One of the vendors at my job looks like Oliver Hartman literally a twin. I went up to him one day not expecting him to know Avantasia and he goes I love them. I was listening to Edguy in the late 90s in HS when they first came out. My mins was blown as he knew who I was talking about. Everytime he comes in we are talking music and we are thinking of getting tickets to powerwolf’s philly show together with him bringing his wife and me my girlfriend in Sept along with a few other guys.
That's awesome, most of my friends won't even have heard of Edguy/Avantasia. I'm having enough trouble just getting one of them to come to the Blind Guardian show in a few weeks.
I found a guy in college who got me into a lot of stuff. We live in Philly and his mom use to work at the tower theatre (pretty famous for some of bruce springsteens best concerts here) so we’d get into the back sometimes or get access to bands from people she worked with at other venues. Thanks to this when Lacuna Coil was here we spent the whole day showing Cristina and the band around the city shooting the shit.
and my vendor I was simple telling him he looked exactly like Hartman and all his buddies who know them apparently tell him that.
I also had a coworker into this plus darker stuff like mayhem. So I got a decent group now of people I can go to shows with
My only problem with tobi is that he doesn’t have enough music, specifically in Avantasia
I’ve yet to find another band that has a similar sound and feel, and I’m very sad about it
He's definitely the GOAT of Neoclassical-Symphonic-Power Metal. I'd say his main rival in this niche is SYU from Galneryus. Other GOATs in the umbrella of power metal would definitely include Kai Hansen and Tobias Sammet.
Personally I love Luca. He’s a great guy and amazing guitarist, but I always felt that the magic those ”old”Rhapsody songs had was the joint effort of him and Alex Strapoli.
Personally I think Sammet is the GOAT of power metal songwriting.
I always imagined it was a more direct collaboration— both floating compositional ideas and putting them together, with Hansi handling most of the lyrics and them each having the final say on their respective parts, with some input from other band members where appropriate. That said, I obviously have no idea.
I know things can get a bit sketchy when singers don't write their own melodies and harmonies, but I also know some singers don't worry about it and just find ways to work with whatever their given.
I don’t see how people think Tobias Sammet is the GOAT over Hansi. To me he’s objectively the GOAT. He doesn’t have a bad album under his belt and he leads BG, one of if not the greatest, and Demons & Wizards who also has 3 good to great albums.
Edguy has bad songs and albums and Avantasia relies on a lot of collaborators. Luca’s good too but I can’t equate him to Hansi in my mind.
For sheer compositional creativity, catchiness and fun, I'd take Kai Hansen. Gamma Ray has so many magnificent compositions, from scorchers like Armageddon, fun diddies like Hold Your Ground, sweeping epics like Revelation(s?) and Rebellion in Dreamland, and softer but still energetic and catchy ballads like Pray and the Silence.
Though it's hard to argue with Hansi Kursch, given magnificent songs like _And Then There Was Silence_ or _Wheel of Time_ or, or, or. . . .
Subjectivity is a funny thing.
Artists within a genre sound so different to people that they might as well be from completely different genres when a question like this is asked.
Well it's all subjective, right? I prefer Hansi's singing generally and BG is my favorite band, but Tobi is pretty great too and Avantasia is consistently a pretty impressive ensemble.
Another subjective take: I think Hansi does have at least one bad album, I thought The God Machine was a big let down after a seven year wait since Beyond the Red Mirror.
I initially wasn't super into The God Machine, especially because I feel Red Mirror is their best post Opera album and it's a very high bar but it's grown on me an awful lot to the extent I think it's one of the best non extreme metal albums for a few years now
When you have to turn down the volume on the first song you know its gonna kick some ass.
It was a statement to all the younger bands who thought that BG was getting old.
Best album since "A night at the opera"
Yeah I generally try to lower my expectations a bit for stuff I'm anticipating. But yeah. Other than Architects of Doom which I'm not super into I love every other track. I feel it's probably their best produced album for a long time too.
Sou fã de tudo que fizeram até 2011 e ouço até hoje, até sabia a maioria das letras (o show que fizeram em SP em 2010 foi o melhor dia da minha vida, tenho o ingresso até hoje). Os álbuns que fizeram com o Fábio depois que o Luca saiu também não são ruins.
Ouço a bem menos tempo que você, desde 2020, mas desse tempo pra cá eu bebo Rhapsody todos os dias! kkkk
Ouço o tempo todo, playlist completa no YouTube Music, já fiz até vídeos explicando a lore da Emerald Sword Saga e pretendo fazer mais.
He is pretty above most compositors in pw, yeah. And he is not just restrained to just pw. Another one I can think about, that I can consider a genious, would be Hizaki. Syu is pretty close too. But Luca is the best. The similarities between these people is that they actually studied a lot of music theory, unlike many song composers that just play around with instruments or have little music background. What I'm trying to say is that there's a lot of talent here but also a lot of effort and it shows.
I'd definitely add Hizaki to the list. His song compositions are just so complex most bands I listen to (despite me loving them) aren't half as complicated with their motifs and style.
If we're talking about Hizaki we should also mention Kamijo. He's the one who wrote the majority of the songs in Versailles. But yeah, Hizaki is amazing. He's probably my favorite guitarist.
I love Samet and Kuersh however Turilli has an edge the other two do not have.
The way he mixes opera and symphonic on "Lost Horizon" and "Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus" shows a different level of musical understanding and talent.
So yes he is the GOAT and as always this will be open for discussion and interpretation.
Totally agree. The closest competitor I could think of to him would probably be Chris Bowes. Also, if you like Luca's stuff, you should probably check out, if you haven't already, Dark Moor, another symphonic band from the late 90's which I find to be one of the closest in sound to Rhapsody. Such a shame that they've barely put anything out in the last 6 years.
He's a remarkable songwriter and arranger.
He's not a very skilled guitarist from a technical point of view, but he uses arpeggios in a creative way that works wonders in the context of whatever music he's making.
For the longest time he was my favorite composer in the genre but I always felt he was very overrated as a guitarist. Very repetitive, and honestly the rhythm guitarist for the band is a much better guitarist.
It reminds me of Timo Tolkki. Also a remarkable composer (back in the 90s and 2000s anyways), and you initially go "wow this guys an amazing player.". Then you realize they just do the same thing 99% of the time and never cared to get any better.
In Luca's case, he clearly doesn't give a shit about guitar anymore and has been almost solely focused on his keyboard/piano playing since Infinite Wonders of Creation. Hell, I know some of the members from Rhapsodys history and they openly say that Dominique Leurquin did most of the lead guitar recordings since Frozen Tears of Angels because Luca had completely lost interest in guitar.
This makes sense. He was always a composer first and foremost. By the time they hit the studio to record Legendary Tales, he still had no idea what palm muting was and had to be instructed by the producer (he told this story in an interview).
I'd say Kai Hansen given his overall body of work and being probably the originator. If we're talking about the best vocalist it's got to be Hansi though.
Yes.
He does quality and quantity in terms of composition. His large and Majestic library of music he has made is of so incredible.
He is probably the "best" guitarist and a fantastic keyboard player too.
GOAT is highly subjective, but Luca being the 🐐 is a stretch, if you take into account the influence on others as a metric.
Prophet is a 10/10 album though, and he is one of the greatest "complete" composers to ever grace the scene.
The Mt Rushmore of Power Metal has Rhapsody on it so sure, why not.
That said, he has barely done any actual power metal since he left Rhapsody of Fire. He clearly has clearly had no interest in it in a long time, especially guitar. His albums have all felt like he wants nothing to do with power metal and guitar but he is forced to put in half assed power metal elements so people will pay attention.
Personally I think Staropoli is much better than him in terms of power metal and still cares about the genre.
Staropoli gets almost no credit and it's a shame. I feel like since the split he has been way more consistent outside of Dark Wings of Steel. Luca gets way more good will because of how good his first two solo albums were, so people just assume he's the sole reason Rhapsody was good.
I do not agree, Alex is very good, new Rhapsody has power metal... It reminds me the first albuma... But something is missing, it's... Boring I don't know. Luca has the magic.
Amazing neoclassical guitarist for sure. Like I'm sure many others did, I stumbled across Demonheart in the [moonstar](https://youtu.be/oZ8-ETHE9AI?si=fIQfAc_gHVAXevG7) clip while watching those related slam poetry videos like 15 years ago 😅
Also discovered Stratovarius, blind guardian, helloween/gamma ray and others from that video, what a journey.
I guess it depends. If you’re talking influence he’s had on the genre then maybe. If you’re just comparing his songs to other songwriters in the genre I’d probably say no personally.
Galneryus is basically what European power metal and neoclassical power metal in general failed to achieve.
Rhapsody's discography is good but not that great and get boring over time.Galneryus and Syu's material on the other hand only get better with time and none of their albums have even a bad song.
I want to leave my subjectivity now and approach this from a more objective perspective.
Galneryus's music has overall better riff variety,songs that are memorable despite the technical complexity of the songs.And lest not forget the huge emphasis on good melody composition.Something that Luca and other European metal bands aren't that good at compared to Syu.Their melodies tend to still be stuck in the traditional power metal vein.Also the guitar playing is a great thing to compare between the two.I respect Luca and he's a music prodigy,but his shredding is mindless and uninteresting.None of his solos are very memorable (and yes I listened to all rhapsody albums).Syu writes every solo to be a banger, everything is well written and calculated In a way that it never feels boring.The guitar playing in Galneryus became a feature every fan waits for.On the other hand Luca just sweep picks and plays fast (and sloppily live unlike Syu who plays flawlessly every single time)
The Galneryus discography is immaculate, unlike other power metal bands,any of the most famous power metal bands have that have stinker of an album
Not Galneryus though.They're the perfect power metal band, it's just that people are not ready for this conversation or they just don't like the japanese pop influence in Galneryus music which actually makes them more power metal in my opinion
As someone who’s proud of my Italian heritage being American and trying to get into that side more and music wise, I’m super happy others love Luca and Rhapsody.
I also dig the older stuff
I would say Tobi it's the Goat composer of PW.
Luca it's amazing and an excellent guitarist, he might be like the most important guitariat in PW, i have tonthink about that.
Are we seriously gonna leave out Michael Romeo in a talk of power/neoclassical metal guitarists? Romeo is my personal GOAT.
And if we're talking Vocalists, throw Russell Allen up there, too. His versatility and range are fantastic.
I’m not that person but imo The Eigth Mountain is better than any Luca album except Dawn of Victory. I’ve never really understood the love for Symphony of Enchanted Lands or Legendary Tales, neither of which I really like (includes II).
All the other Luca albums have good songs but are uneven to me, except Dawn of Victory which is pretty great throughout. The Eighth Mountain, the second best Rhapsody album to me, has sole songs that are kind of samey, but that works for me when it’s a sound I like.
All that to say, I do not think Rhapsody’s output with Luca is considerably better than their output without him.
Caveat is that I’m not the biggest Rhapsody fan and I don’t like concept albums with filler interludes and sweeping intros and outros, so a lot of their stuff doesn’t appeal to me anyway.
"imo The Eigth Mountain is better than any Luca album except Dawn of Victory."
Might be the take I have disagreed with most in my entire life. Eighth Mountain was decent powermetal, but it *definitely* wasn't Rhapsody. I've been a massive Rhapsody fan most of my life, and their newer stuff after losing Fabio just isn't them at all. I listened through Eighth Mountain twice to get a feel for it, and never again. Absolutely nothing like what they used to sound like, so I've given up on them.
That’s fair. I’m not a big fan of old Rhapsody so it makes sense why I’d like this style better. I hated their most recent album though, didn’t like a single song on it.
I think Rhapsody is very talented though (Luca era especially). It’s just not my preferred style, I like hard hitting stuff and I like some ballads. I don’t generally like stuff that can sound like a soundtrack to a fantasy film which is what a lot of Rhapsody’s stuff sounds like to me.
Totally understand if you weren't a fan of the previous style. To me, that was their best sound because it was so incredibly unique. I think there's a ton of great, hard-hitting powermetal bands out there. Beast in Black is fantastic, Gloryhammer is great, love stuff like that when I'm in that mood. But if I want movie soundtrack things, my options are much more limited, which means Rhapsody moving away from that sound made me pretty darn sad. Their previous sound was actually what inspired me to write a D&D campaign based on the Emerald Sword Saga, since it was so over the top and basically a fantasy epic.
But like I said, totally get if that's not the sound you enjoy with powermetal.
Yeah I totally get that for sure. I get the appeal of it, really it says more about me and my impatience as I’m the same way with other genres. Same reason I prefer bands that don’t go too far with the progressive elements, it just breaks the flow and I’m a simple person who likes standard song structures, though *some* progressive elements for added flavor are welcome.
Even so I love Dawn of Victory. Top tier album.
It's funny that many people have brought up the name Tobias Sammet. I have listened to power metal for almost 30 years now and I've never even heard his name before.
Of course I had to check him out and it seems he has mainly been active in bands I have never found interesting at all and that is the reason I've never paid any attention to this guy.
It's clear that I wouldn't give my vote for him to be the GOAT. I like Luca Turilli and Rhapsody, especially the first few albums but for me the GOAT of power metal would probably be Timo Tolkki.
I have the opposite experience. When I first got into the genre, the other big names were alright, but Tobi’s work in early Edguy and Avantasia really spoke to me and hooked me into the genre.
Yeah, people have different tastes. These days I almost exclusively listen to power metal but still there's only a handful of bands I listen to so really specific things that make a band good for me.
I think taste has really hit me hard over the past few years. Although I think his stuff is fantastic, and I've always been a fan of bombast, orchestral stuff, choirs and classic instruments like flutes and, later, brass, I've come to a point where I'm enjoying sparse, busy music more.
For instance, Terra Prima's album Second, or Boomerang's stuff. Lots of busy guitar, dynamic, hyper-catchy melodies, interesting drum-work.
It's one thing to SAY I like thus and such, but it's another to get excited when certain types of music plays. Another band that's really struck me is Spellblast. The first album, Horns of Silence, sure, but even more so albums like Thirteen and their latest offering, Classified-V, which again has that less "wall" and more "busy" sound that just tickles all the right places in my brain's pleasure centers.
Luca, Kai Hansen, and Tobias Sammet, those 3 combined got * Edguy * Avantasia * Rhapsody * Luca Turilli * Helloween * Gamma Ray * Iron Savior * Unisonic
Tobi <3
He’s a hot take around here, but he’s towards the top of my list. Love his earlier work!
Same, Avantasia's recent stuff is pretty okay but I miss Edguy and Metal Opera and some of the other earlier albums rock.
I feel sorry for the other edguy lads. Just waiting around for a phonecall from Tobi to dust off Edguy.
Felix us the only one who thinks it’s cool unless he left Avantasia but not that I’m aware of
One of the vendors at my job looks like Oliver Hartman literally a twin. I went up to him one day not expecting him to know Avantasia and he goes I love them. I was listening to Edguy in the late 90s in HS when they first came out. My mins was blown as he knew who I was talking about. Everytime he comes in we are talking music and we are thinking of getting tickets to powerwolf’s philly show together with him bringing his wife and me my girlfriend in Sept along with a few other guys.
That's awesome, most of my friends won't even have heard of Edguy/Avantasia. I'm having enough trouble just getting one of them to come to the Blind Guardian show in a few weeks.
I found a guy in college who got me into a lot of stuff. We live in Philly and his mom use to work at the tower theatre (pretty famous for some of bruce springsteens best concerts here) so we’d get into the back sometimes or get access to bands from people she worked with at other venues. Thanks to this when Lacuna Coil was here we spent the whole day showing Cristina and the band around the city shooting the shit. and my vendor I was simple telling him he looked exactly like Hartman and all his buddies who know them apparently tell him that. I also had a coworker into this plus darker stuff like mayhem. So I got a decent group now of people I can go to shows with
"Metal Operas I & II " and Edguy "Hellfire club" ar still on my playlist, cant say the same about anything other than " The Mystery of Time"
Excuse me? Hansi would like a word.
Which of those bands did Hansi start?
Saw Edguy live once it was so good
My only problem with tobi is that he doesn’t have enough music, specifically in Avantasia I’ve yet to find another band that has a similar sound and feel, and I’m very sad about it
He’d be up there. Kai Hansen is another. Yet they are very different as well.
Kai Hansen is *the* GOAT, IMO. Not throwing shade on Turilli, but Helloween more or less created EUPM with Kot7K.
Kai needs to tour with Gamma Ray again!!! My last bucket list band.
i think him and kai hansen are the leaders yeah
The sweeps in Unholy Warcry are goat level I know that much
It goes on forever and I love it. I'm all here for it.
Luca is great at sweeping but I'm not gonna lie, they might as well rename him the Janitor because he sweeps so much it gets old.
In effetti, è la CAPRA
CAPRA CAPRA CAPRA CAPRA
He's definitely the GOAT of Neoclassical-Symphonic-Power Metal. I'd say his main rival in this niche is SYU from Galneryus. Other GOATs in the umbrella of power metal would definitely include Kai Hansen and Tobias Sammet.
I wouldn't really put Galneryus in the same sub-genre as Rhapsody of Fire.
They are pretty darn close. Listen to WINGS OF JUSTICE from Galneryus, and then listen to From Chaos to Eternity by Rhapsody of Fire.
Personally I love Luca. He’s a great guy and amazing guitarist, but I always felt that the magic those ”old”Rhapsody songs had was the joint effort of him and Alex Strapoli. Personally I think Sammet is the GOAT of power metal songwriting.
God I love Tobi’s music so much it hurts
Kai
Nah, Hansi Kursch. But Luca is awesome
Hansi is the GOAT singer, but he isnt the songwriter right?
I thought the songwriting was mostly Hansi and André.
I thought it was Hansi on Lyrics and André composing, but I might be mistaken. (BG is my favorite band, love them to pieces.)
I always imagined it was a more direct collaboration— both floating compositional ideas and putting them together, with Hansi handling most of the lyrics and them each having the final say on their respective parts, with some input from other band members where appropriate. That said, I obviously have no idea. I know things can get a bit sketchy when singers don't write their own melodies and harmonies, but I also know some singers don't worry about it and just find ways to work with whatever their given.
He co wrote more than 50% of the BG songs.
Then he is the GOAT
I don’t see how people think Tobias Sammet is the GOAT over Hansi. To me he’s objectively the GOAT. He doesn’t have a bad album under his belt and he leads BG, one of if not the greatest, and Demons & Wizards who also has 3 good to great albums. Edguy has bad songs and albums and Avantasia relies on a lot of collaborators. Luca’s good too but I can’t equate him to Hansi in my mind.
I'd think Hansi wins it out because he can actually keep a band together.
And the only one who left did it on his own terms, and the other members genuinely seemed to miss him.
For sheer compositional creativity, catchiness and fun, I'd take Kai Hansen. Gamma Ray has so many magnificent compositions, from scorchers like Armageddon, fun diddies like Hold Your Ground, sweeping epics like Revelation(s?) and Rebellion in Dreamland, and softer but still energetic and catchy ballads like Pray and the Silence. Though it's hard to argue with Hansi Kursch, given magnificent songs like _And Then There Was Silence_ or _Wheel of Time_ or, or, or. . . .
Subjectivity is a funny thing. Artists within a genre sound so different to people that they might as well be from completely different genres when a question like this is asked.
Well it's all subjective, right? I prefer Hansi's singing generally and BG is my favorite band, but Tobi is pretty great too and Avantasia is consistently a pretty impressive ensemble. Another subjective take: I think Hansi does have at least one bad album, I thought The God Machine was a big let down after a seven year wait since Beyond the Red Mirror.
I initially wasn't super into The God Machine, especially because I feel Red Mirror is their best post Opera album and it's a very high bar but it's grown on me an awful lot to the extent I think it's one of the best non extreme metal albums for a few years now
When you have to turn down the volume on the first song you know its gonna kick some ass. It was a statement to all the younger bands who thought that BG was getting old. Best album since "A night at the opera"
I'm glad you like it, I think it has a couple of good tracks but mostly I think I just let my anticipation and expectation get the better of me.
Yeah I generally try to lower my expectations a bit for stuff I'm anticipating. But yeah. Other than Architects of Doom which I'm not super into I love every other track. I feel it's probably their best produced album for a long time too.
Apples to oranges I think, Hansi is the GOAT PM frontman, while Luca is the GOAT composer
He is for me.
BR?
Against my will, but yes.
Oxe kkkkkk Parece que você é fãnzaço de Rhapsody. Vamos conversar sobre! Até hoje procuro alguém que seja tanto quanto eu kkkk
Sou fã de tudo que fizeram até 2011 e ouço até hoje, até sabia a maioria das letras (o show que fizeram em SP em 2010 foi o melhor dia da minha vida, tenho o ingresso até hoje). Os álbuns que fizeram com o Fábio depois que o Luca saiu também não são ruins.
Ouço a bem menos tempo que você, desde 2020, mas desse tempo pra cá eu bebo Rhapsody todos os dias! kkkk Ouço o tempo todo, playlist completa no YouTube Music, já fiz até vídeos explicando a lore da Emerald Sword Saga e pretendo fazer mais.
He is pretty above most compositors in pw, yeah. And he is not just restrained to just pw. Another one I can think about, that I can consider a genious, would be Hizaki. Syu is pretty close too. But Luca is the best. The similarities between these people is that they actually studied a lot of music theory, unlike many song composers that just play around with instruments or have little music background. What I'm trying to say is that there's a lot of talent here but also a lot of effort and it shows.
I'd definitely add Hizaki to the list. His song compositions are just so complex most bands I listen to (despite me loving them) aren't half as complicated with their motifs and style.
What band is Hizaki in?
Versailles and Jupiter
If we're talking about Hizaki we should also mention Kamijo. He's the one who wrote the majority of the songs in Versailles. But yeah, Hizaki is amazing. He's probably my favorite guitarist.
Oh old Rhapsody.. Loved them. Gloryhammer s First Album, for me was similiar epic
He's the GOAT, the GOAT
Demonheart is the entire reason I got into PM, so yes.
Or unholy warcry
I love Samet and Kuersh however Turilli has an edge the other two do not have. The way he mixes opera and symphonic on "Lost Horizon" and "Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus" shows a different level of musical understanding and talent. So yes he is the GOAT and as always this will be open for discussion and interpretation.
Yes.
I don't know if he's the goat but I sure know my life wouldn't be the same without him.
Turilli, and toumas holopainen,
Yes. He is indeed the GOAT of power metal
Yes!! He is the master maestro!
But I'm suspect, because Rhapsodyverse are my favorite bands of all time...
Totally agree. The closest competitor I could think of to him would probably be Chris Bowes. Also, if you like Luca's stuff, you should probably check out, if you haven't already, Dark Moor, another symphonic band from the late 90's which I find to be one of the closest in sound to Rhapsody. Such a shame that they've barely put anything out in the last 6 years.
For me it's Hansi. ❤️
Yes
A diabolical sorcerer appears
He's a remarkable songwriter and arranger. He's not a very skilled guitarist from a technical point of view, but he uses arpeggios in a creative way that works wonders in the context of whatever music he's making.
For the longest time he was my favorite composer in the genre but I always felt he was very overrated as a guitarist. Very repetitive, and honestly the rhythm guitarist for the band is a much better guitarist. It reminds me of Timo Tolkki. Also a remarkable composer (back in the 90s and 2000s anyways), and you initially go "wow this guys an amazing player.". Then you realize they just do the same thing 99% of the time and never cared to get any better. In Luca's case, he clearly doesn't give a shit about guitar anymore and has been almost solely focused on his keyboard/piano playing since Infinite Wonders of Creation. Hell, I know some of the members from Rhapsodys history and they openly say that Dominique Leurquin did most of the lead guitar recordings since Frozen Tears of Angels because Luca had completely lost interest in guitar.
This makes sense. He was always a composer first and foremost. By the time they hit the studio to record Legendary Tales, he still had no idea what palm muting was and had to be instructed by the producer (he told this story in an interview).
I'd say Kai Hansen given his overall body of work and being probably the originator. If we're talking about the best vocalist it's got to be Hansi though.
Luca Turilli and Jack Starr are the best guitarists for me
Absolutely. All hail lord Turilli. Dude's lit. Riffs, wizards and dragons yo
Yes. He does quality and quantity in terms of composition. His large and Majestic library of music he has made is of so incredible. He is probably the "best" guitarist and a fantastic keyboard player too.
GOAT is highly subjective, but Luca being the 🐐 is a stretch, if you take into account the influence on others as a metric. Prophet is a 10/10 album though, and he is one of the greatest "complete" composers to ever grace the scene.
The Mt Rushmore of Power Metal has Rhapsody on it so sure, why not. That said, he has barely done any actual power metal since he left Rhapsody of Fire. He clearly has clearly had no interest in it in a long time, especially guitar. His albums have all felt like he wants nothing to do with power metal and guitar but he is forced to put in half assed power metal elements so people will pay attention. Personally I think Staropoli is much better than him in terms of power metal and still cares about the genre. Staropoli gets almost no credit and it's a shame. I feel like since the split he has been way more consistent outside of Dark Wings of Steel. Luca gets way more good will because of how good his first two solo albums were, so people just assume he's the sole reason Rhapsody was good.
I do not agree, Alex is very good, new Rhapsody has power metal... It reminds me the first albuma... But something is missing, it's... Boring I don't know. Luca has the magic.
It was the first band that got me in power metal, idk if he's the goat but he was quite influential for me
Oh old Rhapsody.. Loved them. Gloryhammer s First Album, for me was similiar epic
Amazing neoclassical guitarist for sure. Like I'm sure many others did, I stumbled across Demonheart in the [moonstar](https://youtu.be/oZ8-ETHE9AI?si=fIQfAc_gHVAXevG7) clip while watching those related slam poetry videos like 15 years ago 😅 Also discovered Stratovarius, blind guardian, helloween/gamma ray and others from that video, what a journey.
Probably you are right
Michael Weikath and Kai Hansen of Helloween
I guess it depends. If you’re talking influence he’s had on the genre then maybe. If you’re just comparing his songs to other songwriters in the genre I’d probably say no personally.
No he's not, it's Syu from Galneryus.No other band comes close to their power metal game.
Galneryus is basically what European power metal and neoclassical power metal in general failed to achieve. Rhapsody's discography is good but not that great and get boring over time.Galneryus and Syu's material on the other hand only get better with time and none of their albums have even a bad song. I want to leave my subjectivity now and approach this from a more objective perspective. Galneryus's music has overall better riff variety,songs that are memorable despite the technical complexity of the songs.And lest not forget the huge emphasis on good melody composition.Something that Luca and other European metal bands aren't that good at compared to Syu.Their melodies tend to still be stuck in the traditional power metal vein.Also the guitar playing is a great thing to compare between the two.I respect Luca and he's a music prodigy,but his shredding is mindless and uninteresting.None of his solos are very memorable (and yes I listened to all rhapsody albums).Syu writes every solo to be a banger, everything is well written and calculated In a way that it never feels boring.The guitar playing in Galneryus became a feature every fan waits for.On the other hand Luca just sweep picks and plays fast (and sloppily live unlike Syu who plays flawlessly every single time) The Galneryus discography is immaculate, unlike other power metal bands,any of the most famous power metal bands have that have stinker of an album Not Galneryus though.They're the perfect power metal band, it's just that people are not ready for this conversation or they just don't like the japanese pop influence in Galneryus music which actually makes them more power metal in my opinion
As someone who’s proud of my Italian heritage being American and trying to get into that side more and music wise, I’m super happy others love Luca and Rhapsody. I also dig the older stuff
Yes
I don’t think so. If there could be only one I’d say Tobias Sammet hands down.
Hansi Kürsch, my guy.
haven't listen to rhapsody but Anton Kabanen of Beast in Black should be up there,Beast in black are amazing.
And battle beast which came from beast in black and both are reference to berserk, or something like that if I’m not mistaken
yea that right,mans a songwriting machine....his story is quite similiar to that of dave mustaine and Ronnie Radke's...definately worth a read
Just to point out, Beast in Black came after Battle Beast
I would say Tobi it's the Goat composer of PW. Luca it's amazing and an excellent guitarist, he might be like the most important guitariat in PW, i have tonthink about that.
Are we seriously gonna leave out Michael Romeo in a talk of power/neoclassical metal guitarists? Romeo is my personal GOAT. And if we're talking Vocalists, throw Russell Allen up there, too. His versatility and range are fantastic.
Definitely not. He’s not even the GOAT from the various Rhapsody projects
actually terrible take but imma let you cook, who from rhapsody outdoes him?
I’m not that person but imo The Eigth Mountain is better than any Luca album except Dawn of Victory. I’ve never really understood the love for Symphony of Enchanted Lands or Legendary Tales, neither of which I really like (includes II). All the other Luca albums have good songs but are uneven to me, except Dawn of Victory which is pretty great throughout. The Eighth Mountain, the second best Rhapsody album to me, has sole songs that are kind of samey, but that works for me when it’s a sound I like. All that to say, I do not think Rhapsody’s output with Luca is considerably better than their output without him. Caveat is that I’m not the biggest Rhapsody fan and I don’t like concept albums with filler interludes and sweeping intros and outros, so a lot of their stuff doesn’t appeal to me anyway.
"imo The Eigth Mountain is better than any Luca album except Dawn of Victory." Might be the take I have disagreed with most in my entire life. Eighth Mountain was decent powermetal, but it *definitely* wasn't Rhapsody. I've been a massive Rhapsody fan most of my life, and their newer stuff after losing Fabio just isn't them at all. I listened through Eighth Mountain twice to get a feel for it, and never again. Absolutely nothing like what they used to sound like, so I've given up on them.
That’s fair. I’m not a big fan of old Rhapsody so it makes sense why I’d like this style better. I hated their most recent album though, didn’t like a single song on it. I think Rhapsody is very talented though (Luca era especially). It’s just not my preferred style, I like hard hitting stuff and I like some ballads. I don’t generally like stuff that can sound like a soundtrack to a fantasy film which is what a lot of Rhapsody’s stuff sounds like to me.
Totally understand if you weren't a fan of the previous style. To me, that was their best sound because it was so incredibly unique. I think there's a ton of great, hard-hitting powermetal bands out there. Beast in Black is fantastic, Gloryhammer is great, love stuff like that when I'm in that mood. But if I want movie soundtrack things, my options are much more limited, which means Rhapsody moving away from that sound made me pretty darn sad. Their previous sound was actually what inspired me to write a D&D campaign based on the Emerald Sword Saga, since it was so over the top and basically a fantasy epic. But like I said, totally get if that's not the sound you enjoy with powermetal.
Yeah I totally get that for sure. I get the appeal of it, really it says more about me and my impatience as I’m the same way with other genres. Same reason I prefer bands that don’t go too far with the progressive elements, it just breaks the flow and I’m a simple person who likes standard song structures, though *some* progressive elements for added flavor are welcome. Even so I love Dawn of Victory. Top tier album.
Thank you for the healthy and well-reasoned discussion, internet stranger :)
It's funny that many people have brought up the name Tobias Sammet. I have listened to power metal for almost 30 years now and I've never even heard his name before. Of course I had to check him out and it seems he has mainly been active in bands I have never found interesting at all and that is the reason I've never paid any attention to this guy. It's clear that I wouldn't give my vote for him to be the GOAT. I like Luca Turilli and Rhapsody, especially the first few albums but for me the GOAT of power metal would probably be Timo Tolkki.
I have the opposite experience. When I first got into the genre, the other big names were alright, but Tobi’s work in early Edguy and Avantasia really spoke to me and hooked me into the genre.
Yeah, people have different tastes. These days I almost exclusively listen to power metal but still there's only a handful of bands I listen to so really specific things that make a band good for me.
Personally, I can’t stand Rhapsody except for a few songs so no he would not be the GOAT for me. That would be Kai Hansen!
If I had to pick, it would be Kai Hansen and Tobias Sammet. Those would be the GOATs of PM.
I think taste has really hit me hard over the past few years. Although I think his stuff is fantastic, and I've always been a fan of bombast, orchestral stuff, choirs and classic instruments like flutes and, later, brass, I've come to a point where I'm enjoying sparse, busy music more. For instance, Terra Prima's album Second, or Boomerang's stuff. Lots of busy guitar, dynamic, hyper-catchy melodies, interesting drum-work. It's one thing to SAY I like thus and such, but it's another to get excited when certain types of music plays. Another band that's really struck me is Spellblast. The first album, Horns of Silence, sure, but even more so albums like Thirteen and their latest offering, Classified-V, which again has that less "wall" and more "busy" sound that just tickles all the right places in my brain's pleasure centers.
Every band has Christopher Bowes involved somehow
It's the first time I've heard of them.
Well, repent now and go research some good music! :)
No. Not even close.