Following up an album as immense as “Hourglass” is a tough nut to crack, and to come straight to the point, “Jericho” fails in various departments. Let’s take the vocal dept. to start with. As anyone may know by now, Jorn Lande left Millenium in May 2002 (for Masterplan!) and original vocalist Todd Plant recaptured his place as frontman. Although Plant is a good singer, he’s surely no competitor for the mighty Lande. But even more disenchanting is the quality of the new songs on offer. After listening more than a few times, none of them kept spinning in my head, which is a major step backwards in comparison to the band’s earlier efforts. Count to that a rather dubious production and the end result is what I call Millenium’s worst album so far. Of course you can do with your money what you want, but I would advise you to spend it otherwise than on this release. What a disappointment!!! (CL)
 

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Gloobey (on 17/09/04) Really boring record, just nothing about it at all that stands out. Production feels flat and lifeless and the songs lack any kind of spark. Not very good at all, I'm sfraid.   Antóntorrón (on 7/09/04) Yo creo que es un buen disco,aunque vaya en una cirección distinta al anterior "Hourglass".Evidentemente Todd Plant no es Jorn Lande,pero cumple sobradamente.Y Santolla toca de una manera fantástica.No hay hits,pero los temas son más que correctos.Sobriedad y virtuosismo.Mola...   HIBA (on 2/08/04) Waw, indeed a major discussion on this one. I don't know why everybody keeps coming up with hourglass, a fine record indeed, but I for one liked the previous better, namely "Angel fire", fantastic, melodic and close to AOR. "Jericho" is an album with a metal edge, and a completly different kind of singing from Todd Plant, it takes time to get used to. Maybe it's the influence from playing with Iced Earth that gave a different approach to main songwriter Ralph Santolla, maybe he's gotta give his views here to... Ralph ?   AOR Ive (on 1/08/04) I cannot see why people are so negative about this album . It's not the best Millenium album ever , the band has just turned heavier but it's always melodic and most of all the songs are also very well written . This is an album for both melodic rock and melodic metal fans and in opinion one of the better melodic metal albums of the last couple of months .   AORPOMPY (on 18/07/04) A lot of discussion is going on about this one. Well, I can understand both camps. One fact : this is not a great record at all ! But it is not as bad as some say. It's a very average record, and not on the usely standard this band can reach. Cryptic Vision is head and shoulders above this release, which is average.   WOLF 359 (on 2/07/04) How can i say this ?. As good as Hour Glass was it will never live up to Angelfire. So stop wishing for Mr. Lande to ride over the hill and save Millenium it aint gonna happen . Give this cd a chance , from what i've heard the music although heavier in approach is non the less melodic well played and above all else has a great lead vocal . I think that this cd will be a grower if given a chance .   Fergo (on 21/06/04) A bit unfair to compare this with "Hourglass" which is one of the great melodic rock album's of the 21st Century and in many ways more of a Jorn album than a Millenium one. Full marks to Todd, Ralph and the guys for having the courage to take the band in a different direction, rather than record "Angel Fire Part II." Not one for the AOR masses, but a quality album of hard rock nontheless.   CL (on 21/06/04) It doesn't happen that much that a band member reacts to a review on this site. Well, Todd, it's brave to do so, even if the new album isn't received well. But you're right, the Cryptic Vision album is so much better. Read my review of that album elsewhere and what's more: go out and buy it!   snoe (on 21/06/04) Todd, nice to see you hear. I think the best feedback for an artist, is that directly from the fans. And it's even better when you can interact with them about it. Don't be offended by 'our' opinions, nothing's personal here. I'm very impressed with your work on Cryptic Vision. But not with your work on Jericho. It's never easy to match or even surpass a classic album like 'Hourglass'. Keep doing what you do best and don't feel offended. I'll be waiting for the next Cryptic Vision record!   toddzirra (on 21/06/04) Ouch! I knew I was in trouble when I took the job back. Jorn's incredible and one of my favorites, too. But what was I supposed to do - be a coward? I took the challenge! We decided to go heavier and some people aren't going to like it. Same thing happened with Messiah Complex. If you like my melodic voice, try Cryptic Vision's "Moments Of Clarity" - that is if you aren't afraid of progressive rock. Thanks for supporting us all these years - AOR and Prog fans are the most intelligent and passionate. I'll keep striving for my personal best and hope you get some enjoyment from it. Visit my site: www.ToddPlant.com .   Eddymeuwese (on 20/06/04) Hi CL, I feel about the same about this Millenium cd. Hourglass was so fine, this new one doesn't come near the quality of the previous one. This is the review I wrote for the next Lords of Metal issue coming July 1st: If it was only yesterday I remember this album ‘Hour Glass’ from Millenium. A great aor/melodic rock CD with some catchy compositions and an awesome singer. This singer, Jorn Lande, gets more and more appreciation everyday. So the first change with this new Millenium album called ‘Jericho’ is the change of singers. A guy called Todd Plant is back home with the band, Jorn Lande has moved on and left the band again. Stepping back in the footsteps of the great Mr. Lande is not easy and Todd does not succeed in that job like it should. So a first minus for the new album is born. When I received this new release I saw the label Metal Heaven on the back. Georg Siegl who owns Metal Heaven and AOR Heaven has taken over this band from Frontiers Records and put these guys under Metal Heaven instead of AOR Heaven. Another worry comes over me. Could it be that the beautiful melodic thing Millenium gave us on their previous work made place for heavier metal? The answer is yes, the beautiful melodic aor is gone, the band turned into a heavier and more powerful style. Well it is not all that strange I think, I think ‘Hour Glass’ was more a step outside the style that band leader Ralph Santolla was used to play as this new album ‘Jericho’ would be a style change. Prior to Milllenium Ralph was touring along with Chuck Schuldiner’s band Death. And now Ralph has picked up the guitar in Iced Earth. As fine Millenium did his job with their previous album, with this new one they are not convincing me at all. The compositions are kind of flat, there is never a moment of excitement on this piece. I think ‘Jericho’ is rather dull and without any highlights. Ralph Santolla created a classic album back in 2000 with ‘Hour Glass’ and now he has managed to record an album that will disappear in my collection to gather dust from now on.

 

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