Edguy
Space Police - Defenders Of The Crown

What the fuck is this shit? That was my spontaneous reaction to the first few songs the first time I played this new Edguy album. However, that was a reaction I soon had to revise.

'Space Police - Defenders Of The Crown' is the tenth album by this German band that has been close to my heart ever since I first heard 'Vain Glory Opera' about 15 years ago. Lately the band has lost some release tempo and unfortunately also some of that special touch that made the old albums so appealing to me all those years ago but this hasn't changed my approach to any new release from this band - as soon as I get the opportunity I'll literarily throw myself over anything Edguy. As you probably understand from my reaction on the first spin that 'Space Police - Defenders Of The Crown' isn't the album I as a fan was hoping for, just like 'Age Of The Joker' wasn't, but just like always it's so much more to enjoy in an Edguy album than just those same ideas that has worked before. Sure, we get some of the old ideas on 'Space Police - Defenders Of The Crown' too - like the so-so Tobi humour we've got to know and that simple, straight to the point power metal with catchy choruses that is as easy to like as apple pie.

Even though 'Space Police - Defenders Of The Crown' sounds pretty different from the Edguy that ruled the late 90's there are also similarities in the sound here. Love Tyger is not too different from Alien Drum Bunny on 'Mandrake' and Space Police is clearly a new Superheroes or Rocketride from the releases with the same names. The Realms Of Baba yaga is probably the most typical Edguy song on the album with that trademarked high speed sound of tracks like Until We Rise Again or Frozen Candle from 'Vain Glory Opera' and 'Savage Poetry' respective. In all fairness it's not that Edguy has gone a long distance from their established sound with this album but those small steps can sometimes make a big difference. The vocals from Tobi Sammet sounds more strained that it normally does, kind of like it was on those very first albums where he sung all songs on the same day. The mix has placed the drums so far back in the sound that you barely hear them and those really high speed songs are in clear minority to mid-tempo tracks and such, which gradually has taken over in the last couple of albums. However, none of this means the album is bad - only a bit different.

I love the fact that the band has made a cover on Falcos mega hit Rock Me Amadeus from 1985. You know… can I play the piano anymore? This cover is followed by the best song on the album, Do Me Like A Ceveman, which just like the title suggest is one of Sammets sexually oriented jokes which we've seen a few examples of already (who can forget Rise Of The Morning Glory and Lavatory Love Machine? Has it really been ten years already…). Of course, do Me Liek A Caveman is not great because of its lyrical theme but because of those great verses and choruses, lovely keyboards and on a personal level I also find the flirting with the sound from 'Rocket Ride' extra appealing since that's one of my favorite albums by the band. Also the concluding track, Eternal Wayfarer, is a really great ending with a slightly epic and grand tune closing the album.

The negatives then? Well, for starters I don't think they've made the best out of the production. It feels way to flat and harmless, like the energy of the band is stuck in some sort of backup chamber that the band shouldn't have. It was the same thing with 'Age Of The Joker', the first album Sacha Paeth produced with the abnd, and it's ruining the band in my opinion. Fact is that there isn't anything wrong with these songs, more than possibly the slightly lazy tempo, and Sammet is the same genious he's always been when it comes to the song writing, like when rhyming it sci-fi style with "freeze, goes the space police" or revealing his way to get women "they call me love tyger, I'm gonna save your soul. Maybe they don't actually want to be saved but I'm gonna save them anyway". The fact is that Edguy is a much better band in 2014 than they ever has been and you do hear that on this album, it's just such a shame they lack that extra charm.

I don't dislike 'Space Police - Defenders Of The Crown' and fact is I find it the best Edguy album in almost ten years but they really need to get that cablamo effect in the production so it gets the knockout feel we all know they have in them. That would make this album the album they say it is, a ???? for future albums and past as well. That would probably also make it the heaviest album they've done, which they also say it is but isn't. However, this tenth Edguy album still is an album that no Edguy-fan… no, scratch that - no power metal-fan - should miss!

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