Taraxacum's debut album is made up by former
Steel Prophet singer Rick Mythiasin,
Edguy bassist Thomas Exxel who also plays guitar, Freddy Doernberg (Axel Rudi Pell) on keyboards and guitar and Franky
Wolf on drums.
I must confess that I have come to enjoy this diverse piece of music more and more with time, their unique style has made be return to this album quite a few times.
Spirit Of Freedom is a very melodic and extremely ingenious song with a catchy rhythm. The break in the middle coming from a brilliant piano part is a great passage.
Blast Off on the other hand is a partly confusing track that lacks a basic rhythm line, a lot of different melodies mixed into a blurred whole. In its defence a great ingenious guitar solo is worked into it and it's not like the song hasn't interesting stuff to offer, it's more the structure that bothers me.
With
Alone we find one of the albums slow and atmospheric songs, which is also one of the albums best. Rick's emphatic voice fits right in and the memorable refrain works as a dynamic binding element between the sorrowful acoustic guitar creating verses.
A groovy and hard rocking approach is laid out with
Circle Of Fools, brought forth by hard riffs, solid bass work and a memorable chorus. The creative key solo gives this very cool song an experimental touch.
Delirium quickly becomes monotone and in need of something to get it into second gear. The blurry chorus never gets interesting but the piano intermission sounds fantastic.
The band's mix of Heavy and Rock music is clearly present in
Life Goes On, having a cool down to earth refrain supported by a deep and hard rhythm guitar foundation. A creative dual guitar solo spot and some clever drumming give it that something extra.
Never Let You Go not only has a great swift tempo, it also contains the albums most memorable chorus line, which is a real killer that will have you singing along right from the start, a great Hard Rock track.
In
Believe In You we find the albums second ballad, this one is not as compelling as the first but the keyboard does a great job in setting a mellow mood. It lacks that cool component to make it really stand out.
Think! is the last cut of the album and it starts out well with an eminent guitar lick. Sadly it soon evolves into a loose structure with passages that seem misplaced. The irritating and happy sounding chorus isn't really a match for the serious topic either.
The production is clear and finely weighed out between the instruments; a bit more depth would have made it better though.
Re-examining your life, gaining strength to carry on, feelings of affection and a wish for a more thoughtful world are basic topics on the important and well-written lyrical front.
The melodic guitar leads are a big plus and Rick sounds great as always and puts a lot of diversity into his singing. The keyboard/piano elements give the songs an extra ingredient and the rhythm section is tight with a stable bass foundation and drums that give the songs the amount of drive they need.
A very diverse album bringing Metal and Rock influences together in a smart and inspiring way, it has some elements that are very standard and simply doesn't work out but the majority of the material is immensely melodic and highly inspiring.
Written by
Tommy Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Show all reviews by TommyRatingsTommy: 6.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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