Edguy - Vain Glory Opera (1998)^{Release ID: 4955}

Edguy seems to be an essential for power metal fans to look for, especially due to the album Vain Metal Opera.  Edguy was Tobias Sammet's band before forming the superior Avantasia, and the connection can be seen.  Truthfully, Edguy's best albums are worth checking out, especially this one, even though it's a pretty standard album.

The album starts with a symphonic intro that focuses more on lyrics and vocals than anything, which isn't exactly common for power metal intros.  However, the obvious attempt to be the next Helloween is pretty obvious from the start.  One can find faint traces of Avantasia coming out of the music, traces that will fully bloom by the time Sammet founds the band.  But until then, we're relying on heaviness ans riffage.  With the symphonic sound occasionally popping up, one has to ask, does this really stand the test of time?  Well, it certainly has a strong air of independence, and there aren't many power metal albums heavier than this.  And for a little while at least, the album shifts its emotional focus without losing its consistency, even if it's steering near minstrel territory like "Scarlet Rose" does.  The band didn't need to try hard to maintain their sense of drama.  The heaviness and occasional classical vibes carried that feeling strongly.  Basically, the album is occasionally acting like an opera, and it succeeds more often than it fails.

Overall, the album is very heavy, quite dramatic as a result, and has a lot of great rhythms.  The problem is that there's almost nothing here that stands out as "amazing," but this is still a good enough album to recommend, especially if you like the 80's power metal works.