Northern Kings – Reborn

Releasedate: october 2007; Label: Warner Music
By: Elvira Visser

Northern Kings is a collaboration between four great, well known Finnish singers. All the king of a special skill. J. Ahola is the king of the high notes (Teräsbetoni), JP Leppäluoto is the king of mystique (Charon), Marco Hietala is the king of kings (Tarot, Nightwish) and Tony Kakko is the king of catchy melody lines (Sonata Artica). On this CD “Reborn” they have joined forces to create a great piece of work.

When seeing When I saw these four guys listed together on a CD, it got my attention. I do not like all the voices but still this seems like a great collaboration. Four of those great Finnish voices on one CD, I was very curious how that came together. With the “Reborn” CD they have covered tracks but put it to their own hands. Before you go thinking: there is another cover CD this one actually makes a difference. The tracks are not sounding like the original but are changed completely, of course the main melody and the lyrics are still there but the tracks have different atmospheres and are turned into symphonic metal tracks where they sometimes used to be catchy pop songs.

On this album they covered tracks Tina Turner, Billy Idol, David Bowie, Jethro Tull and Phil Collins just to mention a few. But as said: expect something new as the tracks are no longer those you remember. These tracks have an orchestral surrounding and are created by thinking “outside the box”. A very good example of that is the track “Creep” by Radiohead. I must admit I like the voice of JP Leppäluoto a lot but this track, the whole atmosphere, is dark and even creepy which suits it so perfectly. Another outstanding track is “We Don’t Need Another Hero” which is sung by all four of them. Not all of the tracks work that well, “Rebel Yell” goes on a bit too long. “Sledgehammer” is just great and they changed Lionel Richie’s “Hello” from a ballad to a rocking track.

Final result: great album, maybe because you know all these 80s hits and can sing along with them, but they gave them into a more metal vein. It is a record which you have to listen to in order to make a judgement. My personal favourite is “Brother in Arms” but there are more tracks that stand out. This quartet all known from successful metal bands dared to make changes in the arrangements and not follow the original song down to the last note.

Links:
Northern Kings MySpace