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Edguy - Mandrake review



Reviewer:
8.9

482 users:
8.58
Band: Edguy
Album: Mandrake
Release date: September 2001


01. Tears Of A Mandrake
02. Golden Dawn
03. Jerusalem
04. All The Clowns
05. Nailed To The Wheel
06. The Pharaoh
07. Wash Away The Poison
08. Fallen Angels
09. Painting On The Wall
10. Save Us Now
11. The Devil & The Savant [bonus]
12. Wings Of A Dream [2001 version] [bonus]

After the huge success of Edguy's leader with his side-project Avantasia, some Edguy fans feared that Edguy would suffer from the popularity of Avantasia or even that Edguy would just stop existing, at least for a while. But, for God's sake, Tobias Sammet is a very productive writer and with a stable line-up, Edguy released "Mandrake" in 2001. Successor of "Theater Of Salvation" [seeing that "The Savage Poetry" is a new version of early years' songs], this album has been awaited by fans since 1999 and it was carrying a lot of hopes. But with this strange artwork [?!?], well, I was afraid to be unsatisfied by the music. How wrong was I!

From the first track 'Tears Of A Mandrake', you undestand that Edguy is Edguy and Avantasia is Avantasia. No mix between the styles, although they are still in the same "metal universe". But what happened to Tobias Sammet? His voice is so clear, so powerful! Without losing his vocal style [full of vibratos], Tobias has improved his capabilities to become a terrific singer. 'Tears Of A Mandrake' is a long and powerful song with a haunting chorus... What a cool opening track! 'Golden Dawn' is closer to standard power metal but here too the vocals make the difference between Edguy and other bands. 'Jerusalem' starts with a cool bass line and has a nice bagpipe line too! But no worries, guitars are still here. In that second song too, you hear that background vocals have been the subject of particular attention. Background vocalists are Ralf Zdiarstek [as usual], Rob Rock, Markus Schmitt, Daniel Schmitt and the entire band. And by the way, the title of the song 'Jerusalem' might be related to another one of their songs called 'Babylon' [on the album Theater Of Salvation].

Now, already amazed by these three first tracks, 'All The Clowns' and its funny lyrics ["Tell me why all the clowns are gone..."] is a bit surprising but the song is really good, and everybody knows that Tobias Sammet is a little joker, so... 'Nailed To The Wheel' is my favorite song on "Mandrake". It starts like an acoustic ballad until the melody just moves into angry riffs a la Judas Priest. The chorus has the power of a truck and Tobi plays with his voice as he never did before. As a result, 'Nailed To The Wheel' is a real must. Talking about musts, 'The Pharaoh' - unusually long for an Edguy song: 10:36 - is pure art. Erratum: this one is my favorite track! 'Wash Away The Poison' is the usual ballad [present on all Edguy albums] but that's one of the best ever! 'Fallen Angels' is in the same style as 'Golden Dawn' while 'Painting On The Wall' has a huge melody with bells. 'Save Us Now' has the weirdest lyrics ever [about their drummer who is supposed to be an alien bunny...]. Finally, 'The Devil & The Savant' is a wonderful bonus track, in the tone of the whole album. God that's an album!

These five guys from Germany are still excellent in their heavy/power metal and with "Mandrake", they have released their masterpiece so far. Reaching his best level [both in composing and singing], Tobias Sammet is now clearly set up as one of the best singers in metal. Besides, "Mandrake" shows us that Edguy is a serious candidate to be the world's leading band in power metal.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 8
Production: 10





Written on 16.09.2003 by Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as:

"A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?"

I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math.


Comments

Comments: 10   Visited by: 177 users
09.07.2007 - 15:41
king of fools
Account deleted
This is the album that got me in to edguy.The songwriting is fuckin awesome
Every song on it is 10/10.
Make sure you see edguy live. They put on a awesome show.
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14.07.2007 - 17:45
4look4rd
The Sasquatch
Indeed!
This album is amazing, one of my favorites (if not my favorite) edguy album, I also agree with the songwriting part, its just awesome.
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07.11.2008 - 14:27
Uirapuru
Liver Failure
Thats a wonderful album! Only exellent songs.. Golden Dawn is very good, and i consider the worst of the album. Tears of a Mandrake and Jerusalem are the best tracks..and The Devil & The Savant is a great surprise at the end of the album 9.7
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member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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09.11.2008 - 02:02
Rating: 7
corrupt
With a lowercase c
That's quite a high rating for an album like that. I agree on it being a good one, but not that good. Neither in a pure Edguy context, nor a whole power metal one.
But it is as catchy as you describe it. And the rating aside, I really like your thoughts about it. And apart from Hellfire Club, which marks Edguys transition to whatever you call what they play now, this album is a milestone in their discography. Edguy's last true power metal album. Let's drink on it, for that era is over
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11.11.2008 - 21:21
DanielViking

This album is one of the best power metal albuns ever!! the best of edguy! great songs, great lyrics, tobias voice fucking rocks... pure awesomeness! 10!
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17.04.2009 - 18:55
Idioglossia

My favourite power metal album ever!
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17.04.2009 - 20:00
Lord_Regnier

Written by corrupt on 09.11.2008 at 02:02

Edguy's last true power metal album. Let's drink on it, for that era is over


Probably the best Edguy album, and the last good one, before they took a much more commercial direction. Like you say, that era is over. Edguy are in their cock rock era now.
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"Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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27.08.2009 - 19:26
Rating: 10
JÄY
Metal slave
Yeah, great album.....tied for best Edguy album with Hellfire Club, for me

haha...yes, theyre in their cock-rock era now, but I have all of the faith in the world that they'll return to form, some day.....theyre still young!
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27.08.2009 - 23:47
Ellrohir
Heaven Knight
I like Hellfire Club, Theater Of Salvation and Vain Glory Opera more, but this isnt fault of this album...it is still great - and "Tears Of A Mandrake" or "The Pharaoh" live? what a passion!
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My rest seems now calm and deep
Finally I got my dead man sleep


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11.04.2019 - 16:27
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by Uirapuru on 07.11.2008 at 14:27

Thats a wonderful album! Only exellent songs.. Golden Dawn is very good, and i consider the worst of the album. Tears of a Mandrake and Jerusalem are the best tracks..and The Devil & The Savant is a great surprise at the end of the album 9.7


all songs esely can fit in best of album, all stands out, its an exalent album album
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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