Fifth Angel returns, kinda...

[MetalAges]

Anxious to see how it sounds, since the core songwriters (from Time Will Tell anyways) are still in there, but will miss the Ted Pilot vocals!

Er, Time will tell.... (couldn't resist...)

http://www.fifthangel.com/index.html

 

[General Zod]

If Ted Pilot isn't involved, it's not Fifth Angel. Might the musicians involved produce a quality CD? Sure. However, Ted's voice was Fifth Angel. Without him, might as well pick a new name.

 

[drmetal8]

I was about to bitch "No Ted Pilot, why bother?"
Then I saw that the new vocalist is Hawk/Masi/Angels of Babylon vocalist David Fefolt.
This guy is a great singer. Can't wait to hear what they do now!

 

[Justin G]

I was a skeptic as well, but Fefolt just feels right for this band. Now I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[General Zod]

As I said, this group of musicians may put out a quality disc. But for me, it just isn't Fifth Angel without Ted.

 

[Comic Book Dude]

David Fefolt? Wow....I think he will do a great job....purists be damned! Who knows if Ted Pilot can even sing this stuff anymore....it's been 20+ years since Time Will Tell. Gee....I guess Accept should've changed their name without Udo in the band (ahem....Blood Of The Nations)...or, how about Fates Warning? I guess they should've changed their name when Ray Alder took over on vocals....give me a break.

 

[Cheiron]

In defense of Zod, we get attachments to what we enjoy about a band. When that stops being, its hard to consider it the same band, and we don't owe them anything as fans (nor do they owe us anything). He's been open for certain bands, such as Pyramaze and Iced Earth, but they changed to singers he already loved... twice.

 

[General Zod]

David Fefolt? Wow....I think he will do a great job....purists be damned! Who knows if Ted Pilot can even sing this stuff anymore....it's been 20+ years since Time Will Tell. Gee....I guess Accept should've changed their name without Udo in the band (ahem....Blood Of The Nations)...or, how about Fates Warning? I guess they should've changed their name when Ray Alder took over on vocals....give me a break.

While I appreciate what you're saying, I'm not sure your analogy draws accurate parallels. For starters, those bands didn't go dormant for 22 years. Second, with regard to Accept, they were a household name within the Metal community, and Fates Warning was still an up and coming band when they switched vocalists. Neither of those scenarios are akin to FA's. Third, with Accept and Fates Warning, the sound was a big part of each band's identity, be it the signature guitar tone of Accept or the musical complexities of Matheos, Zonder and company. Conversely, Fifth Angel didn't have a unique sound. What made them special was Ted Pilot. Finally, while it's fair to point to bands who successfully changed their singer, let's keep in mind, there's at least an equal number who failed.

As with everything, opinions vary. If this doesn't diminish your interest in the forthcoming disc, that's fine. In my mind, if you wait 22 years to reform a band, who was but a blip on the radar in their hey day, without your signature vocalist and your original drummer, it's not the same band. Which is essentially, all I said.

In defense of Zod, we get attachments to what we enjoy about a band. When that stops being, its hard to consider it the same band, and we don't owe them anything as fans (nor do they owe us anything). He's been open for certain bands, such as Pyramaze and Iced Earth, but they changed to singers he already loved... twice.

Well said. I don't have a problem with a bands changing singers. It happens all the time. However, in my mind, there are bands, where the band is about the singer. In my mind, this is one such band. And when you compound that factor with 22 years of inactivity, I'm not sure where the value lies in resurrecting a relatively obscure project, without the most identifiable component.

 

[labrekk]

I think Fefolt will do an excellent job as he's a great singer. The Angels Of Babylon disc from last year was very good stuff. I can't wait to hear the new Fifth Angel.

 

[Cheiron]

While I appreciate what you're saying, I'm not sure your analogy draws accurate parallels. For starters, those bands didn't go dormant for 22 years. Second, with regard to Accept, they were a household name within the Metal community, and Fates Warning was still an up and coming band when they switched vocalists. Neither of those scenarios are akin to FA's. Third, with Accept and Fates Warning, the sound was a big part of each band's identity, be it the signature guitar tone of Accept or the musical complexities of Matheos, Zonder and company. Conversely, Fifth Angel didn't have a unique sound. What made them special was Ted Pilot. Finally, while it's fair to point to bands who successfully changed their singer, let's keep in mind, there's at least an equal number who failed.

Here's my 'rule'. If you'd rather go to see the lead singer with a bunch of guest musicians, than the musicians with a guest singer, than the singer is most important and thus has to be a part of the band for it to be a band.

This rule doesn't apply if the singer dies. Then its up to the band to do what they want, and up to me to decide if I still want to listen to them. I don't hold it against the musicians to carry on as it is very difficult in this industry to create a new identify under a different name (just look at how difficult it is for an author with a popular series to actually get sales with a book that takes place outside that series).

 

[General Zod]

Here's my 'rule'. If you'd rather go to see the lead singer with a bunch of guest musicians, than the musicians with a guest singer, than the singer is most important and thus has to be a part of the band for it to be a band.

This actually makes sense... I like it. Starting a new thread.

 

[spag]

While the singer does matter to me, I'm far more interested to see what they come up with. I know that it's been a long, long time, and I have no idea if they can match any of their earlier work, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt till it comes out.

 

[KYF_Cincinnati]

If Ted Pilot isn't involved, it's not Fifth Angel. Might the musicians involved produce a quality CD? Sure. However, Ted's voice was Fifth Angel. Without him, might as well pick a new name.

Agree 100%. Not sure how how a band like ANTHRAX ever got away with doing that. I love John Bush with Armored Saint back in the day but how in the world can you call it ANTHRAX without Joey Belladonna??? Same goes for Fifth Angel.

 

[Dave@BEC]

I was about to bitch "No Ted Pilot, why bother?" Then I saw that the new vocalist is Hawk/Masi/Angels of Babylon vocalist David Fefolt. This guy is a great singer. Can't wait to hear what they do now!

Agreed, looking forward to it. I too always liked David Fefolt's vox, I also have a CD he was on when he was real young, Valhalla "The Return Of The Mystic Warrior".