The wait was worth it for TSO’s ‘Night Castle’
By Phillip Sayblack
Friday, November 13, 2009
Classical music, and rock are generally two forms of music that are not associated with one another. But there is one band that has managed time and again, to make classical music appealing to the masses who would otherwise not listen to it. The band in question is Trans Siberian Orchestra. TSO has been doing that musical mash-up since its inception. And now, after an extremely long wait for the band’s new album, TSO has finally released its fifth album, ‘Night Castle.‘ This album is not a Christmas album. Though for fans of the band’s Christmas renditions, a “rocked up” rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, aptly titled “Nutrocker”, is included as a bonus track on the album’s second disc.
The rest of the album is a touching story about family, friendship, love, and the triumph of the human spirit set against the Khmer Rouge conflict. If there is one thing that TSO does better than any other band, it is telling a good story. And, ‘Night Castle’ is no different. The irony of the album is that the castle in question that Lieutenant Cozier discovers is mentioned for a very short time. But Erasmus, the man that Lt. Cozier meets in the castle, plays an integral role in how the story unfolds, even though the meeting of the two men is so short.
While the band making its own renditions of classical songs is nothing new on this album, every song fits perfectly to each act. ‘Night Castle’ is the band’s longest opus to date. But in listening to the album, it could easily be seen how the band could perform the album in its entirety on stage. Considering the length of the story, though, performing the show on stage again and again would get rather tiring for the band. The longest song on this opus clocks in at just over ten minutes. One other song on the album clocks in at just under ten minutes. Those two songs, and the overall run time of the album aside, TSO has yet again crafted a work that will please both fans of classical music, and fans of TSO.
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