ONCE AND FUTURE KING - PART II

The first word that comes to mind when thinking about these albums is... AWESOME! "Once and Future King" is a great blend of AOR and neoclassical/symphonic/power metal. Part I and II together form a fascinating tale told through an epic musical journey.

Part I - A truly excellent melodic rock epic! Part II - An excellent follow-up to Part I "Believe enough to fight" contains very strong performances by both Bob CATLEY as Merlin and EDENBRIDGE siren Sabine EDELSBACHER as Nimue in a wonderful duet.

Gary HUGHES certainly deserves credit for tackling a very ambitious project and putting his heart and soul into each of its 22 songs. My respect for making me enjoy 107 minutes of music.

Part 2 opens strongly with "Kill The King", pure guitar power with some bombastic keyboards as support. The dark deep voice of Dc Cooper (Symphorce) as accompanying vocals is great. "There By The Grace Of The Gods (Go I)" and "I Still Love You (I Still Do)", both with Gary Hughes, the first is a rock song, the other a semi rock ballad. Lana Lane puts her best foot foremost for "Oceans Of Tears" which is again a track with a high sing-along feeling. Morgana, played by Irena Jansen brings us back with both feet on the ground. A very good rock song. With Sabine Edelsbacher (Edenbridge) as Nimue, we get another highlight entitled "Believe Enough To Fight". The voices at the end of the song are brilliant. "The hard way" and "Demon down" are both sung by Dougie White (Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen) as Mordred. Nicely old fashioned Rainbow... and yet...? "The Pagan Dream" with Sabine Edelsbacher sounds more like Rhapsody, which is not really my cup of tea. The instrumental "Deius" (though there are a lot of male voices) is what I really like, that is, if you can bare a male choir. Sean Harris (Diamond Head) as Galahad sings "Without You" as if he never did anything else in his life. Excellent song that grows on you each time you hear it. "Once And Future King" by Harry Hess (Harem Scarem) has everything an epilogue of a concept album should have. A gripping voice, a solid building up and a memorable ending.

Before you know it, the 101 minutes have passed by. For fans of the genre this is a real must. If you like Ayreon and Star One than you can buy this one blindly.

The second part of the King Arthur concept album by genius artist Gary Hughes is even better than the first one. It is more epic, heavy and progressive, with some stunning performance by both musicians and singers involved. But, with such a team work, how could he go wrong? Certainly he was very fortunate to have all these people around to enhance his great skills as songwriter and producer (and he is also a fine singer!). The tracks are superbly arranged and played (great guitar and keyboards parts, always, very tasteful). The first ever AOR/Melodic Rock opera is something of a masterpiece in all aspects (even if the prog influences are maybe too subtle for most progheads).

Highlights are many, but I should pick up some favorites: the powerful drive of There By The Grace Of God, the poignant Believe Enough To Fight, with the very beautiful voice of Edenbridge´s singer Sabine Edelsbacher (as Nimue) and, in the end, a great duet with Bob Catley (as Merlin) and the grand finale with the epic title track (fine vocals by Harry Hess of Harem Scarem and an emotinal guitar solo by Chris Francis of Ten). But, again, as the first album, all tracks work very well together and there are no fillers. The artwork and booklet is quite good too, telling the whole story beside the lyrics. The only down side is that maybe the opener was not really suited to D.C. Cooper´s powerful voice (he sounds a little restrained here). Still a fine song, though.

Those two records make a highly successful work. A great showcase of Gary Hughes´s skills as songwriter/singer/producer. This CD defies definition. I can only say it´s great music.

Once and twice king

The second part of Gary Hughes' Rock Opera Once And Future King continues right where the first part left off. Once again we get a strong set of tunes performed by a wide range of guests (some of which are new and some of which return from part one). If there is a difference between the two albums, I would say that this one is more eclectic. Like the first album, this is a mix of AOR, Power Metal, and Magnum-esque Pomp Rock with some folky and classical touches. But, in addition, this second album also contains more genuine Prog Metal, and at the same time also more straight-ahead bluesy Hard Rock and even some Pop! Both albums have some very good songs, and a few not so good songs. Overall, I slightly prefer part one (but they deserve the same rating).

Among the returning performers we find the wonderful Lana Lane as Guinevere, Magnum's distinctive Bob Catley as Merlin, and Sean Harris from Diamond Head as Galahad. New additions include DC Cooper and Dougie White. Sean Harris really surprised me here with a superb vocal on the ballad Without You.

There is no doubt that Gary Hughes is a talented songsmith and a good vocalist. The production values are high and the cast is highly professional. Again, like on the first album, I don't think that anything here is in any way ground breaking or particularly unique. But it does live up the expectations set by the first part, clichés and all. Taken for what they are, both albums are good.