EDGUY
“Monuments” (2017)
Heavy/Power Metal
Nuclear Blast Records
The cheerful German power metal quintet celebrates 25 years on the scene with a comprehensive best-of release titled “Monuments”
If Edguy was an actual guy, he’d be desperately looking for work and trying to find his calling, struggling with all sorts of existential crises and looking for the answers at the bottom of the bottle. Fortunately, since Edguy is a band, being 25 years old means a quarter of a century of struggling with the ever-changing music industry and succeeding to a large extent. This German power metal quintet decided to celebrate the occasion with a mishmash of new songs, old songs and a live album all packed up in a box set aptly titled “Monuments”.
The album, available July 14th on their longtime partner and label Nuclear Blast, contains five brand new tracks with input from most of the band members, highly unusual since the singer and frontman of the band Tobias Sammet is usually the only guy in charge of songwriting with an occasional input by guitarist Jens Ludwig.
The album also features two CD’s worth of greatest hits, greatest B-sides and greatest not-really-that-great tracks. To top it all off, the band decided to dust off an old live recording taken in Sao Paulo during their 2004 “Worldwide Hellfire Tour” that takes us back to the times Sammet could easily pull off the mid-air split a la David Lee Roth.
I guess it would be appropriate to talk about the new tracks first. As previously mentioned, the tracks contain input by guitarists Jens Ludwig and Dirk Sauer as well as bass player Tobias Exxel. As a result, the tracks are definitely a breath of fresh air and even call back to their glory power metal days, mainly through the tracks such as “Landmarks” and “The Mountaineer”.
On the other hand, tracks penned by Sammet, namely “Ravenblack” and “Open Sesame” pick up exactly where 2014’s “Space Police: Defenders of the Crown” left off. Although the tracks possess a certain B-Side quality, everyone who’s even remotely familiar with Edguy knows that this is a very positive remark. Just remember outstanding tracks like “Holy Water”, “Spooks in the Attic” or “Judas at the Opera” (all included in the latest release) and you’ll catch my drift.
Speaking of misinterpreting remarks, the earlier not-so-funny quip about “not-really-that-great tracks” is also meant in the best way possible. Rather than including only the best of the best, “Monuments” also contains a few tracks that may not have been as huge as “King of Fools” or “Superheroes” like “9-2-9” or “Rock of Cashel”, but are still very strong tracks that represent the many sides of Sammet’s creativity.
Finally, the last disc in the form of a DVD contains an entire live show and the band’s entire videography. We’ve already had the chance to glimpse at some of the tracks recorded at that show on the 2005 DVD titled “Superheroes”. This time the band decided to release the entire performance to the joy of many who were left longing for more after hearing and seeing how the band sounded at the time that they finally broke through into the mainstream metal scene and toured around the globe.
“Monuments” may not be the full, long-awaited 11th studio album by the wisecracking Germans, but it is a great way to celebrate an occasion like this one. The album has everything a die-hard fan may want to hear and see as well as a great package filled with a vast collection of photos taken straight from the band’s archives. If that doesn’t make a fine birthday gift for their fans, I don’t know what does!
Written by Jovan Ristić
Tracklist:
CD1
01. Ravenblack
02. Wrestle The Devil
03. Open Sesame
04. Landmarks
05. The Mountaineer
06. 9-2-9
07. Defenders Of The Crown
08. Save Me
09. The Piper Never Dies
10. Lavatory Love Machine
11. King Of Fools
12. Superheroes
13. Love Tyger
14. Ministry Of Saints
15. Tears Of A Mandrake
CD2
01. Mysteria
02. Vain Glory Opera
03. Rock Of Cashel
04. Judas At The Opera
05. Holy Water
06. Spooks In The Attic
07. Babylon
08. The Eternal Wayfarer
09. Out Of Control
10. Land Of The Miracle
11. Key To My Fate
12. Space Police
13. Reborn in The Waste
The cheerful German power metal quintet celebrates 25 years on the scene with a comprehensive best-of release titled “Monuments”