Hellfire Club (album)

Hellfire Club, released April 6, 2004, is the sixth album by German power metal band Edguy. The music of the band is supported by a German orchestra, the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg.

In contrast to their previous albums, Hellfire Club owes more to the sound of Iron Maiden than their biggest influence Helloween, both in vocals and in music. The first track "Mysteria" opens with the introduction "Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome - to the Freak Show!", followed by a guitar riff that is unusually dark and heavy for Edguy's standards and is very similar to some Judas Priest riffs. The rest of the album generally follows this scheme, with a few exceptions:

• "We Don't Need A Hero" is a very fast, upbeat song with the anthemic quality typical for the band.
• The mid-tempo song "King of Fools" was the first single of the album and provided the band with the opportunity to have a TV appearance in the German Pro7 McChart Show, which was heavily criticised by fans who sensed a sellout.
• "Lavatory Love Machine" is one of the band's several joke songs and is unusual in that it is more accurately described as hard rock than heavy metal. The similarly joke lyrics, featuring much over-the-top innuendo (the song is about Tobias sitting in an aeroplane headed for Brazil that is going to crash and him having sex in the toilet with the stewardess) sparked some controversy, but most fans attribute the lyrical content to Sammet's somewhat surreal sense of humour.
• "The Spirit Will Remain" is an operatic ballad wherein Tobias sings before a purely orchestral backdrop.

The bonus track "Children of Steel", originally an early demo, was re-recorded for this album. The bonus track version of "Mysteria" features Mille Petrozza of the German thrash metal band Kreator on lead vocals.

Track listing

All lyrics by Tobias Sammet. All music by Tobias Sammet except where noted.

1. "Mysteria" – 5:44 (music: Sammet/Ludwig)
2. "The Piper Never Dies" – 10:05
3. "We Don't Need a Hero" – 5:30
4. "Down to the Devil" – 5:27
5. "King of Fools" – 4:21
6. "Forever" – 5:40
7. "Under the Moon" – 5:04 (music: Sammet/Ludwig)
8. "Lavatory Love Machine" – 4:25
9. "Rise of the Morning Glory" – 4:39
10. "Lucifer in Love" – 0:32
11. "Navigator" – 5:22 (music: Sammet/Ludwig)
12. "The Spirit Will Remain" – 4:12
13. "Children of Steel" (Bonus track - 2004 version) – 4:03
14. "Mysteria" (Bonus track featuring Mille Petrozza of Kreator) – 5:32 (music: Sammet/Ludwig)
15. "Heavenward" ('Navigator' demo version) - 5:17 (music: Sammet/Ludwig)

Hong Kong bonus disc

A special bonus disc containing 13 additional tracks was also released with the album in Hong Kong. Among its tracks are all the tracks from the King of Fools EP (other than "King of Fools" itself, which is on disc 1), the 2 bonus tracks mentioned above, an alternative version of "Falling Down" and 5 live tracks, including one by Tobias Sammet's side project Avantasia: "Inside".

1. "New Age Messiah" (as featured on the King of Fools EP) – 6:00
2. "Children of Steel" (as above) – 4:04
3. "Mysteria" (featuring Mille Petrozza) (as above) – 5:32
4. "The Savage Union" (as featured on the King of Fools EP) – 4:15
5. "Falling Down" (alternative version) – 4:37
6. "Holy Water" (as featured on the King of Fools EP) – 4:17
7. "Introduction" (live) – 1:01
8. "Tears of a Mandrake" (live) – 7:55
9. "Painting on the Wall" (live) – 4:39
10. "Inside" (live) – 4:17
11. "Fairytale" (live) – 6:22
12. "Life and Times of a Bonus Track" (as featured on the King of Fools EP) – 3:23
13. "Heavenward" (Navigator Demo Version) - 5:16

Personnel

• Tobias Sammet - Lead/Backing Vocals; Keyboards
• Jens Ludwig - Lead Guitars; Backing Vocals
• Dirk Sauer - Rhythm Guitars; Backing Vocals
• Tobias Exxel - Bass Guitars; Backing Vocals
• Felix Bohnke - Drums; Backing Vocals

With:

• Mille Petrozza - Co-Lead Vocals (Track 14)
• Michael Rodenberg - Keyboards; Orchesteral Arrangements
• Amanda Somerville - Backing Vocals
• Oliver Hartmann - Backing Vocals
• Ralf Zdiarstek - Backing Vocals
• Thomas Rettke - Backing Vocals
• Daniel Schmitt - Backing Vocals