and Michael Kiske! It begins slowly with a choir, changes to mid tempo and switches to faster speed for a passage with heavy riffs and a nice guitar solo. After the 5 minute mark, the song slows down for a quiet keyboard melody, switches to a fast guitar solo and then continues in a mid-tempo Queen-like fashion, with several vocal transitions, until the end. "The Seven Angels" is a great power metal epic and one of the best songs on both Metal Opera albums.

Other tracks that can be considered average and not horrible are "Chalice Of Agony" and "Neverland". The first is a fast paced power metal song with Sammet, Kai Hansen and Andre Matos on vocals. The song's main rhythm is catchy and there is also the inclusion of a nice guitar solo. The second is a melodic mid tempo kind of tune, with Rob Rock on vocals. The song tries to reach the catchiness of the track Avantasia, from the first album, but unfortunately fails to achieve its goal.

Besides the aforementioned songs, what can I say...just disappointing. Don't waste your money on this, get "The Metal Opera part I" instead. If you really enjoy part I then get part II just for its two highlights. (Although some Edguy or hardcore Avantasia fans may have no problem in enjoying the whole album...)



(Originally written for http://www.amazon.com website)

As with most movements, musical trends have an eventual termination date, and by the time the mid-2000s were looming near that millennial power metal revival that took much of Europe by storm was beginning to falter. To be fair, certain stylistic developments served to complement the latter period of Euro-power's renaissance, as the orthodox adherence to Helloween's melodically-infused speed metal and Malmsteen's classicism was beginning to invite some heavier elements that resulted in stellar offerings as the early 2000s roared onward. It was into this context that Tobias Sammet's symphonic/ensemble side-project Avantasia, and more specifically the second installment of its pilot album series The Metal Opera, would ultimately fall. The project itself could be seen as the logical conclusion of territory that Sammet's then primary band Edguy explored on their 1999 album Theater Of Salvation, which marked a slight pivot away from the pure Helloween-influenced orthodoxy (with maybe a dash of Savatage on the side) that typified their prior works for a more ambitious and symphonic-tinged sound, and the resulting conceptual storyline explored the same themes of religion and philosophy as was covered in the aforementioned Edguy album's title track, though this time within a high fantasy meets historical fiction narrative about the closing days of the medieval period and the Roman Church's dominance over Germany.

That being said, what separates Avantasia from simply being a glorified offshoot of Edguy with a symphonic gloss is the employment of an ensemble cast of guest vocalist and, to a lesser extent, musicians to synthesize a full on opera-like experience. The list of contributors to both installments of The Metal Opera read like a veritable who is who in power metal circles of both the early days and the then ongoing 2nd wave, including a number of pivotal USPM figures such as Virgin Steele's David DeFeis and Impellitteri front man Rob Rock. However, the nucleus of Tobias' team revolves heavily around figures with either a direct or otherwise close association with Helloween, with said band's bassist Markus Grosskopf and Gamma Ray's Henjo Richter being the principle instrumentalists driving the album, while both Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen contribute heavily to the vocal tapestries painted upon their handiwork. Throw in a prominent role for former Angra front man Andre Matos, At Vance singer Oliver Harmann, Within Temptation's Sharon Den Adel and also a few lesser known names in the metal world such as Bot Catley and frequent Edguy backup singer Ralf Ziardstek and the circle is basically complete. Of course, Sammet himself is the brains behind the operation and also provides the lion's share of the vocal work, so comparisons to the resulting sound that that of Edguy are naturally inescapable, though more often than not they were overstated by much of the media during the early 2000s when these albums first graced the metal market.

With regard to the specific case of the sequel to the first episode of this two part story, one can't help but take into account the innovations that had occurred in Edguy a year prior with the creation of Mandrake, arguably the most aggressive and intense offering to ever come out of said band's arsenal. In contrast to the majestic character of Theater Of Salvation, said album marked the beginning of a more forbidding and occasionally power thrashing sound out of Sammet's songwriting and vocal performance, and The Metal Opera Pt. II incorporates this, albeit to a lesser extent. Occasional episodes of a more dissonant sound grace a few of the songs found on here, though most of it occurs in the raging speeder "The Final Sacrifice", which features both Sammet and DeFeis offering up a raw and vicious vocal display while the riff work and dark tone of the music in general reminds a fair bit of Iced Earth. But as a whole, this album differs from the first part of the saga not so much by being its darker half, but by reversing the order of things and presenting the same basic idea as more of a mirror's reflection. Rather than a brief overture, the album kicks things off with a massive 14 minute epic colossus dubbed "Seven Angels" that sees Tobias and six of his vocal cast throwing everything at the audience except the kitchen sink, culminating it what is arguably Tobias' crowning compositional achievement, though it has several notably more blatant rock opera moments relative to the somber musical storytelling of "The Tower" off the previous album.

For what this album reaffirms in its predecessor and the recent past of Edguy, there are also some occasional moments where the changing priorities of Tobias' songwriting that would come to a head in a few years rear their heads. In addition to the isolated rock opera moments of the opening song, guest pianist Frank Tischer provides a pomp-infused performance right out of the Meatloaf mold on "In Quest For" and "Anywhere" that, while still beholden to the metallic luster of Henjo Richter in the case of the latter, are notably similar to the toned down, and sadly watered down sound that continues to haunt Avantasia's post-Metal Opera material to this very day. These songs are by no means flops, and stand above anything Sammet has put forth since in terms of ballads, but they stand out from anything he'd done prior and are a tad less inspired when compared to the Celtic-tinged majesty of "Farewell". On the other hand, when the metallic fervor is allowed to run rampant, what results is a series of brilliant bangers like the riff happy "No Return" and the epic, fist-pumping fanfare at full speed "Chalice Of Agony", which ends up blurring the lines between this band's core sound and a full on Gamma Ray emulation on account of Richter's phenomenal playing. Even on more mid-paced cruisers like "Neverland" and "Memory" that take their cues from the "I Want Out" template a bit more, or the down tempo melodic romp "The Looking Glass", the riff work is so masterfully on point that the stellar vocal performances of Tobias and company come off as just extra gravy on top of the entrée.

Perhaps one of the most common critiques levied at this album is that it comes off as understated when compared to Pt. I, and often the closing curtain call anthem "Into The Unknown" is cited as underscoring the album feeling a bit open-ended. The song itself is largely a slow-coasting denouement that has a bit more emphasis on symphonic textures than outright balladry or metallic fury, but the notion of it leaving things unresolved or it coming off as lazy is inaccurate. Whether by accident or as something of a sign of Sammet's fatigue with writing high-end epics, this song not only brings The Metal Opera's narrative to a conclusion, but arguably that of the high period of power metal's 2nd wave. It reveals a movement that was beginning to lose its initial drive for the familiar and contemplating the uncertain future, and it marks the end of both Avantasia as a band and, by indirect consequence, Edguy as a pivotal figure in the power metal revivalist movement. The movement itself never really went away, and some impressive swansongs would be contributed by some lesser known bands from 2003 until 2005, but it was fundamentally changed. What was concluded in 2002 when Avantasia disbanded was about as different from the pop/rock infused dreck that would follow the name being resurrected in 2006 as night is from day. This album and its predecessor were essentially the first of their kind, the fold of musicians that produced it were arguably the greatest power metal supergroup ever conceived, and its place in history for those whom follow and love the sub-genre is thusly assured.

Rewritten on October 22nd, 2020.

When I listened to the first album, I was instantly hooked and just HAD to get the second one. I was hoping that Avantasia would keep their original style and greatness, and they did.

This album, musically, is a lot like the first. It uses that same song structure which is fine(great even). The songs sound pretty much the same but that isn’t exactly a bad thing. A lot of the songs, if not all, are extremely catchy and easy to sing along to, so if that’s your thing, you’re in luck.

The Metal Opera Pt. II starts off with the epic of the album: The Seven Angels. Unlike the first album, this song is not an intro, in no way. This song is probably the best out of the whole album. Though it is 14 minutes long, it stays good the whole time, something that I find is hard to do with longer songs.

The album closes with an equally awesome, nice relaxing song “Into the Unknown”. This song also has my favourite line out of any album and song ever made: “Dreamers come and go, but a dream’s forever”. This song is a perfect way to close the album.

This album is the second part to the story and it helps you understand more about it. The story itself is magnificent and I personally feel it’s up there with the greats like Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime and Ayreon’s new album. If you don’t like albums that tell a story, by all means, listen to the songs in reverse and/or mixed up order or just don’t think of it like a story. I feel like the story adds that little bit something, but if you don’t like stories, just ignore it. Do whatever you need to, because this album must be heard.

If you thought the first part was good, get ready for a surprise. This album is beyond greatness. It’s awesome from beginning to end, and will not disappoint.

All I can say is that if you don’t have this album, you are missing out big time. Right after you read this, I suggest you go out and buy 500 copies of this album and give them to your friends, so that they can experience the marvel that is “Avantasia”.

Note: For those of you who want to see some of the lamest damn jokes in existence, follow this link: http://www.tobiassammet.com/weird_world.php You won't be disappointed.

Now, to the album. It's basically a carbon copy of Avantasia, Part I. It continues the story of what's-his-name going of to do whatever-he's-doing in wherever-it-is in order to save whoever-she-is and defeat whatever-he's-fighting and save the world. Edge-of-your-seat stuff, if I do say so myself. They seem to have slightly bumped up the guitar volume, almost as if by accident, earning them one (1) extra point. Otherwise, we basically have the same album.

The keyboards and bass continue to be louder than the guitars, which is eternally frustrating, and the drums are good, but it's annoying to hear nothing but. The vocals are good and the choruses and all that are solid stuff. Finally . . . wait for it . . . we have an actual NOTABLE SONG on here! Yes, it's true! The second song, No Return, is actually a very good Power Metal song, with distinguishable riffs and excellent vocals--it sounds like it fell right out of a Rhapsody album, but it's still very good. Also notable is Memory, which features some actual opening riffage and thus earns Avantasia some more Brownie Points.

The same problems apply, too. In addition, I would like to point out that the first song, The Seven Angels, may be an epic and all, but as it seems to last the same amount of time as the entire first album, I am offcially billing the song as Way Too Goddamn Long For Its Own Good. The Looking Glass also sounds rather dull and uninspired--a problem which could have been fixed by just PLAYING THE DAMN GUITARS LOUDER. I realize you have to hear the vocals, but do you have to make the guitars sound so fucking sissy?

Anyway, the same people who liked Part I will enjoy Part II. The same people who didn't won't enjoy this one either. And if you're just getting into cheesy Power Metal, I would recommend getting some Rhapsody or Blind Guardian first, as this isn't really representative of the genre. And for those of you who think these albums are the BEST ALBUMS EVAR!!!!1?!?u!?1u/U!1, be sure to follow the above link I provivded. You'll probably think the jokes are funny.