Year : 2003 (AFM Records Digipak Edition 2023)
Style : Melodic Heavy Metal , Melodic Power Metal
Country : Germany
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 165 mb
Bio:
Masterplan is a German power metal band, founded by guitarist Roland Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch upon leaving Helloween in 2001.At the end of autumn 2001 during Helloween's "The Dark Ride Tour". Roland Grapow, present in the band since 1989, and Uli Kusch from 1994, decided to form a side project. Shortly after this decision, both were fired from their long-time job in Helloween. Born the name "Masterplan" based on the idea that they would be master musicians with the future in their hands, in the words of the Headbanger - Gerardo Trevino Garza (Creator of the name), starts the newest power metal band of the new millennium. Roland subsequently invited for keyboards Janne Wirman, which at that time played in the band Children Of Bodom. For vocals, Russell Allen was invited but had to decline the invitation since he was firm in his own band Symphony X. A second invitation was made for Michael Kiske, who also rejected the proposal, claiming that he wanted to keep away from the metal scene. After contact with Norwegian band Ark famous album Burn The Sun and subsequently the album Worldchanger, singer Jørn Lande was invited. Jørn accepted the invitation, completing the band after about six months of the beginning of the project.Their first full-length self-titled album, Masterplan was released in 2003, produced by Andy Sneap. The band then consisted of Grapow and Kusch with Jørn Lande. The main part of the keyboard lines on the album were arranged and programmed by Roland and Uli, while keyboard player Janne "Warman" Wirman recorded some sessions for the album, but could not stay on as a full-time member due to his commitments to Children of Bodom. Axel Mackenrott replaced him on tour and since then as a permanent member. Studio bassist Jürgen Attig (Casanova) helped with some bass lines on the recordings, but Grapow was the main bassist for the album. For tour and subsequent recordings, Jan-Sören Eckert was hired as a permanent member.The band received the "European Border Breakers Award" from the European Commission in 2004, for the debut album success around Europe.In January 2005 Masterplan released their second album, Aeronautics once again produced by Andy Sneap and the band. After two successful albums and their respective tours, during the writing of the third album the band parted ways with vocalist Jørn Lande, citing "musical differences" as the reason for the split.The split was amicable enough that Jørn agreed to perform four previously arranged live appearances before departing although two of these were eventually canceled by the promoters.On October 4, 2006 Uli Kusch announced his departure from the band in an interview with Darkside.ru. Although not discussing the details of what had happened, he mentioned the democratic principles of making decisions in the band as one of the reasons of his leaving - according to him, it often made getting a consensus nearly impossible.[3] Three days later, Masterplan announced their new line-up through their official web site: Grapow, Mackenrott, Eckert, with new members Mike DiMeo (Riot, The Lizards) and Mike Terrana (ex-Artension, ex-Rage, Metalium). The band toured with Saxon as an opening act for Saxon's Inner Sanctum tour.The band's third album, suitably titled MK II, was released on February 26, 2007. It was produced this time by the band's actual leader, Roland Grapow himself, at his own studio in Slovakia. The album was recorded in September and October 2006.On January 11, 2009, Mike DiMeo confirmed on his MySpace page that he had parted ways with Masterplan.On July 25, 2009, the band finally revealed that Jørn Lande has made his return to Masterplan.On April 16, 2010, a single titled Far From the End of the World was released to precede the band's new fourth album, Time To Be King, once again produced by Roland Grapow.On July 13, 2011, the band has announced in their official website that they were writing songs for a new album. The album is set to be released in March 2013.In July 2012, it was announced that Martin Marthus Skaroupka (Cradle of Filth drummer) will play on the new Masterplan album.In early November, it was announced that Rick Altzi and Jari Kainulainen would replace Jorn Lande and Jan Eckert on the upcoming album.[9] In November 2012, during an interview with Metal Shock Finland's Chief Editor, Mohsen Fayyazi, when talking about Jorn's departure from the band, Roland stated the following: "Everybody always expects something special from Jorn, but it’s a very unstable situation. To keep happy it’s not easy and to be honest I’ve not heard from him for 2 years. Don’t get me wrong, we’re still friends but we just don’t have much contact."On February 21, 2013 the new album was announced. The title of the album is Novum Initium and it was released on June 14, 2013 through German record label AFM Records.
Album:
It feels kind of odd reviewing Masterplan‘s debut self-titled album again given that I reviewed it back in January 2023 to celebrate the 20th year anniversary of its release. I didn’t know at the time that Masterplan were planning on releasing a 20th year Anniversary Edition of their debut record but that’s exactly what occurred later on in 2023. Of course, being a huge Masterplan fan and with their debut record ranking among some of my favorite albums released in the last 25 years, I knew right away that I would be purchasing the Anniversary Edition. The only question was really what were the extras on the Anniversary Edition.I was a little disappointed that there were only three bonus tracks but keeping in mind that Masterplan released their first four studio albums within a span of seven years (2003’s Masterplan, 2005’s Aeronautics, 2007’s MK II and 2010’s Time To Be King) which is quite impressive in this day and age with many bands taking five or more years between records (for example, The Lazys), there likely wasn’t that much leftover material. All three bonus tracks are actually very good. “The Kid Rocks On” feels like lead vocalist Jorn Lande is singing while strolling in Central Park. It’s got a bit of Billy Joel vibe to it in some ways. It’s a solid track and of course, there’s nothing like hearing Jorn sing those early Masterplan songs. “Through Thick & Thin” could have easily made the cut for the debut album. It has a magical feel to it and a great chorus that will have you singing along in no time.As it turns out, both “The Kid Rocks On” and “Through Thick & Thin” appeared as bonus tracks on the Japanese version of the debut album. Although I am pretty sure that I heard “Through Thick & Thin” for the first time on the Anniversary Edition, the song sounded awfully familiar like I had heard it many times before. The last bonus track is Masterplan‘s cover of Led Zeppelin‘s classic track “Black Dog”. It appears that Masterplan‘s version of the song was a bonus track on the South American release of their debut record (along with “Through Thick & Thin”). In addition, Masterplan‘s version of “Black Dog” appeared on The Music Remains the Same: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin, which was released back in November 2002 and interestingly before the release of the group’s debut album. I was quite interested to hear Jorn handle the Led Zeppelin track given his impeccable track record with covers including his solo albums Unlocking The Past (2007), Dio (2010), Heavy Rock Radio (2016) and Heavy Rock Radio II: Executing the Classics (2020). Jorn did a great job singing “Black Dog” by adding his own flair to the track while at the same time staying true to the original.In addition to the three bonus tracks, the Anniversary Edition has a DVD showcasing a live performance of the band in Goteborg, Sweden back on February 10, 2003. Masterplan played almost all of the songs from their debut record during that concert. I was wondering who would be handling the guest vocals handled by ex-Helloween singer (at the time) Michael Kiske on the song “Heroes” and it turns out it was guitarist and band leader Roland Grapow who had that unenviable task. In any case, Grapow did an adequate job of handling Kiske‘s vocal parts on the song. “Heroes” is such a great song so it would be a real shame if Masterplan hadn’t included it in their setlist simply because Kiske was not around. The lighting on the video is kind of dark so the quality is certainly not what you might expect if you purchased a stand alone concert on DVD.The last bonus on the Anniversary Edition is what I can best describe as some impromptu home videos showing the band going to and at two gigs. What struck me the most while watching the “home videos” is how much of band that Masterplan seemed to be at that time (back in early 2003). I’ve always really thought of Jorn Lande as a solo artist but he really looked like he was just one of the Masterplan guys in those home videos. It’s a pity that Jorn and Masterplan weren’t able to make it work between them (you’ll recall they had a second stint with 2010’s Time To Be King) because the Norwegian powerhouse singer would benefit from better material as his original solo material seems to be lacking something while Masterplan have never been able to find a replacement singer at Jorn‘s level.Overall, I am happy that I purchased the Anniversary Edition of Masterplan although I don’t think that I’ll view the DVD concert or “home videos” ever again. If you don’t have Masterplan in your album collection, picking up the Anniversary Edition of the record should be a no brainer. You can get more details on how great the debut record is from my original review of that album that I did back in January 2023. If you already have Masterplan, you likely don’t need to get the Anniversary Edition unless you’re a really big fan of the band.Released on November 10, 2023 (AFM Records).
Line-Up:
Jørn Lande - Vocals
Roland Grapow - Guitars (2001-present) - See also: Roland Grapow, ex-Helloween, ex-Rampage
Jan-S. Eckert - Bass
Uli Kusch - Drums
Axel Mackenrott - Keyboards (2002-present) - See also: ex-Beautiful Sin, ex-Gamma Ray (live)
CD Additional Musicians:
Michael Kiske – vocal duet (6)
Janne Warman – keyboards
Ferdy Doernberg – keyboards (8)
Jürgen Attig – bass
CD Production:
Produced by Andy Sneap and Masterplan
Recorded by Andy Sneap
Mixed by Mikko Karmila
Mastered by Mika Jussila
DVD Production:
Recorded live at Lisebergshallen in Goteborg, Sweden on February 20, 2003
Bonus material filmed by Diers Fechner in Malmo on February 24, 2003 and Oslo on February 25, 2003
Audio mix-mastering by Roland Grapow
Video editing by Roland Grapow
Goteborg concert video post-production by Axel MacKenrott
Tracklist:
01. Spirit Never Die 05:26
02. Enlighten Me 04:38
03. Kind Hearted Light 04:25
04. Crystal Night 05:18
05. Soulburn 06:16
06. Heroes 03:34
07. Sail On 04:40
08. Into the Light 04:10
09. Crawling from Hell 04:14
10. Bleeding Eyes 05:43
11. When Love Comes Close 04:09
12. The Kid Rocks On 03:40 (Bonus track)
13. Through Thick & Thin 04:03 (Bonus track)
14. Black Dog 04:34 (Bonus track)
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