Freedom Call
The Circle Of Life

INTRODUCTION

Today spring has arrived. I turn around and see couples kissing, ice cream vendors making "a day" in five minutes. As a backdrop, a sun shining narcissistically and majestically, offering a delightful temperature: that mythical and paradisiacal neither too hot nor too cold. Not even the wind comes to disturb, and if I look around, I see only smiles; even the pigeons are happily walking about, out of the way, and in a typical Disney-like happy ending context, the temp agency calls to tell me I'll start working Monday morning. So you'll forgive me if today I'm happy and I want to talk to you about sonic cotton candy...

METAL BEER

The first one slides down, down the esophagus, smoother than ever. It must have been the pizza that made me really thirsty, I say, but soon the second pint is in my hands. Oh yes, the pint of beer!!! The small one, let's face it, is a rip-off; the liter, while impressive, does not please me as it tends to warm the amber liquid when you reach the bottom. Nevertheless, the evening is one of those cheerful ones and in good company: that right mix of jokers, friendly girls, and the desire to make a bit of healthy noise, absolutely not annoying, for no particular reason. It's precisely in these cases, (when there are no damn birthdays or anniversaries to be celebrated as if they were unwritten obligations), that the most unexpectedly fun and successful nights often emerge. At the third (pint), my characteristic layer of coolness wears off, and after a restroom break, I start having serious fun. The fourth, with the help of greasy fries, goes down with difficulty (I don't hold well, I know), but by now I'm on a roll, and the bitter and the limoncello offered do the rest. We decide, after a fun stagger and laugh, to go to a friend's vacant house, and in this state of drunkenness, while the teetotaler and wise one of the company drives my car, I play Freedom Call loudly on the CD player.
The German band, dedicated to what I renamed as "beer-happy metal," is absolutely perfect in this situation with its stadium-like choruses. Soon I find myself singing at the top of my lungs the songs with gaudy lyrics written strictly at the A1-a level of English. But ultimately, who cares: for once, let's disconnect the brain and let ourselves go!!! The alcoholic evening continues with liveliness amid delirious conversations, table football matches, card games, laughter, and invented dances. While bursts of laughter, photos, and videos abound, the music of Freedom Call keeps pleasing us. Easy and impactful music, so shameless and ingratiating as to be able to start with the chorus in some instances.

THE RECORD

The refrain, of "Carry On" for example, is Oktoberfest translated into music with moderate tempos for a joyful and exuberant anthem that seems like a cartoon theme with the addition of electric guitar. Put in a pan a bit of double bass, with about a quarter of a pound of ultra-melodic butter, and here you have the brash sauce called "High Enough.” But if you want the illusion of powerful heavy metal, let yourself be captured by the riffing of "Hunting High And Low" and enjoy it as it melts in a double boiler as you approach the chorus. A dash to the east for a nice arpeggio in the crescendo "Hero Nations," and a return to '80s keyboards with "Starlight.” Do not miss the easy-listening march "Eternal Flame" with Manowar-like reminiscences and close with champagne thanks to the panties-dropping ballad "Circle Of Life.” And who knows, from a night begun by chance, an intense but fleeting love story might also arise.

EPILOGUE

The day after, with a dry mouth and a not insignificant headache, I get up and after a detour to the toilet, I feel an irresistible need to swallow a good liter of fresh water. In the early afternoon, I dress to take a wholesome walk in the open air, but just before closing the door, I find last night's CD on the chest staring at me. So, just for fun, I try to listen to it briefly without much conviction: obviously, it turns out to be unlistenable and terribly empty.
To appreciate a record like this, you indeed need to be happy and cheerful. A drunkenness at a party, a day begun or ended in the best way, an unexpected surprise, a crush, or a good result achieved; these are some of the contexts in which "Circle Of Life" (and the entire discography of Freedom Call in general) does not remain a pasty and baroque set of well-played and sung melodies, but rises to a source of contagious joy. In short, translating into ratings, if you put yourself in the shoes of the knowing critic and listen to this band when you're angry, serious, or pensive, trying perhaps to examine the elementary lyrics and the originality of the melodic lines: a straight 1. But if, like me, you manage to enjoy Freedom Call and "Circle of Life" or "Eternity" when you're like this :)... Well, in these cases, the rating soars and perhaps you'll understand why I even gave it a dizzying, and in some ways scandalous, 4.