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MiskamNiretet · 3.5 / 5 · · 2024-08-06 14:24:55
EveryDisc · 3.5 / 5 · · 2018-10-23 06:56:39
I recently reviewed a Bonfire album and another one as well. And the Germans just won't calm down. Now take this double album of covers. The tireless Teutonic nature. When listening to a cover album, the first thing you think about is whether it will sound inspired. This is the main condition, without which all other nuances become insignificant. I pay my respects - in this regard, everything on Legends is excellent. It is beautifully recorded, technically played, and you can feel that the musicians truly love these songs and want to improve them, to take them to the maximum. Although the structure of the first disc is quite unusual. They cover only 5 groups. Toto, Rainbow, Survivor, UFO and Deep Purple. Moreover, in blocks - group after group. What is surprising is that this concept sounds absolutely organic. In each block, there are more and less successful things, but there are no absolutely mediocre, meaningless covers to be seen. Although Bonfire certainly does not shine with the originality of the arrangements, in this case, it does not repel. Playing the classics in their own style with inspiration is also a working scheme. The only point is the vocals. The periodic monotony is a bit tiring, although Alexx Stahl tries to hit incredible highs, but somehow it is out of place. As if on command. The second disc is more diverse, although the principle of blocks is also at work here - Queensryche, Robin Beck, Hardline, Leonard Cohen, Grave Digger, House of Lords and Puhdys. Only one Deep Purple song again stands on its own, detached from the track from the first disc. The first part turned out to be harder, the second, in theory, is more AOR, but also more unexpected, read - metallic. In some moments, it seems that the musicians no longer knew what to cover, while some are really surprising, as in the case of Grave Digger (it sounds whimsical, but fresh). Here, Stahl did not let down, delivering truly worthwhile vocal parts. In general, it turned out to be a normal cover disc, based on emotions and inspiration. But I would have cut the album almost in half and mixed it, that's when we would have gotten integrity, but as it is, it looks more like a compilation, but a good one. Truly.
Independent review