Tim: Just a week to go, but still so many good rejects to go, so let’s carry on with them. Another trip to Germany, and this one has a hell of a back story to it, of which there’s too much to fully explain here; all I’ll put out for now is that Avantasia is a “rock opera project”, this is the first track on an album that concludes the tale of an agnostic scientist seeking to unite the world’s understandings, and that Meat Loaf was at one point lined up to be the main vocalist. As with Gregorian, there’s no performance clip online, but here’s the full video.
Tom: So, this might be controversial: I reckon that could have won if it stood out. A very good chance of a top 10. With Meat Loaf, it would have won. I know that’s a strong claim, but hell: it’s basically a Meat Loaf track anyway.
Tim: It is, and I don’t think you’re far wrong. Disappointingly, they had to chop the end off this album version, which I think harms the track – it hit the middle eight exactly as it should, but then never came back up to climax. Here we have a great closing chorus, introduced as it is by a splendid key change, and an ending to the track, instead of what was an “oh, so I guess that’s finished then”. It went out on a big note, but it doesn’t feel quite right. It’s a shame – we’ve seen something similar before, with Kati Wolf’s Szerelem, miért múlsz?, a four minute track being chopped down. There, though, they chopped out the second verse/chorus, keeping the main structure, and nobody noticed. Here, w
Tom: Oh, I see what you did there, well done. You’re absolutely r
Tim: Having said all that, this did well enough – got through to the final three, and that shows just what a strong contender it was. Just imagine what could have been. Mind you, I still think Germany picked the best one in the end, and I’m fairly sure these guys don’t mind too much.