Ranking The Edguy Albums

After nearly a decade of silence, we recently got word that Edguy is returning, at least to the stage. They will be playing in their hometown next year in what sounds like a goodbye performance. What isn't clear is if it is a one-off show, the beginning of a small farewell run, or if there will be some amount of new music to coincide with the event. Edguy is the band that started me down the road of all the European rock and metal I've covered over the years on these pages, so it's bittersweet to think they could be done before I am.

With them on my mind, today seems as good a time as any to look back at their catalog and try to assess how they fit together. I'm surprised I never got around to doing this before, so let's see just how divergent from the consensus opinion my rankings are going to be.

1. Tinnitus Sanctus

This one is an easy choice, and a controversial one. The fans were not kind to this record when it came out, and I fully understand why. This was Edguy taking a heavier and darker turn, perhaps trying to keep pace with how power metal was starting to evolve, and it didn't work for everyone. I think it was brilliant, as the tones played well off Tobi's penchant for absurdist humor, to the point where you hardly notice one song is about God creating the aardvark. I'm not sure if the poor reception led to Edguy being shelved in favor of Avantasia, but this is the record I keep coming back to. 

2. Theater Of Salvation

The first Edguy album I heard might be their magnum opus. This was when they had mastered the art of traditional power metal, but were about to grow restless with the conventions of the genre. "The Headless Game" was a signal of the more straightforward groove some of "Mandrake" would take, while the title track pointed toward Tobi's desire to make something bigger than the standard. You can't have Edguy without "Babylon", and you can't find a better example of where Edguy started, and why they needed to evolve.

3. Rocket Ride

Another controversial choice, I realize. This album was when Tobi laid bare any pretense of Edguy being serious, instead filling the album with lyrics and performances that felt more like a parody than an artistic statement. The comedy doesn't all land, but it's wrapped up in a set of songs that revealed Tobi's mastery of the craft. He delivers a diverse set that is unrelenting in their infectious melodies. Even as ridiculous as "Trinidad" or "Fucking With Fire" are, the melodic writing was a step above all Edguy's peers.

4. Mandrake

This could have been Edguy's best album, if Tobi had restrained himself. The quasi title track is a metal anthem for sure, while "The Pharaoh" is Tobi's best epic, and "All The Clowns" is the prototypical song that works even when it shouldn't. The problem is that Tobi shrieks his way through "Nailed To The Wheel" in a way that becomes painful, and "Save Us Now" takes the cringe to a level I can't tolerate as he writes about his drummer being an alien. The good is as good as Edguy ever was, and I prefer to focus on that.

5. Age Of The Joker

This album goes under the radar, because it doesn't have any true highlights of Edguy's catalog. It also doesn't have any of those moments that make you turn away in horror, which makes it the most... boring of their albums? Perhaps so, but it is a consistently enjoyable trip that delivers plenty of songs that got overlooked among their earlier classics. I'll challenge most any power metal band to write a better song than "Fire On The Downline". For that to be Edguy's middle ground proves their worth.

6. Savage Poetry

I'm counting the re-recorded version of the album, which is one of the few times a band actually made an album better by doing it over again. This record is power metal to the core, but it showed Edguy understood melodic writing in a way many others didn't. Despite being so early in their career, they were writing the best ballads in the genre, and even the epic swing hits harder than it should. If any Edguy album has been rising in esteem for me, it's this one.

7. Vain Glory Opera

The three song run of "Scarlet Rose", "Out Of Control", and "Vain Glory Opera" might be the best in the entire catalog. Those three songs are amazing, and only highlight how the rest of the album can't match that level. The rest is good, but not quite as good, and the buzzy guitar tones makes the album sound dated in a way their others don't. Things are also hurt by the ending of the record, where we get a weak ballad and an Ultravox cover, which doesn't leave the best taste in my mouth.

8. Hellfire Club

I loved this album when it came out, but it hasn't aged very well. "The Piper Never Dies" is still one of Tobi's best songs, and "King Of Fools" still crushes, but some of the traditional power metal feels too trite, and the song written about 'morning wood' is a joke taken too far. I let a lot slide because of my fondness for Edguy, but that one isn't a good enough song to abide by the inanity. What's worse is there was an EP that came out at the same time, and it had a few songs that absolutely should have been on the album instead. I still remember that disappointment.

9. Space Police... Defenders Of The Crown

The last Edguy album showed the band running out of gas. It had a few great songs like "Do Me Like A Caveman" and "Realms Of Babayaga", but it also had a few weak attempts to write standard power metal, and a god-awful cover of "Rock Me Amadeus". That is the absolute nadir of their career, I do not apologize for saying. But I'm still glad the album came out, because the closing "The Eternal Wayfarer" would have made a fitting end to the Edguy story, as it is one of my favorite Tobi songs. Unfortunately, it stands alone on this album.

10. Kingdom Of Madness

But the worst Edguy album was always going to be this one. Their first released album, this came too early for Edguy to have found themselves. The writing was not yet developed, and the band was so young the guitars and vocals hardly even sound like themselves. I can understand that it's a rough draft of the band Edguy would become as they figured themselves out, but that doesn't mean I ever want to listen to it again.

Singles Roundup: Tony Iommi, Sailor Hunter, Sheri Moon Zombie, & Kelly Clarkson

Let's just jump straight in today: 

Tony Iommi - World Alone

After the passing of Ronnie James Dio, Jorn Lande sang with Heaven & Hell at the tribute show, which led to much speculation that he would be the perfect singer if Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler wanted to carry on. That didn't materialize, but the chatter must have made an impression, because Tony has recruited Jorn to be the voice behind his upcoming solo album. It's an interesting choice for him to work with someone new at his age, rather than team up with a familiar partner like Glenn Hughes or Tony Martin once again. Jorn has the voice, obviously, but is the combination going to have the same spark as with Dio?

This song doesn't really answer that question. Once the initial surprise of hearing Tony and Jorn working together wears off, we're left with a song that doesn't feel like what I would expect of a first impression. There isn't one of those immediately memorable and singable Iommi riffs to power the song, and Jorn doesn't provide a melody that is easy to grasp onto. What we have sounds like a song from the album Heaven & Hell made before Dio's passing, only without Dio's personality to add more color to the dark atmosphere.

Jorn has spent so much of his career putting himself in the mold of Dio that to hear him singing with Iommi is almost too on-the-nose. There are songs on some of Jorn's solo albums that sound like him writing his own versions of Iommi/Dio tracks, and that's what this also sounds like. Because Jorn has spent so much time as a Dio acolyte, copying this very style, it makes this first-time pairing already sound too familiar. Don't get me wrong, I like this song, and I love Jorn's voice (for the most part - but I'll get into that when the album comes out), but he's hard to get excited about hearing these days.

Sailor Hunter - Error

On their latest single, Sailor Hunter return to their blend of crushing guitars and dynamic vocals, punctuated with bits of symphonic grandeur. With lyrics that talk about fighting against the control the forces of the world try to cage us with, the band is in full control of their power. The playing is tight as the guitars chug the deep riff under the expanded sonic rainbow. It's a controlled fury that gives Dimitra a canvas to explore the range of her vocal abilities. She belts the choruses with just a hint of grit, jumps into classical notes to highlight the melody, then unleashes a passionate scream toward the end. Metal, when not careful, can sometimes be one-note, but she ensures Sailor Hunter has layers to explore on every song.

There are days when it feels like every aspect of our lives is being sold off to the highest bidder, so they can use data and algorithms to herd us into the mold that makes them the most money. To be human is to resist that shepherding, to embrace the lack of control anyone else has over our own lives, and that we sometimes lack over our own as well. Being human is making mistakes, is finding our way through the chaos, is making our own path regardless of what others recommend for us. That is what "Error" is reminding us, namely that as long as we survive, we are winning the battle. Songs like this definitely help.

Sheri Moon Zombie - I Love My Robot

I find it rather funny that as the world digitizes and catalogs the entirety of existence in storage, finding information only seems to be getting harder. I say that only because I don't know if Rob Zombie is still a big enough act to justify the existence of this song. I hear almost no discussion about Rob anymore, so I would be inclined to think his time as a musician of note has come and gone, but it wouldn't be the first time I am out on an island when it comes to these things. I suppose I'm just trying to figure out how much I blame everyone involved for thinking this was a worthy pursuit.

I don't want to pile on Sheri too much, since I wouldn't be surprised if Rob was behind this whole thing, but it is her name on the song. Rob has been engaged with horror concepts and horrible comedy for years, but this takes it to new levels of annoyance. Yes, it's only two minutes, but it's two minutes of the same kind of annoying claptrap pop that birthed "ABCDEFU" and "Apt", and plenty of other songs that think "Mickey" was the highest form of musical composition. It's repetitive, annoying as all hell, and the sort of song that a notable label should be embarrassed to be promoting.

Worst of all is that it is yet another song about AI, written about not wanting to turn everything over to AI... but sounding like it was written by a fairly poor AI. The 'story' of the lyric is the conflict between not wanting to give AI control over the choices we make that fuel and entertain us, but still wanting a robot vacuum to clean the floor. It's not a thrilling concept to begin with, but it's written with no depth at all, which leaves it as flat and vapid as the 'horror girl' trope who gets killed off early in movies like the ones Rob makes.

"It goes a zoom," Sheri sings of her Roomba. I'm not sure I can express how much I hate this. It's even worse than when Rob massacred The Munsters. Ugh.

Kelly Clarkson - I'd Be Lyin'

My days as a pop music fan are far enough in the rear-view that I'm not sure I can name a single song that has been a hit in the last decade other than "Flowers" and the Taylor Swift catalog. We moved in different directions, and I'm not necessarily complaining about that. I'm from a different generation than who that music is aimed for these days, and I shouldn't relate to it. That would be as weird and creepy as when people my age are trying to find dates at high school graduations.

The only time I'm really bothered by the shift is when I hear someone I was honestly fond of who has tried to keep up with the trends, and doesn't exactly sound like themselves anymore. Kelly Clarkson made perhaps the best pop album of my lifetime with "Breakaway", and slowly drifted toward the more generic and manufactured sounds that dulled my interest. That makes it interesting that this new song, while not a return to that particular era, does bring back enough of her older sound to remind me of better days. This is less "Breakaway" and more "All I Ever Wanted", which is still a-ok in my book.

I've always loved Kelly's voice, and hearing it put back in a context with more organic instrumentation highlights all of the texture and color in it. She sounds as good as ever singing this song about getting over an unhealthy relationship, either with or without the help of alcohol. This is a sound that matches our ages, and feels more authentic than adopting whatever the youngsters are doing. For that reason alone, this is my favorite Kelly song in many years. I can only hope it means something bigger in this style will be coming our way. I would honestly love that.