Night castle --- Trans-Siberian Orchestra --- 2009 (Lava)
Essentially a side-project, and then the continuation of Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) have carved themselves out a name for accomplished blend of classical, symphonic rock music and metal that somehow meshes to become something which is more than the sum of its parts. Created by producer Paul O'Neill, with ex-Savatage members Jon Olivia and Al Pitrelli, TSO have to date sold over eight million albums and as many concert tickets.
This is their fifth album, and to date, their most recent, released in 2009. It's a double album, so there's a lot to get through. Let's get started then, shall we? If you're sitting comfortably, we'll begin. Actually, I don't care whether or not you're sitting comfortably: I have a job to do, you know!
It starts with a reworking of Verdi's “Requiem”, which they title “Night enchanted”, with lots of keyboards and choral voices, and of course guitars. It's really impressive to hear heavy metal and classical mixed together so well, and working one off the other. It gets very quiet and restrained in the middle then, with a female vocal and another classical piece, which I know but can't place, then back to the “Requiem”. The choir is really powerful and expressive, and adds a real punch to the music. And this is only track one!
Next up is a quiet piano-driven ballad called “Childhood dreams”, with strong solo male vocal from Jay Pierce, joined by guitar, but there's an unnecessarily forceful moment in the song which detracts from the pure beauty of it. Pity. It should have been a tender ballad but feels a little forced. Tim Hockenberry does a great impression of Joe Cocker on “Sparks”, a straight rock song with no classical leanings, while “The Mountain” is a brilliant fusion of Grieg's “Hall of the Mountain King” and Holst's “Mars, the bringer of war” from the “Planets suite”. This was previously featured under another title on the Savatage album “Hall of the Mountain King.”
There are a
huge number of people involved in this album, so it's hard to pick out individual performances or comment on the guitar playing of one or the keyboard skills of another, and as the album is a double I won't be going through every track, though I will try to mention most if not all of them, even if in passing. Rather than pick out musical contributions then, I intend to review this on the basis of its entireity, and how the songs and pieces fit together. So far, I'm damn impressed, I can tell you!
The title track is next, and it's the closest to material from Savatage's “The wake of Magellan” that I've heard on this album so far, with “The safest way into tomorrow” another male vocal ballad, Jay Pierce again. The guy has a very operatic voice, enunciating every word and sounding very cultured indeed, like one of those three tenors or something. Great guitar work in this too. “Mozart and memories” is an excellent reworking of Mozart's Symphony No. 25, and “Another way to die” is another rocker, again in the style of “Magellan”. Spellbinding piano solo on this one, then we're into “Toccata --- Carpimus Noctern”, another great reworking of a classical piece. I first heard Bach's “Toccata and fugue” when Sky interpreted it on their “Sky 2” album, and I loved it, but this gives it real teeth and claws!
“The lion's roar” interprets the traditional Irish ballad “The minstrel boy”, with just trumpet for about a minute and a half, then the drums and guitar blast in to take the rest of the track, with keyboards cutting in too, the whole thing getting a little funky without losing its basic rock core. “Dreams we conceive” is an organ and piano-led ballad, Jeff Scott Soto this time taking vocal duties, stabbing guitars soon taking it up a notch to end up a real power ballad, one of the best tracks on the album so far, to these ears.
“Mother and son” is forty seconds of talk between I guess a Vietnamese or possibly Japanese mother and her child, as there is then the sound of an aircraft flying overhead, then the first disc comes to a close with the longest track on it, “There was a life”, with yet another vocalist, this time Tim Evan. It's another power ballad, with a lovely piiano melody running through it that closes the “first act” in fine style. (Goddamn it,
this could qualify as best track too! Good complaint, I guess).
And so on to disc two we go.
An instrumental gets us under way, “Moonlight and madness” is pure classical at first, great piano work (though don't ask me from who, as there are so many talented people involved with this project!) then rock guitar cuts in and the piece becomes a pure rock tune, then we have “Time floats on”, another mid-paced ballad with some nice classical piano but otherwise a rock song, and on to the longest track on the entire two discs.
At almost eleven minutes, “Epiphany” is a powerful song that go through several changes, starting off balladic but soon getting more powerful, with a lot of anger at injustice in the lyric. Another powerful vocal from Rob Evan, and a melody section near the end very reminscent of “Wake of Magellan” again. “Bach lullaby” is a lovely forty seconds of marimba or vibraphone, or something similar, very gentle as the title suggests, then there's the first female vocal, by Jennifer Cella, in “Father, Son and Holy Ghost”, a song which starts off slowly and gently but soon Cella is able to show off her considerable vocal talents as the song gets heavier and more intense.And she stays with us for “Remnants of a lullaby”, carried on a gentle acoustic guitar line.
There's a short return for Jeff Scott Soto then, for “The safest way to tomorrow (reprise)”, then “Embers” is a nice little acoustic guitar instrumental, with a certain echo of “Horizon” from Genesis' “Foxtrot” album, then another female voice on “Child of the night”. This time it's Alexa Goddard, with an interpretation of another classical tune I know, but can't place. Lovely voice indeed. Tim Hockenberry makes his second and final appearance on the ballad “Believe” (it's really quite incredible how like Cocker he sounds!), with a great guitar solo.
“Nutrocker” features the legendary Greg Lake on bass, and then there's a superb version of Carl Orff's famous “O fortuna” (although here it's credited as “Carmina Burana”: rookie mistake. “Carmina Burana” is the whole hymn, whereas the well-known part (think --- oh God no! --- “The X Factor” --- or if you're older like me, the “Old Spice” ad from the eighties) is called “O fortuna”, which is what we get here, though the slip on the title is easily forgivable due to the excellent job the band make of the piece.
And things wrap up with another instrumental, the almost prog-rock flavoured “Tracers”, bringing the curtain down on one incredible musical experience.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, despite having no connection to Russia, certainly live up to their name. This is a huge, sprawling masterpiece, replete with great singers, musicians and choirs, an album full of ideas and concepts, and doing a very good job of melding classical music with rock and metal. Hopefully, TSO will open up the world of classical music to perhaps some of the younger generation, who have not yet had that pleasure, and they will be able to broaden their musical horizons. In every way that could possibly count, there is only one word that truly encompasses this album, and this band, and is progressive.
Oh yeah: I really liked it, in case you didn't realise!
TRACKLISTING
DISC 1
1. Night enchanted
2. Childhood dreams
3. Sparks
4. The Mountain
5. Night castle
6. The safest way into tomorrow
7. Mozart and memories
8. Another way you can die
9. Toccata – Carpimus Noctern
10. The lion's roar
11. Dreams we conceive
12. Mother and son
13. There was a life
DISC 2
1. Moonlight and madness
2. Time floats on
3. Epiphany
4. Bach lullaby
5. Father, Son and Holy Ghost
6. Remnants of a lullaby
7. The safest way into tomorrow (reprise)
8. Embers
9. Child of the night
10. Believe
11. Nutrocker
12. Carmina Burana
13. Tracers
Suggested further listening: Well, I haven't heard any other of their albums, but I intend to listen to them all. So “Beethoven's last night”, “The lost Christmas Eve”, “Christmas attic” and “Christmas Eve and other stories” are all on the list. You might want to check out Orff's “Carmina Burana” too, though don't expect it all to be like “O fortuna”! Perhaps some Mozart...