Dreamtower [Import]

Ring of Fire | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 26, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Frontiers Records
• ASIN: B00008COPL
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,445 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. My Déjà Vu

2. Dreamtower

3. The Pharaoh's Curse

4. Refuge of the Free

5. Blue Sky

6. Laputa

7. Until the End of Time

8. System Utopia

9. Ghost of America

10. Invisible Man

11. Make Believe

12. Murder by Numbers

13. Undone [*]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Prog, Less Euro-Inspired Power Metal, February 13, 2004

By 

H. Freitag (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dreamtower (Audio CD)

This is the third album from the Ring of Fire band, featuring underrated vocal god, Mark Boals. Though very subjectively, I must say this is the second best Ring of Fire album(the first one is my favorite), though it's really hard to compare as they are so different.
"Dreamtower" differs in that it is a fairly diverse and progressive album. The first song - Deja Vu, sounds just like it could have been played on MTV during the '80's, during their glam/hard rock rotation. Don't worry, however, because it is a great song with great melodies - no major scales or cheesy cliches; just good, melodic hard rock. The title track - Dreamtower, really stands out as an interesting and experimental prog metal/rock song. Though the melodies are dark and the Harmonic Minor scale is utelized often, I hear many passages that have an unmistakably jazz-fusion vibe to them; and that is one of the great things about this album: their ability to experiment without losing the dark, metal sound. Guitarist Tony Macalpine's ability to mix diverse styles of fusion and classical is very refreshing and pleasing to the ear.
Another great addition to the styles on this album is the increasing use of odd-time signatures. This has made fans of prog - like myself, very pleased.
I should warn some power metal fans that if you prefer the style of the previous album "The Oracle," with its Euro Power metal style and regular employment of the fast, double-bass, uptempo drum beat in almost every song, then you might be a bit disapointed. This album does have some elements of the Euro power metal formula, but nowhere near as much or as frequently as the last album, which for me is a good thing. Overall, this album is probably not as "heavy" as the first two, but is great nonetheless.
The one weak point about this album is the lyrics to the song "Ghost of America." Basically, it's a revisionist-history of the Native American Indians, complete with noble savage allusions: "From two thousand years of peaceful life to only strife and pain." or how about this one: "Life in harmony with nature reigned, until the white men came." You get the idea. Seldom are heavy metal musicians convincing when they attempt a perfunctory foray into politically-inspired lyrics - especially of the whining, leftist PC-type; and Mark Boals, unfortunately, is no exception. A small and forgivable error.
I must say, this review wouldn't be complete without a comment on the incredible vocal talent of Mark. Upon hearing him sing the song "Leonardo," on Yngwie's "Alchemy" album, I knew he was one of the best vocalists in metal history. That he isn't a household name, I can only lement, for he is truly amazing. Boals displays some voices that he didn't use with Malmsteen - particuarly a very high falsetto, that resembles King Diamond. He also utilized this tone on the frst ROF album. It's great because it adds a different tecture to his voice.
a great album.