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Rating: I have always believed that the history of Teutonic power metal can ideally be divided into two major periods, taking 1995 as a hypothetical dividing line, the year of the release of "Land Of The Free" by Gamma Ray and "Imaginations From The Other Side" by Blind Guardian.
On the one hand, these albums can (I would say peacefully) still be counted among the absolute peaks of the genre, on the other hand, it is precisely thanks to their release that power metal exponentially increased its audience, eventually embarking on that regressive process that reduced it to being one of the worst ways to waste one's time.
However, I believe that many of the criticisms directed at the genre (and its listeners) today lose their validity when applied to many older productions. First, because until the early '90s at least, Teutonic power metal was a genre not yet bogged down in the repeated rehashing of its own standards. Nor should it be forgotten that the entire scene consisted of a relatively small number of bands and was not yet crowded with dozens of photocopy groups, useless collaborations, and musical projects verging on the ridiculous. The average listener could then enjoy a song from start to finish without the fear of getting stuck in yet another concept in fourteen parts inspired by Tolkien's son's first-grade essays, or another endless neoclassical run in "tapping for bunion & orchestra". But above all, it should be noted that, at least in Italy, power metal certainly did not have a large following. Also due to the grunge invasion from overseas, defense of the metal frontiers was entrusted to groups now distant from the '80s tradition, such as Machine Head or Pantera, or to the much more extreme black and death scenes. To top it all off, there was also the fact that even albums from the most well-known bands (take, for example, Running Wild) were difficult to find.
"Trapped!" ('92), the sixth studio album by the band led by the histrionic bassist-singer Peavy Wagner, fits perfectly into this picture of a power not yet "corrupted" and, indeed, represents one of its best exemplars.
Already two years earlier, with the good "Reflections Of A Shadow," the trio had demonstrated they had left behind the compositional uncertainties of their early work, to embark on an evolutionary path that would find a partial halt only eight years later with the release of the nevertheless more than respectable "XIII." Strong not only because of a technically capable and well-experienced lineup but also and above all due to Peavy Wagner's growing awareness of his compositional abilities, the band manages to produce an extremely dynamic, multifaceted album in which all the representative elements of the genre find their fullest expression.
A good part of the credit must undoubtedly be attributed to Manni Schmidt’s guitar work which, with "Trapped!" precisely develops his typical blend of thrash reminiscences, excessive use of artificial harmonics, and innate taste for melody, synthesizing an aggressive, nervous riffing, yet always very "musical" and catchy. In the guitarist's hands, for instance, the "typical" power scraper is literally disassembled and reassembled without an instruction manual into tense, seemingly "limping" rhythms that almost seem to forcibly fit into the 4/4 beat of the double bass drum (listen, for instance, to the very tight "Solitary Man", but also the thrashy "Medicine" or the neurotic attack of "Power & Greed").
The result is an album that almost doesn’t care about sounding "metal" at all costs. An album in which Peavy's voice, now partially skimmed of those excessive raspiness that detracted from his early performances, seems to have a lot of fun in a flurry of choruses that seem written specifically to be sung at the top of one’s lungs in the shower, danceable melodies, and catchy vocal lines. And it’s no coincidence that, to rise above all else, are precisely the two tracks in which the melodic-anthemic component is predominant: "Enough Is Enough" (somewhat the anthem of this first phase of the band’s career, where the nice round of legato supporting the verses stands out) and, above all, "Take Me To The Water" (a little melodic metal gem for both young and old).
I believe it’s wrong to consider German power metal as a single cauldron of boiling brown matter where it’s impossible to separate the excrement from the chocolate.
Because I am convinced that some bands and some albums deserve a different and better treatment, at least considering the period in which they appeared and the audience they were intended for.
Rage is one of those bands. "Trapped!" is one of those albums.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Shame on You (04:52)
Leader of the state
Now, as there's the time for changes
The growing fear and hate,
It will cost you your head, dictator
Grown from the heart
Bursting out to break the silence
A will to be free
People have remembered the sun
Oh, you know it's up to you
So many years - it's much too long that you have fooled
A whole nation
Slink away and set us fee
We live our lives as it's meant to be
You know inside that it's true, so shame on you
You and your pack
You shouldn't have been so selfish
Lost from the start
Injustice your best companion
No, you cannot save your skin
'Cause every day a new life will begin
And you won't be in
Slink away and set us free
We live our lives as it's meant to be
You know we're right and it's true, so shame on you
Slink away...
03 Enough Is Enough (06:43)
We send satellites to space
And we own the biggest missiles
We give millions of support for technology
But still we can't even live in peace with our neighbour
Most of us are insane of neuroses
Enough is enough - you can control
Enough is enough - those who don't know
Faster - this world is heading straight into a big disaster
Tell me, when will it reach its end?
Bigger - when moneymakers stamp our souls with technology
Believe me, this got to reach an end
All this misery in our minds will break free, you will see...
Social psychology - seek the key for our salvation
This science needs more support, it could help that
The understanding of the single person can grow,
But who pays
'Cause if we stay weak we are much better to use
Enough is enough - head over heart
Enough is enough - right from the start
Faster - this world is heading straight into a big disaster
Tell me, when will it reach its end?
Bigger - when moneymakers stamp our souls with technology
Believe me, this got to reach an end
All this misery in our minds will break free, you will see...
Science is only as good or as bad
As the people who use it
And if we want to have a tomorrow
We should take ten percent of the money from our armies
And develop the minds of our nations
Enough is enough - you can control
Enough is enough - those who don't know
Faster - this world is heading straight into a big disaster
Tell me, when will it reach its end?
Bigger - when moneymakers stamp our souls with technology
Believe me, this got to reach an end
Faster - a victory 'bout fear, this is the greatest glory
Believe me, the first step has been made
Bigger - the real progress - another quality in our way of life
From quantity to quality
Away from misery in our minds, make them free, it's got to be...
11 Baby, I'm Your Nightmare (05:23)
When it is night and there is darkness in your room
You hear a sound with sharpened ears
Then it is me 'cause I return from time to time
And I have heard your silent tears
You lock your bedroom door and close the window
Indeed you know that there is no way to hide
I get in from the door on the backside
Baby, I'm your nightmare
But I know that you will like the creeps
'Cause nothing thrills like scary deeds
I know that you will like the creeps
You know you'll like the creeps
We learned to know each other many years ago
And in those days I was your man
We never could have been a couple, you and me
But still I do the best I can
To make your sheets alive and fill the space up
That all the others still were leaving behind
To make that sweat is running down your spine
Baby, I'm your nightmare...
We make your sheets alive and fill the space up
That all the others still were leaving behind
To make that sweat is running down your spine
Baby, I'm your nightmare...
You know you can't get over me
'Cause I can set desire free
When moonlight's shining through the trees
I'm coming from your fantasies
You need that dirty mad dog, me
You cannot live without, you see
And when it's dreamtime I'll return
To feed the flame in you, it burns for me,
'Cause I'm your nightmare
Baby I'm your nightmare
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By ilfreddo
It’s a dirty sound, pleasantly rusty and melodic, that creeps into your ears and doesn’t leave easily.
Rage really knew how to break the spine of a song and pick up the thread before the end credits.
