Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ESSENTIAL GOTH-METAL!, April 18, 2003
Well dear reader, you're in for a real treat! Mother Earth was released in 2001 and it's still selling strong around the world. In fact two years later it seems to be picking up steam. For an album to sell 100,000 copies in tiny Holland it has to be something special. Initially, this blockbuster CD was only released in selected parts of Europe. When customers throughout Europe started clamoring for it they rectified the problem. Mother Earth is also starting to make waves in the good old US of A as well, apparently by word of mouth, since, to my knowledge, it doesn't get airtime. What is Mother Earth? Possibly the best Gothic-metal CD ever made! Previous releases by this group included beauty and the beast style growls, which is common for this sub-genre of music in Europe. Fortunately that was waived for this wonderful album, which, I think, helped the band get to another level. Within Temptation consists of:
Sharon den Adel (Vocals), Robert Westerholt (Vocals, guitar), Martijn Westerholt (synths & keyboards), Ivar de Graaf (drums), Jeroen Van Deen (bass), Michiel Papenhove (guitars). The founder of Within Temptation - Robert Westerholt - sure hit gold when he found the sensational vocalist, Sharon den Adel (his former? girlfriend). She has the most impressive voice this side of Celene Dion. In fact some reviewers have anointed her the current best soprano around. "the new Annie Haslam" of Renaissance fame. I can't disagree, her singing is exquisite, powerfully delivered and emotional. And the music, which is also fabulous and oh so pretty, is in the celtic/symphonic/gothic vein with varied but mostly medium tempo and large production orchestral segments featuring strings, horns, guitars and organs. Also contributing to the album are arranger Rene Merkelbach and a small choir. All songs are way above average with my favorites being "The Promise", "Deceiver of Fools", "Ice Queen" and the title track "Mother Earth". A brief summery of the songs
"Mother Earth" starts with lush keyboards and the choir, before the guitars raise the tempo and intensity. Sharon's incomparable voice soars above the choir and everything else enhancing, not obliterating the rich textures set forth.
"The Ice Queen" is a powerful up tempo number, heavily orchestrated with a catchy melody and lyrics which are easy to memorize. Originally released as a single, this song made the best connection with the audiences during their tour.
"Our Farewell" changes direction a little since it's a pleasant light number featuring Sharon in a simple mix of piano with orchestral accompaniment.
"Caged" continues the lighter mood with the introduction of woodwinds, however the tone changes once Sharon's voice joins in, singing her anguish, as a woman, for being misled and deceived.
"the Promise", the longest song which, along with "Deceiver of Fools", is my favorite, powerful guitar work with heavy orchestration and of course, Sharon's impeccable voice.
"Never ending story" is a balladic song during which Sharon is backed by piano and members of the choir.
"Deceiver of Fools" begins quietly and then alternates between heavier, fast paced sections and quieter parts where Sharon's voice, double tracked, carries the melody.
"Into/Dark Wings" a heavy guitar lead, evolving into a near east sound and then Sharon again, this time joined by friend and fellow artist Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon)on a cameo guitar solo.
"In Perfect Harmony" this light, happily pleasant song is mostly Sharon with a light accompaniment of acoustic guitar a spacey keyboards. On another note, Sharon, who is the busiest of the band members, performed as a guest singer on two albums: Ayreons, Into the Electric Castle and After Forever's, Prison of Desire. Within Temptation's distinct sound doesn't compare well with any other bands I can think of but there are similarities to Lacuna Coil (more progressive), After Forever (another great vocalist but male growling - also from Holland), and the English band, Edenbridge. Do yourself a favor and see what the biggest selling album in Europe sounds like. I think you'll like it. This is an ESSENTIAL GOTHIC-METAL ALBUM!
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Prog goth finds its first classic album, August 19, 2006
The album begins with a little dance in 3/4 time to start the title track, using the synthesizer to suggest Celtic flutes and horns. After four lines, the dance repeats, adding a chorus who lays down some chords in the background. Then the instrumentation goes electric, playing the same theme twice but with a hard rock feel-and a drum/bass riff added at the ends of lines 1 and 3. A series of dissonant chords on off beats set off the melody. After four chords as transition, the second instrumental verse repeats. The entire introduction conveys the sense of a Creation and evolution, with harmony, dissonance, and the entry of man's machines in the story. The music evolves nicely, introducing variations in both melody and instrumentation.
After this, Sharon den Adel's soprano enters over the electric instruments, retaining the rhythm of the dance but changing the melody. Drum and bass pick up some of the themes from the introduction, playing variations on the drum/bass riff among other bits. After this verse, den Adel moves to the chorus, sung impossibly high, with an effect that it as striking as the Queen of the Night in the "Magic Flute" (but not quite that high). The verse and chorus repeat, with some changes in instrumentation and drum parts, after which the male chorus sings a slow bridge. Though still in 3/4 time, the use of dotted half notes conveys the sense of a switch to common time, suggesting monks singing chant. When this passage repeats, single and then double drum strikes warn of the coming return of metal passages, and remind us of the underlying 3/4 time. Finally, the "monks" summon den Adel back in a call-and-response that return us to the main theme on metal. This summoning of forces takes us back to the main themes, which are further developed and the remaining tensions resolved. Then the piece is brought to a close with a bang, using reptitions of the original drum/bass riff.
In short: these are serious musicians at the top of their game.
The rest of the album never quite reaches the compositional skill of the title track, but it's still an astounding album. The second track, "Ice Queen," became a hit in Benelux, and once again plays den Adel's vocals against a metal instrumentation. It starts hard and switches into acoustic passages, much like classic Jethro Tull. (As a curious aside, native English speakers may be confused by the non-idiomatic title at first, since an ice queen is a particular kind of woman, and we probably would have called the lead character something like "Frost Queen" instead --- as if I could write lyrics in Dutch.)
"Our Farewell" is one of three ballads. The most impressive ballad, to my mind, is "The Promise," which tells a revenge story of two linked promises. It suggests late medieval Europe both lyrically and musically. Like most of the songs on the album, it either tells a story of Mother Earth or of some characters passing along her way.
"Dark Wings" follows classic rock structures most closely, and will satisfy those who want their goth (or metal) to rock hard. A few songs are overly repetitive both musically and lyrically, such as "Caged" and especially "In Perfect Harmony," but every classic album has a song for complaining about.
Will you like this album? If you're a genre-crosser, you'll love it from the first. It does have some features that might put some people a bit off. Almost everything is in a minor key, as one expects of a goth album. I think that a richer mix of minor and major keys probably would have made the album flow better between songs at times. The album as a whole uses a lot of 3/4 (and 6/8 and 12/8) time, and this might annoy some listeners who expect their rock in common or half time. It certainly doesn't lend itself to rock dancing, unless you like waltzing at a rock concert, but it sounds great for listening at home. Many of the songs lay down a fast drum and bass guitar part in 12/8 (or whatever), while den Adel sings a more ballad-like part in the high ranges. The effect is reminiscent of Heart - a band with hard rock roots that goes heavy on ballads. If you want your rock to rock out, the album will sometimes feel too slow. However, the dramatic tension of metal and soprano almost demands this structure.
But, as you can probably tell from my first two paragraphs, "Mother Earth" isn't for rocking out. It's progressive rock at its finest, joining those mostly European, mostly Goth bands that combine metal instrumentation with a soprano singer. In "Mother Earth," Within Temptation drops death grunts and growls entirely, playing den Adel's voice solely against the instruments instead of having her duel the growls. It works. Den Adel has a lovely voice, the finest in progressive rock since Annie Haslam of Renaissance.
My only objection is that it's hard to get my daughter to give me the CD back.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece, August 28, 2004
I read the reviews and finally caved in to the pressure that was bellowing inside of my and finally bought this cd, god i wish i wouldn't have waited so damn long, this cd is amazing, everything, from the singer's voice to the production, i have some other music along these lines, like After Forever, and my previous fav Epica "the phantom agony", but this cd has pushed those aside, it blew away the after forever cd i have and squeeked by the epica cd barely but, hell i'm not ever finished listening to this cd i'm on track 5 and i was compelled to write this review, thats how good the cd is, like another reviewer said before me. BELIEVE THE HYPE, this cd is worth every penny. look foward to there next cd whenever it may come out.
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