Avantasia

Tobias Sammet's Avantasia is a Power Metal "band" from Fulda, Germany, and the solo side-project of Edguy's Tobias Sammet. He started working on it in 1999. All five of Avantasia's albums are Rock Operas and are split between two different stories: The Metal Opera and The Wicked Trilogy. With some of the guests (including Alice Cooper and Klaus Meine) that appear on the albums, one might come to the conclusion that the project is more or less Sammet's way of showing off his connections if it weren't for the fact that the music is so damn cool. Speaking of guest members, if you can think of a power metal vocalist, there's a very good chance that they've contributed to Avantasia.

Compare and contrast Ayreon.

Members:

• Tobias Sammet: Vocals, bass (from 2007), keyboard (until 2002), (1999-present)

The Wicked Trilogy backing band:

• Sascha Paeth: Guitar, production (2006-present)
• Eric Singer: Drums (2006-present)
• Miro: Keyboard, orchestration (Real name Michael Rodenberg, 2006-present)

The Metal Opera backing band:

• Henjo Richter: Guitar (2000-2002, 2007-2008, 2010)
• Markus Grosskopf: Bass (2000-2002)
• Alex Holzwrath: Drums (2000-2002, 2009-2010)

Contributing vocalists:

• Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween) - Avantasia, Into the Unknown, The Scarecrow, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon
• David DeFeis (Virgin Steele) - Avantasia and Into the Unknown
• Ralf Zdiarstek - Avantasia, Into the Unknown and The Wicked Symphony
• Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation) - Avantasia and Into the Unknown
• Rob Rock (Impelliteri) - Avantasia and Into the Unknown
• Oliver Hartmann (ex-At Vance) - Avantasia, Into the Unknown and The Scarecrow
• Andre Matos (ex-Shaman, ex-Angra, ex-Viper) - Avantasia, Into the Unknown and The Wicked Symphony
• Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray, ex-Music/Helloween) - Avantasia and Into the Unknown
• Timo Tolkki (ex-Stratovarius) - Avantasia and Into the Unknown
• Bob Catley (Magnum) - Into the Unknown, The Scarecrow, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon
• Jorn Lande (Masterplan, ex-ARK) - The Scarecrow, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon
• Amanda Sommerville (Aina) - The Scarecrow
• Roy Khan (ex-Kamelot, ex-Conception) - The Scarecrow
• Alice Cooper - The Scarecrow
• Eric Singer (Kiss, ex-Black Sabbath, ex-Alice Cooper) - Lost in Space Part I
• "Sir" Russel Allen (Symphony X) - The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon
• Jon Olivia (Jon Olivia's Pain, ex-Savatage) - Angel of Babylon
• Klaus Meine (Scorpions) - The Wicked Symphony
• Tim "Ripper" Owens (Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, ex-Judas Priest, ex-Iced Earth) - The Wicked Symphony
• Cloudy Yang - Angel of Babylon

Contributing Musicians:

• Guitar:
  • Jens Ludwig (Edguy)
  • Norman Meiritz
  • Timo Tolkki (ex-Stratovarius)
  • Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray, ex-Helloween)
  • Rudolph Schenker (Scorpions)
  • Bruce Kulick (ex-Kiss, Grand Funk Railroad)
  • Oliver Hartmann (ex-At Vance)
• Piano/Organ/Keyboard:
  • Frank Tischer
  • Jens Johansson (Stratovarius, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force)
  • Simon Oberender

Discography:

• Studio Albums:
  • The Metal Opera (2000-2002):
    • Part I: Avantasia (2000)
    • Part II: Into The Unknown (2002)
  • The Wicked Trilogy (2008-2010):
    • Part I: The Scarecrow (2008)
    • Part II: The Wicked Symphony (2010, double album with Angel of Babylon)
    • Part III: Angel of Babylon (2010, double album with The Wicked Symphony)
• E Ps:
  • Lost In Space Part I (2007)
  • Lost In Space Part II (2007)
• Live albums:
  • The Flying Opera (2011)

Avantasia provides examples of the following tropes:

• A Good Name for a Rock Band: Avantasia was named as a portmanteau of Avalon and Fantasia for the world that The Metal Opera takes place in.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Jon Oliva's character in Death Is Just A Feeling. In a Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant kind of way, that is.
• Downer Ending: "Lost In Space" from The Scarecrow and "The Edge" from The Wicked Symphony.
• Epic Rocking: Avantasia pretty much defines this.
• Ham-to-Ham Combat: EVERYWHERE. Especially on title track of The Wicked Symphony, which Sammet described in interviews as a three way vocal battle between him, Jorn Lande and Russell Allen, and "Stargazers" from Angel of Babylon, which features those three, plus Michael Kiske.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Did you not see the list?
• Heavy Mithril: The Metal Opera
• I Am the Band: Tobias Sammet
• Loads and Loads of Characters: Again, did you not see the list?
• Magical Land: Avantasia.
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: Of power metal vocalists and then some. In fact, the only way to get a more complete list of power metal vocalists would be to add Tony Kakko, Marco Hietala, Tarja Turunen, Andi Deris, Hansi Kursch and Matt Barlow into the mix.
• One-Scene Wonder: Roy Khan and Klaus Meine most notably.
• Precision F-Strike: "Don't give a fuck for roses!"
• Rock Opera: Or, you know, the Metal Opera.
• Villain Song: Basically every character who is a bad influence to Tobias Sammet's character in The Wicked Trilogy gets one. Alice Cooper in The Scarecrow, Jon Oliva in Angel of Babylon, Jorn Lande almost everywhere in the trilogy....