Customer Reviews

Tales from the Emerald Sword Saga

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

 

 

Rhapsody has a lot of fans, especially those who love power metal, and for good reason - the orchestration & arrangements are used to great effect in their albums. The level of composition complexity is only outclassed by Nightwish in the world of modern music. This particular album is a compilation album of excellent songs from various Rhapsody albums, along with bonuses of a good symphonic version of Rage Of The Winter, a remix of Land Of Immortal, an edit of Riding The Winds of Eternity, a remix of Holy Thunderforce, & a video of the band playing Holy Thunderforce live (can't have too much Holy Thunderforce, now can we? ;) ).

Now, all Rhapsody fans know already that these are some great songs. It doesn't take someone who has a trained ear to love songs like Warrior of Ice, Rage Of The Winter, Wisdom Of The Kings, Dawn Of Victory, Holy Thunderforce, Power Of The Dragonflame, Riding The Winds of Eternity, Rain Of A Thousand Flames, & Knightrider of Doom. And that's not all! The other songs also are very enjoyable as well. These songs not only catch the ear, but contain a compositional depth that arises partly from the epic nature of these songs (as each Rhapsody album is an epic covering a part of a tale, just as the namesake of this album implies).

In short, if you're new to Rhapsody, buy this album, then buy the other Rhapsody albums (starting with Legendary Tales, and continuing in chronological order of their release). You won't be disappointed if you love music! If you're a current Rhapsody fan, this album might bolster your appreciation of them, and is also recommended.

If you've never listend to Rhapsody, you're missing out on one of the most unique musical experiences of our time. The idea of composing and reinventing the 'bard's tale' of eras past is the unifying theme throughout Rhapsody's releases. Take one part Spinal Tap showmanship, one part Iron Maiden, the vocals of Queen, throw in some Bach and Beethoven, back it up with a full choir, have the band dress up like renfair geeks, hit blend, and you've got Rhapsody.

Yes, the high fantasy story is cheesy as hell, but it works and rather infectous too. It's part of their charm. On the music side, it's really amazing how well fast paced speed metal anthems combine with classical music (often with full choir back up singers and latin verses) to create one of the most epic and exhilirating modern 'symphonies' I've ever heard. Probably the best comparison would be Nobuo Uematsu's "One Winged Angel" remix for Advent Children. If you liked all that pomp, rocking speed and over the top craziness, there's no doubt you'll find Rhapsody a breath of fresh air from the staleness of the music scene in general.

Most of the songs are blazingly fast, with lots of screaming guitar and bass work and intense drums but can also be surprisingly melodic. The keyboard trumpets, organs, pianos etc punctuate key moments and set up the songs very nicely, while the violin work adds an eeire beauty to even the most hardcore tracks. The great thing is how the songs can change tempo, instruments, vocal range and style (alternating between classic and metal and sometimes playing simultaniously) on a dime seemlessly for a wonderful variety of sounds within a single song. Dawn of Victory is perhaps the best example of this along with Winds of Eternity. But ultimately, it's Fabio Lione's vocals and Luca Turilli's composing and guitar that hold this band together. Their enthusiasm and passion for what they do shines through in every one of Rhapsody's songs. It takes a brave man to rock it hard about dragons and dark lords, but if anyone is up to the challenge, it's these two. Turilli especially deserves a lot of credit for knowing when to go all out and when to be suble. Despite what critics have said in the past, Rhapsody does back off the gas... when it suits them.

The only thing that's criminal about this release is the exclusion of Eternal Glory, one of the strongest tracks of Symphony of Enchanted Lands. But that is what full albums are for afterall.

Still, if you're looking for a CD that shows what Rhapsody is all about, this is a good place to start. So, take a listen to the preview tracks listed on full albums here at Amazon, and take your first step into a larger music world.

I stumbled across this band while surfing on the Internet one day. Never had I ever heard such a unique blend of film score music and power metal. Rhapsody has done something in Europe that I think many more bands here in the US need to learn a lesson from.

Rhapsody, now renamed Rhapsody of Fire, unlike many power metal bands relies not just simply on speed and heaviness but on brutal epicness. Yes, those headbangers who cannot tolerate the over-the-top theatrical passion in these fantasy-based lyrics may raise a few eyebrows. the anthemic "Emerald Sword" (pronounce "suhword," not "sord") sort of captures the elevated spirit of patriotic music, just patriotic music about "green valleys where dragons fly."

I however, find Rhapsody of Fire vocalist Fabio Lione to be my one heavy metal counterargument to my parent's love of Italian soprano Andrea Bocceli and pop star Eros Ramazatti. Not that I deplore those latter two singers of their skills, but they lack the progressive inspirational sound of this band. Guitarist Luca Turilli also belts some amazing guitar solos that compliment the epic movie sound only specific to Rhapsody of Fire.

So quit reading my lengthy review, and expose yourself to the newest class of inspirational metal music.

Let me start by saying I am not really the biggest Rhapsody fan on the face of the earth (I personally favor Luca Turilli's solo work over Rhapsody's), but I've heard about all the band has to offer and I personally only care for a little more than a handful of the band's work. So when I heard the band was releasing a compilation album for the Emerald Sword saga, I was interested because (like any human being) I didn't feel like buying 5 different CDs for the few tracks I like on each release (even though I did buy Power of the Dragonflame, and I still want to purchase Rain of a Thousand Flames.)

In reality, you really do get the best of best (for the most part) when it comes to the included tracks, but I'm sure some Rhapsody fans would probably ague with me here, and I'd expect that as there are some really good songs missing, but among these songs are mainly the long epics (like Angels, Gargoyles of Darkness from Power of the Dragonflame, which clocks in at over 19 minutes) and well, I don't really think you'd want to sacrifice 5 to 6 of the shorter songs for one song (no matter how good it is!) This could have been solved by having a double disc, but I really don't think that would be necessary, because most fans are going to have all the bands works anyway and raising the price wouldn't be a good thing either.

As for the video clip on the CD, if you have already acquired the video for "Holy Thunderforce" from the limited double-disc edition of Dawn of Victory, it is almost the same on this disc, except for one major difference - it is now in black and white and made to look dated, to increase the medieval feeling the video has. Not really anything too new or great, but a nice touch. I personally would like to have had the "Rain of a Thousand Flames" video instead of the updated "Holy Thunderforce" video, but oh well.

As for the box set goodies, mentioned above, include a sticker that has the same artwork as the front of the box set (which I like the sticker, but I hate using cool stickers, because I always lose or quit using what I place them on, grrr!), a "small" poster of the CD case's artwork (which I think was neat putting all six covers of their previous releases together separated by swords in a pie formation), and finally picture cards of each band member and a group shot. The cards are a nice touch, but I feel I can't do much with them, because I want to keep them in a safe place so they stay nice, along with the rest of the box and extras (thus I placed the CD and booklet in a different case.) This is underscored by the fact the CD and booklet come in a cardboard digi-pack instead of a jewel case, but the digi-pack is very, very nicely done though.

So in the end, if you're a big Rhapsody fan, you probably have all the music included here if you have all the Rhapsody CD's, but you'll probably want the extra's this box set offers. On the other hand, if your new to Rhapsody, and is you first purchase of the band's music, this is probably a good place to start as it gives you a little morsel of each of the band's releases (but in that case just settle for the normal edition of this CD without the extras.) All in all, I'm glad I got this release and even paid a little more of the box set. The only thing left to say is "when is the new Rhapsody CD coming out?"

Covers the first four Rhapsody recordings at 70 minutes plus plus the 'mini' 48 one.

Each recording contains about 15 minutes of music, or 4 songs, plus one song from the mini at 3 minutes.

Note - there is not a remix but an edit on one of the songs, read the song is cut.

It gives a good introduction to Rhapsody and a good sample of each cd (except the mini)

It reprints the lyrics and gives a good introduction to the band.

That said, the video does not justify buying the cd if you already have these recording.

For a compilation it is very well done and deserves a 4 for the info noted above, except one more tune should have come from the mini

By the way, why does Amazon include a 'NO' in 'was this review helpful to you?'. People are only human and don't like opinions that differ from themselves. With some who are less mature, this the 'NO' makes it too easy express such displeasure.

Are they trying to discourage negative reviews, hence not purchase the CD. Such reviews only help a person in not being dissatisfied a product that received positive reviews

Rhapsody is the definition of Symphonic Metal, I'm sorry.. but there is no band out there that even comes close to them. Their style is very distinctive and will leave you breathless if this is the first time you have picked up one of their CD's.

The great thing about this CD is that it takes the best tracks from previous LP's like "Legendary Tales", "Rain of a Thousand Flames", "Power of the Dragonflame" etc and throws them into one fantastic album. Rhapsody has even included a few re-makes of their songs which sound phenomenal. The CD includes a video of "Holy Thunderforce" which is quite entertaining as it zooms in on Luca Turilli's unbelievable guitarwork.

With a mixture of violins, guitars, and keyboards.. Rhapsody has revolutionized the music industry. Although their medieval influence can become repetitive at times, they still maintain great music. If you are looking for a really good Progressive metal CD with a fantasy twist, you just found it.

--Also consider: Blind Guardian--