Dorothy

Moonlight Comedy

In America we have saying about bands and their second albums, it is called the […]
By Ian Kaatz
July 1, 2007
Moonlight Comedy - Dorothy album cover

In America we have saying about bands and their second albums, it is called the "sophomore slump.  This just means their first album was great, which MOONLIGHT COMEDY's was really good, and their second album totally licks donkey balls.  I was hoping for the band's sake and my ears that it wouldn't be the case since they are such strong players.
MOONLIGHT COMEDY formed around 1998 and released a couple of demos .  Then in 2000 their first commercial release was The Life Inside.  It was at this point in their careers when they decided they were "actors of the comedy at the moonlight so each took upon themselves titles such as Actor I, Actor II etc.
The album is called Dorothy and after reading the interview with guitarist Simone that the album was about the girl from Wizard of Oz.  Though you could have fooled me.  After a short intro which is the entire first track the second one, Solar Eclipse, starts off really strong just a good solid riff that continues throughout the track.  About half way through there is a killer keyboard solo although it is not my favorite.  Let me just say before I go on it is nice to say when I review an album that I can refer to a solo and say it isn't my favorite on an album since that would mean more than one, which is of course very METAL!  
Falling Under starts off with some ultra strong chops that would make Jon Schaffer jealous, well maybe not that good, you get the idea.  These fabulous chops last almost undeterred until around 3:35 with a fret-burning guitar.  The guitar solo turns directly to the rebuttal from the keyboards, again with the keyboard solo.   Seriously though I think the keyboardist might be one of the best parts of this band. The fourth track is a very solid track, but the part that really stood out was the end where I believe a keyboard effect mixing with a guitar effect sounds just like a whirlwind of craziness, which I believe possibly the point where if the story on the album holds true this is where Dorothy would be picked up a tornado, unless I am missing the point of the story..
Tracks 5, 6 , and 7 I didn't find to be extremely interesting, though 5 does include my favorite keyboard solo on the album.  Imperfect Mind brings some really interesting music to the table.  This particular strangely enough my favorite track on the album, I find it strange since it has a very PAIN OF SALVATION-esque vibe to it and I can't really stand them at all.  The time signatures are over the place with lots of really choppy crunchy guitars followed by a ridiculous guitar solo with tremendous double bass backing it up.  The track also contains an extremely powerful scream that almost makes my knees buckle like a little schoolgirl. And Why Not and Side Effects are a return to the more straightforward Prog Metal (i.e. SYMPHONY X and DREAM THEATER) and are a couple of quality tracks to end the album with for damn sure.
MOONLIGHT COMEDY absolutely deliver a very solid release with Dorothy.  I would recommend this release to anyone that enjoys any of the bands that are listed in the review above.  I would really like to see them do some kind of touring since there doesn't seem to be too much of that going go since that I believe would catapult them to the forefront of what is going in the Prog Metal world.

8 / 10

Excellent

"Dorothy" Track-listing:

Int®o Desire And Whisper
Solar Eclipse
Fallin' Under
The Sea And Time Of Mars
Metamorfosi
Lunar Eclipse
Into Whisper And Desire
Imperfect Mind
Dust Of The Past
...And Why Not?
Side Effects

Moonlight Comedy Lineup:

Emiliano Germani - Vocals
Simone Fiorletta - Guitar
Armando Pizzuti - Bass
Valerio D'Anna - Keyboards
Andrea Scala - Drums

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