In 2003, the men behind German power metal royalty
Gamma Ray
rewarded their most loyal fans with a double-live album named
Skeletons in the Closet
, collecting seldom-played cuts from their past oeuvre. Eight years later, they co-opted their own original concept for a mini-album entitled
Skeletons & Majesties
, only this time, fans won't likely be as impressed. That's because the first item's generous 18-tracks can't help but overshadow the second's paltry six-and-half (explanation to follow), which break down as follows. First up are two re-recorded early
classics -- the debut's
"Hold Your Ground"
and
"Brothers,"
from 1993's
Insanity & Genius
LP -- whose newfound energy is nothing to scoff at, and arguably sound more natural as sung by guitarist and bandleader
Kai Hansen
instead of original vocalist
Ralf Scheepers
, but then that may come down to personal taste. Second in line are two unconvincing, unplugged updates that range from discomfort to embarrassment, since the stripped-down arrangement for 1999's
"Send Me a Sign"
makes it sound like an even more intolerable carbon copy of
Green Day
's
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams,"
and 2000's ten-minute slog
"Rebellion in Dreamland"
is stripped of all pomp metal gravitas, hanging its suddenly exponentially laughable lyrics out to dry. Third on the day's agenda is an actual obscure B-side (at last!) called
"Wannabees,"
but it curiously only stands out for emulating the sore-throated rave-metal of Swiss techno-metal merchants
Samael
, and once again suffers from
Hansen
's rather silly Teutonic humor. And then
really wears out its welcome on the back of a largely unnecessary extended version of
"Brothers"
and a vocal-free, karaoke mix of
(come on now; that's the half-song!), followed by a hidden coda made up of a patchwork of studio shenanigans that only the most die-hard
fans will be able to stomach, while everyone else will immediately transform the CD into a Frisbee. You get the picture. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia