While I'm no fan of opera, I do enjoy a good
rock opera. The problem as I see it with standard opera is that it's almost always written in another language, and as I'm not bilingual I find it impossible to follow the storyline of any of them. I
will listen to non-English songs: I have done and have been very impressed by much of what I've heard, but generally speaking that's a song at a time, not any sort of concept or plot that continues from track to track and has to be followed. Also, I don't like the soaring female soprano voice much.
But rock operas, or even metal operas? Oh man, I'm there! The likes of Jim Steinman or Jeff Wayne can bring me all out in goosebumps, and I've already reviewed two more-or-less rock operas in these pages, Gary Hughes' “Once and future king” and the aforementioned Jeff Wayne's musical version of “The War of the Worlds”, and enjoyed both hugely. It's actually quite a different prospect, listening to, and reviewing, a rock or metal opera. You generally can't just listen to one track (well, you can, but you don't get the full experience that way) --- you have to listen to the whole thing in one sitting to really get it. And you have to pay attention, or you'll miss important points either sung or narrated by the cast, or alluded to in the songs.
But, I hear you cry, there aren't that many rock and/or metal operas out there! Au contraire, mon frere, which I translate to that's what you think, buddy!
There are more than you would at first think, and over the course of this series I will be finding them, listening to them and reviewing them here for your pleasure. So don your cloak (or elegant dress, depending on either your gender or preference!), pick up those opera glasses and take your seat, as we're about to engage in a night of culture.
Metal style.
The Ultimate Rock Opera?
I think I can safely say that you have never heard anything like this before --- unless you're already acquainted with this amazing trilogy, of course. “Genius: a Rock Opera” is the brainchild of Italian musician Daniele Liverani (Khymera, Empty Tremor, Twinspirits) and drummer Dario Cicconi (Centrica, Twinspirits, Khymera, Prime Suspect), and it's huge! Based originally on a novella Liverani wrote in 1997, called “Daily trauma”, this musical project has evolved over the course of five years, and involves dozens of well-known artists like Lana Lane, Jorn Lande, DC Cooper, Eric Martin and John Wetton. It's a massive saga that could easily have been made into a blockbuster movie. Spread out over three full albums, the Genius trilogy is one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken in rock circles, and as it
is a trilogy, I'll be reviewing all three albums here, and also giving you a very vital synopsis of the basic storyline.
Essentially, and very simplistically, the theme runs like this: Genius, the hero of the tale, is a rock drummer who wakes up one morning but then falls asleep again. As it happens, he has a dream but this is in fact no dream; he has inadvertently crossed over into the world of dreams, where he meets his “Twinspirit”. Twinspirits are entities who inhabit the dreamworld --- which is divided into continents, each ruled over by a king --- and create the dreams humans have when asleep. Genius is faced with his
own Twinspirit, ie the creature who should be fashioning and creating his dreams, but he is
in this dreamworld now, a thing unheard of, and face-to-face with his own Twinspirit, who is as confused about this turn of events as he is.
This being a huge breach of protocol, and deemed very dangerous in the dream kingdom for a true human to walk amongst them, Genius and his Twinspirit are hunted by the king and the entire Dream League (no, not a football team with both Rooney, Van Persie and Suarez in it! This is the umbrella name given to all the kingdoms who make up the dreamworld, and who create the Twinspirits), and they're more after the Twinspirit, who is given the ID 32 suffix --- each Twinspirit is numbered so as to be identifiable from the millions of others who populate the dreamworld as humans sleep and dream --- so as to stop him from passing on, as is the job of all Twinspirits, the details of his dream to the human when he awakes and alerting Genius to what actually goes on when people sleep, how dreams are created, and leading to the possible collapse of the whole dream world system. Genius befriends his Twinspirit though, and together they take on the Dream League.
So, with a basic grounding in this intricate and clever story, let's look at the first album in the trilogy, the opening of the story and the introduction of Genius to the dreamworld.
Genius: a Rock Opera --- Episode 1: A human into dreams' world --- Daniele Liverani --- 2002 (Frontiers)
The first album opens with a twelve-minute composition, “Without me today”, which starts with narration from the Storyteller, played by Philip Bynoe, best known for his work with Steve Vai, as he introduces the concept of the dreamworld, and also introduces us to Genius on that fateful morning. The music is pretty much all handled by Liverani, who takes all guitar, bass and keyboard duties, and Cicconi, who handles all percussion and drumming. Genius is played by Mark Boals (Royal Hunt, Ring of Fire, Seven the Hard Way, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force), and his voice is powerful and clear as he sings of his dream, as unbeknownst to him he enters, physically, the dream world.
This feat has been accomplished by a huge coincidence: the ringing of the bells on his alarm clock correspond
exactly to the cadences of the sound the Twinspirits use when they knock on the door of the gates of the kingdom, having just been born to carry out the dreams of their assigned human, and needing admittance. The Doorkeepers, who, er, keep the door of the kingdom, mistake Genius for a Twinspirit and let him in, not realising he is actually a real human.
Musically, this is a powerfest, full of snarling guitars, organs and whizzy keyboards, with punchy drums, and for a twelve-minute song it certainly does not drag. Some real keyboard wizardry in here, and you can see why Daniele Liverani is a master of his craft. He also wrote all the lyrics and music to the entire rock opera, and came up with the concept and the story.
The Storyteller continues to narrate how Genius “wakes up” and finds himself before a huge floating gate suspended in midair, with a beautiful woman either side of it. This is the cue for Lana Lane to come in as one of the Doorkeepers, explaining to Genius where he is, as “The right place”, a light piano melody carrying it, begins. Of course, the Doorkeeper thinks Genius is a Twinspirit, and assigns him the number 33. This number, of course, has not been assigned to any human, as Genius
is a human. Confused? Don't be. Each Twinspirit is assigned, as I said, a number, which corresponds to the dreaming human whose fantasy they must build. At the end of their short life (ie when the human wakes up) they transmit the dream to the human, who wakes up and remembers it. Genius, who is not of this world and is in fact the human “dreaming”, knows nothing of this, does not know how to operate the intricate equipment that the Twinspirits use to fashion the dreams, and will no doubt soon be discovered to be an intruder.
Lane sings as always like an angel, but the song itself is a little repetitive, though the piano melody gives the definite feeling of floating on air. “Paradox”, then, is a hard rocker, with urgent keys and sharp guitar, a much faster song as Genius tries to figure out where he is, what's going on. As he joins a long queue of people (a queue to where he does not know) he meets his Twinspirit, played by Pain of Salvation's Daniel Gildenlow, who has been assigned the number 32, so he is Twinspirit n.32, and at first he does not believe Genius when the human tells him that he is real, and not a Twinspirit, but when it becomes obvious they are both “dreaming the same dream”, he realises Genius is a human, and should not be here. He explains to Genius that he himself has only been born minutes ago, his task to carry out the dream Genius is having. But if Genius is dreaming of being here, and
is here, how can Twinspirit n.32 fashion that dream? What a paradox, and a dangerous one. The whole song reeks of panic, despair, urgency, fear as Twinspirit n.32 fears Genius will be discovered, and Genius tries to come to terms with what has happened.
The two new friends follow the queue onto a large train, which takes them to the Station House, where all new Twinspirits are greeted by the Station Master, voiced by Gravedigger's Chris Boltendahl. “The glory of our land” is a fast rock cruncher, driven on steamhammer drumming --- perhaps meant to represent the train they arrived on? --- as the Twinspirits take their places at their desks and are given their duties. Also referred to in the song is McChaos King, the ruler of the European Kingdom, in which Genius is currently. Great guitar solo and some really finger-shredding playing from Liverani as the song thunders on, then choral backing vocals as the Twinspirits aver their loyalty and responsibility to the job of creating the dreams of humans.
Joe Vana from Mecca takes the lead as McChaos's consultant in “All of your acts”, where he lays down the three cardinal rules the Twinspirits must follow: first, they live only once, being born when their assigned human begins to dream and dying when they awake. Second, they share their assigned dreamer's dream with no other Twinspirit, so it is unique to the Dreamer and third, they on no account are to ever reveal their presence to their or any other human, who are to remain ignorant of the workings or even the existence of the Dreamworld.
This is a more AOR-leaning track, with swirling keys and hard, punchy guitar, and Vana, whom I've never heard (of) before, has a very strong and mellifluous voice. This tracks owes more to the likes of FM and Night Ranger than the previous, which were generally much more in the mould of heavy metal. This is very catchy, and shortened down a little (it clocks in at six and a half minutes) could have made a good single, if indeed any were ever released from the three albums. Sparkling guitar solo from Liverani, again much more in the mould of a Foreigner or an Asia than his previous solos.
“Dreams” is carried on Brian May/Malmsteen-style guitar, as Genius looks in amazement at all the technology around him for creating the dreams of sleeping humans, even though he has no idea what it all does. Boals takes centre stage here as the eponymous hero, knowing that he is an interloper, but yet fascinated by what he sees. The song is a fast rocker, thumping drums keeping the beat with strings-like synth adding in stabs of colour and majesty at intervals. “My pride” then introduces Kansas' Steve Walsh as Wild Tribe King, ruler of the African continent kingdom, who is visiting his friend McChaos King, voiced by John Wetton, and has also come to see what is the state of the art in Twinspirit tech. Also in this song is Oliver Hartmann (Avantasia, Edguy, Aina, Rhapsody, Freedom Call) as the Wild Tribe King's consultant. It opens on a lengthy guitar solo, then settles into a rock groove with a nice mid-pacer as the two kings talk to each other, unaware that Genius is sitting sweating at his desk, ignorant of what he should be doing, while beside him, Twinspirit n.32 is looking worriedly at a screen that is displaying Genius looking at a blank screen...!
It all comes to a head in “There's a human”, where Hartmann, in his role as the Wild Tribe King's consultant, notices the blank screen and realises what has happened. He documents the evidence, to be passed on to his king as the Wild Tribe start their journey back home, to report the European king, who is unaware of what has happened. The track is a fast, breakneck rocker in the mould of Iron Maiden at their best, with some great, urgent, outraged backing vocals as they sing
”There's a human/ There's a human/ There's a human/ In this land!” Some really good tribal-style drumming too, to underline the African contingent.
“Father” is a beautiful, sensitive little piano ballad, a kind of interlude while the McChaos King, oblivious to the fate soon to be handed down to him, sings to his baby son and heir. The ballad, a showcase for Wetton's legendary vocals, turns into something of a mid-paced song with expressive guitar joining the piano and the drums crashing like thunder. Meanwhile, the Dream League Council, led by its president, Mr. Maindream, meet to decide what punishment is to be meted out to the rogue king, for having allowed a human to enter their world.
Maindream, played by the late Midnight, ex-Crimson Glory declares that Twinspirit n.32 must be destroyed, as “Terminate”, a high-powered, rocking thunderer takes the stage, something in the vein of Shadow Gallery's “Chased”. The Twinspirit is blamed for losing control of its Dreamer, and the McChaos King will be replaced, as this happened on his watch. The Council fear the truth about the dreamworld getting out, should Genius be allowed to awake with the dream Twinspirit n.32 is making for him.
The album, and the first part of the trilogy, ends on the frenetic “I'm afraid”, as Twinspirit n.32 tells Genius that the king has been arrested, his son taken to the Toy Warehouse in the Asian kingdom, to be used once as a prop in someone's fantasy and then be destroyed. In this way the child can no longer lay any claim to the throne of the European kingdom, and Genius, unable to use the equipment in the dream factory wonders what will happen to him. It's an ensemble finale as Wetton, Boals, Gildenlow and Midnight all sing together as the king is arrested and the Dream police (hah!) begin searching for the elusive Twinspirit n.32.
How will all this resolve? Will the king and his son be saved, restored to the throne? Will Genius and Twinspirit n.32 escape, and will Genius get back to his own world? Read on...
TRACKLISTING
1. Without me today
2. The right place
3. Paradox
4. The glory of our land
5. All of your acts
6. Dreams
7. My pride
8. There's a human
9. Father
10. Terminate
11. I'm afraid