Edguy - Age Of The Joker

Published August 31 2011

*=Staff's pick	Robin Hood Nobody's Hero* Rock Of Cashel Pandora's Box Breathe Two Out Of Seven Faces In The Darkness The Arcane Guild Fire On The Downline Behind The Gates To Midnight World* Every Night Without You

Genre	Hard Rock/Power Metal	Tobias Sammet	Vocals
Tracks	11	Jens Ludwig	Guitar
Running time	65 Min.	Dirk Sauer	Guitar
Label	Nuclear Blast	Tobias Exxel	Bass
Release	26 August 2011	Felix Bohnke	Drums
Country	Germany	-	Keyboard
Producer	Sasha Paeth
Similar artists	Avantasia

Ever since the resurrection of Tobias Sammet's Avantasia, most of his focus seems to be on his solo project instead of his main band and therefore the songs seem primarily written for Avantasia and the leftovers are used to create Edguy songs. This is probably not true and just sheer coincidence, but one has to believe something when the last Avantasia albums are much better than the last three Edguy albums.

This release starts with a somewhat boring song, which for some odd reason is the first single. I just want to skip to next song, Nobody's Hero. An up-tempo track and the best song on the album. A song which makes me long for more of their older and faster stuff. The third song, Rock Of Cashel is Edguy's three latest albums in one song. If you never heard Edguy and have interest in their latest creations, just listen to this song and you will know exactly how this band sounds nowadays.

This start is followed by a row of songs that don't impress me at all. Two Out Of Seven sounds like pop music mixed with eightees radio disco and is just plain boring. The rest of the songs just go by unnoticed. A heavier riff starts and I realize I have suddenly reached song number ten, Behind The Gates To Midnight World. An epic nine minute track with a strong chorus and one of the two good songs on this release. This album ends with an Avantasia-ballad, making me think if my opening statement was more true than I first thought.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	3	5	5	3

Summary
3,5 chalices of 10 - Tobbe