Artist: Jacobs Dream
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release Date: 5/3/05
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Title: Drama of the Ages Artist: Jacobs Dream Label: Metal Blade Records Release Date: 5/3/05 |
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Abyss's Review:
The latest album from Jacob's Dream is an effort that tries so hard to be a complete album, but unfortunately comes up short on most points. I've always thought of these guys as a band that writes solid power metal that simply isn't all that memorable. While it's playing it is pleasant to listen to, but I inevitably find myself more interested in listening to something else. In short, it just doesn't hold my attention.Drama Of The Ages is equally guilty of this. What I find all the more frustrating is that it seems like it is so close to being a great album. The rhythm guitar lines really smoke in places, pounding with a fury that recalls Crimson Glory, Queensryche, and a touch of Nevermore. These riffs, more often than not, sculpt a solid framework for the songwriters to drape their melodies over, but these melodies inevitably disappoint.
"One word review: Okay." New throat Chaz Bond does an admirable job, but I feel he needs to bring a lot more to the table. I was initially pleased by the fact that he seemed content to keep his voice in check and not go to extremes like so many banshee-voiced individuals in the genre do, but his lack of range isn't tempered by a great deal of soul or personality. Because of this, the songs lose depth and come across as flat and workmanlike.
Despite my disappointment, I still feel this is a great band under the surface, they just haven't come out with their masterpiece yet. Songs like "Third Way," "Cutting Words" and the title track have a lot to offer the fan of old school power metal, and fans of the genre will definitely be interested. I, however, find stuff like this hit or miss, and for me this is definitely a miss. One word review: Okay.
Death's Review:
The venerable Metal Blade Records roster has gone through a dramatic overhaul over the last few years, going from a label with a solid core of veteran yet commercially somewhat dated talent (King Diamond, Cannibal Corpse, GWAR, Fates Warning, King's X) some obscure genre bending rock (Spock's Beard), straight-ahead prog-metal (Symphony X), and smattering of traditional American power metal (Jacob's Dream), to the current home of many very current "buzz" acts such as As I Lay Dying, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Red Chord, and Unearth. The recent signings, however, have strayed a bit too much toward trendy metalcore, so it's refreshing to see Metal Blade finding a slot in their busy release schedule for the third Jacob's Dream album, Drama of the Ages, their first since 2001. New vocalist Chaz Bond joins the four original members (James Evans on bass, Gary Holtzman on Drums, Jon Noble and John Berry on guitar) to provide another straightforward platter of traditional, basic power metal without a warbly, high-pitched vocalist and not a lot of spice.
"Really, not much to like." The album as a whole is of course serviceable, but the production seems "old-school" in all the wrong ways, and the reverb-drenched vocals don't sound as good to me as did ex-vocalist David Taylor on 2000's self-titled debut. My enthusiasm for the band waned by 2001's Theater of War, and with it, my score dropped from 4 to 3 skulls, although at the time I mentioned that I still liked Taylor's vocal style quite a bit. Now, four years later, I am presented with the next Jacob's Dream album, this time minus Taylor, the one element I still liked about the band a whole lot. While Bond isn't a bad singer by any means, he just doesn't catch my ear the way Taylor's vocals do. Thus, we're left with what sounds to me like fairly pedestrian, "retro" style metal riffing and song structures with an OK vocalist and an amateurish-sounding production. Really, not much to like. I do appreciate that the band is regrouping after all of this time to continue to fly the flag of traditional metal with power-metal style vocals at a time when my ears are besieged by metalcore poseurs that all sound the same. This is the less ironic 3 Inches of Blood for the new generation. But there is no song as catchy as "Deadly Sinners," and all in all this album doesn't do enough for me for me to spend any more time listening to it now that I have submitted my review. My strongest memory of Jacob's Dream remains their unsuccessful attempt to play a set at a New Jersey festival in 2000 while a death metal band twice as loud as them played just on the other side of a very non-soundproof curtain.
Hel's Review:
Man, it has been a long time since Jacobs Dream released an album. 2001, to be precise. This time they return with a new vocalist in tow. I suppose the question, before we even delve into the album itself, is whether the world is any more ready to embrace Jacobs Dream than it was four years ago. In theory, metal has grown in mainstream popularity, in reality however, it is really hardcore that has grown in mainstream popularity. And that helps Jacobs Dream not one whit.
"Jacobs Dream has indeed released a strong album." Sadly, as the years have gone by, my tolerance for power metal has faded. This is the only regard in which we can draw a correlation between JD and the hardcore movement - my tolerance for hardcore has faded even more. Nevertheless, despite the vocal change, Jacobs Dream strikes me as much the same band as they have been in the past. If that makes you giddy with excitement, then you should certain run right out and buy Drama of the Ages. My problem with this band in the past was pretty much the vocals, and the resemblance they held musically to the bands they were attempting to emulate. Again, this is much the same. Now, there's probably a discussion that could be had by some about how firmly they belong in the "power metal" category, but that is a subject I'd merely like to acknowledge without going into. For the sake of simplicity, I'm just going to call them "power metal" having noted this caveat.
Jacobs Dream has indeed released a strong album. If you love this kind of music, you certainly need to become familiar with this band. It would be a gross error to disregard them completely. Bizarrely, the disc ends with a hidden track – a rendition of “Pachelbel’s Canon,” if I’m not mistaken. Not that I’m complaining – it is probably the best track on the album. Very Trans-Siberan Orchestra-esque with a nice segue from a traditional start to an electrical rendition. Overall, a solid purchase if you’ve a mind to.
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