Angra

This is a message to all you greedy record companies that think MP3's *hurt* record sales...I knew practically nothing about this Brazilian progressive metal band (except for their horrible version of "Painkiller" on the second Judas Priest tribute album) until I ran across a website with tons of Angra MP3's...and was BLOWN AWAY!! In fact, I was placing an order at CDNow before I had finished downloading them all...

Oh yeah, my first impression of their music was that they sounded like a cross between Helloween and Dream Theater -- and wouldn't you know, the first thing every review of this band says is, "These guys sound like a cross between Helloween and Dream Theater!" Hmm...

"Angels Cry/Holy Land"

    disc one: "Angels Cry"
  1. "Unfinished Allegro"--instrumental (1:15)
  2. "Carry On" (5:03)
  3. "Time" (5:54)
  4. "Angels Cry" (6:49)
  5. "Stand Away" (4:55)
  6. "Never Understand" (7:48)
  7. "Wuthering Heights" (4:38)
  8. "Streets of Tomorrow" (5:03)
  9. "Evil Warning" (6:41)
  10. "Lasting Child" (7:35)
    • I. The Parting Words
    • II. Renaissance
    disc two: "Holy Land"
  1. "Crossing" (1:55)
  2. "Nothing to Say" (6:20)
  3. "Silence and Distance" (5:34)
  4. "Carolina IV" (10:33)
  5. "Holy Land" (6:29)
  6. "The Shaman" (5:23)
  7. "Make Believe" (5:51)
  8. "Z.I.T.O." (6:02)
  9. "Deep Blue" (5:47)
  10. "Lullaby for Lucifer" (2:43)

A double-CD set of their first two full-length albums...nice score, eh? Angels Cry is pretty standard prog-metal, with an excellent cover of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights"...Holy Land contains lots of Caribbean-style rhythms (especially on "Carolina IV", with steel drums and everything) and a beautiful piano melody in the title track. And did I mention how these guys sound like Dream Theater? "Z.I.T.O." would fit right at home on Images and Words...

"Freedom Call"

  1. "Freedom Call" (5:04)
  2. "Queen of the Night"--remixed version (4:42)
  3. "Reaching Horizons" (5:08)
  4. "Stand Away"--orchestral version (4:37)
  5. "Painkiller"--remixed version (6:03)
  6. "Deep Blue"--edit version (3:55)
    Live Acoustic at FNAC, France:
  7. "Angels Cry" (9:51)
  8. "Chega de Saudade" (2:56)
  9. "Never Understand" (6:22)

A stopgap EP released after Angels Cry, with 3 new songs and a bunch of remixed/live crap. Good stuff overall, although I really really wish they had edited out all those stage announcements in French (ugh, what a filthy language!)

"Fireworks"

  1. "Wings of Reality" (5:54)
  2. "Petrified Eyes" (6:05)
  3. "Lisbon" (5:13)
  4. "Metal Icarus" (6:23)
  5. "Paradise" (7:37)
  6. "Mystery Machine" (4:11)
  7. "Fireworks" (6:20)
  8. "Extreme Dream" (4:15)
  9. "Gentle Change" (5:35)
  10. "Speed" (5:55)
  11. "Rainy Nights" (5:03)

Hmm...did I say these guys sound like Helloween? "Wings of Reality" is practically a note-for-note rendition of "Eagle Fly Free", complete with the swelling string section at the end...no matter, though. This is a GREAT album, perhaps a bit more mainstream than their earlier works. I even spent an extra five bucks on the Japanese import for the bonus track...oh yeah, I should mention I'm getting a bit sick of the greedy record companies' CONSPIRACY to place extra songs on Japanese imports, forcing us die-hard fans to shell out beaucoup bucks or merely do without...come ON people! Give us a break already!!

UPDATE: Well, it appears this album's finally been released in the U.S., and would you believe they used the JAPANESE track listing?? In fact, several other metal albums are being released domestically with bonus tracks, as opposed to the European versions! I guess the record company conspiracy is toying with Europe metal fans now...but for once, I can live with it. :-))

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