POWER METAL DRAMA! Rhapsody of LIES!
This is the most convoluted plot for a soap opera I’ve seen in a long time.
LUCA TURILLI (ex-Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody, ex-Rhapsody Reunion, ex-Rhapsody of Fire, ex-Luca Turilli, ex-Luca Turilli’s Dreamquest, ex-Rhapsody) and FABIO LIONE (ex-Rhapsody Reunion, ex-Rhapsody of Fire, ex-Rhapsody) finally join forces to create a fresh new project: TURILLI/LIONE RHAPSODY. Mere months after finishing the Rhapsody Reunion 20th Anniversary Farewell Tour, and subsequently ending Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody and quitting metal music forever, and a few weeks after his former band Rhapsody of Fire announces new music, LUCA TURILLI has decided to release new music with FABIO LIONE under a new Rhapsody name!! And with the same exact lineup as the Farewell shows, WOW!!!
…let me rewind a bit to give you some information:
- Rhapsody is formed in the late 90s. The core songwriters in the band are guitarist Luca Turilli and keyboardist Alex Staropoli; the frontman and golden voice of the band is Fabio Lione.
- Rhapsody releases 6 albums and starts touring the world before getting royally screwed over by then-manager Joey DeMaio (yes, that Joey DeMaio) in 2005, loses the rights to the band name, re-brands as Rhapsody of Fire.
- Rhapsody of Fire releases 3 albums before being split in two in 2011; Staropoli and Lione, along with drummer Alex Holdswarth and new members, continue as Rhapsody of Fire, while Turilli takes the rest of the Rhapsody live band members (bassist Patrice Guers and guitarist Dominique Leurquin) with him to form Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody with singer Alessandro Conti. The split is amicable and a matter of musical vision, both bands retain the rights to keep using the Rhapsody name (and logo).
- LT’s Rhapsody and Rhapsody of Fire release two albums each between 2012 and 2016, to varying degrees of critical acclaim. In September of that year, Lione and Holdswarth announce that they are leaving Rhapsody of Fire citing fatigue and wanting to play different music, making Staropoli the sole remaining original member of Rhapsody of Fire.
- In December, there comes a surprise announcement: the Rhapsody Reunion 20th Anniversary Farewell Tour, featuring Luca Turilli, Fabio Lione, Holdswarth, Guers and Leurequin, will perform songs from the first five Rhapsody albums one last time. Absent from this reunion is Alex Staropoli, who still has a band named Rhapsody of Fire with the same damn logo and doesn’t need to reunite or fare any wells. LT’s Rhapsody is put on hold, as 4 out of 5 of its members will embark on the Reunion/Farewell Tour.
- After this, Rhapsody of Fire announce the release of an album of re-recorded songs from Rhapsody’s first five albums; a lot of these songs will be played to sold out crowds all over the world during the other active Rhapsody’s Reunion Tour, which will end in April 2018.
- Both bands tour, Rhapsody of Fire having smaller billings and tours. The Reunion Tour wraps up, and Fabio Lione announces that he’s closed the Rhapsody chapter in his life and will move on with his career.
- In June 2018, Turilli announces that he is putting LT’s Rhapsody to rest and retiring from making metal music, effectively ending his career performing under the Rhapsody name.
- In November 2018, Rhapsody of Fire, now the only band active band named Rhapsody, announce the release of a new album in 2019.
And now it is today. And today Turilli announced he’ll start a “new” band that is literally Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody but with Fabio Lione instead of Alessandro Conti (which the same band he’s been touring the world with for the last two years!), effectively cutting Conti out of the picture instead of just having the decency to replace him like a normal person. And on top of that, he’s also snubbing poor Staropoli by announcing another Rhapsody-branded band after he said he was done and includes original Rhapsody vocalist Fabio Lione, who a little over two years ago was the vocalist in Staropoli’s band. But hey at least they used a new logo, right?
It’s two-for-one Tuesday in Power Metal snubs folks. If you got lost in this I apologize, but it’s a good reminder that Power Metal is for nerds.
