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Rating: Here comes the reunion of "Crimson Glory"!
Well, well. The 5 American guys have returned to their roots (and that's a good thing!), unfortunately without Midnight.
The legendary power-metal band, in 1999, features Wade Black as the lead vocalist and Steve Wacholts as the drummer instead of Dana Burnell. I consider this album an excellent successor to their old discography, even though half of the old fans disagree. It turns out to be much more progressive with the addition of Egyptian sounds, distorted voices, and much darker background effects. Sure, Wade Black isn’t Midnight, but he still totally kicks it.
One could say this album is a nice masterpiece although incomparable with the first two and perhaps the real beauty is found in the extra CD where there are 3 live tracks from 1989 with those sonic moments that are "Painted Skies", "Queen of the Masquerade", and "Lost Reflection".
The CD of unreleased tracks consists of 10 explosive tracks, including a 20-minute bonus track (it’s not a song, but a live report of a UFO sighting!): the first track is the introduction to the entire suite "March To Glory", a very famous melody, heard and reheard; but already from the first two songs "War of The Worlds" and "New World Machine", the references to the apocalypse and the victory of robots over mankind are clear (powerful, catchy, and infectious!); "Astronomica", "Edge of Forever", and "Touch of The Sun" are the pearls of the album that range from the classic metal sound to the exotic Egyptian sounds (not technical but enjoyable and unique). And how could we miss the theme of the antichrist: listen closely to "Lucifer's Hammer", "Cyber-Christ", and "Cydonia" and you will be enchanted.
All in all a good work, even though in my opinion a bit fantastical. A solid sequel that especially distances itself from that botch of "Strange and Beautiful". The most interesting thing that I haven’t mentioned yet is "The Other Side of Midnight": the key song in which Wade Black self-identifies as the other half of Midnight, with clear references to the band’s past story.
You are not me!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
04 Astronomica (04:54)
[Music: J. Drenning, J. Lords]
[Lyrics: B. Martinez, J. Drenning]
Focused on eternity
Ancient gaze...into the morning sun
Tell me now...What do you see?
Hiding...Celestial mysteries
I See...
Astronomica...
Years of light away
Second sister to the eternal sun
I can't believe my eyes
That the prophecies have come
Stretched beyond the limits
Out into the unknown
No words that I can give it
Except "my mind is blown"
[Chorus:]
World's spinning round in space
Lonely star without a face
Left by ourselves we trace
Our footsteps back
To Astronomica...
A twinkle in the eye of a past life's memory
Something that I used to think...
Someone I used to be...
I see...
[chorus]
[lead]
[chorus]
I can't believe my eyes
That the prophecies have come...
[end]
["There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint with terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken." - Luke 21: 25-26; Matthew 24:29]
10 Cydonia (27:05)
God whispered out to me from outer space
His voice echoed then disappeared without a trace...
Beyond the light of the sun...
Beyond the edge of forever...
I hear the angels sing...
[Chorus:]
Cydonia - city I see in dreams
City I see in dreams
Cydonia - shrouded in mystery
You stare out in space all alone
God's eyes stare down at me from outer space
He looked deep in side of me...a lonely place...
Beyond the light of the sun...
Beyond the edge of forever...
I hear the angels sing...
[Chorus:]
Cydonia - City I see in dreams
City I see in dreams
Cydonia - Shrouded in mystery
Cydonia - City I see in dreams
Starlight's majesty
Cydonia - Shrouded in mystery
You stare out in space all alone
[lead I]
[chorus]
[lead II]
[end]
["Despite our shortness of breath and beating of our hearts, the Martian sphinx (Cydonia) looks natural - not artificial, not a dead ringer for a humanface... But I might be wrong." - Carl Sagan, from A Demon-Haunted World]
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