History
Edguy is a young German band whose playing is comparable to Stratovarius and Angra. Their first demo appeared in 1994 and was called Evil Minded. Children Of Steel followed. Savage Poetry was self-financed and recorded in a mere two weeks. They re-recorded Savage Poetry in 2000 and released the old and new recordings (with a new cover) side by side as a double CD.
The band's moniker is supposedly what the boys called one of their high school teachers and finding it amusing enough elected it as their moniker! More recently, band leader Tobias Sammet gained popularity through his Avantasia side project. Edguy, nevertheless, marched forward and released its first live-album in June of 2003. The album's first edition was a double-CD with a 103-minute length.
Edguy entered the studio in the summer of 2003 ostensibly to record an album called Mysteria for AFM Records. The band later announced that it had signed to Nuclear Blast Records though. It also announced an album called Hellfire Club for 2004, which would be preceded by an EP. The band soon played a string of shows including one at Prog Power Festival in Atlanta, GA in September, 2004.
AFM Records announced in late 2004 that on December 6th the fans would see the release of a sampler called Hall Of Flames. The band signed to Nuclear Blast. The band issued an April’s Fools joke in 2006 about a student filmmaker who had cast actor David Hasselhoff and Tobias Sammet in the modern version of Blake Edwards' 1965 film, The Great Race, in 2006. Edguy opened for Aerosmith in Germany in 2007. Bassist Tobias "Eggi" Exxel played bass for one show for Blind Guardian on October 13th, 2007 in Pretoria, South Africa as a fill-in.
Reviews
EDGUY - BURNING DOWN THE OPERA LIVE - AFM
Edguy - Germany's answer to all things second generation Queensryche - is not a bad band. They have clean playing and a singer who not only can sing, but also exudes personality at every turn. The band shows every intention of being serious about its hard 'n' heavy sound and means business. What brings the band's first live outing down is the peripheral issues. Firstly, this is an AFM promo CD we are reviewing. What does that mean? It means we get two tracks and merged songs. AFM calls it "excerpts of the upcoming double album." May I offer you an excerpt of a review? Didn't think so! Then there is the whole fallacy behind releasing a live album in the age of the visual medium. We have discussed this issue previously and often on these pages. Finally, the whole sing-along contest so prevalent at arena rock shows is ever so passé. If one can get around these issues though, Edguy's live album has a strong sound where the band has included songs like Tears Of A Mandrake Fallen Angels and Avantasia. - Ali "The Metallian"
EDGUY - HELLFIRE CLUB - NUCLEAR BLAST
Edguy is fast becoming the poster boy for heavy metal in the new century. Hellfire Club has quality heavy riffing, killer high-pitched vocals, superb drumming and a great production. Quite honestly, as far as modern metal albums go Hellfire is a cut above. The album is strong in every aspect. It betters recent great releases by the likes of Balance Of Power and Tad Morose. Every heavy metal fan should pick this up.
Mysteria is a faultless song in every respect. The Piper Never Dies has an organ segment and begins like a Pink Floyd song, but eventually graduates to an epic Edguy tune. We Don't Need A Hero is reminiscent of Helloween and features manic drumming. King Of Fools is more pompous and upbeat - anthem alert! Lavatory Love Machine is up beat, fun, light-hearted and even enticing. Rise Of The Morning Glory is yet another good HR/HM song, while Navigator directs the album back into Queensryche territory. By now it is obvious that the bass guitar is louder on the first half of the album.
Edguy's new album proves that Germany is at least five years ahead of the rest of the world in the metal domain. - Ali "The Metallian"
EDGUY – ROCKET RIDE – NUCLEAR BLAST 
The new Edguy is a bit disappointing. It is not a bad album, but Mandrake and Hellfire Club were so great that it was difficult for the band to maintain the standard.
The opener Sacrifice is too long and sounds too modern. At 8:04 minutes, why did they pick it as the first song? Rocket Ride sounds like Dokken on speed and is impressive. The main lead of Wasted Time is terribly similar to the intro of Deep Purple’s Anya from The Battle Rages On. Even the keyboards follow the pattern. The chorus is different, though, and the song is more hard rock than power metal. Matrix features modern sounds again and the vocals are sleazy, but the chorus saves it. Edguy just know how to write catchy choruses. Return To The Tribe features another modern keyboard intro, and by now it is getting on my nerves. The song itself is fast and well-written, but why on earth does it have another keyboard intro? The Asylum begins like a ballad and after two minutes changes into a pounding mid-tempo song. Save Me is a real ballad with a blues influence and sounds much like Thunder. Catch Of The Century is a classic power metal song. Out Of Vogue is reminiscent of Virgin Steele, especially The Burning Of Rome. Superheroes, which was also released as a single, has a very commercial chorus. Trinidad is Caribbean metal, if there is any such thing. It is funny and just makes you feel good. The last song, Fucking With Fire (Hair Force One), not only has the worst title I have seen in years, but also has bad lyrics (“I saw her coming in high heels / Moving like a queen” et cetera) and bad vocals. It is probably meant to make fun of ‘80s poser rock and hair bands, but it fails to do so because it is just as bad as Warrant or Faster Pussycat. No, it is not funny.
The overall impression is that the band has decided to be more hard rock than metal and thus sell even more CDs. I do not know if that was necessary. Their fan base will stay loyal, but if they go the way of Blind Guardian and move ever further away from their original sound, it will ruin them. – Andreas Herzog
Interviews
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