Big ass thanks to my buddy Jammin’ Jaymz for hoping on as a contributing writer. Not only is he my best friend, he’s an awesome writer as well and my co-conspirator on The Heavy Metal Lunch. I’ve convinced Jammin’ Jaymz to be a contributing writer here at the Brainfart where he’ll share his retro reviews of hard rock/metal albums. He had did a great review of King Diamond’s “The Eye” which I found very appropriate being that it’s Halloween and all! More awesome reviews from Jammin’ Jaymz can be found at http://www.cheevyjames.com.
King Diamond – “The Eye”
Released: 1990
Tracks: Eye of the Witch; The Trial (Chambre Ardente); Burn; Two Little Girls; Into the Convent; Father Picard; Behind These Walls; The Meetings; Insanity; 1642 Imprisonment; The Curse
Best track: Insanity
Tracks to skip: The Trial, Two Little Girls
I’d be curious to see how hardcore King Diamond fans rate this album. I know most people tend to rank Abigail, Them and Conspiracy as his best, but this album isn’t usually mentioned as much as the others. I don’t enjoy it as much as Conspiracy, the only other KD album I own. Just like with that album, my main problem with this album is in the vocals. I think King Diamond is a great songwriter – the music he writes is uniformly excellent, his band are great writers as well. And yeah, I dig his lyrics too. He’s great at delving into truly dark subject matter and this album is no exception. Some very dark stuff happens here! But it’s his vocals that always stop me from listening to his stuff. Some of the time I can take it, but most of the time his falsetto is so utterly ridiculous that it snaps me out of the story and makes me just laugh. His vocals in The Trial and the chorus of Father Picard are a good example of this.
Musically, wow, this stuff is so good. There weren’t many metal bands that could come up with stuff this cool. There’s just a ton of fantastic guitar playing on here. The intro riff to Burn is excellent. Musically this song is so great, it’s just the vocals that ruin it. To be honest, the only really bad songs on this album are The Trail and Two Little Girls. The rest have enough redeeming features that I’ll enjoy them when I do pull this out. Of the songs with vocals, my favorites are Behind These Walls and 1642 Imprisonment. Tremendous songs, all the way through.
Honestly, I only own this album because of the instrumental track Insanity. Written by guitarist Andy La Rocque it’s a wonderfully mellow piece with face-melting chord changes, solos and all around beauty. This is one of my favorite pieces of music by ANYONE. It’s a truly gorgeous song and every time I listen to it….I feel as if my soul is somehow improved. I don’t know if I can put it any other way. It’s a beautiful song and one that I’ll happily listen to for the rest of my life.
As an album, I don’t like “The Eye” as much as Conspiracy. The songs are great, but I can’t handle King Diamond’s vocals. I’ve long accepted that, though. I just try to tune him out and concentrate on the music. Taken as a whole, though, man this album is hard to listen to. I get so torn on rating this, because it’s only one aspect, the main one, that makes it so difficult to listen to. If you already like King Diamond and can handle his vocals, give this one a try.
Rating: 79
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