|
Непрерывно развивающаяся от альбома к альбому немецкая хэви-группа Stormwitch на этом альбоме, пожалуй, достигла пика своего развития в 80-е года. Отточенная игра гитаристов, продуманные мелодии и тексты, драйвовые и качественные ударные партии, и, конечно же, сильный и узнаваемый голос Энди Алдриана - Stormwitch выросли до уровня топовых металлических команд того времени. Впервые в некоторых песнях появился женский бэк-вокал, красиво подпевающий основному вокалисту. Звук также значительно улучшился - ритм-секция, вокалы и гитары отлично прописаны - наконец-то можно услышать все богатство музыки Stormwitch во всей красе и со всеми нюансами.
Открывается альбом с хорала в исполнении Алдриана и приглашенной на роль бэк-вокалистки девушки, после чего сразу идет боевой трэк "Call Of The Wicked", в припеве которого вновь раздается эта самая хоровая запевка. Затем начинается "Just For One Night", музыкально продолжающая линию первой песни и запоминающаяся мощным фальцетом в конце. А вот дальше начинается один из главных фаворитов альбома - окутанная волшебной сказочной атмосферой, "The Beauty And The Beast", опять же с женским бэк-вокалом, прекрасно вписавшимся в эту песню. На мой взгляд, эта композиция стоит в одном ряду с легендарной "Walpurgis Night" и вполне претендует на звание одного из главных хитов группы! Ну и вкрапления клавишных отлично дополняют эту сказку. После нее идет жесткая среднетемповая "Emerald Eye", тяжелая и заставляющая потряхивать хаером. И вот, за ней - первая в истории группы акустическая баллада "Tears By The Firelight", с вкраплениями скрипок и женского вокала. В-общем, красивая песня, весьма часто исполняемая на концертах, даром что абсолютно нетипичная для классических Stormwitch 80-х. Однако уже следующий "Tigers Of The Sea" возвращает музыку в привычное всем хэви-металлическое русло. Мрачноватый и тягучий эпик "Russia's on Fire" весьма красочно символизирует зимние морозы в нашей стране. Запомнилась русская речь в конце трэка, с неплохой дикцией говорившей ее женщины. За этим номером идут угарные и быстрые боевики "Cheyenne (Where The Eagles Retreat)" и "Welcome To Bedlam", удачно заканчивающие альбом.
В-целом и в-общем, 36 с небольшим минут пролетают незаметно, оставляя после прослушивания лишь приятные впечатления. Это тот самый альбом, сочетающий в себе наработки двух предыдущих релизов с хитовостью "Walpurgis Night". Перед нами отличный образец качественного и оригинального, нешаблонного хэви металла, про который можно с уверенностью назвать - must have. |
|
Are promised to come true
The touch of the sin is tasting so sweet
Hear it calling you
If you like to play with fire
Never ever get too close
Call of the Wicked . . .
Just for one Night
So you're a stranger in our town we've got an offer
Please sit down, listen close to the words
Down by the river there's a mill, a haunted place
Where evil fills every rafter and stone
You just have to be strong one night long
Break the spell, you really got the might
You need to stay just for one night
A chest of silver will be yours if you dry up
The voodoo source, you got no time to lose
The haunting starts at twelve o'clock when every wall
Will start to rock to the yells and the screams
Yellow smoke from the beams, oh it seems
You're a toy in the hand of devil's breed
You need to stay just for one night
They scratch your face, they pull your hair, they sting and bite
But you've to dare the unending attack
The fainter moonlight's shining in the more
They make the welkin ring, at dawn they are gone
You just have to be strong one night long . . .
You need to stay just for one night
The Beauty and the Beast
She's hungry, hungry for life
Every bound and ban cuts like a knife
She's willing to break down the walls
When the night-time falls
Blue moonlight, she's wide awake
Every breath of the dark makes her shake
In silence she's slipping away on a moonlight's ray
Hot night, there's loving and spite
In the lanes and in the alleys, darkness and light
Hot night, the good and bad's so close together
The Beauty and the Beast, saints and demons--kisses and bites
The Beauty and the Beast in the dead of the night
He's longing, longing to stray
Leaving back all the yesterday's clay
Right down where the streets have no names
The winds were never tamed
Together they're taking to flight
Hand in hand through the maze of the night
Don't follow the Will-o'-the-wisp in the shadow's mist
Hot night, there's loving. . .
The Beauty and the Beast. . .
Emerald Eye
We've sailed across the ocean, through the storm and rain
We've come to find the jewel, we believe it was not in vain
Through dusty plains and deserts, we have searched so long
We feel the quest will end in the cold of this tropic dawn
Look the island is in sight, veiled in mist and golden light
Row the boat, let's go ashore, row more and more
The emerald eye, crystal fire's power takes me high
The emerald eye, like a torch in the night
Turning darkness to light, I'm reaching out for the sky
The emerald eye
Eternal youth and fortune, so the legends tell
Will be the finder's pay, let us start digging at a spell
Since forty hours we're working, without sleep and rest
But suddenly our spades strike the planks of a wooden chest
Pick the padlock, break the seal, let me be the first to feel
The almighty crystal stone, I wanna touch it alone
The emerald eye . . .
It is mine!
Storm and rain, now I know--I know it was not in vain
Crystal stone, I'm the one to rule--all alone
I will fight, get away or my bullet takes your life
I'm divine, it is mine!
Tears by the Firelight
Tears by the firelight, he won't be home tonight
The Royal order reached him now to fight for the land
Eyes at the window-pane, staring through pouring rain
All the room is cold and grey, the fire burns bright
Every night there is no one beside
She's counting the hours, the memories burn
Day after day all her thoughts slip away
She waits for the one to return
Almost a year has gone, the battles are raging on
She has got no sign of life, no news at all
She wants to know his stand far in the foreign land
For King and Country he has left, the King's sleeping tight
Every night there is no one beside . . .
Tears by the firelight, he won't be home tonight
Sparks of hope begin to glow, the end of the war
Church-bells proclaim the peace, they welcome the returnees
"The victory is ours!" but she thinks, "What's mine?"
Every night there is no one beside . . .
Tears by the light, the fire burns down
Words black as grave's ground, seals red as blood
By the light, life's found an end
The parchment is still in her hand.
Tigers Of The Sea
Tigers of the Sea
Message from the masthead: "Spanish galleon, straight ahead!"
Up the shrouds, hoist all the canvas
It is worth the plunder, coming from down under
Filled with spicery and treasures
Out on the sea, the power is ours
Spitting on order and law of the king
Banished we are, outlawed forever
We never care what tomorrow may bring
Tigers of the sea, chasing the gold of her Royal Majesty
Tigers of the sea, sentenced to death at the black gallows tree
All men to the cannons, let them shiver, make them dance
Casks of ruin for everyone, let's go
When the rigging's falling, boarding party's crawling
Up the rail, we will prevail
We never know the habits and fashion
Of England's and Netherland's nobility
We only know the king is no poor man
A few diamonds less won't make him weep
Tigers of the sea . . .
Gentry, take care of your jewelry
Sire, beware of the tiger
Black pyre, sails on fire
Tigers of the sea . . .
Russia's On Fire
Russia's on Fire
Four hundred miles from Moscow, Beresina's the river's name
I'm longing for some warmness, scarlet cold runs in my veins
Each step's a dance with darkness on the edge of the icy jaw
I've seen my comrades falling killed by the winter desert's law
Every yard one victim, every inch is soaked with blood
Through the endless frozen land
Leaving back the Moscow brand
Frozen land--flaming brand, will this nightmare never end?
Russia's on fire
We've came to see our banner flying over the eastern crown
But there was no surrender, no one laid the sabre down
Taking up our quarters they set fire to the town
Through the endless . . .
Will I stand the torture, hunger, cannon balls and cold
Through the endless . . .
Cheyenne (Where The Eagles Retreat)
Cheyenne (Where the Eagles Retreat)
The sun is awaking, the fires glow down
The spirit has spoken, the token was found
Dance to the rhythm, the beat of the drum
Is shaking the mountain, the war-song is sung
Down on the barren plain, the dust clouds rise again
Just like the locusts they're raiding our land
Down on the road of thieves, we watch our enemies
Hate in our hearts and guns in our hands
As long the winds are free, the white man shall bleed
The Red Man's destiny is up where the eagles retreat
They've broken the treaties, the papers were lies
With finery and whiskey, they've stolen our pride
Plundering our holy hills, the game was almost killed
Buffaloes' thunder will never return
Smoke signals rise and sail over the iron trail
Prior to the sunset the tables will turn
As long the winds are free . . .
Fast as the falcon we will ride down the hills
to the place of the holy fight, Soldier Blue in the arrows' hail
Great spirit told us, we won't fail, wreaking vengeance
On everyone who came and tried to make the Red Man run
Woe betide the flood of whites that turned our days
To deepest nights, you tremble and you cry for help
When I draw my blade and take your scalp
Just before the set of sun the battle's won
The bloody work is done--Yeah
Down on the barren plain, the killing starts again
Many have followed, too many to stand
Our tribes are doomed to death, just like the freedom's breath
Wires and stakes in the heart of our land
As long the winds are free . . .
Welcome To Bedlam
Welcome to Bedlam
Don't be afraid, when we're knocking at your door
Don't need to ask, what the irons may be for
Why do you hesitate, come on and don't be late
We'll be no longer patient
You really got the choice, just between chains or toys
So be a pleasant patient--now
Aunts and uncles dressed in white
They all like to wish you
Welcome--Welcome to Bedlam
Make yourself at home, you're at home
Nice how the grated moon shines in your padded room
The outer world's so malice
Drugs will improve your dreams, laughter will drown your screams
You got a serious illness--now
Hot injections in your veins
We insure that you are
Welcome--Welcome to Bedlam
Everyone wants your best, lie down and take a rest
Forget the pain and sorrow
Everyone wants your best, all your kin do attest
Your mind is full of shadows--now
Mental disease, insanity
We all like to wish you
Welcome--Welcome to Bedlam . . .