OMEGA RHAPSODY

While many will just gasp and cringe at the prospect of yet another hybrid rock band / symphony orchestra exploration of a band's career, long time Omega fans will no doubt embrace this work. Released as the first of a trilogy of symphonic interpretations of Omega music in anticipation of the band's 50th anniversary in September 2012 the album.

Omega's music has always been structured over strong melodies and romantic themes and therefore work well in a symphonic context so I wouldn't write Omega Rhapsody off straight away if you are not familiar with their music. The sound is bright & expansive and even some of the heavier tracks benefit from the rich orchestral treatments, technology has come a long way since Deep Purple's Concerto For Group & Orchestra and the presence of electric instruments here is not obstrusive in the least. As the title suggests it is a miscelaneous selection Omega tracks taken mostly from their later repetiore ( 80s -90s ), avoiding such overplayed classics as The Girl With The Pearls In Her Hair and Help To Find Me. At the age of 67 Kobor's voice holds up astonishingly well and the only problems arise when he starts singing in English on several tracks where his intonation becomes a bit shaky at times. Those familiar with Omega over the years will be aware of this problem. The consistency of this otherwise immpecably produced album by John Gallen, ( Queen, Motorhead ) is slightly marred by the English tracks. Hungarian is an eloquent language when sung and I wish they could have stuck to songs with Hungarian lyrics for this project ( the songs that appear were actually written in English).

I would rank this on par with Omega keyboardist Laszlo Benko's 1992 keyboard tribute, Omegamix, released on Omega's 30th anniversary. Although it has been released by a German record company, Edel, Omega Rhapsody will appeal mostly to loyal fans who are already familiar with the music but it might turn a few heads if marketed wisely. Stay tuned for two more installments of symphonic Omega before the end of 2012.