Avantasia - The Scarecrow

General Information

Original Author: The Uncreator

Artist: Avantasia

Album: The Scarecrow

Genre: Power Metal

Tracklist

01. Twisted Mind
02. The Scarecrow
03. Shelter From The Rain 04. Carry Me Over
05. What Kind Of Love?
06. Another Angel Down
07. The Toy Master
08. Devil In The Belfry
09. Cry Just A Little
10. I Don't Believe In Your Love
11. Lost In Space

Featured Musicians

Avantasia
Tobias Sammet - Bass/ Vocal
Sascha Paeth - Lead/ Rhythm Guitars
Eric Singer - Drums

Vocals:
Bob Catley
Alice Cooper
Oliver Hartman
Roy Kahn
Michael Kiske
Jorn Lande
Amanda Somerville

Guitars:
Kai Hansen
Henjo Richter
Rudolf Schenker

Keys:
Michael "Miro" Rodenberg

The Story

"The Scarecrow" is a tragic story of a lonesome creature, emotionally isolated from his environment and suffering from a distorted sensory perception. His feelings for the love of his life unrequited, he sets off on a journey exploring the left-handed path, striving for inner peace. ploughing his way to approval and eventually facing temptation at the inner depths of the human soul... --Tobias Sammet

Sound

9 A fresh new guitar sound from Avantasia, a new drummer, and an overall brand new feel. All in a good way of course. This album is nothing like Avantasia's legendary "Metal Opera', but it still is a fantastic album full of amazing singers and guitarists, awesome riffs, incredible solo's and wondrous lyrics.

Guitar

10 Wow, talk about impressive. The riffs on here are incredible, from the straight forward speed metal style riffs of "Another Angel Down" to the creepy and haunting riffs of "The Toy Master", and the solos are just mind blowing! Sascha Paeths vibrato is beautiful and his sense of melody is unparalleled. Now, couple this with with the guitar skills of Kai Hansen, Henjo Richter, and Rudolf Schenker, and you have some insane guitar duels!! From the blazing fast sweeps that could stand up to the best of shredders, to the slow, epic and monstrously beautiful harmony filled ballads and duels that grace so many songs! The styles range from bluesy rock, to straight up classic rock licks, to shred filled solos of tapping, sweeping, and all the fun tricks, this album is very diverse in its guitar repertoire, Something for all fans

Bass

7 Well the bass isnt as forward or as part of the music as i want it to be, but there are still some cool parts where the bass has some neat riffs and fills. I feel like Tobias concentrated more on his voice with this record, which i would rather him do, Not really a let down, but not something to look forward to either. Still, pretty cool.

Drums

8 I am no fan of KISS, but i am a fan of Eric Singer, what a great and solid drummer this man is. He fits this band perfectly with his heavily classic rock influenced style, he adds something different to a mostly power metal sound. instead of super fast double bass, he just relies on the classic damn good ol grooves, Nothing beats a drum beat that just makes the song roll along so much smoother, awesome cool drumming

Keyboards

8 Another cool aspect of Avantasia, i love there string arrangements on this album. Miro did a fantastic in conveying the message of the story for each and every song. To the subtle melodies of "What Kind Of Love?" to the fast intro and melodies of "Another Angel Down", he does a fantastic job. He fattens up the sound and really makes the band shine at its finest!

Vocals

10 If you are a fan of Edguy or have heard of "The Metal Opera", you know what im talking about when i say Tobias has a voice built for power. He can sing the strongest of songs, screaming the deepest emotion of the scarecrow out to really make you feel his pain. His duet with Amanda Somerville on "What Kind Of Love?" is just breathtaking, the combination of there two voices are the best there is!

The addition of all the great singer really makes this album stand out, each voice plays a different character. Roy Kahn does the voice of a Psychiatrist, Amanda Somerville plays the unrequited love of The Scarecrow, Bob Catley plays teh good spirit inside us all, Michael Kiske plays what Tobias calls the "Human-Upper", who introduces The Scarecrow to art and makes him feel not like a scarecrow for the first time, Alice Cooper is an eerie redemption tycoon with a top hat who flogs off art to the desperate, and lastly, Oliver Hartman, who simply plays...Fornication (You'll have to get the album if you really wanna know what goes on with that ). All singers do a beyond perfect performance, there voices add more layers and texture to Avantasia, increasing the ever wondrous sound scape of Avantasia.

Lyrics

8 Very excellent, Tobias really can express the feeling of "The Scarecrow" incredibly well with his words. Some brilliant lines of lyrics in here, just an incredible addition to the album.

From "The Scarecrow"

I'm just a loser in the game of love
I'm just a stray boy in the shade
And how I wish to know what love is like
To find someone to contemplate

There's a voice and a million answers
To the questions I don't ask
A demon, I've got to contain
When I'm walking through the fen
Gonna deep into the black
There are whispers that I can't restrain

So you're an angel meant to walk down here
And you believe it's all divine
And you don't play by all those temporal rules
Watch the world begin to die

Alright, when the lamb's been torn to pieces,
I've been crashing from the sky
Fallen to care for the pray, they put a spoke right in your wheel
I'm the one to dare the weak, to push you all over the pain
You give in

From "What Kind Of Love?"

A dream of dwelling inside
Alone we come and alone we go
And who am I to know what I feel
Sympathy that's tearing me apart?
Attraction of the distance to a heart affinity?

What if love will leave your heart an open sore
And I can't reveal what even I don't know?
The love you feel you waste away on me
What kind of love will let us bleed away?
No kind of love will make us bleed away

If only you could be the one to take a look inside
I feel so incomplete
A broken man in need of mother love
I'm suffering in silence and no one wants to see
The only god is watching as I bleed
The star above — my matching piece

From "Cry Just A Little"

A heart out of affection, a night at the masquerade
You won some and you're lonesome
as the spotlight fades
Going forth pretending destination is at hand
When she's crying just a little just for me

I've seen them set off to the Promised Land
Escaping from the hurtings they don't understand
A sense of satisfaction on account of pristine tears
She's crying just little more just like you

Why don't you cry, cry a little over me?
Why don't you lie?
Can't you tell me that I am hard to deny?
Can't you see what I am going through?
Cry just a little for me, oh, girl, a little for me

Overall Impression

8 Just more proof that Tobias has the capability to bring so many amazing musicians together, create an amazing story, and make into an incredible Metal album, Already an easy contender for album of the year for me, This is an album full of amazing riffs, even more amazing solos, incredible vocal performances, and many amazing guest appearances, just fantastic, Tobias does it yet again

I must say, the two singles dont do this album justice, They show the more ballady side of th album. The overall album is alot heavier, with more intricate and heavier guitar work, still, i love theses songs