Memorized Dreams Theater of Life
Sound Riot SRP 028 16.04.04
By Anna Novitzky
This album is well named; theatre is right. Listening to it, I could almost have stepped into a west-end musical, probably by Andrew Lloyd Webber. In fact, judging by the mawkish sentiment and some of the disturbingly familiar riffs, its very heavily inspired by The Phantom of the Opera. And, while I personally can think of many better ways to spend an evening than being warbled at by Sarah Brightman and a host of other misfits in spangly costumes, surely over a hundred million theatre-goers cant be wrong. Hmm.
Like Mr Lloyd Webber, Memorized Dreams peddle the kind of scarily upbeat, bombastic music that gets lodged in your head and refuses to go away without the attentions of a drill to the temple. Theater of Life rocks hard, with lots of meaty riffs racing along at an almost Ramones-like speed, although the frequent falsetto vocals and airy, twinkling keyboards give it a poppy feel so that the album as a whole is bizarrely less heavy than the sum of its parts. It has that melodic power metal, big hair, never-quite-left-the-eighties atmosphere that makes me giggle, but its all very sincerely done. Theres a good mix of styles, from the dynamic and catchy Haloes And Wings to the weepy ballad Sea Of Oblivion rather too slushy for me, but it makes for a nice change of pace.
The sheer energy and some interesting effects I could have sworn that was a wobble board at the beginning of track three serve to hold interest through all the soppy business about the gates of heaven and light of paradise, and although it trails off somewhat at the end this is a lively album that deserves a second listen. Its fairly memorable, but I doubt it would last out five thousand performances on Broadway.
7/10
Official Memorized Dreams Website
Official Sound Riot Records Website
Sound Riot SRP 028 16.04.04
By Anna Novitzky
This album is well named; theatre is right. Listening to it, I could almost have stepped into a west-end musical, probably by Andrew Lloyd Webber. In fact, judging by the mawkish sentiment and some of the disturbingly familiar riffs, its very heavily inspired by The Phantom of the Opera. And, while I personally can think of many better ways to spend an evening than being warbled at by Sarah Brightman and a host of other misfits in spangly costumes, surely over a hundred million theatre-goers cant be wrong. Hmm.
Like Mr Lloyd Webber, Memorized Dreams peddle the kind of scarily upbeat, bombastic music that gets lodged in your head and refuses to go away without the attentions of a drill to the temple. Theater of Life rocks hard, with lots of meaty riffs racing along at an almost Ramones-like speed, although the frequent falsetto vocals and airy, twinkling keyboards give it a poppy feel so that the album as a whole is bizarrely less heavy than the sum of its parts. It has that melodic power metal, big hair, never-quite-left-the-eighties atmosphere that makes me giggle, but its all very sincerely done. Theres a good mix of styles, from the dynamic and catchy Haloes And Wings to the weepy ballad Sea Of Oblivion rather too slushy for me, but it makes for a nice change of pace.
The sheer energy and some interesting effects I could have sworn that was a wobble board at the beginning of track three serve to hold interest through all the soppy business about the gates of heaven and light of paradise, and although it trails off somewhat at the end this is a lively album that deserves a second listen. Its fairly memorable, but I doubt it would last out five thousand performances on Broadway.
7/10
Official Memorized Dreams Website
Official Sound Riot Records Website
