Rhapsody Of Fire: Love, Hate, & Neutrality

This is one of those bands that many love, many hate, and a few go either way. I love this band (though I have to be in the mood for it) and Luca Turilli's solo material. Perhaps one of the best of the symphonic bands IMO. Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli are very capable musicians with their respective instruments (guitar & keyboard) and are great composers to boot. Not to mention the awesome vocals of Fabio Lione. The only weak part in the older albums I have (Rain of a Thousand Flames, Dawn Of Victory, and Power Of The Dragon Flame) is the narrator. This guy is horrible and quite annoying (moreso in POTDF). Happily they obtained the talents of acting legend Christopher Lee (who happens to be a ROF fan-and he's in his 80s!). His prescence in Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II is the highlight of the album (though I do enjoy the rest). The last one, Triumph Or Agony, is lacking a little which doesn't have me returning to it as often (however, despite a few narrations by Christopher Lee the other narrator is still worlds better than the old one). Opinions good or bad on these guys?

There are two things concerning this band that have been addressed is the name change (for those who don't know, it used to be just Rhapsody) and the lack of anything new. I got this from wikipedia:

Quote :

Name change and Triumph or Agony (2006 - 2007)
In July 2006 the band formerly known as Rhapsody changed their name to Rhapsody of Fire due to trademark issues and pressure from Real Networks^[4]. The band's website goes into further detail: The band members consider this a great new start, reflecting the emboldened and increasingly grandiose direction that their music has taken. "The power of the Dragonflame will burn brighter than ever before," says guitarist/songwriter Luca Turilli. Keyboardist/songwriter Alex Staropoli adds, "The name Rhapsody Of Fire better represents the energy that has always been present in this band and its music."

The band released their latest album, Triumph or Agony, on September 25th 2006, in Europe. The second chapter in The Dark Secret Saga, Triumph Or Agony continues the bombastic Rhapsody Of Fire tradition with a live 70 piece orchestra and choir as Turilli and Staropoli continuing to self-produce the band’s work with the assistance of co-producer Sascha Paeth. New songs include Silent Dream, Son Of Pain and the epic 16-minute long The Mystic Prophecy Of The Demonknight, an example of a cinema soundtrack adapted to a metal song. In addition vocalist Fabio Lione’s gives his songwriting debut for Rhapsody Of Fire with the song Il Canto del Vento.

Legal fight with Magic Circle Music and new album (2007 - Present)


In June 2008, on their official website appears the following message, written by Luca Turilli:
"We are in the middle of a hard legal fight with Magic Circle Music and his main representative Mr. Joey DeMaio. That’s the reason why in the last months we had to keep all strictly confidential and could not release any official declaration that could obviously be used against us from the opposite side. As soon as this sad situation will be solved we’ll be ready for a great and mighty come back. A new album, a real masterpiece of Speed/Epic Metal, is already composed and ready to be recorded and after its release an immense worldwide tour will finally follow for yours and our extreme satisfaction."

In October a new message was posted on their website with no news apart from the fact that their activities concerning the new album have been suspended for an unspecified time period.

I can take'em or leave'em I guess. I had SYMPHONY OF ENCHANTED LANDS for a while a few years back... it was OK but a little over-the-top for me so I traded it off.

I actually liked Luca Turilli's solo album, KING OF THE NORDIC TWILIGHT, better than anything I've heard from his day job.

Great band, I only have one of their albums but am looking to get more.

I'm not really a fan of these guys.

I like Luca's solo stuff and his Dreamquest project better. I don't like the vocals in Rhapsody; too "ball-less".

So, Dallas, I see you've finally become a pirate. Sweet!

Anyway, I like Rhapsody, on fire and not. Definitely a band I have to be in the mood for, though. Luca's solo albums are excellent as well, especially the first two.

Eyesore wrote:

So, Dallas, I see you've finally become a pirate. Sweet!

Yeah, instead of doing the black metal corpse paint this year (as I have the past three years) I decided to go with the pirate look. A lot better because I worked on Halloween and all that make up would get smeared from sweat.

Eyesore wrote:

So, Dallas, I see you've finally become a pirate. Sweet!

Rhapsody are great! I have listened to them since Legendary Tales. Each album got better and better up until Symphony of Enchanted Lands Part II then for some reason they just wrote some bad songs. The music is still the same but they dont have the same kind of catchy singable chorus' anymore. Triumph or Agony was even worse and its a shame cause I would listen to this band day in and day out. Sure its over the top but thats what makes them stand out from all the others. Theres some bands that tried to sound like them like Fairyland but it failed because they do it so well. I just hope when they get all the stuff sorted out with that Joey Dimeo guy they write a really great comeback album. I wonder what that whole Magic Circle fight is about. Anyone have any idea? Is Joey affraid they are bigger than Manowar?

I love this band, but find myself listening less and less to their newer material. The last few was way harder to get into for me, but is happening with a loot of new releases these days. Must be some kind of old-age syndrom kicking in! :lol

I abolutely loath the name change though.