Customer Reviews

Kingdom of Madness

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Edguy, at this time in their career, were a foursome from Germany who are all very young. I believe that at the time of this release, they ranged in age somewhere between sixteen and nineteen years of age. Their youth is one thing very much in their favor because they have a lot of talent and would go on to become really impressive in the future. Their youth was also their biggest downfall as his disc shows.

On the positive front, these guys have a lot of talent. They play a good mixture of melodic power metal and speed metal with some progressive overtones. The eighteen minute track "The Kingdom", shows some strong compositional talents and the music is played with vigor. The singer has a mature, clean voice that is very reminisent of the mighty Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden). The guitarists are clean and fast with the ability to chop and shred very well. There are hints at influence from Helloween and Gamma Ray. These guys are certainly well versed in music at their age. They do a lot with what they have.

On the negative front, the production is not so hot. The drums are way too far out in front and the snare drum sounds like a cardboard box more than it does the crisp almost gunshot sound it should be producing. The whole album sounds flat, especially compared to their powerful albums to come after this. The lyrics are another sore point for me.

This disc does not do much for me. It does show a lot of potential for the future with their talent which would come with their album Vain of Glory. Clean production would have helped this disc. Kingdom of Madness is also arguably Edguy's first album. Arguably because they recorded "Savage Poetry" in 1995 but it acted more as a full length demo. Thankfully they re-recorded that record in 2000.

I was not quite sure I'd like Edguy from samples I'd heard before finally going for it and picking up their latest, Rocket Ride, back in April. Needless to say I was blown away and have methodically picked up their entire back catalog over the past several months. On their debut, Kingdom of Madness, it's clear the boys are still quite young and, while this is their first official full length release, I have to say overall it's only of demo quality.

You can hear the birth pangs of all the elements that will astoundingly quickly see this band become one of the prime measuring sticks for all power/melodic metal bands, but if you're looking for Tobi's soon to be soaring vocals, the lush, layered choruses and vocal passages, the often intricate yet always accessible structures and occasional classical flourishes---and the characteristically crisp, tight, driving delivery---it just hasn't quite come together yet here. Interestingly, as much as this band is credited with carrying forward the Iron Maiden and Helloween legacies, on this album I actually hear a good bit of 80's American metal influence in the riffing and arrangements of some of the songs (Dokken comes to mind). Not a bad thing, just unexpected, and (with a few exceptions) you don't hear much of this again from Edguy until they deliberately wax a bit 80's American hard rock/metal nostalgic 6 albums later on Rocket Ride.

If you're a completist or enjoy hearing the evolution of a band's sound as I do, then get this. For those who enjoy the band's more mature, polished sound from Theater of Salvation onward, you can skip this one and be confident you're not missing anything.

First of all, the correct spelling of the title is KINGDOM OF MADNESS. This is EDGUY's first full lenght album ( besides the original 1995 version of SAVAGE POETRY ). It is an extraordinary effort which demonstrates their potential. The nine tracks featured on this CD make up more than 1 hour of music; the last track alone is 18 minutes long. It isn't as rough as their other albums but is a must have for any EDGUY fanatic like myself.

Also, if you really like rare stuff, try finding THE SAVAGE POETRY double CD. It features the remastered 2000 version and the original 1995 version ( very collectible ). I have it and it's awesome. EDGUY rules!

If you are a hardcore Edguy fan, you ought to get this album. Casual listeners would be better served buying Hellfire Club and Rocket Ride. Though there are a few good songs here, it seems like this cd came from a period when Edguy were still searching for their own sound. I ordered this exact cd from Amazon, and it came with 3 more songs than are listed in the product description. They are:
Key to my Fate
Sands of Time
Power and Majesty
I mostly mix this album in with my other Edguy cds just to keep from listening to their best songs too many times and making myself sick of them.