Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
new kings of american true/power metal?, October 20, 2000
Jacobs Dream's debut is deceptively heavy, mixing highly Maidenish melodies with the musical aggression of the best European power metal acts. Jacobs Dream just might beat Jag Panzer and Steel Prophet in a contest for the best American true/trad metal band. (Though Iced Earth and Nevermore are better heavy power metal bands.) One complaint is that occasionally the melodies are *too* reminiscent of Iron Maiden. But by and large, the similarities are a matter of style, not of actual content. Jacobs Dream could work on their vocal melodies a little more, however; occasionally the singer sounds as if he is yelling a tuneless stretch of notes rather than a melodic progression (the chorus of "Scape Goat" is an example). The singer (David Taylor) does have an excellent voice; it just needs to be put to better use.Jacobs Dream is apparently a Christian band but aren't afraid to attack difficult topics in their lyrics, such as condemning the Crusades ("Crusade"). There is nothing in the lyrics to offend those who don't like "preachiness" in music. In sum, a great album and not likely to disappoint anyone interested in melodic, slightly complex power metal.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good first effort., February 3, 2000
Keeping in mind that this is the first effort from this band, giving a 5-star rating is very rare. Usually I leave room for a band to grow as they get more experience. My only concern is that they won't be able to keep up this standard of excellence on upcoming cds. I found this cd to be easy to listen to, but interesting enough to hold my attention through the whole cd. Madhouse of Cain was very dark, but interesting. It didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the cd, but the follow-up song, Tale of Fears (which sounds like a Ray Bradbury story put to music), made for a nice transition. I look for Kinescope to be a hit single, and maybe Never Surrender as well. Violent Truth is just that...the truth about the violence inherent in the American society. Blackwatch is a very cool instrumental, and Scape Goat made me think of my daughter and the morals I'm teaching her. I guess good heavy metal can have some positive things to say. I just hope they can keep it up. If not, at least they did great on this one. One of the other reviews I read compared them to Queensryche and Iron Maiden. I'll guess that's because of the singer. I actually think he's much better than Bruce Dickinson, and there is a similarity between him and Geoff Tate, but the music isn't all that similar. There is more emotion in Jacob's Dream. I felt it as I laid on my floor with my headphones on. It just felt good. Perhaps because of the spiritual content of the lyrics, but the music gave me a comfortable yet powerful feeling...very powerful. I guess that could be another definition of "power metal." Not like thrash or death metal that makes me angry, but metal that made me feel very energetic...like I wanted to watch the first Rocky movie again. Like Rocky, these guys are unknown yet serious contenders. I'll be very curious about their next cd. Rocky 2 maybe?
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Queensryche + Rush + Stryper = Jacob's Dream, January 21, 2001
Without belaboring the point, these guys really do sound a lot like Queensryche, with the singer swinging between Geoff Tate and Geddy Lee imitations. Musically they are harder edged than most of Queensryche work, especially the later work like Q2K.The fact that the members of the band consider themselves "Christian" is hardly relevant to their work since they have learned that you don't have to be preachy to make awesome heavy metal. In fact, I didn't even notice any Christian tilt until I read the liner notes and a couple of the reviews here on Amazon. It would help other similar bands to learn a thing or two. As far as production goes, generally this is very clean for a debut. Some minor muddling here and there, sometimes the guitars are a little too *forward*, but compared to the wretched sonic mud of Helloween's "The Time of the Oath", this is flawless! As for the controversy about the singer, his voice can start to irritate if you listen to the whole CD at one whack. I found that I got tired of listening to it at about track 8. However if you listen to it half at a time, you'll be impressed because there isn't any filler in either half. Basically if you like early Queensryche (i.e. Queen of the Reich) and can tolerate a little more wailing than average, buy this. PS I only give 5 stars to albums that will be 10+ year classics.
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by Jacobs Dream 
