Corruption of Fairyland (Fairyland - Angelzoom)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Fairyland - Angelzoom
Date:	21/01/08 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Two non-album tracks make it worthwhile for fans of the earlier album.

Disadvantages: Ruined by horrible remixes.

The amusingly named Angelzoom (a passing Hell's Angel, or something more enlightened?) is a vehicle for talented German singer Claudia Uhle to sing softly and sweetly over accessible orchestral music with slight techno touches composed by the real man behind the project, songwriter-producer Bernd Wendlandt. I'm always suspicious of "solo" projects such as these, mainly because I think it's unreasonable to ignore the musicians and place all the emphasis on a singer who hasn't even written the damn thing, but Angelzoom seems like a pleasant enough project. Uhle is a great singer, mainly occupying the high range but able to shift between a compelling mainstream style to a floating, ethereal mode reminiscent of Enya.

Uhle used to sing for the pop group X-Perience, but Angelzoom sits comfortably in the realm of the undefined "alternative," leading to a strong following even in rock circles, perhaps in part due to the relative boom in the popularity of female singers with her operatic register in 2004 (Nightwish, Evanescence, Lacuna Coil), and the band's covers of notable rock songs that are often really badly conceived (who could possibly think it was a good idea to cover Linkin Park?) The union is further cemented by frequent collaborations with guest musicians such as Apocalyptica, the Finnish cello quartet similarly embraced by metal fans for their lousy Metallica covers. 'Fairyland' was the first single from the self-titled Angelzoom album in 2004, followed a year later by 'Back in the Moment,' and is a very unusual and disappointing release indeed. Starting off very well with the title song and two brand new Angelzoom songs not featured on the album, the second half is taken up by really, really bad remixes of the 'Fairlyand' original, perhaps as a sort of ironic criticism of that Linkin Park thing, though most likely not.

'Fairlyand' itself is a decent enough song, and its memorable, light-hearted, sing-along chorus, repeated numerous times despite the relatively short playing time, makes it the perfect choice for a radio-friendly single. Uhle's voice is at its finest here, with nice melodies written by her producer, and the song builds from a simple piano introduction to include a soft techno rhythm, leading into a louder and more prominent chorus section with dominant cellos and backing orchestration. There's not an awful lot of depth outside of the production values however, and nothing really happens in the void between choruses, which is skilfully edited to the minimum time possible. Seriously, this mainstream, profit-oriented music thing really is quite alien to me. It's the second and third songs that present the greatest opportunity for Angelzoom fans here, and both are pleasant (if a little bland) atmospheric pieces, 'Sapphire Sky' only being a little more dynamic but both featuring a more thoughtful, floating vocal performance over an ambient orchestral soundscape. It's nice, and the songs are both short enough not to deter the most casual of listeners.

The 'Fairlyand' remixes are both incredibly bad, and only serve to urinate all over the quite-good original. The Blutengel club mix is the usual tedious dance rubbish, adapting the chorus reasonably well into its bastardised style but otherwise merely filling up the long minutes with an uninspired thumping rhythm and piercing electronic beeps. I may be a little biased, as this is just about my least preferred variety of music imaginable, but I get the feeling it would be looked down upon by more experienced dance enthusiasts, and only really enjoyed by rock fans who feel they've got into something "alternative." Again, that word is crying out for inverted commas. The Sacrifight Army remix is perhaps even worse, or at least more pointless, taking more liberties in splitting up the vocal melodies and adding some dull guitar and drums in a half-hearted and unsuccessful attempt to make a "rock mix." Again, this really isn't going to appeal to serious fans, and both songs are ludicrously overlong at double the length of the original. I'm not a fan of remixes at the best of times, but these are terrible, needless, grating and incredibly boring, spoiling what would otherwise be a fairly decent release.

1. Fairyland (radio edit)
2. The World Between
3. Sapphire Sky
4. Fairyland (Blutengel club mix)
5. Fairyland (Sacrifight Army remix)

Summary: Angelzoom's first maxi-single (2004).