Customer Reviews

The Scarecrow

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tobias Sammet's Avantasia Parts 1 and 2 are considered to be two of the best power metal releases to ever be. The over-the-top cast and story combined with superb musicianship and Sammett's own humor are endearing and to some overshadow Sammett's work with Edguy. The fans of both releases are fiercely loyal and most would have been content with a Metal Opera Part III. Instead, Tobi decided to do something different but still under the Avantasia banner. The third album does indeed tell a story and utilizes many talented vocalists but is decidedly different. Some would say Avantasia is weakened in this form, but I will attempt to argue it is just as good and perhaps better.

I must first say I love the two previous Avantasia albums. The first album's closer "The Tower" and the second's opener "The Seven Angels" are two of the best power metal songs I've ever heard. Still, I felt there was nothing left to really explore there. Sure a third Avantasia that simply continued the story established in the first two would have probably entertained me but I imagine it would have been unable to achieve the same impact as the first two.

This new album is a more varied take. The first two contained their share of power ballads, but this one definitely has a slower tempo throughout. There are some hard-hitting and fast songs such as "Another Angel Down" and "The Devil in the Belfry" (and rest assured, both are spectacular) but the album is generally slower.

I'm actually going to stop here with the comparisons as this incarnation of Avantasia is just different and not intended to sound like the previous ones. Ultimately, this album has a lot of personality and is arranged masterfully to create a wonderful ride for the listener.

The opener is a hard-sounding rock song. Surprisingly, the first lines of the album are not song by Tobi Sammet but by Roy Khan of Kamelot. I will say both he and Jorn Lande do a great job of stealing Tobi's spotlight on some parts of this album as the two have great performances here (Lande appearing on the album more than any other singer not named Sammet). The song is a great intro for the album and sets up the general theme for it.

The album's "epic" and title track "The Scarecrow" follows. I agree with another reviewer here in that it stumbles a bit in that it sounds like Tobi forced this song to be the album's epic. It could have easily been shorter and drags a bit at times. That being said, I still get into the song as Tobi and Lande go back and forth at a rapid pace.

"Shelter From the Rain" includes Avantasia vet and ex-Helloween frontman Michael Kiske and will likely be one of the favorites of Avantasia fans. It is one of the few tracks (along with "Another Angel Down" and "Devil in the Belfry") that could be called typical Avantasia.

"Carry Me Over" sounds like an early 90's alternative ballad and is very similar to Edguy's "Save Me". It's kind of the album's guilty pleasure. As simplistic as it sounds it gets the job done. I prefer it to the track that follows, the slow piano-driven ballad "What Kind of Love." The song is basically a duet between Tobi and Amanda Somerville. I don't find it very engaging and it's definitely the album's low point. It isn't a bad song, it just doesn't do anything to make me want to come back.

"Another Angel Down" was released on the Lost in Space single so most have heard it already. It was the best song on that disc, and it may be the best song on this one as well. Just great power metal. "The Toy Master" is a song that just oozes personality as Alice Cooper takes center stage. I've got to believe Tobi wrote this song with Cooper in mind as the role is just perfect for him. Alice plays the role of The Toy Master, an evil industrialist preying on the misfortunes of the lower class, tempting them to purchase his goods in a failed attempt to find happiness. Sammet actually appears in very little of this song, just the chorus. The lyrics for this song are probably my favorite on the album as they just fit well and really bring the song to life, "Out in the cold/ I see water frozen in their eyes/ what a sorry sight/ I am willing to believe/ they would pay for a smile."

As previously mentioned, "Devil in the Belfry" is one the faster tracks. It contains some great guitar licks from Sascha Paeth. I especially love the little sweep in the middle of the chorus as the song just explodes from the speakers. "Cry A Little Over Me" is a more traditional ballad that features some nice vocal work from Sammet and Bob Catley.

"I Don't Believe in Your Love" is pretty much a straight-up rock song that has a bit of an early 90's vibe to it. I enjoy the song's imagery and the main riff is undeniably catchy. The closing track "Lost in Space" has probably been heard by most already and it hasn't changed from the single releases. I will say I enjoy the song more as a closing track than an opening one and it does a good job of finishing off the album.

So basically I just gave a track-by-track rundown of the album. That's not necessarily my preferred way of reviewing an album but I am assuming a lot of Avantasia fans who haven't heard the album yet want to know what sounds like the Avantasia they're used to, and what doesn't. Like Edguy's latest release "Rocket Ride," this new Avantasia album tones down the power metal in favor of more variety. The album is more versatile than previous efforts and its biggest strength is the arrangement. All of the tracks are in the right place and the way it starts and finishes makes me want to listen to it again. It has a lot of great hooks that should give the album a long lifespan and keep it interesting for multiple play-throughs. It definitely is one of those albums that needs to be listened to multiple times to be completely digested but once done I think most will come to appreciate it. I give it 5 stars, not because it's perfect (which it isn't, "What Kind of Love" is a bit of a dud and the title track doesn't quite accomplish what it intends to) but because it really is as good as it can be. Power metal junkies may scoff at it, but I think most rock/metal fans will find something to love in Avantasia's "The Scarecrow."

This is not the Metal Opera. Sammet says it himself in very clear terms in the booklet: "But this time I have tried to do things a bit differently: I wanted to come up with something that was more abstract and not your typical good-vs-evil fantasy stuff." I loved the Metal Opera. Both parts of it. For a guy who "can't even read scores," he did a pretty damn good job setting it up. However, I quite agree with Sammet when he says "I didn't want to keep it within the limitations of a once-upon-a-time fairy tale, and I didn't want to squeeze the story into the tight corset of pedantry." Despite the love I have for Chalices of Agony and evil power-hungry Popes and Vandroiys, I believe that the Scarecrow is the best step that Tobias Sammet could have taken for Avantasia after his two-part-clichéd-epic.

Most people who fell in love with the Metal Opera will be looking for a plot early on. Unfortunately for those who like overused fantasy cheese and fortunately for the rest of us, the "story" is nothing clear-cut or all that easy to define. Rather than Gabriel Laymann attempting to save his stepsister Anna Held, we are treated to "something metaphoric," as Sammet says, something that "wouldn't unveil and ruin the mystery of the story." As his "personal Faust-story," he is careful to keep a blend of fact and fiction and personal experience that is impossible to determine and differentiate. I like it; there is a lot of meaning to find in his strong lyrics.

The sounds in the Scarecrow are a good deal more varied when compared to the Metal Opera, which was quite strictly similar-sounding power metal (with the exception of the well-placed symphonic interludes). Mix the eastern-sounding intro to "The Scarecrow" to the unsettling Alice Cooper vocals in "The Toy Master" to the bombastic energy of the chorus of "Another Angel Down" and the variety is clear. It is quite welcome as well, especially after the Metal Opera's consistent high-pitched fantasy creatures and over-the-top epic choruses. Overall, it's a much shorter album with different aims. If this isn't clear after the first listen, the depth of the Scarecrow is not for you.

The "romantic edge" of Sammet is more than present on this album. His "romantic edge" isn't your soft, ballad-rich valley of crooning vocals and passion-dripping lyrics (though he fits a couple in), but powerful and edgy (or edguy, see what I did there?). He brings up an antecedentless "She" more than a few times over four or so songs and as only "What Kind of Love" and "Cry a Little" could be given the power ballad label, the remainder is a mixed bag of anger, denial, and at times, radio-friendly alternative metal. It's something you'll have to listen to in order to understand, but to be certain, it is an essential part of Sammet's elusive story.

Yes, if Sammet was trying to step into the mainstream, he would certainly do it with this album. "Carry Me Over" and "Lost in Space" would fare decently on the radio. His inner Hans Zimmer breaks out in "What Kind of Love." The mild chaotic insanities in the Metal Opera that were songs like "Reach Out For the Light" and "Sign of the Cross" are never attained again in this album, and considering the break from the Metal Opera, this is a good thing. The highest energy song would be easily "Another Angel Down," which, along with a few others, doesn't even try to reach for the stratosphere like in The Metal Opera.

As usual, the guest line-up is as exquisite as Sammet's own talent. Jorn Lande and Roy Khan are especially good paired up with Sammet in my opinion, and Alice Cooper essentially makes "The Toy Master." I only wish that Amanda Somerville had been given a bit more spin time, as she gives a strong performance on "What Kind of Love" but is only heard in backing vocals in the rest of the album and I believe that with Sammet's themes of love and rejection, more of the female vocal touch might be appropriate.

The Scarecrow is a great step away from the overblown Metal Opera that, while great, did indeed impose a few limitations on Sammet's clear musical and compositional talents. A simple but incredibly vague plot along with a mixed bag of somewhat unfocused sounds of music make this album what it is. It is a strong album and though it does somewhat bear the mark of the dreaded sophomore release, it is definitely a keeper and though it may dispossess many members of the Avantasia following, it will certainly open up a new audience for Sammet's next endeavor (which will hopefully be sooner than three years, but no rushing though).

9/10

Tobias Sammet is the Verdi of our age. He has the broadest brush of any composer today. I don't say composer lightly. He is more than a song writer. His arrangements, chord progressions, and lyricism are unmatched by anyone. The musical complexity and variety leave you spell bound, open mouthed and filled with awe. This crazy guy has two bands: EdGuy and Avantasia and there are rumors of a third. Music pours out of him. At his live performance with EdGuy at BB Kings in New York last fall, you could hardly watch him. He was more electrified than the lead guitar, dancing on the speakers, racing from one side of the stage to the other, screaming out one hit after another. Did I say he does all the vocals in a male range rivaling Celine or Mariah. He could probably match note for note all the whining guitar rifts he writes.

So how does this album stack up. His best to date. There isn't a bad cut on the entire album. The other reviewers have mentioned all the best songs, but I encourage a listen to all of them in the order he listed them and pay special attention to "The Toy Master" where Alice Cooper (yes that Alice Cooper) sings the lead vocals. This song should be released by Alice as a come back single. It so rocks and it is so Alice on steroids.

Sammet is a god in Europe and if the USA music world werent so fixated on rap crap instead of Rock, we would all be the better for it. But hey it doesnt matter so much anymore with the music labels so out of touch with their audience. You can get this great rock music anyway. Please pay for it and support Avantasia and Sammet.

It is quite difficult for me to review something like this because there are so many different tastes out there and someone will always disagree, it's only natural. However, I'll try to judge this objectively.

First, in order to purchase this album, you must ask yourself: what kind of metal are you mostly into? The melodic heavy power speed one? Or the cleaner, slower, more sophisticated, more progressive one?
If your answer is the former, you will like Avantasia's "Metal Opera" Parts 1 and 2 more than this record. Those are darker in their moods, the guitar work is more memorable (and the melodies are as well), and they have a signature power metal "uplifting" feeling to them. If, however, your answer is the latter, you might really dig this one. It has crystal clear production, more versatile styles songs, without or with little 'typical power metal' stamps on the melodies, and tempos are generally slower.
I am torn somewhere in the middle of these two. First, I didn't feel it was everything I hoped for in this record. But on the second and third spins I started really getting into the mood of it and started digging it more and more.

Some definite highlights for me were: "Devil in the Belfty", "Another Angel Down", and "I Don't Believe in Your Love". Tobias' voice is superb on all songs and the guitar riffs are nice and heavy. I found myself wishing for a few more (or longer) solos at times...but I am a solo junkie, so that might be a subjective perception. What I did not like very much were some of the slower tracks this time around: "What kind of Love" and "Lost In Space" in particular. Maybe, again, that is because of the lack of any kind of a solo. Also, the title track seems very dragged out in the last 3-4 minutes of the song, almost like Tobias just "wanted" it to feel epic and tried too hard.

So there you have it in a nutshell. I hope you can find this review useful in deciding whether you want to purchase this record or not. I personally give it a very solid 4 stars, there were many very talented musicians on this one. Good job, Tobias!

The Scarecrow is an entity of epic proportions, a legendary opus of the metal gods that will leave you wanting more. It immediately hits you with Twisted Mind, then the masterpiece title track blows you away. At least it blew me away. I have listened to this album many, many times, and I never get sick of it. Tobias Sammet definately shines here, as he does in the other Avantasia works, not to mention his main band Edguy.

The album is totally different from the Metal Opera albums, yet it still delivers as much, if not more than those CD's. Some may think this work of art is not the same Avantasia that Tobias conceived with the Metal Opera, and therefore it is inferior, but I say it is better. It is more mature, rocks harder, and in my opinion, has better guest vocals than the previous offerings.

If you like classic metal, hair metal, power metal,or hard rock, get this album.

The Good
If Edguy is Sammet's day job, then Avantasia is certainly his night one. The normally energetic highflying vocalist takes on a darker more ominous tone with this project. Roy Kahn of Kamelot lends a vocal hand on the hopeless lyrical scheme of "Twisted Mind." Despite the utter darkness it entails, both vocalists are on the game melodically. "The Scarecrow" is an epic 11+ minute affair that is not only enhanced by orchestral elements, but also power metal heavyweight Jorn Lande. Frantic rapid-fire riffage runs rampant on "Shelter From the Rain." The double-kick drum onslaught reminds you of early Helloween. And if that doesn't, guest vocalist Michael Kiske will. Hey, didn't he swear off metal? Sammet teams up with Amanda Somerville on the stunning duet "What Kind of Love." Their two vocal styles were truly made for each other. For "The Toy Master" Sammet employs a living scarecrow (I mean that with the utmost respect). Legendary shock-rocker Alice Cooper lends his gritty and scary vocals on this one. "Cry a Little" has a thematic element to it that will remind you of a Broadway or motion picture score. Powerful choruses, driving guitars, and over-the-top vocals elevate the energy level of "I Don't Believe in Your Love."

The Bad
Nada

The Verdict
Wow! I am almost at a loss for words. The Scarecrow is incredible. Sammet has no problem making the transition from energetic party man to dark storyteller. Guest appearance by some of the prominent names is metal certainly doesn't hurt this Avantasia effort, but it doesn't take away from the talent of Tobias Sammet either. A great metal find.

Scarecrow has different sound from previous avantasia-releases, and thus it can not be compare with them. This album sounds great and I think it can not be classified just as a rock, heavy or power metal one, in here you can find a bit of these three basic styles. Every song is great. I have been listening power metal bands recently like Olympos mons, Black Majesty, Helloween, GammaRay, masterplan, ride the sky, heavenly and others that released an album at the ends of 2007 and 2008. These albums are great Power-Metal ones and some of them also deserve 5-star, but scarecrow is just the best between them with incredible songs and textures. You can take and be sure you are going to love it

Fans of Edguy and Tobias must get this album. It is different in many ways from a standard Edguy album, but excellent nonetheless. It's more geared to wards rock, but with a few heavy songs. The Scarecrow is a great piece of work. The song "I don't believe in your love" is another fine song with an awesome mixture of vocals. Overall the casting if you will for this album was nothing short of genius. Get it.

I have to say this does not sound like Avantasia. Avantasia is that fantasy story that was told through Metal Opera Pt 1&2. This is more of a personal, abstract story - more Tobias Sammet and the sound of the music is not the style of the first two Avantasia albums. But nonetheless, I don't rate this album as an Avantasia album, but the wonderful music of Tobias Sammet. It doesn't even need a name to me and all I care is that Mr. Sammet wrote this music. I can't even call this album power metal as most of the songs lack that epic feel and melodic elements that power metal fans are familiar with. In fact, I don't know what to call it other than heavy metal.

Anyway, the album itself. The only thing familiar with Avantasia on this record is that it features several guests from different bands - Michael Kiske, Jorn Lande, Roy Khan, even Alice Cooper! Melodies on this album aren't what you'd hear with old Avantasia and Edguy, but the melodies do fit well into the song - I have to say it's more emotional. Tobias Sammet's voice is still that strong almost Bruce Dickinson voice Edguy fans are familiar with, and the melody he uses on this album is very diverse even branching out to some 80s pop/rock ballad styles (like in Lost In Space and I Don't Believe In Your Love). There are still some almost power metal speed songs in Devil In The Belfry and Shelter From The Rain, and some straightforward heavy songs like Twisted Mind and Toy Factory - this album is very diverse. The song Carry Me Over is too modern rock for my tastes, it's decent at most but I'll sing along to all the songs on this album. Ballads like What Kind Of Love and Lost In Space are so heartfelt, but I absolutely love the melodies on this album.

To me, Avantasia's The Scarecrow does not sound like the first 2 albums, and it's a ways from Edguy, but Tobias Sammet states clearly that he wanted to do something a little different, and personal this time as a risk it may be commercially, but he's the artist so it's up to the artist to present their art in the way they want to. Me being a big fan of Sammet, I love all his works and the diversity he puts into it. I recommend this album to fans of Tobias Sammet's music.

I've resisted buying The Scarecrow for too long. I got really burnt out on Edguy (Tobias other band) and found it lacking the depth and replay value. What a mistake that was...

If you love power metal and great musicianship, this masterpiece is for you. Tobias really takes his signature sound (lots of great hooks) and elevates Avantasia to heights Edguy could only dream of. BONUS: I truly love all the guest singers, the who's who of power metal. You get to enjoy their uniqueness as well as Tobias. Really makes you sit back and pay attention to each song. Don't miss out like I was on this album or any of the Avantasia works.