Rhapsody?

I totally agree with you personally but I'm sure some metal expert will come here and find a reason to prove you wrong or say you are close-minded or something

Edited by Bern - August 04 2006 at 12:36

Rhapsody are symphonic metal, they even label themselves "Epic Hollywood Symphonic Power Metal' (now is that cheesy enough for you???  ), and are not even close to being progressive, therefore, in my humble opinion, should not be on this site.  If they are, hell, let's include Iron Maiden first!!!

Thank you! I dislike Rhapsody with all of my heart, the guitarist is amazing, but the music is definitely NOT PROG. They are repetitive, cheesy, and total copy cats of Blind Guardian and JRR Tolkien in general. I mean, look at the creativity of the bands in this site: Magma for instance, they are musically creative, as well as lyrically (they invented they're own language!), they're not copying anyone! On the other hand is Rhapsody, a band that copies Blind Guardian's style (as well as many other epic metal bands) and copy Tolkien's tales to use as their lyrics (I don't care if Turilli says he never read Tolkien, liar! His lyrics are exactly the same as Tolkien's tales!).

I remember me and my friend laughing about them so hard. They are just about the cheesiest band on the planet. We were in tears when we looked at some of the song titles like "THE Last Winged Unicorn. 

Not prog at all.

Okay - I'm not going to disagree with what is said here and I can't and won't argue with your opinions. But Rhapsody do fall into the muddy waters where much depends on your interpretation of the definition of Prog Rock / Metal.

I have only the one Rhapsody album "Symphony of Enchanted Lands II" and I must say it does have it's moments - not necessarily progressive moments - but all the same, I have not and I don't ever think I wlll be tempted to buy another album.

The use of Orchestra and Choir is extremely impressive and truly enhance the most symphonic parts of the album. Christopher Lee's narration is majestic and for one who was brought up on Wakeman's 'Myths and Legends' and Wayne's 'War of the Worlds' there are comparisons to be made. Even more recent offerings like PoS's 'Be' bear some similarity if you wish to think outside of the box.

I think where the album suffers is that it can't decide whether it wants to be a Symphonic and grandiose classically based rock album or an all out fast metal fest. The drumming, guitar work and keyboard solos are immense, yet after half the album, I've had enough and small doses of infrequent plays remain enough to satisfy my curiosity.

The album is melodic, is a concept, with frequent changes in rhythm and tempo and maybe for this, together with the heavy classical elements thrown in, one might forgive those who regard this as progressive.

But I do agree that track titles such as 'The Magic of the Wizard's Dream' and 'Sacred Power of Raging Winds' are comical, verging on the hilarious. Ironically, the former of those two tracks is a rather tasty ballad one might expect to hear on an Il Divo album!


Edited by Baggiesfaninuk - August 04 2006 at 13:48

Bern wrote: I just want to inform you that Rhapsody doesn't exist anymore. They changed their name to Rhapsody of Fire  They are really getting cheesier

Fede wrote: No, you are not wrong!!!!!   If Rhapsody is in this site, then Cradle of Filth should be added as well as other bands too. I think that "Dusk and her Embrace" is more prog than any Rhapsody album or any other cheesy power metal bands that are in PA  like Masterplan for example .   What do you think???????

Given the choice between Rhapsody and CoF......

I pick Rhapsody.  I still don't think they're prog, though.  They're about as prog as Dragon Force, but Dragon Force is better.

Cristi wrote:    Excuse my insolence...      Question: Is the italian band Rhapsody WORTHY to be on this site? Now, really, is it?    Please enlighten me and tell me whrere's the progressiveness in their music; I find their music dull, boring and even a bit ridiculous,pompous and repetitive, a shame even to the heavy/power metal genre.Am I very wrong? I also don't get the enthusiasm of those reviewers that rated their albums 4-5 stars. All the albums sound the same, nothing new on any album compared to the previous one.      Much better music than this made the bands that influenced this italian band: Blind Guardian, Stratovarius, Manowar, Helloween, Gamma Ray.      Am I wrong in this judgement?

There's no wrong or right here ... at least in my own very humble (and maybe not very representative) opinion there are enough good things about Rhapsody to include them here. They are quite repetitive, incredibly cheesy at times and I also agree that some bands (mainly Blind Guardian and Kamelot) are much better examples on how to combine Power Metal and Prog. But they are good musicians, their compositions are sound and I enjoy listening to them in small doses.

I guess it's just a matter of whether your attitude is "live and let die" or "live and let live".

For me, bands like:

AtLossForWords wrote: stonebeard wrote:   Unless we all agree than any metal band can be prog-metal as long as they add keyboards...................   So I guess we should reevaluate our rejection of Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius.