Generations / Journey (2005)

1. Fain In The Heartland

2. The Place In Your Heart

3. A Better Life

4. Every Generation

5. Butterfly (She Flies Alone)

6. Believe

7. Knowing That You Love Me

8. Out Of Harms Way

9. In Self-Defense

10. Better Together

11. Gone Crazy

12. Beyond The Clouds

13. It's Never Too Late

The departure of Steve Perry was a great loss for the band. Nevertheless, they proved that their music is still unchanged and strong with their new singer Steve Augeri and the last album. "Arrival" went beyond my expectation, I was really looking forward to the new album when the band announced that they would release one.

At the beginning, it was a dramatic opening with track 1 and 2. These two songs really reassured me how Steve Augeri matched with this band. Then, it goes to track 3, and I posed for a moment. The voice did not sound like Steve Augeri. I checked the notes in the jacket, and Deen Castronovo was credited as a lead singer for the song. I realized each members took lead vocals in at least one song. This album was very irregular. But, I really liked track 3 as well (surprisingly, he did pretty good job on track 13 too). However, the problem was from track 4. After that, the melody lines were not very attractive. The melody has always been their core essence of the sound, but it is very weak in this album. The ballad, track 7, was not bad, yet the album is restrained overall. 

The only relief is that Neal Schon's guitar play keeps high tension in this album. But, this album taught me that how vocal melody lines were important for this band. If this is a new band, I would be pretty impressed, but in this band's standard, I have to rank this album low...

☆☆

Angel Of Retribution / Judas Priest (2005)

1. Judas Rising

2. Deal With The Devil

3. Revolution

4. Worth Fighting For

5. Demonizer

6. Wheels Of Fire

7. Angel

8. Hellrider

9. Eulogy

10. Lochness

In 2003, the news of the reunion of Judas Priest and Rob Halford ran through the world. Luckily, I was able to see their concert at Ozzfest 2004. It was truly a greatest hits live. I could not deny that they were all getting old, but they played with all of their heart. It was astonishing live. When it was announced that they were making a new album, I was half excited and half worried. Halford and the band both wandered off from the music that fans expect them during 90's. Can they still make pure metal? Soon after the release, I learned that my fear was needless.

From track 1, they made a strong statement with the message and music of the song. Judas Priest has returned!! This album really summarized their whole career, they put out what fans really expected. 

1. Judas Rising

A powerful opening number. It is not fast but has a strong message in music and lyrics.

2. Deal With The Devil

One of my favorites in this album. Obviously, his high tone voice is not as strong as it used to be. No one can fight against their age (Bruce Dickinson is very exceptional). But, he still has strong mid-range voice.

3. Revolution

The lead single. A nice mid-tempo song that reminds me of songs from "British Steel" or "Screaming For Vengeance". 

4. Worth Fighting For

This song has the mood of their earlier career in 70's.

5. Demonizer

I was bit surprised with this song. This song can be in "Demolition" or "Jugulator". But, the guitar solo is very straightforward metal.

6. Wheels Of Fire

This is another song has the feeling of their early 80's albums. 

7. Angel

In their career in 70's, ballad songs were essence of this band. They made another great ballad song. This song is really dramatic and moving. The arrangement is very similar to the acoustic version of "Diamond And Rust".

8. Hellrider

As they have created monsters in their songs, they created another one. This is another killer tune that is comparable to songs such as "Painkiller" or "Night Crawler". 

9. Eulogy

This is a song that flows into the next song. It is very dark yet dramatic.

10. Lochness

The most progressive song they ever have written. I think this song really summarized their career. This song has such big scale. It is dramatic, dark, and sometimes even mysterious. This is a kind of song they have never done before.

Overall, they did everything that they were expected as "Judas Priest". However, the great point of this album is that it is not just nostalgia. They still have enthusiasm as musician and strong will to challenge themselves as musician.

☆☆☆☆☆ 

Aeronautics / Masterplan (2005)

1. Crimson Rider

2. Back For My Life

3. Wounds

4. I'm Not Afraid

5. Headbanger's Ball Room

6. After This War

7. Into The Arena

8. Dark From The Dying

9. Falling Sparrow

10. Back In The Burn

The last album was a high quality metal album, but the most of the songs were written before they had a permanent vocal. Therefore, they did not write songs anticipating Jorn singing, so this album is the first one they made as a band. Jorn's strength lies on low to mid-range voice. This album features his voice well. 

As I mentioned before, what makes this band unique and not a typical power metal band is Jorn's voice. The lead single, track 2, is a heavy and slow yet very dramatic and features Jorn's voice well. The only typical melodic power metal song, track 3, sounds bit strange in this album even though the song itself is good. I think the highlight of this album is track 4. It is very powerful, and the minor melody really matches with Jorn's voice. The same thing can applies to tracks 6 and 9. When Jorn sings minor melody, it sounds much more sad than other singers. The progressive number, track 10, is very dramatic and cool as well.

This album does not have as much impact as the last album, but they featured Jorn's voice better this time, and the band became tighter this time.

☆☆☆☆

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.

☆☆☆☆☆