Jorn, Jorn, Jorn. Yawn, yawn, and yawn. For some it seems that Masterplan’s temerity to continue without Jorn Lande, as vocalist is almost sacrilegious. Add to the mix original drummer Uli Kursch’s departure and you have the perfect mixture for a fan war. Clearly there are those who will never let the new Masterplan darken their CD tray again and who believe that new singer Mike DiMeo and sticksman Mike Terrana should crawl back under whatever stone they crawled out from under. If you are one of those people (as Dennis Norden would say) open your mind and think again as the new look Masterplan have created a fabulous new album, which stands along practically anything else that will be released in 2007. 

Normally I am not a fan of instrumental intro songs but Phoenix Rising sets the scene nicely and shows that the keyboard-orientated style Masterplan of old hasn’t disappeared just yet. MK II contains some solid gold classics in particular Warrior’s Cry, Lost And Gone, Keeps Me Burning as well as I’m Gonna Win. 

In my mind only Take Me Over isn’t quite up to scratch as it lacks the melody and immediacy of the other tracks. The opening two minutes or so of the album are unbelievably good coming across as being somewhat Dragonforce like before settling into a more hard rock vein. 

Lost And Gone which originally appeared on an EP slows things down but retains a certain hypnotic quality before the wonderful, melodic Keeps Me Burning, which is so good it’s untrue. Bizarrely, the aforementioned Take Me Over begins with an intro that is remarkably similar to the opening of Strange Little Girl by The Stranglers! 

I’m Gonna Win features swirling keyboards that burrow into your consciousness and refuse to leave, a wonderful track. I could go on and tell you that each song is great (and they are). The playing from all members of the band is outstanding but I particularly enjoyed Roland Grapow’s guitar work and he also deserves a special mention for the production, which is both big and modern sounding. 

I sometimes delete albums from my I-pod after I’ve reviewed them (because y’know you have to review CD’s you may not have ordinarily bought) but I have no doubt that this one will be staying put for quite some time yet. There. Finished. Didn’t mention Helloween once.

Let us know your views on 'MK II'

Track Listing

Phoenix Rising
Warriors Cry
Lost And Gone
Keeps Me Burning
Take Me over
I'm Gonna Win
Watching The World
Call The Gipsy
Trust In You
Masterplan
Enemy
Heart Of Darkness

Line Up

Mike DiMeo - Vocals
Roland Grapow - Guitars
Axel Mackenrott - Keyboards
Jan S Eckert - Bass
Mike Terrana - Drums