Plague-House Puppet Show / Twilightning (2004)

1. Plague-House Puppet Show

2. Into Treason

3. The Fiend

4. Victim Of Deceit

5. Painting The Blue Eyes

6. In The Fervor's Frontier

7. Fever Pitch

8. Diamonds Of Mankind

9. Riot Race

10. Lubricious Thoughts

11. Goddess Of Fortune

12. Wind-Up Toy

The first album was a great discovery for me. I was looking forward to their second album. They did not disappoint my expectation. The thing that I really liked about the last album was the arrangement of the song. It had a lot of rhythm change and modulation and sounded progressive but not complicated. The differences from the last album are that sound became more pop, and their influence from 80's music became more obvious. Some people took that change negatively. Nevertheless, I am really pleased with the sound. They were already an unique band in this genre, melodic power metal. I think they really established their style, and this album really represents the music they wanted to do.

Amazing thing about this band is the number of riffs that they came up with and dense quality of each of them. Keyboard brings good sound of 80's back to this album. Their composition also kept high quality this time. Especially, track 8 is astonishing. It has dramatic progression in the song. I think this song is condensed with their composition skill and musicianship. Too bad this band no longer exists. Even just for a short-term, I want them to reunite. 

☆☆☆☆

The System Has Failed / Megadeth (2004)

1. Blackmail the Universe

2. Die Dead Enough

3. Kick the Chair

4. The Scorpion

5. Tears in a Vial

6. I Know Jack

7. Back in the Day

8. Something That I'm Not

9. Truth Be Told

10. Of Mice and Men

11. Shadow of Deth

12. My Kingdom

Since Dave Mustaine came back to the scene, he has never failed to meet expectation as Megadeth release their albums. It all started from this album, "The system has failed". When I heard that Dave left the metal scene due to his injury, that was truly devastating. When I heard his return, I was so excited and really looking forward to their new album. And then, this album came out. 

To be honest, I did not have strong impression when I listened to the album for the first time. I always considered Dave as the riff master, and I felt that there was not enough aggression and hook in riffs. However, as I listened to the album more, I realized that I was wrong. I think this album is the most melodious album of all time in their career. Songs such as "Die Dead Enough", "The Scorpion", and "Tears In Vial" has such beautiful minor melody lines. 

Riffs are very cool and show how Dave Mustaine is still the riff master. First, as I mentioned above, I did not have strong impression on riffs, but then I realized that riffs in this album were very melodious as well. Songs such as "Blackmail The Universe", "Kick The Chair", and "Back In The Day" show that Dave has not lost aggression and edge even though he is no longer an angry man he used to be. I have to say Dave Mustaine is one of few song writers that is from 80's who still make songs that are equivalent or perhaps better than some of his classic catalogs. 

☆☆☆☆

Sonic Firestorm / DragonForce (2004)

1. My Spirit Will Go On

2. Fury of the Storm

3. Fields of Despair

4. Dawn Over a New World

5. Above the Winter Moonlight

6. Soldiers of the Wastelands

7. Prepare for War

8. Once In A Lifetime

9. Cry of the Brave

The debut album was very sensational yet also rough and unrefined ore. With this album, they basically continued the same music direction. As they did with the last album, they still stuck with speed except the ballad track 4. However, there was a lot of improvement in this album. First, the sound production was much improved from the last album. Second, the song arrangements and melody lines were better deliberated. Some of the songs in the last album sounded redundant, but the songs in this album is well arranged.

I listened to this album at CD store. From the beginning of track 1, the dramatic metal journey had begun. DragonForce world goes quick with speed. My personal highlights are tracks 1 and 6. They still shows strong obsession to speed, yet they also brought more variety in rhythm and riffs. Because of that new attempt with arrangement, it makes the fast parts stand out even more. Melody lines have better hook, and each song became more distinguishable from other songs. This album was a big step-up for the band and made me looking forward to the next one.

☆☆☆☆

Unbreakable / Scorpions (2004)

1. New Generation

2. Love 'em Or Leave 'em

3. Deep And Dark

4. Borderline

5. Blood Too Hot

6. Maybe I Maybe You

7. Someday Is Now

8. My City My Town

9. Through My Eyes

10. Can You Feel It

11. This Time

12. She Said

13. Remember The Good Times

14. Dreamers (Japanese Release Only)

15. Too Far (Japanese Release Only)

This is my favorite Scorpions album in last 20 years. This album reminds me of them in 70's. For some reasons, this album really makes me emotional. Sound wise, the album is very heavy, but the melody reminds me of Uli Jon Roth era.

In 70's they were not big in the U.S. yet. Nevertheless, they were already pretty popular in Europe and Japan. I believe that the reason why they became famous in Japan at that time was beautiful minor melody they created. The songs were not so commercial yet had vibe that matched with Japanese people's senses. It was not so pop as they were in 80's, but it grabbed Japanese people's heart. This album has the same vibe that they used to have.

"Love 'em Or Leave 'em", "Deep and Dark", "Maybe I Maybe You", "Through My Eyes", these songs have good feeling of 70's. They, of course, have awesome ballads such as "She Said" and "Dreamer". "Dreamer is a bonus track in Japanese version of the album, but this song immediately became one of my favorite Scorpions song. This is one the best pieces that they ever wrote, and I don't understand why this song is not in the worldwide release. This album was a hit of this band for me for the longest time.

☆☆☆☆☆

The Burning / Thunderstone (2004)

1. Until We Touch The Burning Sun

2. Break The Emotions

3. Mirror Never Lies

4. The Star Man

5. Spire

6. Sea Of Sorrow

7. Side By Side

8. Drawn To The Flame

9. Forth into The Black

10. Evil Within

Their last album had good metal songs yet bashed as a copy of Stratovarius by some critics. I don't know if they heard that or not, but this album was a big step up! The surprise started from track 1. They brought a mid-tempo song at the beginning. The song is very progressive and arranged well. It was a happy surprise for me. Track 2 is a typical Stratovarius type speed metal song. There are some more of the same kind of speed metal songs. However, the highlights of the album are track 1 and 9. They are very progressive and dramatic. In this respect, it is little similar to Masterplan.

This musical direction was even extended in next album, and the band started getting out of typical speed/power metal music.

☆☆☆☆