Customer Reviews

Be a Master of Your Fate

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Finally, here is an artist who really has something different to say, both musically and lyrically. His unique blending of classical music with rock and Greek folk as well as his extraordinary use of all kinds of guitars and most importantly his so revolutionary and profound poetry constitute what I call high art. I think that any comment about the work of this young intellectual who wants to change the world, no matter how flattering, would still be an understatement; one should just listen and read the lyrics of these songs and I'm sure that they would gain some optimism about the future of music.

We are very lucky to live in the same time with Nikolaos Ioannidis.He is a unique artist.He managed to combinate modern problems of human life and human feelings with the most beautiful music which reminds us the whole history of music.In addition,the womens' voices are so beautiful so that they give us the feeling of peace.

With his profound poetry and his utterly sophisticated music, in this album Ioannidis Nikolaos manages to express his spirit of revolt and shock us without having to be loud or take his pants off (not a bad idea considering his extremely good looks), but by tackling the critical issues of our time and questioning all our values and beliefs, which he thinks are behind the decadence of the present society and therefore need to change. It is a calm rebellion against an inadequate value system which steers society towards habits of passivity, irresponsibility, self destruction and environmental destruction. In the title track"Be a master of your fate" he somehow portraits modern society characterised by passivity, complete lack of self responsibility, constantly being a victim of propagandas ("you thought you were unable to know what's right or wrong; so let decisions be made for you, plotted behind closed doors"). In the same track he is also stressing the power of the individual to bring about change, not by any sort of mass struggle but just by the choices people make in their everyday life (...needn't shout, needn't take to the streets...this rebellion is bloodshed free; all it takes is will...). In "So you've been told" he stresses the role of old ideologies and value systems in environmental destruction (So you've been told: `Increase in numbers, fill the earth'. And so you did. You filled it, subdued it, flooded with waste). Although in terms of style no song resembles any other in the album, lyrically all songs contribute to this call for change in the way we think and live.
Musically, "Be a master of your fate" is a work rich in innovative rythms, original musical ideas and new guitar techniques. In all arrangements guitar is the king. Pure classical (A fading world, Sleep!), or classical sounding distorted electric guitar (Pain, The visionary), or ethnic sounding classical 12-string guitar (Looking for something to believe in), in all cases, sweet and melodic. Vocals also are quite different from anything I have heard so far, due to Ioannidis's soft and discreet voice. The album as a whole is an excellent piece of artistry that does not sound like anything else. It is a genuine and beautiful new way of expression which makes you lose respect for everything you admired so far. After I listened to this everything else sounds naive and silly.