The Metal Opera

The Metal Opera
Studio album by
Avantasia
Released22 January 2001 (Europe)[1]
10 July 2001 (U.S.)
RecordedOctober 1999 – June 2000
StudioRhoen Studios, Germany
GenreSymphonic power metal
Length59:12
LabelAFM Records (Europe)
Century Media Records (U.S.)
ProducerTobias Sammet, Norman Meiritz
Avantasia chronology
Avantasia (single/EP)
(2000) 		The Metal Opera
(2001) 		The Metal Opera Part II
(2002)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [2]

The Metal Opera is the first full-length album by Tobias Sammet's German supergroup project, Avantasia. It is a concept album and a metal opera. The album is followed by the sequel The Metal Opera Part II. Both were written over the course of a year, starting in the last quarter of 1998, and both were produced from October 1999 to June 2000, with the works being interrupted for some weeks so Sammet could produce The Savage Poetry with his other band Edguy.[3]

The project claims that the album's title marked the first usage of the term "metal opera".[3] Sammet also considers it his professional debut, since it marked the first time he actually made money from music, even though by that time he had already released three albums with Edguy.[3]

According to Sammet, the album's plot is partly based on real witch trials in Fulda (his hometown) and Mainz held in the 16th and 17th centuries.[3]

In 2019, Metal Hammer ranked it as the 25th best power metal album of all time.[4] In 2021, they ranked it as the 18th best symphonic metal album.[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tobias Sammet

No.TitleGuest VocalistLength
1."Prelude" 1:12
2."Reach Out for the Light"Michael Kiske6:33
3."Serpents in Paradise"David DeFeis6:16
4."Malleus Maleficarum"Ralf Zdiarstek1:43
5."Breaking Away"Kiske4:35
6."Farewell"Sharon den Adel, Michael Kiske6:33
7."The Glory of Rome"Oliver Hartmann, Zdiarstek, Rob Rock5:29
8."In Nomine Patris" 1:04
9."Avantasia"Kiske5:32
10."A New Dimension" 1:39
11."Inside"Andre Matos, Kai Hansen2:24
12."Sign of the Cross"Hartmann, Hansen, Rock, Matos6:26
13."The Tower"Kiske, Hartmann, DeFeis, Timo Tolkki, Matos9:45
Total length:59:12

Note: "Malleus Maleficarum" is sampled from the song, "the Kingdom", by Tobias Sammet's other project, Edguy.

Credits

Guests

Musicians

Singers

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[6] 36
French Albums (SNEP)[7] 118
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] 135
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[9] 48


References

  1. ^ "Avantasia News and Updates". Archived from the original on 2001-02-11. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  2. ^ Huey, Steve. "Avantasia The Metal Opera review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-08-28.
  3. ^ a b c d "THE METAL OPERA - album facts". Avantasia's official page. Facebook. 22 January 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  4. ^ Chantler, Chris (14 November 2019). "The 25 greatest power metal albums". Metal Hammer. Future plc. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  5. ^ Davies, Hywel; Dome, Malcolm; Goodman, Eleanor; Chantler, Chris; Gordon, Connie; Grady, Spencer; Rees, Adam; Selzer, Jonathan (17 November 2021). "The 25 best symphonic metal albums". Metal Hammer. Future plc. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Avantasia: The Metal Opera" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  7. ^ "Lescharts.com – Tobias Sammet's Avantasia – The Metal Opera". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  8. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Tobias Sammet's Avantasia – The Metal Opera" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  9. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Tobias Sammet's Avantasia – The Metal Opera". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 22, 2016.