Power and the Myth

Power and the Myth Artist: House of Lords
Label: Frontiers
Category: Music


Buying details


Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 8024391017920
ASIN: B0001D8P4O


Release Date: 2004-07-21

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Tracks:

  1. Today
  2. All Is Gone
  3. Am I the Only One
  4. Living in Silence
  5. Power and the Myth
  6. Rapture
  7. Man Who I Am
  8. Bitter Sweet Euphoria
  9. Mind Trip
  10. Child of Rage

Similar Items:

  1. World Upside Down
  2. IV
  3. Sahara
  4. Giuffria
  5. All the Way to the Sun

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars About time!.......2006-09-10

I wrote the following review some time ago but for some reason it no longer appeared with the album. So here's a re-print!

I've waited for this album for a very long time. I hold HOL as a band dear to me for its great music and, for the sort of connectedness one feels for a band without a mass following.

After 1992's Demon's Down, HOL literally disappeared from the shelves. I couldn't understand why, Demon's Down had been such a great album. I remember looking for a copy of Sahara circa '94 and the manager of the store had to pull out the entire music catalog (a 10 pound monstrosity of a binder -before mass use of the internet, kids) and HOL was nowhere to be found.

Back in 2000, there were news on the net that an HOL album was in the works, and sure enough, a pretty good band website materialized. And months later, just like that, it disappeared (while it was still under construction).

Late last year, this little jewel was finally released. My first impression; where's Giuffria? No explanation, no dedication, no short history of the last 12 years, no website is given. Alas, seems like Giuffria was made a solo record deal and abandonned HOL.

The packaging is just so-so; the graphic design could be better, even mispelling "Miguel" (Ruiz) for "Migurl" on the sleeve -and that is the first thing one sees when opening the case. Featured are some photos of the band, who, to their credit are looking sharp.

Taking over the keys are a few promising young keyboardists; I was very excited to see Derek Sherinian as one of them, thinking what a Dream Theater alumni could do for HOL exposure-wise, but alas, Sherinian is only credited one song. Sven Martin previously with Tatu (hey, give the kid a break!) does a fine job but Allan Okuye gets my vote. Yet, while the choice of songs for Okeuye may have given him more room for creativity, Martin is a great keybordist in his own right.

`Today' is a fine song (written by another band), but lyrically it doesn't quite take off. `Am I the Only One' is an un-impeachable song; worthy to be on their "Best of" album if they ever release one. `The Power and the Myth' is an instrumental, featuring Sherinian and it allows Ken Mary to do some exhilarant, heart-pumping drumming. 'The Man That I Am' (written by the the same band that wrote 'Today') is a beautiful, melodic song that is both helped and hindered by the simplicity of its lyrics. It is inspired, bombastic and touches the right heart strings, but yet remains more soulful than lyrical. 'Bitter Sweet Euphoria' is a very strong song and one of the heaviest in HOL's repertoire, another candidate for a "Best of".

Worth mentioning is that gone are the double entrende songs like 'Shoot' or 'Johnny's got a mind of his Own', which even as a teenager I felt were too juvenile for the band.

Power and Myth album has a controled aggressiveness that's fresh and means business. There is a distinctive direction which the band followed; it is spiritual, mystical and the songs attest to their soul searching. It is a more mature effort than their previous albums which nevertheless keeps all the teeth and heart I'd expect from HOL.

The nagging feeling I get from The Power and the Myth is that the band just had to release it, even if it wasn't up to the standard of their previous works. It needed more work and production, although you can tell HOL wanted, and did, the best they could do before releasing it. And that saddens me a bit, because this little gem is not as good as it could have been, and because HOL's work will once again go under-appreciated.

When I purchased this album last Christmas there were "only three copies left" yet six months later there are only a handful of reviews, and it has already fallen bellow the 200,000 mark.

I hope House of Lords will try again; they're much too talented and creative to go unheard. Five stars seems a tiny bit too generous, but three would be grossly under-rating the album, and this band has had too much of that.

3 out of 5 stars Not great... but certainly not bad either..........2005-02-27

As I've listened to this album over the past week, it is beginning to grow on me more and more. There are some catchy tunes, some nice riffs, and some great drumming here, but nothing really extraordinary. It would have been nice if House of Lords had let Sherinnian contribute more to the writing and overall sound of the album. Then they probably really would have had something.

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