Artist: Jacobs Dream
Label: Metal Blade
Release Date: 7/10/01
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Title: Theater of War Artist: Jacobs Dream Label: Metal Blade Release Date: 7/10/01 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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Abyss's Review:
American power metallers Jacobs Dream return with their sophomore effort. Now, I remember when I reviewed their debut and gave it a rather tepid score, so I re-read my review and popped the old CD in and gave it another spin. I must say that I was a little hard on the band the last go around, and my lackluster review was more a result of my being spent on power metal at the time than on any great shortcoming on the part of that band. So with that little retraction out of the way, I’ll continue on with my prejudiced views on this album.
"This second effort sees the band coming in to their own a little more, as they seem to sound like they’re only influenced by their favorite bands rather than just imitating them." This second effort sees the band coming in to their own a little more, as they seem to sound like they’re only influenced by their favorite bands rather than just imitating them. The riffs are catchy and bounce around, but they sound a little thinner than those of the debut. It also seems as though the songwriting caliber is just a touch lower than on the last album, but this album still has its moments. With the exception of the annoying “Sarah Williams”, I like the entire album for the most part. The problem with that song is not that it’s a generic ballad, but more that the repetitive lyrics could possibly drive people to suicide (hey, maybe they’re trying to outdo Priest in that category). The guy opens just about every line in the song with “I’m sorry…” What he should really be sorry for is not spending more time with the thesaurus.
Anyhoo, this album has what you expect. The vocals are still high and piercing and the guitars are capably played and solid. And while this band will not convert the power-resistant, fans of the genre should embrace it. I think of this album as either a strong 2 or a weak 3, but since I was harsh on them last time I’ll give them the 3. One word review: Good.
Death's Review:
When I reviewed the last album from Jacobs Dream, I was psyched. Smack in the middle of an onslaught of bad German power metal records, I was refreshed to hear a band who was more influenced by Queensryche than Helloween. Fat riffs, killer, Iron Maiden-esque epic scope, and vocal that were somewhere between Bruce Dickinson and the dude from Candlemass. What's not to like about that?
I was also psyched to catch Jacobs Dream at that year's (2000) March Metal Meltdown 2, being the strong supporter of having more power metal at Jack Koshick festivals that I am. But Jacobs Dream were undoubtedly the single most victimized act of the now-infamous curtain between stages fiasco. If I remember it correctly, Jacobs Dream literally quit mid-set in frustration.
"Verdict? Eh, I'm not as psyched as I hoped to be." So here we are, reviewing the next Jacobs Dream offering on Metal Blade Records, Theater of War. Verdict? Eh, I'm not as psyched as I hoped to be. I'd rather listen to the new Iced Earth. The songs on Theater of War are OK, but seem to have lost something. The thick riffing and the stylistic nods to Dream Theater and Queensryche that crept through on the self-titled debut seem greatly diminished, and that, unfortunately, makes me like this new album less. In fact, what I call "American" power metal often means it has as much in common with Flotsam and Jetsam, Overkill and Savatage as it does Blind Guardian, Grave Digger and Helloween. I like that older metallic sound, and truth be told, Jacobs Dream probably sounded more "dated" with their last record. Like Steel Prophet's recent release, they are moving closer to a broader, more modern and global acceptance, yet at the same time this is taking their sound in a direction I ultimately like less. Don't get the wrong idea--Jacobs Dream employ very traditional metal instrumentation and delivery. This is still raw American metal, but--for me--that extra level of glean seems to take it ever-so-subtly in the wrong direction, I suppose.
Still, I dig David Taylor's vocals overall, and that hasn't changed with this new record. And new drummer Billy Queen is definitely a solid player (check out how he leads the charge on "Wisdom"). The songwriting is mostly where this record comes up a little short. Most of the songs simply aren't that memorable. Exceptions include the aforementioned "Wisdom" (Taylor's best performance) and the incredibly catchy "Sarah Williams" - yes Abyss, I like the "I'm sorry about your anger, I'm sorry about your pain" lyric. It sticks with me. Scratch what I said above-"Sarah Williams" is Taylor's best performance. Emotional, intricate and catchy. Wish I could say the same about the album as a whole. Average.
"The songs on Theater of War are OK, but seem to have lost something."
Hel's Review:
Favorite tracks: “Sanctuary”Tagging bands with labels is always troublesome business. Everyone has their own definition, and their definition is better, or more correct, or whatever, than any other. The truth is, these are an ambiguous terms whose meanings are bandied about by those who do such things, until they are generally agreed upon, or until someone whose opinion is generally accepted to be correct, says it is a certain way. And the newer the term, the more broadly people use it to describe what they consider it to be. As it is discussed and considered and used more, the definition becomes narrower, the meaning more specific, but this is a gradual and imprecise process.
So I tag Jacobs Dream as European-influenced power metal. By “European-influenced power metal”, I mean a loose category of guitar-driven metal in which clean, high-pitched vocals are the central focus, the overall tone of the music is fairly upbeat, the imagery is generally fanciful, evoking visions of magic and demons and other such super-naturalistic concepts. (See there, I just made up a word, and you knew just what I meant, didn’t you? Or did you…) It doesn’t necessarily mean that Jacobs Dream is from Europe, it means that I think they sound similar to other bands that happen to mostly be from Europe and fall into the descriptive categorization set forth above. Ok, enough with the heavy-handed discussion of the evolution of sub-genre naming; now maybe I should tell you how the album is?
"Overall, the only complaint I have is that [the vocalist] does have a tendency to go all Tiny Tim, occasionally." The vocalist has an almost archetypal Euro-power metal voice, in the way in which I’m trying to describe the term. (Ah, now you see where I was going with all that!) He has refined his style from what I remember he sounded like, and overall, the only complaint I have is that he does have a tendency to go all Tiny Tim, occasionally. Listen to it and think about it… The guitar performances are not as prominent in the mix as I think they should be, but neither is the rest of the band. Come to think of it, I have another complaint. The vocals are too high in the mix - I know they are supposed to be the focus, but in my opinion, that doesn’t mean they have to be louder than the everything else, it means the songs are arranged in a way that naturally highlights the vocal performance, and that’s what brings it to the front.
Frankly, my nose is starting to bleed from being up on this soapbox for so long. I think I need to come down now. Have I ever mentioned that sometimes it’s really challenging to write two reviews a week? Have you noticed that every year there seems to be a massive influx of power metal for a couple of months and then hardly any until the next year? What’s up with that? How will you know whether or not you should buy this record from this ridiculous review? If something in the rambling attempt to be conceptually descriptive above sounded appealing to you, then you should definitely go get Theater of War. The music is good in that way. And in that way, comparing it to the mental picture of other music I think sounds like this, this record deserves 4 skulls. And so it is.
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