Customer Reviews

Fireworks

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I hear a lot of bad reviews of this album. I think that if one looks at this as a guitar-oriented album, it looks a lot better. Kiko Loureiro is phenomenal on this album, demonstrating that he is much more than a guy who can play fast. Wings of Reality, Lisbon, Metal Icarus, Fireworks, and Speed are all prime examples of why Loureiro is one of the best guitar players alive today. Another noteworthy improvement is the production quality. This is how the band deserves to be heard!

The vocal melodies are weaker than the previous two albums. Also, the cultural themes are diminished (though still present in particular in the song "Lisbon"). These complaints bring the album down a little, but if you at all have the capacity to appreciate beautiful, well-composed guitar playing, you have every reason to get this album.

Many people criticize this album in not been better than their previous ones, but it all depends in the type of fan you are. I think musically this is the best Angra album of all (including the new album Rebirth). Angels Cry and Fireworks are almost in a tie, but at the end, I think this album is the winner. They have written before better lyrics than the ones of this album, but the music is so awesome that it totally makes the album worth of greatness. I think the "musicians" Angra really step of a notch with this album. After hearing Rebirth (which is still a good album) I found out to myself that they went to their old style again, and their probably wouldn't be another "Fireworks" type of album again. If you are a Power metal fan, (not a typically Angra fan), then this is an album you just have to buy.

Angra's 1998 album Fireworks, the band's third and final album with the original lineup, doesn't have a great reputation. It's not as instantly memorable as their debut Angels Cry, or as progressive as Holy Land, so I think most people wrote it off without giving it a fair chance. This is unfortunate, because Fireworks is an album with the potential to really grow on you.

Part of the problem is that Fireworks had to follow what was easily Angra's finest album at that point - 1996's Holy Land. Fireworks is a fairly straightforward melodic power metal album with a few progressive touches. If it had come directly after Angels Cry, it probably would have gotten a better reception. Holy Land was such a mature and progressive album that it set the bar a bit too high for the band to go back to their traditional power metal sound.

When judged on its own merits, I think Fireworks holds up pretty well. The band builds on the melodic power metal foundations of Angels Cry and adds some of the maturity of Holy Land. Their songwriting skills continued to improve, as did their musical performances. The guitar work in particular is extremely impressive. And love him or hate him, high-octave master Andre Matos gives a very memorable vocal performance. It would have been nice to hear more of the Brazilian musical elements that helped make Holy Land so memorable, but that is a minor complaint. The best part is that the album really grows on you. I honestly like Fireworks more every time I hear it. It may never touch Holy Land, but I think it's arguably a better album than Angels Cry.

Of course we all know now that there was a rift in the Angra camp not long after this album's release, causing a split that would give us two great bands - Angra and Shaman. Despite taking different approaches, the next album from each band (Ritual from Shaman and the appropriately titled Rebirth from Angra) contained many of the musical elements present on Fireworks.

Fireworks may never be anyone's favorite Angra album, but it's a better album than you might think. If you're an Angra fan and haven't heard it, I encourage you to check it out. If you're a long time fan who dismissed Fireworks early, I suggest dusting off your copy and giving it another spin. You might just be surprised how much you like it.

The third full-length studio album from Brazil's metal powerhouse Angra is the best of all the albums featuring the old-lineup. Singer Andre Matos proves, once again, that he is one of the best singers in power metal with a delightful vocal performance throughout the album.

Fireworks is much more metal-sounding than the previously released Holy Land, which featured Brazilian folk elements. Fireworks is a very balanced album, with a nice selection of powerful and speedy tracks, the mandatory ballads, and a very nice "experiment".

Let me give you a small review of all the tracks found on the album:

1. Wings of Reality (4.0/5.0) - The album kicks in with Wings of Reality, a track that features that classic, warm Angra sound that we all love. The song itself is pretty good, with a nice chorus, and a long solo which is excellent, borrowing some elements from classical music. My only complaint with this song is that the chorus could've used a little extra work.

2. Petrified Eyes (4.5./5.0) - This is a very interesting (if not weird) track, and one of my favorites in the album. The song starts with some nice, rock'n'roll style guitarwork, and then explodes into full metal. Matos' vocal performance is top-notch here, specially in the chorus. Speaking about the chorus, it's a little bit hard to get into it, but once you do it, you will appreciate the beauty of this song.

3. Lisbon (5.0/5.0) - Following the powerful Petrified Eyes comes Lisbon, which is a beautiful powerballad. A short keyboard introduction leads the way to some heavy guitars, which kick-off the song. Once again, Matos' performance is delightful. The chorus is highly repetitive, as it's usually the style with power-ballads.

4. Metal Icarus (5.0/5.0) - A distorted guitar slowly fades in and ultimately explodes into Metal Icarus, which is a very powerful shred fest. The band's performance is amazing here: the drumming, the guiatwork, the vocals... everything is top-notch. One thing I love about this song is that the distorted guitar that fades in at the start of the song keeps going on throughout the song. Without a doubt, the best song on the album.

5. Paradise (3.5/5.0) - After the excellent Metal Icarus comes Paradise, which is a slow yet powerful piece. The song itself is not bad, featuring some amazing guitarwork. This song reminds me a lot of Helloween's Mr. Ego in that both are long, slow songs with boring choruses. Anyway, if you liked Mr. Ego, you may like this song.

6. Mystery Machine (4.5/5.0) - Another classical Angra song. It's very powerful and has a very nice melody. My only complaint is that for some reason, Matos' voice seems to be a bit low in the mix. This is undoubtely due to production issues and is not the band's fault, but it can be annoying some times.

7. Fireworks (4.5/5.0) - The title track is a beautiful power ballad with a contagious melody. It took me a little while to get into this song, but now I like it a lot. The breakdown after the chorus is very good, with some amazing guitarwork.

8. Extreme Dream (5.0/5.0) - Another favorite of mine. Extreme Dream is a very bombastic song, featuring an excellent performance by Matos', as usual. Just like Fireworks, it took me some time to get into this song. Believe me, it grows on you.

9. Gentle Change (5.0/5.0) - This track is the "experiment" I was talking about, and maybe the only track in Fireworks that could've fit into Holy Land. Gentle Change opens with some folk-like drums that have a very disctinctive Latinamerican feeling to them. The track at first seems out of place in the album, but once you get to the chorus, it explodes into full-metal. The breakdown after the chorus takes the track back to its folk start, and then comes a beautiful change to classical music, and then follows the mandatory guitar solo. A very good track.

10. Speed (5.0/5.0) - Another metal-fest. What more can I say? Once again, very powerful and bombastic. The track surely is "speedy", but not as speedy as the name would suggest.

11. Rainy Nights (4.5/5.0) - The bonus track, Rainy Nights, is a beautiful power ballad. For some reason this song makes me feel cool and refreshed. Matos' performance here is very good, progressively rising his voice as the song goes on until a very orgasmic climax a little bit past halfway the song. The only thing that keeps this song from a perfect score is the fact that after this drool-worthy climax, the song becomes a little-bit dull. Otherwise, a perfect finale for the album.

Summing it up, Fireworks is a damn-good album. The best from Angra's old-lineup, and IMO much better than the Rebirth album. Even though new vocalist Edu Falaschi is good, he just cannot hold his own against Matos. If you like Matos' voice as much as I, you should definitively check out Shaman, which is Mato's new band. Lastly, I would like to say that Fireworks is an album that grows on you. On your first listen it may seem like average, but give it a fair chance. Believe me, it grows on you.

I have read many things about Angra. Someones think they are great and others think they are'nt like the other power and prog bands. That's the point, Angra sounds like Angra, This is the reason why Angra deserved so much merite. All the others album from them are different, they never sound the same. This album Fireworks sounds weird in comparison of the other albums, it's just different and Angra will always be a great metal band with original ideas, it's hard to say if it's more a progressive or power metal band. The new era of Angra after André Matos, shows how many this band is constantly in evolution and has an incredible talent and creativity for a power metal band. Angra FOREVER!!!

wow, the guitar work of Bittencourt and Loureiro is wicked! definitely the best part of the album is the guitar work. I can't decide if i like this one or Angels Cry better. Both have awesome guitar and catchy melodies. Everyone thinks that Holy Land is their best, but it didn't do that much for me. song 2 on it was awesome, but the rest just wasn't heavy enough for my taste. I normally like really progressive stuff, so when i heard that Holy Land was their most progressive, i assumed i would love it. not true. Anyway, these guys are at the top of the metal guitar list... they just rule! Much better than other power metal guitarists, and on par with prog gods Petrucci and Romeo (almost) just get this cd and angels cry, phenominal guitar work. The rest of the band is awesome too. I actually like the vocals, though some people feel it's too whiney and high. all in all a solid album.

"Fireworks" is like "Angels Cry" with better songs: it is more metal but less progressive than "Holy Land." For that reason I'm torn as to whether this is Angra's best album.

The bottom line is that Angra writes great songs, from "Lisbon" and "Metal Icarus" to "Extreme Dream" and "Gentle Change." I enjoy Andre Matos' vocals too; people who don't like vocalists who have a wide range and use it should not be listening to metal. 'Nuff said about that.

It's shame that Andre, the bass player, and the drummer recently left the band. I only hope the guitarists can rebuild it and work the Angra magic again.

If you like neoclassical power metal, Angra is still one of the best.

For those of you who love Angel's Cry and Rebirth and do not own this album: If you love symphonic and progressive metal mixed with power metal this is a MUST BUY!! This is My favorite Angra album with Andre Matos on Vocals, and is also tied for my favorite Angra album, along with their last two releases ("Aurora Consurgens" and "Temple of Shadows"). "Fireworks" is without question Angra's most under-appreciated album that they have released among core power metal fans. I was at first dissatisfied with this album until I listened to it on my headset. This album conveys pure genius and excellent song-writing, in my honest opinion. In addition, everyone in the band had written portions of the music and lyrics. I do not recommend this album to close-minded power metal fans. On a final note, this album kicks complete @$$!!!

Es ultimo material de Matos, Confesori y Mariuti con rafael y kiko... Aqui desarollan un poco mas los efectos y distorsiones de sonido en lo que son los instrumentos y la voz. Se nota mas que todo como aplicaron un algun digitalizador de voz con Andre Matos. Igual siguen elaborando muy buen material y los riff de los panitas Rafael y Kiko, dejan sin palabras.

En particular me gusta la cancion Speed, ya que realza un poco la onda del disco que es algo lenta, yo creo que ellos mismos se dieron cuenta. Claro hay otras canciones muy buenas y es recomendable el disco

Fireworks is an album that contains much that is best in Andre Matos era Angra. From the insistent rhythms and leads of Kiko Loureiro and Rafael Bittencourt to the soaring vocal performance of Matos himself this is an album that combines outright rockers such as Metal Icarus and Wings of Reality to the lovely, mellow lead single Lisbon. and once again the 'feel' of the record is right. the varied writing credits and the fact that the various band members oversaw other aspects of the package such as the cover design etc show that this is very much a band that wants control over how they are perceived.

One change with the past is the addition of Chris Tsangarides as producer as opposed to Charlie Bauerfiend or Sascha Paeth, though the latter is involved in some of the computer programming etc. Not that this causes much change in any tangible way, the disc sounding wonderfully smooth.

In the genre of melodic metal Angra have produced a fine work - plenty of muso moments but without so much of the progressive elements of Holy Land and more consistent than Angels Cry in that the quality of songs doesn't dip as badly towards the end.

Th strongest Angra album to date in terms of getting down to business, this is a professional piece of work withoug sounding stilted, the band not coming across as too prissy to get down in the trenches with the punters and rock out and fill up the sound spectrum. This is the album I'd probably suggest to the generic hard rock/metal fan though in doing so I'd also suggest they at some point wrap their ears around Holy Land and Angels Cry if they find this to their liking.

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