Balance of Power - "Ten More Tales of Grand Illusion"

Balance of Power - Ten More Tales of Grand Illusion

1999, Nightmare

1. Day Breaker

2 Prisoner of Pride

3. Savage Tears

4. Under the Spell

5. Blind Man

6. About to Burn

7. Under Innocence Wing

8. Sins of the World

9. The Darker Side

10. Ten More Tales of Grand Illusion

Balance of Power is a great band. They have this way of combining the commercial appeal of hard rock, the virtuoso playing of progressive metal, and the crunchy riffs of power metal to make their own sound. Totally works for me. I think this one is slightly more commercial sounding than Perfect Balance but that might just be me. The only thing I don't like is the "la la la's" in the piano ballad "The Darker Side." Seems like he could have sung something else there... it sounds cheesy to me. Otherwise... awesome!

Useless Fact: These guys are from the UK....except vocalist Lance King who's a Yankee. I really could not think of a useless fact for this disc.

Balance of Power - "Perfect Balance"

Balance of Power - Perfect Balance
2001, Nightmare

1. Higher Than the Sun
2. Shelter Me
3. Fire Dance
4. One Voice
5. The Pleasure Room
6. Killer Or the Cure
7. House of Cain
8. Hard Life
9. Searching for the Truth

Balance of Power is an amazing band. They kind of remind me of Dream Theather if Dream Theater wrote actual songs instead of fifteen minute wankfests and had a better vocalist. Yeah... this is power metal! Tasty, tasty power metal. Lance King's soaring vocals really sell this for me - he simply wails! The songs all have great hooks and there's just enough virtuoso wizardry to make it interesting. I'm going to check out the rest of this bands catalogue, because... dang... it's good stuff.

Useless Fact: The cover shown is the European cover. I have the American cover with two stone seraphim on it. Also, the track list on the back is written in Star Trek font.