Mother Earth (2003 Re-release)
[GUN Records]

Every once in a while, I come across an album that is not only excellent, but changes the way I look at and listen to other bands. This has only happened a few times in my music-listening career. When I first came across Symphony X's "V," I was a huge fan of the band Rhapsody. But everything I loved about Rhapsody – the melding of melodic metal and orchestra, the fantasy-inspired lyrics – I found on "V," but a dozen times better. The orchestral arrangements were so good, the lyrics so much smarter, and the metal so much tighter and more technical, that my discovery of Symphony X affected forever the way I looked at Rhapsody. While I still love Rhapsody, they are no longer the best there is at what they do, at least in my own ears. They were eclipsed by another band that did everything they did, and better.

The same thing has happened to me with the discovery of the band Within Temptation, and their latest album, "Mother Earth." While never a fanatic of the female-fronted hard rock genre, I have always enjoyed the likes of Lacuna Coil and the Gathering quite a bit. When you throw in albums by similar bands, such as Aghora, Evanescence, Chainsuck, and Rain Fell Within (among others), I suppose I had managed to collect quite a few releases by artists playing this sort of music. But "Mother Earth" is… it is incredible. It immediately blew away all those other female-fronted bands, becoming not only the best band of this sort that I've ever heard, but one of the best albums I have ever owned. And while I understand that this is a highly subjective statement, it is nonetheless one that I hope to convince others to agree with, through the writing of this review.

The keyboards are quite creative, rarely sounding like authentic instruments but never sounding cheesy or "fake" either. They give the music a slightly epic, slightly gothic feel. But neither mood is so pervasive as to dominate "Mother Earth" or pigeonhole it into either style. The use of choirs similarly fleshes out the music; the all-male choir in the album's title track is of special note, as paring a male choir against a female choir is something that I don't think has ever been done in metal (though I'll have to go back and listen to my Luca Turilli albums to see if he did this… but for the moment, I don't recollect him doing so).

But as thick and rich as some songs are, others are far simpler, relying on little more than Sharon den Adel's voice and Martijn Spierenburg's piano or keys (such as "Our Farewell" or "Never-Ending Story" or "In Perfect Harmony"). I feel confident making the statement that Sharon is the best female singer in any metal or hard rock band that I have ever heard, that's how much she impresses me. Her range is impressive, the emotion she can convey in her siren's song far greater than should be humanly possible, and her lyrics moving poetry. I think I'm in love. And more than that, I think she is an excellent singer.

This is an album that I can read the track listing of, and instantly hum at least a few bars from every song. And that's only after five or six listenings. Yet, I would not call this "pop" by any stretch of the imagination. It is simply good, catchy, female-fronted metal. The musicians sometimes lay into their instruments, and sometimes hold back and let the music carry them through to the end. The lead singer is attractive, but doesn't sell her body in order to sell records. Within Temptation are everything an underground metal fan could want, without going out of their way to be alienating or inaccessible. And I have to admit, I like that.

The 2003 re-release of "Mother Earth" includes four bonus tracks, two b-sides and two live songs. The live material is of special interest, as they are songs from prior Within Temptation releases, recorded in Utrecht, Holland in 1998, and show a somewhat different side of the band; both songs include harsh male vocals, resulting in music that sounds as much like Theatre of Tragedy or Lacuna Coil as it does Within Temptation. Anyone who doesn't own this album yet, or who is an especially obsessive Within Temptation fan, should endeavor to track down the re-released version of "Mother Earth." But collector's mentality aside, the bonus tracks are not quite as good as the album's ten original songs.

Yeah. I really like this album. I don't think I'll ever be quite the same, having had the honor of listening to Within Temptation's "Mother Earth." Without a doubt, any future hard rock or heavy metal bands with melodic female vocals will be asked to stand up against this album. And I expect that more often than not, they will pale in comparison. But in the mean time, I strongly recommend checking Within Temptation out, if you haven't already. Unless your interests lie solely in the areas of brutal death metal or old school black metal, I think you may find "Mother Earth" to be at least partially as awe-inspiring as I do. This album has easily become one of my top metal albums, and I can only expect my love for "Mother Earth" to increase as time goes on.