Rhapsody of Fire: Legendary Years

What is the deal with Rhapsody (of Fire)? Seriously, what's the score? One would have to go a long way to find a band as dysfunctional as this one. There was the weird name change just over a decade ago, protracted legal battles with Magic Circle Music (and nobody wants to fight Manowar,)Luca Turilli left and suddenly there were two versions of the band (Rhapsody of Fire and Luca Turilli's Rhapsody.) Late in 2016 vocalist Fabio Lione departed Rhapsody of Fire and will now join Turilli, Alex Holzwarth, Patrice Guers and Dominique Leurquin on a Rhapsody "20th Anniversary Farewell Tour", whilst original member and keyboard player Alex Staropoli is the last man standing in Rhapsody of Fire.

Supposedly Staropoli was already thinking of revisiting some of Rhapsody's classic material given the advances of technology over time but I would suggest that he is now looking to add some authenticity to what is now, arguably a tribute band to himself! New vocalist Giacomo Voli and drummer Manu Lotter join Staropoli, bassist Alessandro Sala and guitarist Roby De Micheli and have had a right good go at the band's canon and arguably best loved period (1997 – 2002.) it would be quite difficult to make a bad job of classics such as "Land Of Immortals", "Holy Thunderforce" and of course, "Emerald Sword" on which I always though Fabio Lione sang, "emerald sow" as in erm…a female pig. Giacomo Voli's English diction is a little more on the money and the Italian accent a tad less prominent and the production adds a real oomph. Personally I am more than a little disappointed that they didn't have a go at "Village of Dwarves" but we don't always get what we want.

I suspect that there may bit a bit of tribalism involved as to whether fans will accept this particular version of the band but it seems that they should be able to replicate the classics, new material will be the acid test.

See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!

Track Listing:
01. Dawn Of Victory
02. Knightrider Of Doom
03. Flames Of Revenge
04. Beyond The Gates Of Infinity
05. Land Of Immortals
06. Emerald Sword
07. Legendary Tales
08. Dargor, Shadowlord Of The Black Mountain
09. When Demons Awake
10. Winds Of Destiny
11. Riding The Winds Of Eternity
12. The Dark Tower Of Abyss
13. Holy Thunderforce
14. Rain Of A Thousand Flames

Added: June 6th 2017
Reviewer: Simon Bray
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1955
Language: english

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