Genius – A Rock Opera
Episode 3 – The Final Surprise

March 2007
Released: 2007, Frontiers Records/Zink Music
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Anders Sandvall

This is the final episode Daniele Liverani’s rock opera Genius. The second part of the opera came out in 2004 and many well-known melodic hard rock singers have made appearances throughout the trilogy. Mark Boals sang lead vocals on the first two parts, but now DC Cooper (Silent Force, ex- Royal Hunt) sings them. Other new singers that have joined Liverani on this album are Jorn Lande, Toby Hitchcock, and Andrea Dätwyler. Returning from the previous albums are Daniel Gildenlow, Eric Martin, and Philip Bynoe.



The second album left the main characters on the threshold of the Asian fantasies warehouse, in front of a dark underworld. We also discovered what happened to the Genius once he woke up to go back to the world of reality. The third album will finally reveal if the prince will be saved and if the dream world will be sage forever.



The music is a great blend of a lot of different musical styles, like melodic hard rock, progressive metal, melodic rock, heavy metal, and so on. It’s hard to pick out any favorite tracks amongst all of the great songs; in fact, the entire album is filled with high-quality material.



DC Cooper perfectly fills the void Mark Boals left, but it would have been fun to hear Boales sing on the final album as well. Philip Bynoe is a born storyteller and tells the story in a brilliant way. Besides writing the entire album, Liverani also plays most of the instruments aside from drums. He has also produced the album masterfully; the soundscape is really epic and grand, and you can hear every little detail in the music and voices very clearly. It’s fun and a bit different to listen to a rock opera. It’s been a great ride throughout this trilogy, and if you can’t find the patience to listen to the albums all the way through as an opera you can always enjoy the remarkable music, vocal performances, and the great production.



Daniele Liverani has done wonders creating this opera and I can’t wait to hear what he’s up to next. If you have the booklet, I can imagine that the album is even more enjoyable; I only have a promo copy without any lyrics.



http://www.geniusrockopera.com

http://www.zinkmusic.com