Hey everybody, the reason of this thread is get someone who knows the recent news of Rhapsody's legal fight, so if you know something, post it here

I haven't heard any recent news other than that Rhapsody the website made them change their band name. Though that's not really new news. ...either way... stupid douches...

Rhapsody changed their name due to a legal battle with Real Player Rhapsody, which is something like iTunes or something.. It's some king of Peer to peer music server.

Anyways, apparently someone there got anal, and threatened to sue Rhapsody of Fire over the name.

On a personal note, however, I still refer to the band as 'Rhapsody'. It's just cooler that way.

I'm talking about of their recent legal fight (lol) against their label Magic Circle and Joey di Maio

Oh wow, I didn't even know that there was something going on.

Oh shit. I'm sure they've already been declared enemies of metal.

Lol, Untrue metal ....anyways, I really don't know why they are having these troubles... I heard that it may be because Rhapsody covered a Manowar song without permission....but I think that's kinda stupid...

Maybe they wouldn't have gotten in trouble if their cover didn't suck so bad.

*disclaimer, I haven't actually heard it, but I'm guessing I'm right.

Neither do I, it's in the DVD "Visions of Enchanted Lands" (which I got) but I wasn't really interested in listening to it... I think the song is "The Power of Thy Sword"...

btw, I like their cover of Guardians....

being i'm a huge death and black metal fan..this is one of those bands that i consider a guilty pleasure...so cheesy i love em!

Lol, everybody should love EXTRACHEESE PIZZA WITH CHEESE SAUCE.....and if not...they should...but no more Rhapsody until they solve their problems with their label

I guess I don't really understand what people like about Rhapsody. In theory I should love them, but they're one of the most boring and plastic sounding bands I've ever heard.

Plastic...like prefabricated, or false?

and well...that's the beauty of music (and art in general), what you like may be (or not) of my likeness, and viceversa

I love "Triumph and Agony." Very catchy and nice atmosphere. But for some reason the other albums I have don't do it for me.

Triumph or Agony is probably their weakest album..

I love this band and I hope they get their shit together with all this legal bullshit so they can release a new album that will actually be pretty good. I have been satisfied with every Rhapsody release except this new "..of Fire" release. I mean, c'mon let Luca Turilli fucking shred! He's quite possibly the greatest power metal lead guitarist period and he had one solo on the most recent album and it was on a bonus song I think.

I have to agree. I didn't like this last album as much.. I think Symphony Part 2 was my favorite.

Yeah, I couldn't even sit through the entire thing before stopping and deleting it (due to it boring the snot out of me). The album before it wasn't much better.

The debut through to "Power of the Dragonflame" are good, if one likes that sort of thing (I'm partial towards the debut though).

My complaint with Luca is, he seems to be a one-trick pony... and his trick is like flogging a dead horse nowadays.

Funny, before the Rhapsody name-change controversy, I never heard of the p2p or whatever music service.

They were progressively releasing worse and worse material, because they started out with all their brilliance on Legendary Tales and Dawn of Victory (which are pretty fucking amazing). Power of the Dragonflame and Symphony of Enchanted Lands Part I are both amazing in their own right as well, but it was a bit obvious to see the downslide.

And plus, their best song is Rain of a Thousand Flames, and it's only on an EP!

Indeed, I hope they get their problems solved soon. A few months ago one of the news posts on their site said they had material for a new album ready, and they planned to book studio time afterwards.

I love their style, even if so many others hate it.

@ The Boss:

I actually preferred the "Rain of a Thousand Flames" "ep" over "Dawn of Victory" and "Power of the Dragonflame". The title track and "Queen of the Dark Horizons" are amongst the best songs they ever did. My only gripe with that ep is the drum sound (they were obviously using a drum machine from Dawn of Victory through to Power of the Dragonflame, it just seemed a bit more obvious on that MCD).

Luca's first 2 solo albums were pretty good too. I didn't like his 2 latest solo albums much though (albeit they weren't as bad as expected).

Yeah Luca has done quite a bit, I liked the beginning of his solo career but I felt that the solo career was why the Rhapsody albums continued to digress. Either way I won't point fingers, it's just how it turned out.

That EP is still really awesome I think, could have made it into a full length even... Dawn of Victory is my personal favorite because it was the first Rhapsody album I bought and heard, which introduced me into the band so I'm a bit biased.

I bought their first two at the same time back in 2000. Not sure which one I like more, both have songs I strongly like. "Dawn of Victory" has a few songs I like as well, I should revisit that album sometime. "Rain of a Thousand Flames" when it first came out was quite a pleasant surprise for me. Power of the Dragonflame was a slight letdown, but its still enjoyable. Truth be told, I haven't played either that or "Dawn of Victory" as much as I should have.

"Symphony pt 2" was a disappointment though... its like they focused too much on gimmick and forgot how to write music. Despite fixing one of my pet peeves - that narrator - it made things worse. I honestly preferred the original one over Christopher Lee. Not to say Mr. Lee sucks, he just sounded like shit with Rhapsody.

True, altough I like C. Lee more, the fact that he is there, make me think that the band wanted to use him as much as they can, forgetting about the music, something that didn't happen with the unkown narrator

Their last album was more symphonic rock than Metal. Legendary Tales, Power Of The Dragonflame are my favorite albums. Rain Of A Thousand Flames song is their most 'ferocious' and my fave.

I do not know what the legal issue is with Magic Circle/Joey DeMaio, but hopefully it gets worked out soon. I want another record, but I don't know what, "...the RHAPSODY OF FIRE band activity relatively to album releases and touring has been suspended, independently from our will, for an unspecified period of time" means. Independently from our will? Their bad english doesn't explain if they mean it IS their will or ISN'T. They removed their comments from their website about the legal troubles. Copied from the blabbermouth news story:

"We wanted to inform you that we are in the middle of a hard legal fight with MCM [MANOWAR's Magic Circle Music] and [the company's] main representative Mr. Joey De Maio [MANOWAR bassist/leader]. That's the reason why in the last months we had to keep all strictly confidential and could not release any official declaration that could obviously be used against us from the opposite side. And that's also the reason why we were constricted to stop completely our band's activity. Frankly, we are not able to imagine if all this can end in a very close future, but we want to assure you that we are ready to fight with all the strength of body and soul in order to protect yours and our beloved band. Yes, aside from these bad events, we ask you to not lose your faith in us. As soon as this sad situation will be solved, we'll be ready for a great and mighty come back. A new album, a real masterpiece of speed/epic metal, is already composed and ready to be recorded and after its release an immense worldwide tour will finally follow for yours and our extreme satisfaction."

THIS is what I want to hear. Good luck to them.

Exactly! Bring back the Metal, add more speed, toss in some serious aggression. They have done it at times before, so I know they are capable of it.

I'm excited to see what their touring schedule will look like whenever they finally get the new album recorded. I would be great to see them.

I really expect that they keep on with their south american tour, because it was the first thing they cancelled when their legal fight began