Angels Cry (album)

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Angels Cry is the debut album of Brazilian heavy metal band Angra. It was released in 1993 and recorded in Germany at Kai Hansen's studios in Hamburg.

The opening track is a short rendition of the first movement of Franz Schubert's "Symphony No. 8", commonly known as his "Unfinished Symphony". In addition, the title track features a brief arrangement of "Caprice no. 24" by Niccolò Paganini, whereas "Evil Warning" features a brief arrangement of "Winter" by Antonio Vivaldi. The opening of the track "Never Understand" features a brief arrangement of the song "Asa Branca" by Luiz Gonzaga. The opening section of the closing track "Lasting Child", entitled "The Parting Words", is an adaptation of the theme of Felix Mendelssohn's "Variations sérieuses", Op. 54.

Production and recording

When commenting on the production and recording of the album, vocalist Andre Matos said that recording the album was difficult due to the inexperience of him and his bandmates, and also due to the difference of musical influences between them and the producers. He also referred to the recording as "an exile":<ref name=drmetal>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Producer Charlie Bauerfeind was not confident that drummer and co-founder Marcos Antunes would be skillful enough for the music he expected to put in the album, so he told the band they could either fire him and hire Alex Holzwarth as a session musician or use electronic drums - or otherwise he would leave the project. The band decided to do as he said and replaced Antunes with Holzwarth, a decision Matos regards as being very difficult.<ref name=drmetal/>

One of the songs, however, was performed by a different drummer: Kate Bush cover "Wuthering Heights", played by then Gamma Ray drummer Thomas Nack. Matos said Nack was a big fan of Bush and "could play those lines perfectly".<ref name=drmetal/>

The inlays and photo shoots for the album display drummer Ricardo Confessori, but he would only join the band after its recording. Antunes appears on the back sleeve and inlays of the Japanese first press of the album instead of Confessori.

Cover

The album cover depicts a reproduction of an angel statue, which can be found at Cemitério São Paulo, in a wheat field under a red sky. The image was composed by Alberto Torquato and Paulo Caciji and the album liner notes credit Matos for the concept, as he knew the statue from his school times. However, guitarist Rafael Bittencourt claims to be the original author, because even before Matos joined the band he already envisioned a cover with an angel statue.<ref name="rockbizz">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personnel

Band members

• André Matos – lead vocals, keyboards, piano and cover concept
• Kiko Loureiro – lead and rhythm guitars
• Rafael Bittencourt – rhythm and lead guitars
• Luís Mariutti - bass guitar

Guest musicians

• Alex Holzwarth – drums, percussion except in Track #7
• Dirk Schlächter – lead guitar in Track #6
• Kai Hansen – lead guitar in Track #6
• Sascha Paeth – acoustic and lead guitars in Track #6

Additional musicians

• Thomas Nack – drums in track #7

Charts

Chart (1993)	Peak position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref name="JPN">Template:Cite book</ref>	17