"The Scarecrow" CD by Avantasia

by Jürgen Tschamler (14.01.2008) Five years after the release of "The metal opera Part I & Part II", Edguy-frontman, Tobias Sammet returns with his project, Avantasia. The expectations are high but "The scarecrow" easily lives up to all of them. Alone the list of musicians is impressive: Alice Cooper, Eric Singer, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Jorn Lande, Amanda Somerville, Rudolf Schenker and Roy Khan, to name but a few. The album features the whole range of Heavy Rock. From the speed-like, very edgy songs, like "Devil in the belfry" via Stadium Rock songs, like "Lost in space" to Melodic Rock-hits and cliché-free ballads. Although the new album offers a lot of highlights, my favourites are "Another Angel down" and "The toy master": two perfect Metal hymns, the latter one featuring Alice Cooper. Also if "The scarecrow" thematically does not orientate in the two predecessors, this is a gigantic album. The musical variety is perfectly balanced, this is Metal entertainment on highest level!