Customer Reviews

Under A Dark Sky

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Soaring, virtuoso guitarwork; metal seamlessly flowing as one with Beethoven (or, arguably, Wagner); extraordinary vocalists Mark Boals and Liz Vandall (complete with a choir), in three languages, furtively and dramatically crying out for peace and hope, challenging humankind to return to the One who guides us to the path of restoration - such is this new masterpiece of Uli Jon Roth and his band Sky of Avalon. The music alone takes hold of the listener, sending one's emotions and spirit through a maze of exhiliration, fascination, quiet reflection, elation, sadness, and hopelessness. And then you turn a corner and it resolves with the final promised celebration of joy. In my opinion, the CD will equally please both classical fans and seasoned rockers. Whatever musical genre, the listener with a heart craving for answers finds hope in the message of this amazing work. And the consumer just craving a concert that musically takes their ears everywhere in the universe will (literally) think they've died and gone to heaven.

A few days ago on Sep 23, 2008 I was fortunate enough to see Uli live. He performed the entire Under A Dark Sky work as well as Scorpions, Electric Sun, & Jimi Hendrix classics. After the show I talked to Uli at length regarding the Dark Sky CD. He prefers to call it a "concept album" as opposed to a rock opera. What ever you want to call it, the CD is a masterpiece from a very talented artist. The spirituality of Dark Sky comes through as Uli makes a statement of "the state of the world today and how we fit into it", as he told me.
If you appreciate a grand work, in the style of classical concertos, with many various tempos, this is for you. Enjoy.

This is a great concept album and deeply spiritual. We all know that Uli can play and he certainly delivers. But what makes this album unique and special is its spiritual inspiration. (Spirituality here has nothing to do with organized religions). Entire album flows like a poem that is, if you can get into the vibration and message this album brings. Inspiration and its interpretation is always a subjective matter so I would not comment on the detail. Give this cd a chance and see what it brings to your mind. This cd is full of great songs but if you want to truly appreciate them, listen from the first track to the last track in one setting. It will create a different synergy and you'll thank me later.

Uli Jon Roth is, along with Ritchie Blackmore, the progenitor and pioneer of the movement to fuse Art Music with Heavy Metal/Hard Rock. Though Blackmore was first in incorporating exotic scales and arpeggios in heavy rock in the 70s, Uli took it further than anyone else in the genre: witness the early Scorpions and Electric Sun albums for evidence. The impact of his music is monumental, the post-Randy Rhoads "neo-classical" scene is inconceivable without Uli. One of the biggest differences between Uli and the neo-classical movement that proceded from his influence is the fact that he has been more serious in integrating the distorted electric guitar into an orchestral context, as opposed to writing lead guitar fixated "concertos" with silly orchestration. Uli took upon himself the role of both composer and guitarist, with no apparent self-consciousness. With "Under a Dark Sky", Roth has reached a peak in his compositional powers; no other artist or release in the genre of heavy rock guitar music has so effectively incorporated distorted lead guitar into an art music context, or with the amount of compositional range and depth as Roth. And this is coming from an accomplished composer in the field: [...]

On a more personal note: when I first bought this cd I had to prepare myself for a listen that would be almost entirely non-Metallic. Once I got past that I was floored by how advanced that Uli's writing has become. He really is a composer that happens to play guitar instead of, say, a lead guitar player struggling to blow up a basic heavy metal structure for an orchestra. He has perfected the place of the guitar among the other orchestral instruments, unlike others who just rewrote the cello cadenza parts for electric guitar. I should also mention that from a purely lead guitar playing perspective, Uli's personal tone, attack, and sense of dynamics has become at least equal to the best Rock/Metal players in history, such as Jeff Beck and Ritchie Blackmore.

It's impossible to overstate the painstaking attention to detail evident throughout this album. In interviews preceeding the release of "Under a Dark Sky", Uli had mentioned how hard it was for him to mix down all the different layers he'd recorded into a single stereo track, and there's no question that this album will be more effectively represented with a 5.1 remix. On the other hand, the limited stereo mix makes the album especially compelling, because it takes many listens to fully absorb the proceedings. The more one listens, the more gets one out of the CD, which to me is the definition of great art.

I must champion also the lyrical content of "Under a Dark Sky". The cd's Weltanschauung operates under a similar air as Beethoven's 9th Symphony, i.e. matters are becoming urgent, hate is killing the world, only love can save humanity. The heavy metal kids might reject such a message in that amusing, willfully cantankerous way of theirs; but, the reality is that humanity remains just as primitive as it ever was, if not moreso with the onset of both the information superhighway and weapons of mass destruction. People cheer murder, worship money, and keep killing each other. Only a devastatingly powerful movement to love can save the world, the answer is inside. Such a sentiment is easy to sympathize with by the mature minded.

I realize that alot of people won't like about the arty nature of this cd: the choirs, the length, the idiosyncratic song structures. The fact is, the great majority of folks don't like to have to focus when they listen to a Rock/Metal cd, preferring to listen to the same song structures ad infinitum. For them, music is mostly entertainment, which of course is fine, it's there for everyone to suit to their own needs. But, as a musician and composer, I can't help but declare my profound admiration for what Uli has accomplished here. I think this is by far the most musically interesting Rock guitar release so far in the 21st century, with a direly important message.

I had the privilege of hearing them live at the Orange Blossom in Exeter, CA and enjoyed them tremendously.

Despite being a long time Uli Jon Roth fan (Scorpions), I openly admit to being fooled into thinking this might be a return to his Electric Sun sound as "promised" by advance notices. After all, he has been embracing his past more and more in both his solo performances and his appearances with the Scorpions.
Having said that, when I first listened to this, I wanted to give it 2 stars only. Now, I am not against the music Uli has been making the last 15 years+ or so as I do have Aquila Suite, Prolouge to the Symphonic Legends and Transcendental Sky Guitar (Parts 1 & 2) and like them all, however my expectations ruined the first listen of this CD.
Then I decided to pop it in again and I am happy I did. I would most likely give this 3.5 stars if I could, only because I think "side 1", if you can call it that, is not nearly as good as "side 2". I rate the second half of this release as some of the best music he has ever created, including Electric Sun.
By the way, for those expecting an Electric Sun revival, I think this CD is closer to Earthquake/Firewind than Beyond the Astral Skies (his worst release in my opinion-although still good). Give this a few spins.....it is a solid 4 star release (3.5 for the first half and 4.5 for the second half)

I pre-ordered "Under a Dark Sky" from Japan prior to the Western release. I wanted to get a good dose of the CD before Uli's concert hit the West coast.

I have to say this is a GREAT album. I had to listen to it many times to really understand how deep it is. There are many hidden qualities that may not be heard the first few times through. I also heard rythyms like Cumbia behind some of the classically arranged forefront of the music, particularly in the piece titled "Tanz in die Tammerung". Just to even put drums to some of these pieces is such a fantastic way to convey classical or operatic music.

He has turned down the overdrive a bit, but all the better to hear the perfectly phrased neo-classical guitar licks that one would expect from Uli. In regards to the singers Liz Vandall and Mark Boals, they are really phemonenal vocalists. I disgree with some of the other comments about them. I had the pleasure of catching 2 of their shows in California. Both singers expressed a lot of emotion and had a great span of range between the two of them. Not to mention the way they could interweave their voices together was astounding! Mark Boals the Master of the A5 note, what else can you say?

I encourage everyone to pick up "Under a Dark Sky". I have already bought 7 more for Christmas gifts.

Kent Niepert-Los Angeles, CA

This is pure musical genius, period. Uli Jon Roth is a creative soul and a master musician, which means that he's much more than "just a shredder". Of course, he does shred and does play a lot of tasteful, classical-influenced solos on this record, but that's not the point. Uli never was "technique for the sake of it", and this is no exception.

So, with a 70's-flavored-but-modern production, this album will take you through a varied musical landscape that sounds to me like a mysterious quest, peppered with magic everywhere -- there are varied influences going from medieval and Celtic to Spanish music to opera to Eastern European folk and (of course) to classical and rock. It is full of well-balanced orchestrations and an overall "epic", grandiose feeling. However, don't panic: this isn't power metal at all!

In any case, all I can say is that this album is no less than breathtaking. I bet that if you listen to it with open ears, you'll see how intense it is.

I admire Uli Jon Roth. It takes a lot of sensibility from an artist to fuel such an amount of emotion on his music and on his interpretation. His mastery of his craft goes well beyond to mastering his preferred instrument (the guitar) and this opus witnesses so.

Therefore, I would give five times five stars to this release if I could... but look, I'll just thank Uli Jon Roth here for this true musical present, and I really encourage you to drop your prejudices and go buy this thing right now. I bet you won't be disappointed!

Uli Jon Roth success on combining rock and clasic music with "Under a dark sky". The outcome is a well balanced album, where you could find all the Uli's music universe.
The album starts with a bombastic track called SOS, who works perfect as an intro for the simphony. Second and third track contained the plot of the simphony lirycs. The music of these tracks is clasical oriented with some medieval influences in the melodies, and it's intepreted for Uli and his Sky Orchesta. Track four, "the magic", definetily rocks!, the song starts with a mysterious dark melody, and then uli builds a pretty heavy riff that transports you to the scorpions era. Also, Mark Boals does a very good work on vocals in this song. It's also remarkable the Uli's final guitar solo, outstanding!
Next tracks are pretty good too, including two almost instrumental songs where Uli develops soft and peaceful guitar melodies. Track nine, "light and shadows", has a delicious guitar in the beginning. The song rythm and style is diferent from the other songs and is another high point in the album. The last song lasts for 17 minutes!: Fantastic acoustic (maybe spanish) guitar in the beginning, clasical pasages, and rock-heavy parts with some arabian music influences.
Liz Vandall and Mark Boals do a very good job on vocals on the whole album.
Variety, virtuosity and talent.

This album sounds much like "Sky of Avalon" with a hint or two of "Beyond the astral skies". It's not the masterpiece I was hoping for, but it's certainly listenable if you like Uli's kind of progressive, symphonic rock.
There are mainly 2 areas that could be improved here. First of all, Uli isn't very good at writing memorable tunes. Often he makes up for it by his imagination with atmosphere and interesting arrangements. And of course his masterful guitar skills. But some of his themes sound a bit forced rather than inspired, especially the vocal themes.
Second of all, Uli hasn't got the best judgement when it comes to picking singers. They sound professional enough but most often don't know how to add any emotional qualitys to their singing. Ever since I heard "Sky of Avalon" I've thought that Uli should team up with Demis Roussos (if anyone remembers him). I think his semi-operatic voice would do great together with Uli's bombastic arrangements. Demis himself made some progressive rock in his youth.
All in all, this is still pretty good stuff. Uli is one of those few 1970's artists that are still able to put together music that's worth spending money on.