A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

Excellent double live album by Evergrey, one of the best prog-metal bands of the moment. The set list is brilliant, with a collection of songs from all their albums, and the performances are great. Truly it was a night to remember! EVERGREY RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a great piece of musicianship.... Evergrey have certainly proved themselves to be masters of the live act with the characteristic masterpieces from their albums replicated beautifully in the live setting. Highly recommended as thse brilliant musicians become amongst the top in the Progressive field. From those of us not able to see them live (eg Australia) ... this is a great double album to showcase what Evergrey are like ... I HIGHLY recommend this as one of the true great Live albums ever.....!!!!!!!!

This is the album for the ones who thought that "OK, this guys can handle their instruments, good songs and everything, but [%*!#] you, all their albums are so amateurish, especially the sound, I dont buy this" THIS IS OVER NOW. Evergrey made an ultimate live album that makes everything crystal-clear. And hearing this female vocale in the great songs you'll have a [%*!#]in' ORGASM. Jesus Christ watta GREAT stuff!!!

A brilliant live piece from Evergrey. This album is just simply amazing. Words cannot describe the brilliance put behind this live album. As soon as you listen to the first track - being an introduction, you just know that you are in for the ride of your life. This album IS power.

Singer Tom Englund explodes into the stage with Blinded. With a backing choir, the chorus was taken from the epic-scale it was at on the album version, to a whole new level. This is the basis for the rest of the album. Total. . . epicness. And of course, this is only track two of a double-CD set. Every song after another just seems to get more powerful than the first. For the first seven tracks, we're completely destroyed with power metal at it's finest. Rulers of the Mind and End of Your Days are also part of this heavy group of songs. Afterwards, we're slowly brought down to a few, semi-heavy songs, such as Mislead and Mark of the Triangle. This would be the close of the first disc. Once through with it, even though it was only the first disc, you know that it's safe to say to yourself, "This is something to remember."

The second disc opens with the enchanting piano melody of Rikard Zander in When the Walls Go Down. The building progression for the song is done excellent. Honestly, it too my breath away. Especially when it broke into Harmless Wishes right after. Everything flowed together perfectly. Ending with that, we are slowly brought up into our heavier metal again with the haunting Essence of Cenviction. Then, don't even get me started on how amazing Recreation Day was. *Jaw drops and wipes tears* Damn. . . epicness. . . . Anyways, the album finishes off with The Masterplan. It was just so beautifully performed. It was a perfect close for the show. After hearing it, I was left completely envious by the audience who had the opportunity to see them. I give total props to Englund, whom had excellent audience involvement. He really brought out the best with them. Taught them how to have a good time.

Do I have any complaints from this album? Nope!

What I was left with after hearing this album was just pure enjoyment. Exhilarating. This is one of those albums where I can just relax and turn on. Yes I know it is rather heavy for relaxing, but you don't know me! Don't judge! This is just an excellent album, by an excellent band. Evergrey, you've done it again!

Now just to wait for the DVD of the concert.

Absolutely the best progressive metal live recording ever!!! Evergrey perfectly delivers their best compositions. I give four thumbs up for their perfect performance. The sound of this recording is top notch. Very real, very clean. If you're looking for high quality concert from the best dark progressive metal band, so this album is the perfect match for you. Highly recommended for all progressive metal lovers.

Evergrey's latest offering is absolute pure Garbage!!.I thought i was listening to Motorhead with synthesisers when i first listened to it ,really its just Shit and shows some acts should stick to the studio as far as recordings go.Its loud,ugly and horrible and Evergrey come across as nothing more than pretenders,it sounds neither Progressve metal or Dark metal,really its sounds more like a live party beer fest.The recording itself is woeful its pure mud and sludge overproduced,and bass heavy with massive drums right up the front,the guitar work is pushed way too the far back and sounds very soft and weak, the vocal work is crap sounds like Lemmy on a bad day.Actually i dont mind Motorheads latest offering, Inferno,its sure far more interesting ,harder and better produced than this worthless overatted live recording.Everygrey-A night to remember, is the worst recording i have heard in years and should be basically melted,its total trash!!!.

3.5 stars.

I don't know if I'd consider Evergrey a prog-metal band in the traditional sense. There aren't any long, epic tracks. There is an absence of strange time signatures and rapid tempo changes. However, there are female backup singers / chorus, string quartets and keyboards. These are often attributed to progressive music, but aren't in and of themselves a definition either. After all, we'd have to consider Metallica's awful S&M project progressive, which it most certainly wasn't.

That all said, this is simple good, arty power metal. Something that can be thorough enjoyed within that context. Tom Englund delivers powerhouse vocals that convey a good deal of emotion without losing its edge. The string quartet and female backup singers augment the music without sounding "grafted on" or forced. The music itself is pretty straight ahead power metal, well played by not spectacular. As for the live recording itself, it captures a good atmosphere with crowd interaction. The sound quality is a bit too wide and expansive, lacking the cohesion that a tighter stage focus would bring. A lot of that has to do with a stage setup that has perhaps too many musicians. The recording has a little too much venue echo because of all the mics used on stage. Having personally mixed several hundred live recordings, this is a common problem. All in all a good recording and a great way to introduce yourself to the music of Evergrey, it is where I started before getting the individual albums.

[Start Rant] People that give good recordings 1 star ratings need to see a proctologist. These are people that are desperate for attention and don't contribute much to the community other than being an annoyance. 1 star ratings should be reserved for horrible sounding recordings or just absolute garbage (Metallica's St. Anger). 1 star ratings should have the same restrictions as a 5 star rate, perhaps even more restrictive since it is usually used as a vindictive rating by attention seekers.

There is a huge difference between Evergrey and Motorhead. They don't make the same type of metal music and they don't have the same style or target audience. I'm a huge Motorhead fan and I've seen them live about 8 times now. Their brand of punk-metal has a completely different vibe and thus their live performances are like comparing apples and oranges. Lemmy is a metal god, few could argue that. His vocal style is as unique as his personality. But he'd be the first to admit Tom Englund is a more accomplished singer. Once again, different styles and different audiences. [End Rant]

I'll admit it: I love Evergrey. They're not even a guilty pleasure. Their unabashed excitement for their music is infectious, and they have a creative intensity and style all their own. But... the chink in their gothic Swedish plate mail has been found: they aren't so good live.

That's not to say they're bad-- in fact, A Night to Remember explodes with fine musicianship and intensity. The problem is that, with very few exceptions, we're hearing things exactly as they are on their studio albums. With live albums (especially metal albums) I expect some measure of spontaneity, improvisation, or at least rawness which I can't get on a studio recording-- not the case here (see my review of Iron Maiden Rock in Rio). The group is tight, focused, and predictable.

The only thing one will hear here that's new is a live choir (very nice), and useless banter from Englund (4.5 minutes in the middle of Masterplan seems excessive to me). His casual swearing and shouts to the crowd seem to bounce right off them. Moreover, his thank you very much's often come BEFORE a song ends (or applause begins for that matter). Maybe it's a cultural thing :P

I know I am quibbling, but I wanted something more than a best of compilation of Evergrey's music, which is essentially what A Night to Remember is-- a collection of excellent songs lifted with few noticeable differences from existing recordings.

Setlist 3 Instrumental Performances 3 Stage Energy 3 Live Experience 2