This album marks Edu Falaschi's 25^th anniversary in the music universe. This is a compilation that dates back to 1990.

To be honest, I did not know beforehand if Edu Falaschi was a band or a singer. After some research on the good old Internet, I found out that he was the singer of ANGRA - a Brazilian Power Metal band from the early 2000s (but who started their career in the 1990s with Andre Matos). They are a criminally underrated Power-Progressive Metal Band. I remember them having one hell of a show in Quebec City in the early 2000s and the place was packed to the gills.

Well, if you were expecting some Power Metal...this isn't it! This is very simplistic music. There is the eternal presence of piano, some acoustic guitars and violin. From time to time you can hear some saxophone, especially on "Wishing Well".

This is closer to New Age Music actually. It is not the most upbeat music in the world but if you want to relax and listen to something calming, well, this is pretty good. I was really expecting something more in the Metal genre but I enjoyed this nonetheless. Most of the musical arrangements made by Adriano Machado reminded me of the work Arjen Anthony Lucassen does in his AYREON project; I think he may have taken inspiration from some of that really fine work.

This album is a compilation of renditions of ANGRA songs (except one song - "Breathe") with some very highly regarded musicians that aren't from the metal genre. Some songs translate very well and some lose a lot of their energy and overall meaning. Here's a little comparison between the original versions and the new versions offered by EDU FALASCHI.

"Nova Era": There is a lot of keyboards on the original, which are replaced here by the beautiful piano. The original is a protypical Power Metal song and is very high in energy. The new rendition lacks the flair and energy of the original and seems to lose its overall feeling. I felt that something was missing in this version.

"Bleeding Heart", "Wishing Well" and "Heroes of Sand" are fine examples of really great transitions from Power Metal Ballads to their very organic and stripped down versions. They might lose a little bit of the range that he possesses but these songs don't need it that much. You can feel the power, warmth and emotion in his voice when he sings these songs. The originals reminded me of the Power Ballads from the 80's from bands like BON JOVI and THE SCORPIONS. The newer versions are on point, even though they may be less heavy than the originals; hence the fact that these are Power Ballads - you have the effective guitar riffs and some of the unnecessary elements we love and hate about those types of songs!

Some of the songs just lost all of that Power Metal goodness; the types of songs that people just adore when they listen to that genre. You want to raise your fist and rock out. The sort of songs that get your blood pumping and you are totally psyched. The originals like "Arising Thunder", "Rebirth" and "Spread Your Fire" are some of the best songs from that era in ANGRA. These are protypical Power Metal songs, extremely fast, with plenty of shredding and are downright awesome! These songs are the cornerstones of this genre and I felt that the new versions just drained their whole essence. These aren't bad versions per se - I know that he wanted to do something completely different - but they lack the spirit of the originals. These are solid songs but the tempo is not what the people want.

On the original version of "Rebirth", you have the twin vocalists that add a lot of texture and originality to the song and you lose that originality in the acoustic rendition. It had a different feeling on the original and it was much more powerful.

The best song ANGRA has ever put out (well, in my honest opinion) is "Angels and Demons". This is a song that is closer to Progressive Metal than their usual Power Metal selves. The original reminded me of DREAM THEATER and their random goodness! The new rendition does keep the Progressive sound but the technical wizardry of the original is pretty much missing. It's a good version of the song but I really feel that it lacked that pure energy and joy of the original version.

Edu Falaschi does not use the full extent of his vocals and tends to be very limited. This is acoustic music and he does not need to belt out screams or show off his impressive range. His voice does accompany the music in a very good way. He shows a lot of emotion and you can feel the energy in his powerful voice. He is a real storyteller and each song does give a little story to go along with the beautiful music. Whenever he talks about love in times of war or the hardships of day-to-day life, you can really feel the touching lyrics. It's not cheesy and even though English is not his first language, he does a fine job with the lyrical content.

I know that one of my pet peeves is the pronunciation of words, and yes, he does indeed have a lot of trouble pronouncing some of the words throughout this compilation. I believe it's not a big deal if the rest of the music compensates for this lack thereof. The music is extremely moving and powerful so it didn't matter much to me to be perfectly honest.

The only negative aspect I can think of about the production is that "Spread You Fire" has a lot of piano and the piano if way too loud in comparison to the rest of the instruments. It has an echo and this proved to be very irritating, but other than that, the production is pretty good!

Overall, this is a solid effort for an underrated and talented singer.<