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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well, Finally!,
By Fernando (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Power & The Myth (Audio CD)
I've waited for this album for a very long time. I hold HOL as a band dear to me for its great music and, for the sort of connectedness one feels for a band without a mass following.
After 1992's Demon's Down, HOL literally disappeared from the shelves. I couldn't understand why, Demon's Down had been such a great album. I remember looking for a copy of Sahara circa '94 and the manager of the store had to pull out the entire music catalog (a 10 pound monstrosity of a binder -before mass use of the internet, kids) and HOL was nowhere to be found. Back in 2000, there were news on the net that an HOL album was in the works, and sure enough, a pretty good band website materialized. And months later, just like that, it disappeared (while it was still under construction). Late last year, this little jewel was finally released. My first impression; where's Giuffria? No explanation, no dedication, no short history of the last 12 years, no website is given. Alas, seems like Giuffria was made a solo record deal and abandonned HOL. The packaging is just so-so; the graphic design could be better, even mispelling "Miguel" (Ruiz) for "Migurl" on the sleeve -and that is the first thing one sees when opening the case. Featured are some photos of the band, who, to their credit are looking sharp. Taking over the keys are a few promising young keyboardists; I was very excited to see Derek Sherinian as one of them, thinking what a Dream Theater alumni could do for HOL exposure-wise, but alas, Sherinian is only credited one song. Sven Martin previously with Tatu (hey, give the kid a break!) does a fine job but Allan Okuye gets my vote. Yet, while the choice of songs for Okeuye may have given him more room for creativity, Martin is a great keybordist in his own right. `Today' is a fine song (written by another band), but lyrically it doesn't quite take off. `Am I the Only One' is an un-impeachable song; worthy to be on their "Best of" album if they ever release one. `The Power and the Myth' is an instrumental, featuring Sherinian and it allows Ken Mary to do some exhilarant, heart-pumping drumming. 'The Man That I Am' (written by the the same band that wrote 'Today') is a beautiful, melodic song that is both helped and hindered by the simplicity of its lyrics. It is inspired, bombastic and touches the right heart strings, but yet remains more soulful than lyrical. 'Bitter Sweet Euphoria' is a very strong song and one of the heaviest in HOL's repertoire, another candidate for a "Best of". Worth mentioning is that gone are the double entrende songs like 'Shoot' or 'Johnny's got a mind of his Own', which even as a teenager I felt were too juvenile for the band. Power and Myth album has a controled aggressiveness that's fresh and means business. There is a distinctive direction which the band followed; it is spiritual, mystical and the songs attest to their soul searching. It is a more mature effort than their previous albums which nevertheless keeps all the teeth and heart I'd expect from HOL. The nagging feeling I get from The Power and the Myth is that the band just had to release it, even if it wasn't up to the standard of their previous works. It needed more work and production, although you can tell HOL wanted, and did, the best they could do before releasing it. And that saddens me a bit, because this little gem is not as good as it could have been, and because HOL's work will once again go under-appreciated. When I purchased this album last Christmas there were "only three copies left" yet six months later there are only a handful of reviews, and it has already fallen bellow the 200,000 mark. I hope House of Lords will try again; they're much too talented and creative to go unheard. Five stars seems a tiny bit too generous, but three would be grossly under-rating the album, and this band has had too much of that.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
About time!,
By Fernando (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Power & the Myth (Audio CD)
I wrote the following review some time ago but for some reason it no longer appeared with the album. So here's a re-print!
I've waited for this album for a very long time. I hold HOL as a band dear to me for its great music and, for the sort of connectedness one feels for a band without a mass following. After 1992's Demon's Down, HOL literally disappeared from the shelves. I couldn't understand why, Demon's Down had been such a great album. I remember looking for a copy of Sahara circa '94 and the manager of the store had to pull out the entire music catalog (a 10 pound monstrosity of a binder -before internet cataloging, kids) and HOL was nowhere to be found. Back in 2000, there were news on the net that an HOL album was in the works, and sure enough, a pretty good band website materialized. And months later, just like that, it disappeared (while it was still under construction). Late last year, this little jewel was finally released. My first impression; where's Giuffria? No explanation, no dedication, no short history of the last 12 years, no website is given. Alas, seems like Giuffria was offered a solo record deal and abandoned HOL. The packaging is just so-so; the graphic design could be better, even misspelling "Miguel" (Ruiz) for "Migurl" on the sleeve -and that is the first thing one sees when opening the case. Featured are some photos of the band, who, to their credit are looking sharp. Taking over the keys are a few promising young keyboardists; I was very excited to see Derek Sherinian as one of them, thinking what a Dream Theater alum could do for HOL exposure-wise, but alas, Sherinian is only credited one song. Sven Martin previously with Tatu (hey, give the kid a break!) does a fine job but Allan Okuye gets my vote. Yet, while the choice of songs for Okeuye may have given him more room for creativity, Martin is a great keyboardist in his own right. `Today' is a fine song (written by another band), but lyrically it doesn't quite take off. `Am I the Only One' is an un-impeachable song; worthy to be on their "Best of" album if they ever release one. `The Power and the Myth' is an instrumental, featuring Sherinian and it allows Ken Mary to do some exhilarating, heart-pumping drumming. 'The Man That I Am' (written by the the same band that wrote 'Today') is a beautiful, melodic song that is both helped and hindered by the simplicity of its lyrics. It is inspired, bombastic and touches the right heart strings, but yet remains more soulful than lyrical. 'Bitter Sweet Euphoria' is a very strong song and one of the heaviest in HOL's repertoire, another candidate for a "Best of". Worth mentioning is that gone are the double entrende songs like 'Shoot' or 'Johnny's got a mind of his Own', which even as a teenager I felt were too juvenile for the band. The Power and Myth has a controlled aggressiveness that's fresh and means business. There is a distinctive direction which the band followed; it is spiritual, mystical and the songs attest to band members' soul searching. It is a more mature effort than their previous albums which nevertheless keeps all the teeth and heart I'd expect from HOL. The nagging feeling I get from The Power and the Myth is that the band just had to release it even if it wasn't up to the standard of their previous works. It needed more work and production, although you can tell HOL wanted, and did, the best they could do before releasing it. And that saddens me a bit, because this little gem is not as good as it could have been, and because HOL's work will once again go under-appreciated. When I purchased this album last Christmas there were "only three copies left" yet six months later there are only a handful of reviews, and it has already fallen bellow the 200,000 mark. I hope House of Lords will try again; they're much too talented and creative to go unheard. Five stars seems a tiny bit too generous, but three would be grossly under-rating the album, and this band has had too much of that.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not-so-triumphant return,
By
This review is from: Power & the Myth (Audio CD)
After more than a decade of inactivity, melodic rock veterans House of Lords finally made their comeback in 2004 with their fourth album The Power and the Myth. It wouldn't be a true House of Lords album without some kind of lineup change, and this time it was a big one: keyboardist/founding member Greg Giuffria is absent here, replaced by four different keyboardists, including Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater) on one song. The rest of the band - James Christian, Chuck Wright, Ken Mary and Lanny Cordola - are all present and accounted for.
I tend to think a band can survive most any lineup changes as long as the songwriting and performances are good. Unfortunately that's not really the case here. If you're going to call your album The Power and the Myth, the album needs to have some actual power and majesty - things the early House of Lords had plenty of. This album just falls flat. The songs are forgettable, the performances workmanlike, even James Christian's vocals seem lifeless, and I say that as a huge fan. The album is decent, but there really isn't a point where you recognize it as a House of Lords album. I'm certainly glad House of Lords is making music again, but The Power and the Myth is easily the band's worst album. It's a decent enough melodic rock album, but nowhere near as good as the albums that came immediately before and after it. If you're a serious House of Lords fan, you'll still want to pick it up, but if you're just curious as to what the band sounds like in the new century, you'll be much better off with Come to My Kingdom or Cartesian Dreams.
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