One Crimson Night: Live

The way it was and the way it should be
This is what metal was all about bofore the whole grunge and depression thing. These guys rock. Their songs are all catchy and they play really well together. Several of their songs have a military or religious theme to the lyrics, which is cool. They're out of Sweden, so they more than make up for the feeble sounds of the band Europe. I bet this would be an incredible concert to see, but this 2-disk live set will have to do.

1. Lore Of The Arcane- 4/5- sounds really Nordic. They use this as an intro to-

2. Riders Of The Storm- 5/5- here we go. Awesome chord progression, great way to start the album. Proves that solos don't need to be super-fast to be cool.

3. Heeding The Call- 5/5- rallying song, sort of like a heavy-metal We Will Rock You. A lot of the songs on here are like that.

4. Stone Cold- 5/5- listening to Joacim talk in Swedish is friggin hilarious. The song's really cool too. They go a little overboard with the audience...

amazing sound quality for a live album
If not for the S and M album by Metallica, this would easily be the best-sounding live album I've ever heard. Even better, it is, in essence, a greatest hits package from one of the most important bands of their generation -- heck, of any generation. It seems strange now, but when Hammerfall first appeared, power metal was an ember barely burning. They, as much as anyone, were responsible for re-lighting the flame -- indeed, many of the bands that have come and gone in traditional power metal since then are purely and simply imitations of these masters. Sounding something like Judas Priest if they had the attitude and lyrics of Manowar, Hammerfall never quite rises to the level of those great bands, but they are only a notch or two below them, whereas most bands are about five notches below them.

There are those who say that Hammerfall is excessively cheesy. Those people are right. However, it's the good kind of cheese, not the bad kind (that is, they are self-aware in...

Hammerfall delivers the goods, and then some!
I got into Hammerfall about two years ago, and I still love them. sure, the song material is a bit funny, but it's way more interesting than most stuff out there right now. this is, essentially, their "Greatest Hits" done live in Sweden (with 3 bonus tracks from 2 other tours). the two solos (Stefan and Magnus) are decent lead-ins, and I love the way the band goes seamlessly from song to song, despite the differences of each album (ie following up Riders of the Storm with Heeding the Call with Stone Cold with Hero's Return...)

highlights: Legacy of Kings, Stone Cold, Crimson Thunder, Dragon Lies Bleeding, Heeding the Call, Templars of Steel.

minor complaint: one of my favorite songs, Hearts on Fire, is played too fast. it loses the awesomeness when they blaze through it. a few other songs are like this.

also, get used to hearing Joacim talk to the audience...in Swedish. it's weird, but cool, and besides, who cares? it's great metal in any language! although I must...

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