PHANTOM OF THE NIGHT

Many years ago, I walked into a record store looking for something new. I had gained trust in the clerk that worked there. He had always given me some great recommendations and introduced me to a lot of bands that otherwise I would have never heard of. He told me to buy this one. I think I listened to it once and then had a hard time picking it up again. I wasn't that impressed at first, thinking it was just a bit to poppy for my tastes. But, somewhere along the way, I listened to it a few more times and realized that the songs were stuck in my head. And I actually didn't mind them being stuck there! So, I finally had to admit that I really liked this album. A few months ago, I was in a second hand store and got quite excited when I found this album on vinyl. I really didn't think I would ever find it again. I put it on and remembered why I loved it so much.

There are 3 1/2 slow songs on this one and the others are quite uptempo. But, in reality, my favorites are the slower ones. They are very dramatic, heartfelt, and, in my opinion, emotional. Daphne is the one that is the 1/2 slow and 1/2 uptempo song, Phantom of the Night is a lovely song about a ghost ship, Ruthless Queen which was the single overseas and a very powerful song, and First Signs of Spring. Don't get me wrong because the uptempo ones are nice too. The one prog song on here is No Man's Land, the others tend to lean more to crossover. But its all still very good music and still one of my all time favorite albums. I have heard some of their other albums and have to admit that the production on some of them is really great while on others it is terrible. But they are definately a band worth checking out, just know that some albums are better than others. It is very safe to say that you can follow the "stars" for the ratings for each of the albums on this site for picking out the best ones. Personally, I would have given this one a higher rating than three stars, but I think that is because it is more of a nostaligic thing for me. But I agree with the ratings for the other albums. The reason for the lower rating on this one is because it is more commercial than some of their other albums, but it is still loaded with well-written songs.