MIDNIGHT – M

Next to the mighty Mountain King, Midnight is probably the singer that made the most impact on me throughout the years of listening to Metal. He always added that little extra to the music, that made it impossible to grow tired of it – like twisted psychopathic expressions making you wonder if he’s of flesh and blood, or if he actually was found by Jon Drenning on one of his “abducted by aliens” trips.

Drenning, bandleader, and together with Midnight (and Ben Jackson!) the driving force behind the legendary Crimson Glory, is not of this world either, musically speaking –- and together back in the days, no-one (but Savatage) could match the unique magic of Crimson Glory. (What did they put in the water in Tampa???) Midnight has been gone from the scene since 1991’s “Strange And Beautiful”. He has most likely just been sitting in his rocking chair up in the dark attic all the time, hiding from the real world (or whoever else…). I don’t give a shit what he’s been up to, and the interviews he has given have been so stupid that I just don’t care. His music on the other hand, I can’t deny…

M contains 7 songs, all acoustic and very stripped down, and at some point they may be recorded with a band. I wouldn’t hold my breath though. The first song, “Pain”, introduces one of Midnight’s friends – drugs. Maybe his only friend, for how many others care about you when you just sit around in the dark all day. A couple of the songs are about drugs, by the way, and “Monkey Song” tells a story about the main character and the monkey on his back. Despite the drugs and the dark, if you like Midnight’s amazing voice (oh yeah, he sounds very much like Robert Plant at times here), and you can accept that these songs are acoustic and kind of laidback, I can inform you that right now you can’t get this CD anywhere! How cool is that?

Seriously, the first edition was bought by a yet to be named distributor, and at some point, hopefully soon, you’ll be able to treat yourself to these haunting songs sung by the man who can sneeze onto a CD, and it will sound better than 99% of all singers about there. Midnight is back! But in real Crimson Glory manner, he’ll soon be gone again – to his darkened room in the attic. Enjoy M while he’s here…