Customer Reviews

Freedom Call

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Angra's 1996 EP Freedom Call features a good mix of old and new material, and is an album all serious Angra fans should own. Since the EP was recorded during the same time frame that the band recorded the Holy Land album, the new songs on Freedom Call have some of the same overall feel as the Holy Land material. This suits me just fine, as Holy Land is by far my favorite of the Matos-era Angra albums.

The title track, Queen of the Night, and Reaching Horizons are all new tracks. Queen of the Night has an Angels Cry kind of sound, but the other two are very reminiscent of Holy Land, and are the EP's best songs.
Next you get an orchestral version of Stand Away, one of the songs on Angels Cry. This one is interesting, but doesn't really add much.
The remix of Painkiller isn't much different than the one found on the Century Media Judas Priest tribute album, but is a nice addition for those of us who didn't pick that one up. It's a great cover song, and you know that if anyone can hit those notes, Andre Matos can!
An edited version of Deep Blue (also from Angels Cry) is included, but again doesn't add much.
Closing out the disc are three live acoustic tracks. These tracks are a nice bonus, especially for those of us who never got a chance to see the original Angra lineup live, let alone in an acoustic setting.

While some of the songs are better than others, the first three and last three tracks make Freedom Call an EP worth owning.

A little EP for the fans, Angra cast forth this disc which is very much tinged with the flavour of the Holy Land album. Some of the tunes here are quintessential Angra such as the driving, insistent yet still melodic title track/lead cut. Further down the track list we have a bunch of reworked versions of Queen of the Night, Stand Away and Deep Blue. Not to mention a cover of the Judas Priest classic Painkiller.

Being only an EP of largely previously released, albeit tweaked, material there isn't much to blather on about with this releas or to genuinely recommend it as a purchase for the casual fan of this genre (that being melodic hard rock) but the devoted Angra fan will probably want this in their collection.

If possible but this as a 2CD package with the Holy Live EP recorded in Paris '96 as it really increases your value for money.

If you're an Angra fan, you should definitively buy this one. Their acoustic live performance of some songs at the end of the CD was pretty original. Although I didn't like all the studio songs in this album, two of them really captivate me. Angra's version of Judas Priest "Painkiller" is delightful, I was stunned after hearing it, really well played. The other song that I consider a masterpiece is the opening song "Freedom Call", personally, is my favorite song from Angra so far.

However, this album shouldn't be bought by first timers. The first Angra album anyone should have is "Angels Cry".

Freedom Call's remixes are not very different from the originals, although the choices of songs are awesome. The live tracks at the end are highly amusing and sound like a different band. This album shows how diverse Angra can be!