WITHIN TEMPTATION - Our Opinion - 2009

Category: Our Opinion Published on Wednesday, 24 August 2011 16:19 Written by Drakontas Hits: 765

Arranging a presentation for a band like WITHIN TEMPTATION there is always a chance to repeat yourself because of the incredible vocal capabilities of Sharon. But instead of fill our pages with dithyrambic reviews I would prefer to check their latest release "An Acoustic Night at the Theatre", which is a live recording release, under a different point of view and think to ourselves... Are stand before a strategic move for a great job or unfortunately the inspiration levels are hitting rock bottom?

With good promotional campaigns the release can be described as a great one but the fact is only one! They have NO inspiration...

Drakontas - 2009

epigrammatic

The release "An Acoustic Night at the Theatre" is a live album that recorded on Novemver 2008 from the nearly same name "Theatre tour". The official release date arranged one year later on November 2009. The presence of Anneke as a guest musician in "Somewhere" and Keith Caputo in "What Have You Done" is definitely something that we need to pinpoint. The playlist naturally covers all the discography of the band with a small difference (which is being betrayed by the title) the tracks are in an acoustic versio.

The problem

Till now WITHIN TEMPTATION are releasing a new album in every 2 years more or less. The "An Acoustic Night at the Theatre" release is the second (!) live album in a row. And that happened within a period of less than a year prior the "Black Symphony" live release. This is extremely suspicious. It is quite understandable that after 12 years took the decision to record their live appearance (I hate seeing bands that after 2 albums release live material...) but the move that we were expecting was enter studio and record a fresh album.

The one-way move

T he truth is that they knew they need to release something, and that can be easily checked from the "Utopia" release, which seems like an one-way decision. With good promotional campaigns the release can be described as a great one but the fact is only one! They have NO inspiration... "Utopia" as a track is nothing special. Classic "Within" track.

Confess

Which is the reason for all this? Reasons vary. Maybe the contract of the label need a "single" release prior 2010 ("Utopia" is the single of the live album...!). Another reason is that the band tried to prove that they are still capable to compose songs. But they cannot prove anything if they cannot give a straight answer to questions regarding new album (they reply that sometime in 2010 MIGHT release new album)...

Their true devoted fan gave nearly 100 euro for same melodies that simply had different artwork...

Drakontas - 2009

Critic

Personally speaking the only thing I can say is that history always proves itself. I will remind you the same problem that IRON MAIDEN faced when after a long period they released "Virus" single in order to prove that they were active but of course they proved the exact opposite. The reasons for them were of course that they wanted to stop their collaboration with BLAZE because of his voice. I hope that there will not be a release like "Virtual XI" from WITHIN TEMPTATION, which is something that I am worrying...
On the other hand they managed to sell the same tracks again, which practically means their true devoted fan gave nearly 100 euro for same melodies that simply had different artwork...

Guilty or not?

Sharon knows that WITHIN TEMPTATION in order to prove themselves need to release the album. But not just an album. What it needs is to compose something that is great. Fans cannot always forgive moves that are under economical standards only. We know their music capabilities, but is more honest to be away for a certain period rather than fool our fans. Γνωρίζουμε όλοι τις μουσικές ικανότητες που υπάρχουν αλλά το πιο δίκαιο είναι να απέχουμε για κάποιο χρονικό διάστημα, παρά να εκμεταλλευόμαστε τους ίδιους μας τους οπαδούς. I truly hope that after six months I will write dithyrambic reviews for them, for a great come back! Time will show, nevertheless there is no much time left...

http://www.within-temptation.com

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