Edguy - Hall Of Flames (Limited Edition - 2CD) (2004)

Edguy deliver their first greatest hits album here and it is as interesting for a newbie or more recent fan of the bands as it is for the regular fan.

The first kind of people get delivered thirteen very good Edguy songs on the first CD with classics like a special and unreleased version of the epic title track of the last studio album called "Tears of a Mandrake", the mid tempo power metal hymn "The headless game" or the keyboard driven epic "Vain glory opera". The album focuses a little bit too much on the last three records and could have included or rerecorded some songs from the band's very interesting demos. Some classics like the speed metal hammer "Babylon" or the epic "The kingdom" with guest vocals by Grave Digger's Chris Boltendahl are also not included on the first CD but as an overview and introduction to the band, this first CD does a solid but not outstanding job. Musically, most of the songs are really good and present all the diversified styles and talents of the band from the ballad over the head banger to the epic.

The second CD presents some re-recordings, bonus tracks, live material and video clips and might be interesting for every fan of the band who didn't buy the limited or Japanese editions of the album. As "The devil and the servant", "For a trace of life" and "Here I am" were already included on my album versions, I found the live section especially interesting as well as the French fun song "La marche des gendarmes". The only negative point is that none of the bonus songs is really impressive or outstanding in my opinion. I would rather recommend this second part of the album to those who really want to complete their Edguy collection but I wouldn't pay the full or elevated price for this package. But this double album is still way better than most of the useless best of compilations that only try to make some cash, this one has at least a couple of good reasons to be bought.