Customer Reviews

My Resurrection

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

 

 

With the orchestral build-up of "My Resurrection", you know that you're in for a kick in the teeth. Kotzev delivers with some heavy driving riffs and Joe Lynn Turner backs him up with his trademark bluesy, melodic chops. There are plenty of emotional build-ups throughout the song. "Bad Madman" employed a crunchy riff and ominous strings. Goran Edman's vocals have just enough `evil' added to their tunefulness that you get a good idea just how bad this character is. The lyrics in the chorus have a great hook to them.

The high-pitched wail that starts off "Godforsaken" could only mean that Tony Harnell is up next. This quick tempo track is full of Kotzev displaying some phenomenal guitar soloing. Harnell brings the energy level to an all-time high with his passionate vocals. Turner has always been at the top of his game when it comes to ballads; the piano driven "Dreams" is no different. Kotzev gets a little showy with his axe-manship on "Another Day Gone", but Harnell does the same with his powerful pipes. "Beggar's Lane" rolls along with a chugga-chugga riff that's accented by soft keyboard changes. Edman delivers this one in the style of a classic arena rock anthem.

The Bad
Nothing

The Verdict
I knew after one minute of listening to this album it was going to be a hit. With so much vocal talent involved, Kotzev couldn't go wrong. He does a great job of backing them up with catchy, memorable instrumentation. My Resurrection is leaps and bounds ahead of Brazen Abbot's last release A Decade of Brazen Abbot; and that was a career retrospective. My Resurrection is a MUST HAVE for any rock fan.

Well, there's no Jorn Lande this time around, but there is still plenty to love about Brazen Abbot's 2005 album My Resurrection. For one thing, guitarist and band mastermind Nikolo Kotzev has once again gathered an impressive array of vocalists. In addition to the returning vocalists Joe Lynn Turner (ex-Rainbow, Deep Purple) and Goran Edman (ex-Yngwie, Kharma, Street Talk), Tony Harnell (ex-TNT, Westworld) and Erik Martensson (Eclipse) are on board for My Resurrection. Another plus is the inclusion of a full orchestra to give the album a grander scale.

The symphonic elements are a nice touch, and fortunately they're not used to cover up sub-par songwriting. Kotzev's songs are very well written, and benefit from lyrical content by each of the various vocalists. The songs start with a strong Journey/Foreigner/Rainbow classic melodic rock sound, and the symphonic elements give them a Styx-like rock opera feel. All of the vocalists give great performances, but the songs by Joe Lynn Turner and Tony Harnell really stand out. The guitar work and production is also first-rate, but I've come to expect nothing less from Kotzev.

I can't see how this album could possibly disappoint melodic rock fans, let alone deserve the 1-star rating a previous reviewer left. Fans of any of these great vocalists will definitely want to pick up My Resurrection, as will fans of melodic rock in general.

Now don't get me wrong, I like Kotsev and his playing and his selection of collaborators. But it has to be said that the only growth in this band/project is a slight wandering into more orchestral, keyboard oriented work rather than the more traditional 'classic rock' stylings of Live and Learn.

This is a solid Brazen Abbott effort with nothing much new, a full bodied hard rock production where there isn't tunnel vision concentration on any one instrument. The production is smooth and teflon coated like you'd expect and the vocalists are well chosen and on top form, Kotsev seeming to be able to get the most out of any and every frontman he's ever worked with - and there has sure been a few!

Really even though Kotsev won't rewrite musical history he does continue to produce good party rock albums, anthemic motivate the losers kinda material and really this album is probably worth 3.5 stars, maybe more on a good day. Fave rave would be the title track/lead cut, least favourite track would be Bad Madman, which is hokey nonsense despite some cool vocal inflections.

Overall a bit heavier than some other BA output in places and this isn't a bad intro to this band, showing the listener the kind of middle of the road, toothless hard rock one can expect to find throughout the BA catalogue. And dig the piano solos, especially the one in Godforsaken....

Beyond being quite talented, Nikolo knows exactly who to pick for these albums. Goran Edman, Joe Lynn Turner shine as always, nice contibutions from Tony Harnell(Starbreaker, TNT) and Erik Martensson, who I'm not familiar with. Wayne Banks on bass, Matthias Knutas on drums, Nelko Kolarov on keys. I have a couple of these Brazen Abbot cds, this one and Live and Learn with Glenn Hughes and Thomas Vikstrom singing. Very good stuff.

I bought this CD for my little brother's 15th Birthday. He is quite the Europe fan and he saw a website that said the members of Europe were in this CD. When he first got the CD he did not see any of the names on it, and was a little upset but listened to it anyhow. He took the liberty of creating this review...

Brazen Abbot: My Resurrection.

After pulling up cd on Windows Media Player:
"Dance? This is going be be dance music? Oh boy . . . " *shuffles*

First song: "The Shadows"
"This stuff is spacy. Probally the slowest dance music I've ever heard. This is a good song though."

Second song: "More Then Money:
"Okay, this definently isn't dance music. This is pure rock. And this song is pretty cool."

Third song: "Lost"
"Hmm, good so far. Liking the song, liking the album."

Fourth song: "Another Day Gone"
"Okay the beginning of this song is annoying. Although the rest of the song really makes up for it."

Fifth song: "Rage Of Angels"
"Oh my God. What an amazing song title. Amazing song! I notice the two different voices in the song along with the little rap verse in it. Honestly, this is probally one of the best songs I've ever heard. Amazing musicianship and writing skills, shown just by this song alone."

Sixth song: "Godforsaken"
"This one sounds very 80s. I like it! Another amazing song!"

Seventh song: "My Resurrection"
"Spooky intro. This guy is an amazing vocalist. The third amazing song of this album. Good party song."

Eighth song: "Bad Madman"
"Ohh, this one sounds pretty good in the beginning. One of those scary-in-your-face-gone-through-too-much-trouble-now-I'm-goi
ng-to-get-revenge sounds."

Ninth song: "Beggar's Lane"
"Yay! Power ballad! Very catchy. Also notice the two different voices in this one, too."

Tenth song: "Flyin' Bird"
"Uhh, interesting choice for a title. But amazing song. This album just keeps delievering as I go along."

Eleventh song: "Dreams"
"This song is okay. Not a real big listen."

Twelth song: "Shades Of Grey"
"I don't really enjoy this song."

Album as a total:
"I really enjoy it. It's pretty amazing."


I told him I was very happy he enjoyed it and he told me "Oh this album is pretty cool. I've listened to Beggar's lane, uh, 19 times already. XD"
The seller of this item shipped very quickly and all in all I am very pleased with this purchase. HIGHLY recommended.

Very disappointed with this album. This album is not a bit close to the album Guilty As Sin or rock-opera Nostradamus. Can only mention one song the SHADOWS with new singer that deserves to be listened. I just wasted my money. I don't like when there is no preview musical tracks, so you don't know what to expect. Can suggest for 2005 the album PAPER BLOOD by Royal Hunt - it is outstanding.