Rhapsody – Live in Canada 2005 – The Dark Secret
Magic Circle Music – MCA06148-2 – January 30, 2006
By Rodrigo Escandon
Admittedly I am not the biggest live album fan except for those few albums like Live After Death or Alive in Athens. To me, a live album has to be able to capture the energy of the show and to make me feel like I am part of the show and usually I find myself wanting more from a live album. Rhapsody’s first live album Live in Canada 2005 – The Dark Secret actually manages to satisfy these personal requirements but I do have a couple of issues with this release.
The first issue is the selection of songs. Now I know that a band really can’t please everyone with the song selection but since this is Rhapsody’s first live album I was hoping that it would contain some of the biggest hits of the band’s career. For example, I found the inclusion of “The Village of Dwarves” rather odd. It’s a fine song but I would much rather have it replaced by another song from Dawn of Victory such as “Holy Thunderforce”. “Lamento Eroico” was also another strange choice for my taste. If the band wanted to have a slower song in the set how about they give us “Echoes of Tragedy”, since Legendary Tales is not represented by a single song, a criminal act in my book, or even “The Magic of the Wizard’s Dream” since it was a single for Symphony of Enchanted Lands II. Two other random choices to me are “The Dark Secret”, which starts the album, and the “Gran Finale”. Since Rhapsody only had one hour to play it would have been better to have ditched these two and play something from Legendary Tales like “Flames of Revenge”, “Land of Immortals” or “Lord of the Thunder”. Yes, I will say it again: having no songs from this fine album is criminal! Ok, that will end my complaining on the set list.
The second issue is a rather odd one. This album sounds excellent. In fact it is one of the best sounding live albums that I have ever heard but there lies the problem. It just sounds too perfect. If this is how the band sounds live then I give them major props but a live album has to have a certain raw element. The songs are not supposed to sound as polished as they do in the studio and at times Live in Canada 2005 – The Dark Secret actually kind of sounds like a studio recording with crowd noises added in.
Besides these negatives this album is an enjoyable listen since it does have some strong highlights like in “Unholy Warcry”, “Emerald Sword” and “Dawn of Victory”. I also like how Fabio interacts in French with the crowd (since it was recorded in Montreal) but that means if you don’t know French, like me, you will have no idea what he says. Overall, I would recommend this release only to those of you who are big fans of Rhapsody.
Of note is that besides the regular edition of the album there will also be a limited edition 2CD version with the second CD being a DVD with the album mixed in 5.1 but with no moving video (kind of like the Gettysburg DVD) and it also has exclusive behind the scenes material.
6/10
Magic Circle Music Official Website
Rhapsody Official Website
Magic Circle Music – MCA06148-2 – January 30, 2006
By Rodrigo Escandon
Admittedly I am not the biggest live album fan except for those few albums like Live After Death or Alive in Athens. To me, a live album has to be able to capture the energy of the show and to make me feel like I am part of the show and usually I find myself wanting more from a live album. Rhapsody’s first live album Live in Canada 2005 – The Dark Secret actually manages to satisfy these personal requirements but I do have a couple of issues with this release.
The first issue is the selection of songs. Now I know that a band really can’t please everyone with the song selection but since this is Rhapsody’s first live album I was hoping that it would contain some of the biggest hits of the band’s career. For example, I found the inclusion of “The Village of Dwarves” rather odd. It’s a fine song but I would much rather have it replaced by another song from Dawn of Victory such as “Holy Thunderforce”. “Lamento Eroico” was also another strange choice for my taste. If the band wanted to have a slower song in the set how about they give us “Echoes of Tragedy”, since Legendary Tales is not represented by a single song, a criminal act in my book, or even “The Magic of the Wizard’s Dream” since it was a single for Symphony of Enchanted Lands II. Two other random choices to me are “The Dark Secret”, which starts the album, and the “Gran Finale”. Since Rhapsody only had one hour to play it would have been better to have ditched these two and play something from Legendary Tales like “Flames of Revenge”, “Land of Immortals” or “Lord of the Thunder”. Yes, I will say it again: having no songs from this fine album is criminal! Ok, that will end my complaining on the set list.
The second issue is a rather odd one. This album sounds excellent. In fact it is one of the best sounding live albums that I have ever heard but there lies the problem. It just sounds too perfect. If this is how the band sounds live then I give them major props but a live album has to have a certain raw element. The songs are not supposed to sound as polished as they do in the studio and at times Live in Canada 2005 – The Dark Secret actually kind of sounds like a studio recording with crowd noises added in.
Besides these negatives this album is an enjoyable listen since it does have some strong highlights like in “Unholy Warcry”, “Emerald Sword” and “Dawn of Victory”. I also like how Fabio interacts in French with the crowd (since it was recorded in Montreal) but that means if you don’t know French, like me, you will have no idea what he says. Overall, I would recommend this release only to those of you who are big fans of Rhapsody.
Of note is that besides the regular edition of the album there will also be a limited edition 2CD version with the second CD being a DVD with the album mixed in 5.1 but with no moving video (kind of like the Gettysburg DVD) and it also has exclusive behind the scenes material.
6/10
Magic Circle Music Official Website
Rhapsody Official Website
