Just to put the facts in a row. Rhapsody hasn’t been on the road that much after the ‘Power of the DragonFlame Tour’. It took quite some time to record ‘Symphony of The Enchanted Lands Part II, The Dark Secret’ and afterwards only two concerts in Europe were given and a tour in North America has been worked out. That’s a shame, because seeing Rhapsody live is a must, especially for everyone involved in power-metal.

The album then, contains 60 minutes of live material. The songs from the latest record are combined with the most popular songs from the previous ones. The set list is therefore just great; every fan of the band should be satisfied with that.

Then the technical things; the band seems to have really developed since I saw them live the last time. Fabio’s voice is way stronger, the synths parts are developed more (listen to Emerald Sword for instance) and the way the two guitars are adapted to each other is incredible. Also, the presentation by Fabio has improved. The contact with the audience is much better than before and the crowd is responding tremendously. The voice of Christopher Lee takes responsibilities for the announcements and is also present in Unholy Warcry and Lamento Eroico.

I cannot say anything different than the fact that Rhapsody has just done it again. Right when I thought that it would be very hard to improve their selves after the record and the single ‘Magic of the Wizard’s Dream’, they show that they have the ability to put their skills into a live recording. The fact is, with only 60 minutes, it’s still too short. I miss songs like ‘Holy Thunderforce’ ‘Warrior of Ice’ and ‘Black Dragon’. Because of this, this album won’t add as much as it could to my cd collection. However, that is the only remark I can come up with. And since the band hasn’t been on the road for quite some time (in Europe), a live album will satisfy the fans for sure. 

So, 2006 started out pretty nice. I pray it will continue this way with a lot of great releases. For the rest, let’s hope Rhapsody will come up with a big tour, with some more dates than confirmed so far on the website.