Amplified: A Decade of Reinventing the Cello [Import]

Apocalyptica | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 22, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: FONTANA UNIVERSAL
• ASIN: B000FIHFDC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,315 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Two disc 2006 collection featuring the best moments from this classically based Finnish quartet's first decade, including a handful of tracks from their internationally successful Plays Metallica For Four Cellos. 23 tracks. Universal.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of a kind., September 11, 2006

By 

J. Allis (State College, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Amplified: A Decade of Reinventing the Cello (Audio CD)

Apocalyptica is three guys (used to be four) who play metal on cello. Best known for covering famous songs by renowned artists (they first startled the music scene in 1996 with "Plays Metallica by Four Cellos"), they also write some magnificent pieces of their own, frequently featuring the collaboration of other bands such as HIM. Talented musicians, they're all classically trained, but they put that skill to use in a unique way.

Their music is beautiful. On a piece like Metallica's "One," the strings dance through the intro in almost baroque fashion, only to plunge into a startling imitation of a guitar's grind, and then cut loose into the meat of the piece with a snarl you've probably never heard from a cello before. Maximizing the cello's rich tonal range from a deep bass growl to a soprano that soars into the upper atmosphere, the instruments lend power ballads a heart-rendingly beautiful sound, while they crash through the hard stuff with a vicious exuberance that'd make any metal band proud.

If you enjoy metal, if you admire the lyricism of a well-played string instrument, if you like discovering novel sounds, or if you're simply tired of hearing rehashes of the same old stuff over and over again, you owe it to yourself to check out Apocalyptica. This collection is an excellent place to start, with some of the highlights from all their albums up to this point. Dark, ferocious, beautiful, and ageless, every person I've played this album for has turned to me with a look of joyful surprise and asked where they could find a copy.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thorough blend of melody, harmony and dissonance, July 31, 2008

By 

Statarius (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amplified: A Decade of Reinventing the Cello (Audio CD)

Though I buy Apocalyptica for only about half of their songs, the one's I DO like are among my favorites of all time, and I very much appreciate the band's overall originality.
On this 'Best of' album there should be something for every Apoc. fan.

If you enjoy Apocalyptica's original sound, there's:
-Enter Sandman
-Master of Puppets

If you go for their more symphonic sound (as I do), there's:
-Harmageddon
-Nothing Else Matters
-Somewhere Around Nothing
-Farewell
-One
-Heat
-Cohka
-Kaamos
-Deathzone

And if you keep them around for the really hard stuff, there's:
-Harmageddon
-Refuse/Resist
-Betrayal
-Hall of the Mountain King
-Angel of Death

On top of the well-rounded and awesome main attraction there is the second disk with eight tracks (none are repeats from disk 1) that include vocals by various artists (sadly I'm not familiar with any of them, but since they're collaborating with Apoc I'm sure they're top-notch). These stray quite a bit from the band's roots but are nonetheless a blast.
Hope Vol.2 is by far my favorite.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars After too long a wait..., July 12, 2009

By 

Sean Myers (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amplified: A Decade of Reinventing the Cello (Audio CD)

...I finally purchased this album, and have enjoyed it both as ambient soundtrack at home and "driving music" on the road.