The Root Of All Evil

what we have here is second vocalist Angela and the merry men wrecking their own great tunesthe originals are far superior to these re hashed versions, where in all honesty the guitars are toned down, the pace is sucked out of a couple of songs (bury me an angel being particularly slower) and all they really do is serve to show how one dimensional Angelas vocals are.if these songs were added as b-sides or a bonus disc then game on, as a stand alone album it just seems a little lazy.

I'm a bit of a latecomer to the whole Arch Enemy thing and haven't heard any of the Johan Liiva stuff (can't say I can be bothered to either), so I can't compare this CD to the old stuff. But I reckon this is a decent enough album for new kids like me. Not brilliant but definitely not worthy of just one star.I would suggest that Doomsday Machine is a 5 Star album and Rise of the Tyrant is a solid 4 Star. The Root Of All Evil is not as good as either of them and so I reckon 3 Stars is fair enough. So there you go. I'm sure Angela & Co will be over the moon with my verdict.

After hearing some of these songs live at Bloodstock this year, I thought I'd give this album a chance. I don't know whether Arch Enemy are short of cash, out of ideas or trying to prove their old singer was crap, but the originals are better. Much better. Two of my favourite songs, The Immortal and Dead Inside used to have a frantic speed to them, a desperation in the singer's voice - now gone, slowed down and frankly ruined.Personally I think it's poor form to release old stuff again like this. This album should have been a few songs that could be downloaded for free from their site to support a NEW album. I just hope Arch Enemy come up with something better soon! Their last album before this (Rise of the Tyrant) is amazing, which is why it's so sad they decided to release this. (My given rating is in the context of other Arch Enemy albums.)

Ok, lets keep this simple kids, there's no point arguing over whether or nor root of all evil is good or bad. how you're going to like this album depends squarely on which Arch Enemy singer is your personal favourite. If you're into Angela and her sandblasting death metal voice, then you'll probably like this a lot, as some of us are of the opinion that the song-writing was a bit better on the older albums. Likewise, if you thought Johan was a crap vocalist there's a good chance you too will enjoy Root of All Evil. However, if you liked Johan's approach then be prepared, as Angela's atonal roaring has none of the desperaion or emotion Johan had. As such, i think it's really impossble to say whether or not this is a good album, and how you like it will be totally subjective.It's really that simple, because in terms of the songs themselves there's hardly any difference performance-wise between the originals and the re-recordings. Although some songs seem a bit slower to me (e.g silver wing) but it could just be me. The more modern sounding production is the only real difference (maybe the rhythm guitars in are a bit higher in the mix then the originals), but its pretty negligiable. Again, its a subjective thing that I can't say is good or bad. It depends on where you stand in relation to the band, and if you've already got the originals you're probably better off sticking with them unless you really want to hear Angela on the old tracks.So there you have it. If you're an Angela-phile you might like to add a star or two, and if you're a Johan-lover then you might want to take away a star or two.

I preface this by saying this is all my opinion, and I'm sure there are people who disagree, especially w/regards to Liiva's vocals.I love Arch Enemy... except for the first 3 albums. Nothing to do with the guitars, drums, bass or lyrics. It's the vocals. Johan Liiva's vocals. I can't stand them, plain and simple. There's no life or energy in them, those elements being what I love most about Angela Gossow's vocals. There are some new riffs and twists on the songs, but basically, they've given the songs Liiva ruined a new life. I highly recommend it! :)

I bought this album because I like the old material and really like new more profestion style recordings which is exactally what it is. So if your into that kind thing would higly recomend. From interviews withj Amott he was say that this will bring aboutr older material in there sets which is always good. Another point is that it probably took them very little effort to do even if you haven't played a song in ages you just pick it up so not really a waste of time. However in the interview at bloodstock they mentioned that they were already writting again so looking forward to it!!

Rehash of songs from the first three Arch Enemy cds i.e. before Angela Gossow. Arch Enemy are a great band but I feel that this cd is a waste of effort that could have been better spent on writing and recording new material. These songs are part of their history, I don't need to have Angela prove to me that she could sing them. I would have believed her! This would have made sense as a free cd with a proper album. As it is it is a pointles exercise.

I love when bands re record old tracks this album is solid and the old tracks especially with Angela on vocals really holds up

... liegt manchmal in mangelnder Kreativität und Faulheit!Zumindest ich empfinde das so, denn wenn Bands einmal anfangen sich selber zu Covern ist das in der Regel kein gutes Zeichen. In diesem Fall muss man ARCH ENEMY allerdings zu Gute halten, dass es sich bei "The Root of all Evil" lediglich um Songs der ersten 3 Alben handelt, die ja bekanntlich mit JOHAN LIIVA eingespielt wurden. Diese "Klassiker" nun mit ANGELA GOSSOW neu zu interpretieren nimmt mir so ein bisschen den wind aus den Segeln, dennoch bin ich der Meinung das solche Neuaufnahmen sich eher als Bonustracks auf einem regulären Album eignen, als damit ein komplettes Album zu füllen. Meine Meinung!Die Songs sind durchaus gelungen, musikalisch und soundtechnisch ist das alles sehr viel moderner und ausgereifter, dafür hat schon ANDY SNEAP gesorgt - für mich ein Gott an den Reglern. Das Problem ist halt immer das die Originale sehr geläufig sind und eben auch durch den Sound der damaligen Zeit wirken, deshalb fällt es mir in ganz vielen Fällen eben schwer mich mit Neuaufnahmen von Klassikern anzufreunden.Anspieltipps habe ich an dieser Stelle nicht, ich für meinen Teil würde immer die Originale vorziehen - in diesem Fall bin ich eher konservativ!Mein Fazit: Würde ich die alten Aufnahmen nicht kennen, würde dieses Album in meiner Bewertung bestimmt besser wegkommen, Pech eben das ich sie kenne. Rein technisch gesehen ist das alles viel besser aufgenommen und produziert, ich ziehe aber trotzdem die Originale vor!Meine Bewertung: 5 von 10 Punkten.

スウェーデンのメロディックデスメタルバンドのセルフカバー盤。ボーカルがAngela GossowではなくJohan Liivaの時代、つまり1〜3rdの楽曲を現在のメンバーで再録音したものである。Johan Liiva→感情をぶちまけるパンクっぽい歌い方Angela Gossow→無感情に言葉を吐き捨てるスタイルというようなボーカルのスタイルの違いもあるし演奏能力の高さを活かし丁寧なつくりになっている。オリジナルの荒々しさが消えてしまったということに加え曲のスピードも全体的にダウンしてしまった部分もありそこは少し残念である。Angelaにチェンジしてからの曲は微妙な曲が多いがJohan時代の曲は名曲が多かったことを再認識させられるアルバム。このアルバムに入りきらなかった曲も結構あるのでそれもまた残念な要因ではある。オリジナルとこのアルバムを聴き比較するのが面白い聴き方である。(91点)

「ヨハン？誰それ？」な方や「1stアルバムはWages of sinでしょ？BLACK EARTH？何それ？」な方にオススメします。アモット兄さんもそう言ってるよ！SilverwingやBury Me An Angelを知らないのは勿体無さ過ぎる…。ギターソロも変わってるところが多いのでそれを目当てに買うのもいいかと。私はそれが目当てでした。しかし他のレビューでもありましたが、他の名曲が入っていないのはちょっと残念ですね。いっそのこと3枚すべてカバーして欲しかった。

確かに演奏はタイトだし、音も格段に良くなってるし、分離もいい。アンジェラもいい仕事してる。でも、オリジナルに出会ったときと同等の感動が得られるかというと、ちょっと…という感じ。企画盤として楽しむぐらいがいいのかと。っていうかボーナスこんなに充実させるんなら、せめてFields of Desolation入れといてくれ−。

良くも悪くも、予想通りといった感じです。現在のメンバーの演奏によってオリジナルの荒々しさが消え、シャープでタイトな音作りになりました。全体的に原曲よりも若干テンポダウン、キーは高いです。マイケルパートのＧソロがアレンジ多め。現在のファンで初期の作品を知らないっていう人向けですね(アモット曰くもともとそういうコンセプトだったらしい)。そういう意味では出来のいい作品かと。しかし、超名曲であるFields Of Desolation(1st収録)が入っていないのはマイナス点。ライブでもよくやってんのに・・・。個人的にはこれはこれでアリかもなんて思ってますが、正直、初期のファンはガッカリするかもなぁ。オリジナルを超えてる事はまず無いです。1stのあのブルータルな音が懐かしいぜ・・・。国内版にはボーナストラックとしてEUROPEとQUEENSRYCHEのカヴァー、そしてライブトラックが３曲収録されています。EUROPEカヴァーは以前にもやってますが、同じく2ndからの選曲。自らEUROPEファンを公言しているマイケル・アモットだけあって、意外にもマッチしてて素直に良いカヴァーだと思いました。

自分はあまりヨハン時代の楽曲を聴いたことがないので、セルフカバーとしてではなく、新アルバムとして聞き込めたからこその高評価なのかもしれませんが、とにかく個人的にはかなりいいアルバムです。アンジェラでもかまわない、みたいな人なら、買っても損はしないと思います。

A+

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

One of the greatest slabs of metal ever produced. I have all of their previous releses, and was floored when I heard they were re-recording an amazing list of older material. Everyone in the band is firing on all pistons, and the production is OUT OF THIS WORLD! If you even have a passing interest in melodic death metal, you would be doing yourself a great disservice by not buying this album right now, and working your way back through their back catalogue.

More bands should rerecord there older music. Sound quality is so much better now than it was 10 years ago. I have arch enemy's first three albums and this is worth every penny. Imagine all those amazing solos in high quality sound.

A little disappointing.