Power & Glory Forever!

HB

Songs

1. God Has All Glory
2. It Is Time
3. Be Aware
4. Holy Secret
5. Frozen Inside
6. Years Go By
7. Ambition
8. Way
9. Lovesong

There really isn't a need to break down the review by song, because the band uses a standard formula throughout the album. You have slightly operatic female vocals over crunchy guitar and symphonic keyboard arrangments. The tempo of the songs do vary quite a bit. Songs like "God Has All The Glory" and "It Is Time" have a slightly power metal feel to the tempo of the songs. "Be Aware" and "Ambition" have a prog metal feel to them. There are several ballads as well.

The production on the album is flawless, and the mix is good, but the vocals may be a little too up front for some tastes. Johanna has a beautiful voice though, and her vocal melodies are strong, so it doesn't bother me. Essentially, if you like one HB song, you will probably like them all.

Queensrÿche

Production
While many consider Operation: Mindcrime to be Queensryche's masterpiece, I consider Empire to be the band's pinnacle when it comes to production values. The seperation of instruments in the mix, the use of various analog and digital textures, and the layered vocals all combine to produce sonic brilliance. American Soldier does not reach the heights of Empire to my ears, but it rivals Mindcrime. In fact, the drum sound on American Soldier is very similar to Mindcrime, as well as the fact that it is also a concept album. I also like the use of spoken dialogue (interviews of soldiers) which also is reminiscent of Mindcrime. Where American Soldier suffers is in the area of dynamics. The mix sounds very muddy at times, and there are some missed opportunities throughout the disc where the emotion could have been ramped or punched up. I lay this at the feet of producers Jason Slater and Kelly Gray. Neither guy has shown in their past that they understand the dynamics of progressive metal.

Songwriting
I have a real problem with the songwriting credits on American Soldier, and it's this. Michael Wilton, the guitarist of the band, either did not contribute to the songwriting or did not get credit. I have a hard time believing that Wilton, a founding member, would forfeit his writing credits, so he must not have contributed to the writing. How does that happen in a metal band?

Metal is based around the riff, and if your guitarist is not contributing riffs, what's he doing? I believe that Wilton's absence in the songwriting is the reason that American Soldier is largely mid-tempo, almost ambient soundscapes.

Scott Rockenfield turns in one of his more inspired performances, and Wilton does play some incredible leads, but the overbearing weight of the sonic landscape blunts the crispness of the drums and leads. Again, I lay this at the feet of Slater, a member of the industrial band Snake River Conspiracy.

I will give due credit to the member of the duo who is responsible for the vocal production. While Geoff Tate does not have the range he once has, he has learned to use his instrument very effectively, and the production work on his vocals is masterful. In fact, it's Tate's vocals that carry the album.

Genre
There has been a lot of talk around the Internet about whether this is a metal album or not. For the most part, it isn't, but there are metal moments on the disc. "Man Down!" could be a Warning outtake if it were more uptempo. It's the one song where metal riffing, screaming vocals, and a smoking solo come together. Unfortunately, it's also one of the more straightforward, uninteresting tracks, both musically and lyrically.

There is also the question of whether this is a progressive album or not. Again, for the most part, the answer is no. There are some interesting song arrangements, but the production team just doesn't know how to refine the musical ideas into dynamic songs. The saxophone doesn't punch through like it should (see Pink Floyd); the dialogue sounds muffeled at times and too loud at others; and the middle sections just aren't given enough room to breathe.

With Wilton not contributing in the songwriting department, the brief instrumental sections come off sounding generic, and unlike on Promised Land, there is no central prog track.
3 Swords Up (out of 5)!

Impellitteri

1. WICKED MAIDEN
The song begins with a nice guitar riff, and except for the double bass drumming, this song could have been on Dokken's Back For The Attack album. In fact, during the verses, this is a fairly generic 80's metal song with a very 80's keyboard sound.

2. LAST OF A DYING BREED
I used to be a big fan of neo-classical metal, and this song is a really good neo-classical song. It's easy to see why it is the lead single from the album. There's a nice call and response vocal in the verse, some high screams, and a nice neo-classical guitar riff. A lot of pinch harmonics on this one. It would have been nice if Impellitteri would have employed a few different tricks, because the constant use of pinch harmonics gets old after awhile.

3. WEAPONS OF MASS DISTORTION
Impellitteri is one of the cleanest guitarists around. This song really highlights his playing and shows the complete mastery he has of his instrument. There is also some nice piano on this track by Roth.

4. GARDEN OF EDEN
Guitarists and lovers of guitar will love Impellitteri's soloing on this track, but other than the solos, this is an uninteresting track.

5. THE VISION
This would have been a really nice instrumental. Rob Rock has one of the greatest voices in metal, but I think I would have rather heard Impellitteri cut loose on guitar here. The song begins strong with some awesome guitar, but I lost interest as soon as Rock's voice kicked in. Also, tiny piano does not = metal.

6. EYES OF AN ANGEL
7. HI-SCOOL REVOLUTION
At this point in the album, the songs begin to sound very similar. Each song begins with a melodic guitar riff with pinched harmonics and a mini-solo. They are all mid-paced songs as well. This band loses my interest at this speed.

8. WONDERFUL LIFE
"Wonderful Life" picks the pace back up. Like on "Weapons Of Mass Distortion" there is some nice interplay between Impellitteri and Roth which reminds me of the Yngwie Malmsteen/Jens Johnansson interplay on Malmsteen's classic albums. Again, the band breaks no new ground here, but the song works to their strengths.

9. HOLY MAN
This song is the keeper for me. There is some nice syncopation here, and I wish they had explored this somewhat proggy sound more on the album. Impellitteri lets the keyboards carry more of the load on this song which gives him a break from having to fill up so much space in the music. Also, there's some cool narration on the track along with some gang vocals. The more I listen to this song, the more I like it.

10. THE BATTLE RAGES ON
This is a cool closing track, and I think it should have been the title track of the release. This track, along with "Holy Man" sounds more current and relevant (at least in the speed metal world) than the rest of the album. Rock sings in a lower register here and sounds ominous. This decision is genius, because it fits the subject matter of the song. Also, the band switches up tempos on this track as they did on "Holy Man." It would have been epic of them, if they would have combined these two tracks into one suite, with a middle section which would have allowed Impellitteri to shred some more.