Clown in the Mirror

Royal Hunt | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 15, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rondel Records
• ASIN: B00000J60A
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,896 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Intro

2. Wasted Time

3. Ten To Life

4. On The Run

5. Clown In The Mirror

6. Third Stage

7. Bodyguard

8. Legion Of The Damned

9. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

10. Epilogue

Editorial Reviews

Japanese reissue of the prog-rock act's 1995 album,packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you liked Land of Broken Hearts then buy this album., October 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Clown in the Mirror (Audio CD)

The album sounded exactly like Land of Broken Hearts. Like all Royal Hunt albums it has some great classical compositions, but this album still lacks the sinister DC Cooper.

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Second Album, July 19, 2006

By 

Justin Gaines (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Clown in the Mirror (Audio CD)

While it's true that the early Royal Hunt albums pale in comparison to the DC Cooper-era releases, they are still good albums that are unfairly looked over.

Clown in the Mirror was the band's second album, and continues the keyboard-heavy, melodic metal sound established on Land of Broken Hearts. The songs on Clown in the Mirror are a bit uneven. There are some filler tracks on the album, but it also features some of the band's all-time classics, such as Wasted Time, On the Run, Legion of the Damned, Epilogue, and the title track, which is a personal favorite of mine.

Vocalist Henrik Brockmann does an admirable job, but it's hard to see him as anything more than a placeholder for DC Cooper, whose all too brief tenure with Royal Hunt would take the band to new heights of success. Fortunately we got to hear DC Cooper perform some of the album's better songs on the double-live set "1996".

Overall, Clown in the Mirror was another solid album from a band that would continue to improve, and is definitely worth checking out if you're a Royal Hunt fan.

The cover is a little creepy though.

NOTE: There are a number of different versions of Clown in the Mirror. The best is the 1999 SPV reissue, which adds two bonus tracks (Bad Luck and an acoustic versions Kingdom Dark) for a total of 12 tracks.

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem hidden in time..., October 25, 2005

By 

John. N (Big Run, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clown in the Mirror (Audio CD)

When most people talk about or bring up Royal Hunt in a conversation, their 1997 album Paradox and vocalist D.C. Cooper are ultimately going to be uttered within the same sentence. It shouldn't come of much of a surprise that Paradox was my first encounter with Royal Hunt, but the real surprise, at least for me, is the band was already churning out excellent tunes prior to 1997 and the addition of D.C. Cooper.

After listening and absolutely falling in love with Paradox (OK, love might be a little to strong of an adjective) I did what I do with any newly discovered band that I like, explore the rest of the band's material/works. I'm glad I did, cause I found a masterpiece hidden in the depths of time.

Clown in the Mirror doesn't have the advantage of being the band's crowning achivement (a title held by Paradox) or containing the excellent vocals of D.C. Cooper, but none of that really matters. While vocalist Henrik Brockmann is no D.C. Cooper or John West, he does an awesome job of bringing the material on Clown to life for the listener, as does the rest of the band. Songs such as the opener "Wasted Time" just ooze so much class it's unbelievible. Follow this up with the emotional power-ballad "Clown in the Mirror", the savage guitar riffs found in "Legion of the Damned", and the one of the best album closing songs ever in the form of "Epilogue," you just know this album was ahead of it's time.

The other thing that impressess me about Clown in the Mirror is the clarity of the backing vocals, considering the album's age and production, which is just good enough to get the job done well.

While I would suggest anyone interested in purchasing Clown in the Mirror to listen to it before purchasing it (due to the hefty price tag), I'd honestly recommend this album to fans of pre-Kotipelto Stratovarius, especially if they like the Strat album Dreamspace (my personal fav). As for me, I've already cashed my ticket for this wonderful album lost in the flow of time.