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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: jingle.boy on December 31, 2022, 05:31:14 PM
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I teased this last year, and even put my list together - but then I got sidetracked by listening to all of my music from the 2010s, month-by-month the last year (I flamed out after taking until mid-November to complete my listen of 2020 music). So, time to finally launch this fucker - 10 years to the day that I fired off my last Top 50 album list... which seemed serendipitous. A couple of guidelines here … First, "concept album". To me, this means an album that tells a story, complete with a definable plot and distinct characters. Albums that follow a theme or common thread are out of scope for this list. So, The Wall = Concept Album; Wish You Were Here and Dark Side of the Moon? Not a Concept Album - at least for my purposes here. Capiche? Maybe I should be calling this the Top 50 Rock Operas, but I think there are a few albums here that fall don't quite fit that bill (distinct "acts"; protagonist/antagonist + broader supporting cast etc…)
Second, it's quite likely that I'm going to 'miss' including some albums, simply because I was unaware they were 'concept albums'. For instance, I almost didn't even consider I Am Anonymous, because I hadn't clued in to the fact it was a concept album. There will surely be others I forget to include here on that basis.
Next, I'm not always going to dive into a deep review of the story / concept, for some of the lower ranked ones I haven’t spent enough time with to get to truly and deeply "know". Others I have a lot to say, others not as much. It is what it is.
Also, more than a handful of these appeared on my original, and v2 Top 50 list, so I'm likely to re-hash those posts, perhaps adding a couple of quick additional/current thoughts about those entries. Some will rank higher/lower (ie, inconsistently) with how they previously rated - that's a matter of how well they've aged, and/or how I rate them as a concept album, and not just on the merits of the music.
And now for something completely different...if there's one thing I'll never be accused of, it's being single minded in my tastes…
I can't help but think this was partly directed at me. And I ain't bothered, I know I'm GUILTY on this account! And unashamedly so. I'll just quote myself from my Top 50 v2:
Like my first top 50, there ain't a lot of variety here – this list will be about as diverse as a ‘60s Klan convention. I know what I like, and I stick to it. I said it to open my first Top 50, and it's worth repeating. You won't find any bands/albums that require the words "post" or "core" to describe their style/genre.
I'll also add to that by stating there won't be any j-<anything> or k-<anything> :biggrin: (luv ya RJ). A quick scan of this list shows it leans WAY HARD to prog & metal as opposed to classic or more traditional prog. Just so you know what's in store.
One more thing ... some of these are multi-album stories. In some cases I've lumped them together as a single entry; in others, I separated individual albums, ranking them individually. I know it's inconsistent, but oh well.
Finally, anytime I use the term "filler", it's meant just to imply songs that are 4* and not 5*. Nothing on any of these albums is "filler". In the framework of Concept Albums, every single one of these are all "killer".
When I link my "Fave Song" from the album, do people have a preference for the source? YouTube or Spotify?
First up, a few quick Honorable Mentions. Some of which originally made it on to this list only to be bumped upon additional reviews; others which I really would have liked to find a spot for them, but for various reasons, I just couldn't.
50. Spheric Universe Experience / Back Home [2022]
49. Odd Dimension / The Blue Dawn [2021]
48. Sixx A.M/ /The Heroin Diaries [2007]
47. Seventh Wonder / Tiara [2018]
46. My Chemical Romance / The Black Parade [2006]
45. A.C.T. / The Last Epic [2003]
44. Kamelot / Epica; The Black Halo [2005]
43. W.A.S.P. / The Neon God: Part 1 - The Rise; Part 2 - The Demise [2004]
42. Marillion / Brave [1994]
41. Tangerine Circus / The Conspiracy Chronicles [2015]
40. Ayreon / The Source [2017]
39. Flaming Row / Mirage - A Portrayal Of Figures [2014]
38. Absolute Priority / Hunter [2012]
37. Rhapsody / Dawn of Victory [2000]
36. Marillion / Clutching at Straws [1987]
35. Affector / Harmagedon [2012]
34. Teramaze / Her Halo [2015]
33. Styx / Paradise Theatre (1981)
32. The Chronicles Project / When Darkness Falls [2015]
31. Stargate / Beyond Space and Time [2012]
30. Royal Hunt / Paradox [1997]
29. Transatlantic / The Whirlwind [2009]
28. Hemina / Venus; Nebulae [2016; 2014]
27. W.A.S.P. / The Crimson Idol [1992]
26. Threshold / Legends of the Shire [2017]
25. Trans Siberian Orchestra / Christmas Eve and Other Stories [1996]
24. Epysode / Fantasmagoria [2013]
23. Trond Holter / Swing of Death [2015]
22. Consortium Project / V:Species [2011]
21. Green Carnation / Light of Day, Day of Darkness [2001]
20. Seventh Wonder / Mercy Falls [2008]
19. V: The New Mythology Suite / Symphony X [2000]
18. Spock's Beard / Snow [2002]
17. Mind's Eye / A Gentlemen's Hurricane [2007]
16. Mindmaze / Resolve [2017]
15. M.I.GOD / Specters on Parade [2019]
14. Ostura / The Room [2018]
13. Symphony X / Underworld [2015]
12. Dream Theater / Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory [1999]
11. Vanden Plas / Chronicles of the Immortals: Netherworld (Path 1); Netherworld II [2014/2015]
10. Ayreon / Into the Electric Castle [1998]
9. Avantasia / The Scarecrow [2008]
8. Anthriel / The Pathway [2010]
7. Beyond the Bridge / Old Man and the Spirit [2012]
6. Daydream XI / Circus of the Tattered and Torn [2017]
5. Pink Floyd / The Wall [1979]
4. Epysode / Obsessions [2011]
3. Queensryche / Operatione: Mindcrime [1988]
2. Flaming Row / Elinoire [2011]
1. Ayreon / The Human Equation [2004]
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I never knew Led Zeppelin IV was a concept album. ;D
Definitely following. Remember, you promised...NO FILLER!!
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Actually that comment wasn't targeted at anyone, just a general pat on my own back about my diversity in tastes.
And following of course.
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While you guys are blowing kisses at each other, I fucking better not get caught in the crossfire. :lol
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I'm definitely following.
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:tup
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There was a time when I thought concept albums were the bee's knees.
Over time I came to the realization that sone of them have really strange stories and a lot of them outright stupid stories. And more often than not I have the feeling that the music suffers because it must fit the concept.
That said there are still stellar concept albums out there and I'm following, hoping to discover some more.
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Totally following, I don't event think I know of 50 concept albums.
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Alrighty then, here's the first batch of honorable mentions that just missed the cut.
The Dear Hunter - the whole damned "Acts" pentalogy. Every time I listen to any of the Acts, I very much quite enjoy them, but having only discovered them after four had already been released, I just haven't given the proper amount of time to them to include on the list with a good conscience, and couldn't tell you any real specifics as to what I love about each album. You could play me any one of the 5, and I wouldn't be able to tell you which one it was. For that reason, I had to chop them.
Headspace / I Am Anonymous
Having recently revisited this because of lonestar's Top 50, it resonated much better in these ears than when it first dropped. Part of my issue with this is that A) I'm a big Damian Wilson fan, and B) 2012 had a better release (for these ears) with Wilson on the mic that I connected much more with, and thus it got a lot more spin-time from me. For those reasons, I had to chop this.
Roswell Six / Terra Incognita: Beyond the Horizon
Roswell Six / Terra Incognita: A Line In the Sand
I rated these albums pretty high when I first listened to them, perhaps in the afterglow of having just ready the Kevin Anderson books that each of these are based on. Organized by Shawn Gordon of ProgRock Records (where I've discovered many gems over the years), the first album was musically written by Erik Norlander (and thus very keyboard influenced); the second by Henning Pauly (much more guitar led). Both albums have a great cast of vocalists, including JLB on the first; and one of my all-time favorite female vocalists, Sass Jordan, on the second. This was planned to be a trilogy, with each album reflecting each book in the trilogy. But alas, the third never came. These albums did not age very well, and get little airtime in my ears nowadays.
Redemption / This Mortal Coil
I mean, c'mon... it's Redemption, and I think most would argue it's a Top 3 album from them. My only issue is that I discovered this at the same time I discovered Redemption as a whole (thanks DTF!), and snagged this along with s/t, Fullness, Origins, AND Snowfall all at the same time. With so much awesomeness at once, it was really hard to decide which one to spend most of my time with. Art of Loss was a HUGE disappointment, and disconnected me from Redemption for a while. For those reasons, I had to chop this.
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I've only listened through The Dear Hunter but to me that sounded too samey. A lot of the tracks blend together which makes it tough to grab onto something. I understand the point of a concept record is to have a theme to it but with the Acts there is no emotional rise or fall. Take my opinion with a grain of salt, it's been 10 years since I last listened to the first three Acts.
The little I've heard of Redemption I've really enjoyed it. I'll have to listen to This Mortal Coil per your honorable mention.
I've heard of the other two but not enough to form an opinion.
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I'll follow for sure. I think I could confidently guess at least 2 of your top 10 here dude, possibly more.
As for the honourable mentions, I am familiar with a few of the bands and obsessed with one (no surprises for guessing there). I'm quite pleasantly surprised to see The Dear Hunter here, as I thought they were one of those bands you'd tried and weren't into at all, like Haken or Porcupine Tree. Maybe there's a shot that my all time favourite band will be featured on the list :neverusethis:
As for The Dear Hunter, I've said it before but Act IV is the single greatest album I've discovered in the last decade. It is just top notch perfection from start to finish.
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I'll follow for sure. I think I could confidently guess at least 2 of your top 10 here dude, possibly more.
As for the honourable mentions, I am familiar with a few of the bands and obsessed with one (no surprises for guessing there). I'm quite pleasantly surprised to see The Dear Hunter here, as I thought they were one of those bands you'd tried and weren't into at all, like Haken or Porcupine Tree. Maybe there's a shot that my all time favourite band will be featured on the list :neverusethis:
As for The Dear Hunter, I've said it before but Act IV is the single greatest album I've discovered in the last decade. It is just top notch perfection from start to finish.
You're clearly mixing The Dear Hunter with Coheed & Cambria. Or maybe Pain of Salvation. :lol
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That Headspace album is a good one, never knew that it was a concept album and never cared.
Never could get into Redemption. I've tried many times, as they seem to have all the ingredients that I like, but they never did anything for me.
The Dear Hunter is on my long "music I will check out some day" list.
Roswell Six doesn't sound like it's my thing.
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I'll follow for sure. I think I could confidently guess at least 2 of your top 10 here dude, possibly more.
As for the honourable mentions, I am familiar with a few of the bands and obsessed with one (no surprises for guessing there). I'm quite pleasantly surprised to see The Dear Hunter here, as I thought they were one of those bands you'd tried and weren't into at all, like Haken or Porcupine Tree. Maybe there's a shot that my all time favourite band will be featured on the list :neverusethis:
As for The Dear Hunter, I've said it before but Act IV is the single greatest album I've discovered in the last decade. It is just top notch perfection from start to finish.
You're clearly mixing The Dear Hunter with Coheed & Cambria. Or maybe Pain of Salvation. :lol
Wait, I thought you didn't like Haken and Porcupine Tree?? Also Pain of Salvation, I get that.
Don't slander Coheed and Cambria that way!
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I'll follow for sure. I think I could confidently guess at least 2 of your top 10 here dude, possibly more.
As for the honourable mentions, I am familiar with a few of the bands and obsessed with one (no surprises for guessing there). I'm quite pleasantly surprised to see The Dear Hunter here, as I thought they were one of those bands you'd tried and weren't into at all, like Haken or Porcupine Tree. Maybe there's a shot that my all time favourite band will be featured on the list :neverusethis:
As for The Dear Hunter, I've said it before but Act IV is the single greatest album I've discovered in the last decade. It is just top notch perfection from start to finish.
You're clearly mixing The Dear Hunter with Coheed & Cambria. Or maybe Pain of Salvation. :lol
Wait, I thought you didn't like Haken and Porcupine Tree?? Also Pain of Salvation, I get that.
Don't slander Coheed and Cambria that way!
You think correctly!
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Alrighty then, here's the first batch of honorable mentions that just missed the cut.
The Dear Hunter - the whole damned "Acts" pentalogy. Every time I listen to any of the Acts, I very much quite enjoy them, but having only discovered them after four had already been released, I just haven't given the proper amount of time to them to include on the list with a good conscience, and couldn't tell you any real specifics as to what I love about each album. You could play me any one of the 5, and I wouldn't be able to tell you which one it was. For that reason, I had to chop them.
Headspace / I Am Anonymous
Having recently revisited this because of lonestar's Top 50, it resonated much better in these ears than when it first dropped. Part of my issue with this is that A) I'm a big Damian Wilson fan, and B) 2012 had a better release (for these ears) with Wilson on the mic that I connected much more with, and thus it got a lot more spin-time from me. For those reasons, I had to chop this.
Roswell Six / Terra Incognita: Beyond the Horizon
Roswell Six / Terra Incognita: A Line In the Sand
I rated these albums pretty high when I first listened to them, perhaps in the afterglow of having just ready the Kevin Anderson books that each of these are based on. Organized by Shawn Gordon of ProgRock Records (where I've discovered many gems over the years), the first album was musically written by Erik Norlander (and thus very keyboard influenced); the second by Henning Pauly (much more guitar led). Both albums have a great cast of vocalists, including JLB on the first; and one of my all-time favorite female vocalists, Sass Jordan, on the second. This was planned to be a trilogy, with each album reflecting each book in the trilogy. But alas, the third never came. These albums did not age very well, and get little airtime in my ears nowadays.
Redemption / This Mortal Coil
I mean, c'mon... it's Redemption, and I think most would argue it's a Top 3 album from them. My only issue is that I discovered this at the same time I discovered Redemption as a whole (thanks DTF!), and snagged this along with s/t, Fullness, Origins, AND Snowfall all at the same time. With so much awesomeness at once, it was really hard to decide which one to spend most of my time with. Art of Loss was a HUGE disappointment, and disconnected me from Redemption for a while. For those reasons, I had to chop this.
Pleasantly surprised to see The Dear Hunter here. They are an amazing band, I mean it's mostly just Casey Crescenzo who writes everything, but they are amazing nonetheless. I didn't know you had heard them and liked them.
Headspace has Damien Wilson, so no go for me. Can't stand his voice.
Roswell Six's first album was pretty good. Did not like the vocal cast on the second.
As far as Redemption goes, This Mortal Coil was my least favorite album they released until Long Night's Journey Into Day. It isn't a bad album though, I just like the others more.
I'm fairly certain I know what your #1 is going to be. :corn
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While you guys are blowing kisses at each other, I fucking better not get caught in the crossfire. :lol
Is it even a proper DTF thread if you're not catching strays at some point?
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listing the 5 Acts from The Dear Hunter, wouldnt necessarily eliminate The Color Spectrum or even Antimai I suppose. But per your take on the Acts, it seems unlikely.
But for what it is worth, I know a number of fans of The Dear Hunter who discovered the band through The Color Spectrum and still regard that as their greatest work.
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While you guys are blowing kisses at each other, I fucking better not get caught in the crossfire. :lol
Is it even a proper DTF thread if you're not catching strays at some point?
Don't worry, Tim shoots himself in the foot all the time.
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listing the 5 Acts from The Dear Hunter, wouldnt necessarily eliminate The Color Spectrum or even Antimai I suppose. But per your take on the Acts, it seems unlikely.
But for what it is worth, I know a number of fans of The Dear Hunter who discovered the band through The Color Spectrum and still regard that as their greatest work.
Well, then, I guess I should check those out as well!
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This Mortal Coil is phenomenal. :metal
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This Mortal Coil is phenomenal. :metal
(https://media.tenor.com/aB3dD6Q8zE0AAAAC/this-guy-gets-it-nick-offerman.gif)
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:corn
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:corn :corn
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:corn
(https://media.tenor.com/fMHRFLx4JQ4AAAAC/danny-mc-bride-fuckyeah.gif)
Good to see you Dave!
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Following. I had no idea This Mortal Coil was a concept album!
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Following. I had no idea This Mortal Coil was a concept album!
I might be stretching it a bit to call it a 'concept album', but it does focus on Nick's experiences around his cancer diagnosis.
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A few more that just missed the cut.
Jethro Tull / Thick as a Brick
Originally on the list, this is what I would consider the OG of Prog-rock concept albums, but Tull is very much hit-and-miss for me. There's so much of this that is great, and a good portion that sounds like actual filler to me. When discovering 60s/70s music, back in my teens, I leaned more towards the harder stuff. By the time I really did start appreciating "progressive", stuff like this (and early Genesis/Yes) sounded dated to me. Not bad, and not unenjoyable, but I'd sooner reach for Transatlantic, or Spock's, or Mystery, or IQ over something like JT. And thus Tull was culled.
Dominici / O3: A Trilogy
This made my first cut, but after realizing there were a couple albums that A) had a more compelling story, or B) I listened to much more frequently. Musically, this is great, and Charlie sounds really good (for him), but he's just not that dynamic a vocalist. For those reasons I had to chop this.
Vanish. / The Insanity Abstract
Modern ambitious prog/power metal from Stuttgart, Germany, this album is crunchy af, and did make the list when I first made it last year just sneaking in in the high 40s. And despite Kade shitting all over the ballad I submitted to him in a roulette once, this is an excellent album - though the lead vocals can be a bit of an acquired taste. Alas, my #2 album of the year in 2021, and what's shaping up to be a Top 3 AOTY for 2022 bumped it out, and I had to chop this.
Nation Beyond / Aftermath Odyssey
It's not horribly innovative or mind-blowing, but some very solid, pounding, and head banging metal that leans a little to the prog side of things. There's a bit of mediocrity here. The highlight is the duet, Soulmates, and the rest of the album is pretty damned good. But alas, I found it continually slipping in my rankings of these albums, to the point it ranked itself right out of the Top 50.
Lalu / Paint the Sky
It was a really close call between what album from 2022 would kick off this list, and I'm almost ashamed that my Damian Wilson fanboyism didn't push this one over the edge. I mean, it's 5* start to finish, it made lonestar's last Top 50, but I can only rate this as #50-b.
The real list starts tomorrow. I'll aim to do one a day, at least on average. I've got almost all of the writeups done, so I should be able to keep that pace up and be done no later than the end of Feb
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Jethro Cull
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Unpicked As A Brick
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Following. I had no idea This Mortal Coil was a concept album!
I might be stretching it a bit to call it a 'concept album', but it does focus on Nick's experiences around his cancer diagnosis.
Oh yeah, I do recall that now.
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Spheric Universe Experience / Back Home [2022]
(https://myglobalmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/SphericUniverse_featureimage-768x550.jpg)
Let's kick it off by the best (and only) 2022 album on this list. I've only spun this 3-4 times, but that's enough to know this needs to be mentioned here. I'd tried this band a few times in the past, and none of their albums really grabbed me. But after the opening intro track, they take off (pun intended - Back Home is a story is involving humans who left Earth long ago finally returning home… not overly unique or captivating, but it also serves as a metaphor for the band, given it had been 9 years since their last album, which was a bit of a divergence from the style of their first two releases). Hammering out heavy guitar riffs, and some complementary keyboard runs sets the stage for this album with plenty of sound diversity - power, speed, some thrashy parts, instrumentals, ballads … the whole 9 yards. Throughout the next 69 minutes, the band delivers a decent enough story, with the accompanying music showing a technical prowess without sounding like a musical wankfest just to prove how good they are technically. The production is crisp and clean, and they are clearly inspired by the likes of DT, S-X, Circus Maximus et al.
Fave Song - Spheric Universe Experience - Where We Belong (official video) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVGWfqTntTo0)
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As expected with this list I didn't recognize the band or album but I did give Where We belong a spin. It's a good song with vocals that might take a little to grow on me. I'll put the album on my to-listen list!
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Like my first top 50, there ain't a lot of variety here – this list will be about as diverse as a ‘60s Klan convention. I know what I like, and I stick to it. I said it to open my first Top 50, and it's worth repeating. You won't find any bands/albums that require the words "post" or "core" to describe their style/genre.
And then literally the first honourable mention is a band whose style was rooted in post-hardcore from the start. :lol Very proggy, theatrical and varied of course, but the post-hardcore sound is absolutely there, especially on Acts I-III.
Anyway this should be an interesting thread - I wonder how many of the albums I'll know, and also how many you'll have sent me songs from in my roulettes!
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Like my first top 50, there ain't a lot of variety here – this list will be about as diverse as a ‘60s Klan convention. I know what I like, and I stick to it. I said it to open my first Top 50, and it's worth repeating. You won't find any bands/albums that require the words "post" or "core" to describe their style/genre.
And then literally the first honourable mention is a band whose style was rooted in post-hardcore from the start. :lol Very proggy, theatrical and varied of course, but the post-hardcore sound is absolutely there, especially on Acts I-III.
Yeah, I guess that comment was a little ironic. I guess I really wouldn't/don't know what genre to classify The Dear Hunter as though.
Anyway this should be an interesting thread - I wonder how many of the albums I'll know, and also how many you'll have sent me songs from in my roulettes!
More than a handful.
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Yeah, I guess that comment was a little ironic. I guess I really wouldn't/don't know what genre to classify The Dear Hunter as though.
Yeah absolutely, which is part of what I've always found exciting about their music. They don't neatly fit into any obvious classification - they're certainly within the broader "prog rock" genre, but other styles also feature as a big part of their sound.
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Spheric Universe Experience / Back Home [2022]
(https://myglobalmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/SphericUniverse_featureimage-768x550.jpg)
The few songs I heard from this band never really grabbed me. Listened to this album now and it is pretty good. Like it :tup
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Spheric Universe Experience / Back Home [2022]
The few songs I heard from this band never really grabbed me. Listened to this album now and it is pretty good. Like it :tup
Same. Their first few albums were hit and miss, and littered with mediocrity. This one grabbed me pretty hard.
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The Spheric Universe Experience album is really good. I have it Saved on Spotify.
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Let's kick it off by the best (and only) 2022 album on the list
Do you not have the Arena album that Damien Wilson sings on, or do you need immediate neurological treatment?
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Let's kick it off by the best (and only) 2022 album on the list
Do you not have the Arena album that Damien Wilson sings on, or do you need immediate neurological treatment?
This is a Top 50...
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Let's kick it off by the best (and only) 2022 album on the list
Do you not have the Arena album that Damien Wilson sings on, or do you need immediate neurological treatment?
Have not listened to it yet. Not about to spend the kind of money they're charging for a physical copy sound unheard. Although, I see it's available on iTunes now. As evidenced by Lalu / Paint the Sky only being an Honorable Mention, Wilson on the mic alone does not guarantee making the list.
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Lalu’s album is good, although I didn’t realize it was a concept album. The new Arena is really good. Up there with The Visitor and Contagion.
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Lalu’s album is good, although I didn’t realize it was a concept album. The new Arena is really good. Up there with The Visitor and Contagion.
See, this isn't helping your case. I wasn't a terribly huge fan of those. I found the album on China's YT, so I'll give it a spin later today.
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Odd Dimension / The Blue Dawn [2021]
(https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.progarchives.com%2Fprogressive_rock_discography_covers%2F6317%2Fcover_14149432021_r.jpg&hash=1cbd137ec27e71b84da96ae8e2168b65ac4856a9)
The Blue Dawn tells the story of two space travellers – Markus and Eloise – involved in a deviation from their original path caused by the attacks of an unknown population that makes them land on a new planet then called ‘The Blue Planet’ where they’ll have to struggle to live, to the point of creating an army with the very matter of that planet to help them restore order and save their children, who will eventually mix with the hosts created by them, generating a new race. The story is about as creative as something out of a grade 6 English essay, but who cares. They had me at "concept album". And everything about the music, writing and performance kept me. With soaring vocals (that have a distinct Russel Allen vibe), pounding rhythms, rich guitar work (both lead and rhythm), lots of distorted keyboards, (ala Train of Thought), and background keyboard ambience that drives home the sci-fi/atmospheric theme of the album, melodic piano leads, Dream Theater wishes they could write and perform music this good nowadays.
The below song perfectly encapsulates everything you're going to experience across this album. It's not actually my favotite song from the album, but the perfect representation of the album.
Fave Song - Escape To Blue Planet (Official Video) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw9YvCkG_Y8)
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I don't know either of these albums so far.......and I have a feeling a lot of what's going to be on offer here won't really be for me.
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The Odd Dimension is an excellent album. It was what, like 8 years between albums. I prefer their older stuff with their other singer, but this is a nice listen.
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The Odd Dimension is an excellent album. It was what, like 8 years between albums. I prefer their older stuff with their other singer, but this is a nice listen.
I'll try and remember to sample some songs.
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I wasn’t aware they had a “new” album
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Wasn't there someone here at DTF that was close to or friends with someone in the band? I coulda swore someone here pimped them out a lot. I actually was only 'so-so' on their first 2 releases, but this one from last year (well, tecnically "2" years ago now), was one I really could sink my ears in to.
Kade... might not be your thing nowadays, but at one point in your musical life, these would've been your thing. There are a few coming up soon that you'll go gaga over, and more than a few throughout the list that you may still find appealing.
This song I linked for The Blue Dawn starts slow, but the 2nd half of it is a cracker.
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I wasn’t aware they had a “new” album
Their first album, Symmetrical, came out in 2011. I used to send Lightspeed Journey (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plp_H7D6UkE) a lot in the early roulettes that I participated in.
The Last Embrace To Humanity in 2013 was one of my favorite albums of that year. I actually love that album and still listen to it regularly.
I coulda swore someone here pimped them out a lot.
(https://media.tenor.com/WkGRdzaEGOkAAAAC/liar-liar-comedy.gif)
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Wasn't there someone here at DTF that was close to or friends with someone in the band? I coulda swore someone here pimped them out a lot. I actually was only 'so-so' on their first 2 releases, but this one from last year (well, tecnically "2" years ago now), was one I really could sink my ears in to.
Kade... might not be your thing nowadays, but at one point in your musical life, these would've been your thing. There are a few coming up soon that you'll go gaga over, and more than a few throughout the list that you may still find appealing.
This song I linked for The Blue Dawn starts slow, but the 2nd half of it is a cracker.
I'll make an effort to sample these mate, just I had no time for music before, at the moment I have less but I won't leave you hanging.
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I coulda swore someone here pimped them out a lot.
(https://media.tenor.com/WkGRdzaEGOkAAAAC/liar-liar-comedy.gif)
Yeah, there's that, but I thought there was another member here who actually knew someone in the band. Must be thinking of another outfit.
@ Kade... whatever you can do is cool. If there's something I think might really tickle you (non-growlie of course), I might call it out. Follow along though for the shits and giggles.
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Sounds good pal. :tup
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0/2 so far...
Vaguely familiar with both bands, but not enough to really remember much about them.
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Not likely to be your thing. Enjoyable, sure …. Just not enough growls or Japanese for ya. :lol
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Not likely to be your thing. Enjoyable, sure …. Just not enough growls or Japanese for ya. :lol
:lol
I honestly think I've moved on from the generic prog/prog metal in my life...I just don't have the staying power for it. I think I'm just ready after so many years of it for something fresh, and the J-metal came along at just the right time.
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Not likely to be your thing. Enjoyable, sure …. Just not enough growls or Japanese for ya. :lol
:lol
I honestly think I've moved on from the generic prog/prog metal in my life...I just don't have the staying power for it. I think I'm just ready after so many years of it for something fresh, and the J-metal came along at just the right time.
Maybe that'll be me when I hit your age! lol. I get confused at the use of the word "generic" when referring to prog/power (or any kind) of music - not you specifically, but just generally speaking. I find very little generic about it the music I listen to. Similar - sure. But generic ... well, I could say that all j-metal bands are "generic" because they're largely the same in my ears and I have trouble differentiating from them. But, that's just my listening habits. For me, this is like saying "I've moved on from the generic steak in my life" :lol. I'm not sure I'll ever tire of it (steak, or prog-power metal). Never say never though. Heck, Nick has gone vegetarian, so anything is possible. I could become a vegan some point in my life. #somebodykillme
Don't worry, it won't be long before I've got a few entries for you to rage on me over.
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I figure I'll give a listen to each of the albums I don't already know. Our tastes aren't super aligned, but there's enough overlap to make it worthwhile I think (especially based on my last roulette or two)!
EDIT: Although maybe that's not such a good thing for you as it'll use up lots of your options for my next roulette, whenever that might be. :lol
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I figure I'll give a listen to each of the albums I don't already know. Our tastes aren't super aligned, but there's enough overlap to make it worthwhile I think (especially based on my last roulette or two)!
EDIT: Although maybe that's not such a good thing for you as it'll use up lots of your options for my next roulette, whenever that might be. :lol
Cool. I hope something lands in your sonic sweet spot. As for your next roulette, I'm sure I can figure out a way to make due.
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Not likely to be your thing. Enjoyable, sure …. Just not enough growls or Japanese for ya. :lol
:lol
I honestly think I've moved on from the generic prog/prog metal in my life...I just don't have the staying power for it. I think I'm just ready after so many years of it for something fresh, and the J-metal came along at just the right time.
Maybe that'll be me when I hit your age! lol. I get confused at the use of the word "generic" when referring to prog/power (or any kind) of music - not you specifically, but just generally speaking. I find very little generic about it the music I listen to. Similar - sure. But generic ... well, I could say that all j-metal bands are "generic" because they're largely the same in my ears and I have trouble differentiating from them. But, that's just my listening habits. For me, this is like saying "I've moved on from the generic steak in my life" :lol. I'm not sure I'll ever tire of it (steak, or prog-power metal). Never say never though. Heck, Nick has gone vegetarian, so anything is possible. I could become a vegan some point in my life. #somebodykillme
Don't worry, it won't be long before I've got a few entries for you to rage on me over.
I should say as well, the whole transition in my tastes hit right as we were neck deep in the absolute shittiest part of the pandemic, somewhere between nationwide race riots and an insurrection on our capital, with thousands dying daily. It was the perfect time for five highly skilled, metal af adorable ladies singing about all things positive to take over the center stage of my musical world. I never knew the rabbit hole was so damn deep though.
And the term generic, I think that's more a reference to its hold on me than a criticism of the music itself. I still had Lalu and Marillion in my top 5 out of respect for how good they are, but when it comes to daily listening I just don't turn to them much. Not sure that makes sense, but I'm just at a place mentally and spiritually where the upbeat positivity is what I need in my music.
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It makes total sense. Using "generic" as a personal yardstick, rather than an absolute definition. I can get behind that.
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Not likely to be your thing. Enjoyable, sure …. Just not enough growls or Japanese for ya. :lol
:lol
I honestly think I've moved on from the generic prog/prog metal in my life...I just don't have the staying power for it. I think I'm just ready after so many years of it for something fresh, and the J-metal came along at just the right time.
Maybe that'll be me when I hit your age! lol. I get confused at the use of the word "generic" when referring to prog/power (or any kind) of music - not you specifically, but just generally speaking. I find very little generic about it the music I listen to. Similar - sure. But generic ... well, I could say that all j-metal bands are "generic" because they're largely the same in my ears and I have trouble differentiating from them. But, that's just my listening habits. For me, this is like saying "I've moved on from the generic steak in my life" :lol. I'm not sure I'll ever tire of it (steak, or prog-power metal). Never say never though. Heck, Nick has gone vegetarian, so anything is possible. I could become a vegan some point in my life. #somebodykillme
Don't worry, it won't be long before I've got a few entries for you to rage on me over.
I should say as well, the whole transition in my tastes hit right as we were neck deep in the absolute shittiest part of the pandemic, somewhere between nationwide race riots and an insurrection on our capital, with thousands dying daily. It was the perfect time for five highly skilled, metal af adorable ladies singing about all things positive to take over the center stage of my musical world. I never knew the rabbit hole was so damn deep though.
And the term generic, I think that's more a reference to its hold on me than a criticism of the music itself. I still had Lalu and Marillion in my top 5 out of respect for how good they are, but when it comes to daily listening I just don't turn to them much. Not sure that makes sense, but I'm just at a place mentally and spiritually where the upbeat positivity is what I need in my music.
This would be a great topic, maybe, for a separate thread. Did anyone go through any real (MUSICAL) transitions during the pandemic? I don't think I did, really, although I did listen to more music than normal. Mine was sort of combination of new things as well as revisiting some old friends that I lost touch with.
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I did a complete fucking 180.. Going from prog and prog metal to mostly Japanese female rock and metal with a touch of death metal for spice...
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(https://i.imgflip.com/76fidy.jpg)
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My tastes and listening habits have always been really broad and ever-evolving, so no there's not been any particular change since the pandemic beyond the natural evolution of discovering new things that happens to me all the time anyway.
I've never been one to have a particular style that dominates (although in general a lot of my listening is in rock and metal genres, but that's pretty broad and even then it's far from everything I listen to). So a 180 like yours RJ couldn't happen to me in the same way. The only possible comparable thing would be for me to decide I'm no longer interested in loads of what I listen to and only focus on a narrow range of styles, but I don't see that ever happening. My dad is 79 and if anything his tastes have broadened more in recent years as my brother and I introduce him to new things, so I imagine I'll be like that.
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(https://i.imgflip.com/76fidy.jpg)
:heart
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:lol amazing
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Odd Dimension / The Blue Dawn [2021]
The Blue Dawn tells the story of two space travellers – Markus and Eloise – involved in a deviation from their original path caused by the attacks of an unknown population that makes them land on a new planet then called ‘The Blue Planet’ where they’ll have to struggle to live, to the point of creating an army with the very matter of that planet to help them restore order and save their children, who will eventually mix with the hosts created by them, generating a new race. The story is about as creative as something out of a grade 6 English essay, but who cares. They had me at "concept album". And everything about the music, writing and performance kept me. With soaring vocals (that have a distinct Russel Allen vibe), pounding rhythms, rich guitar work (both lead and rhythm), lots of distorted keyboards, (ala Train of Thought), and background keyboard ambience that drives home the sci-fi/atmospheric theme of the album, melodic piano leads, Dream Theater wishes they could write and perform music this good nowadays.
The below song perfectly encapsulates everything you're going to experience across this album. It's not actually my favotite song from the album, but the perfect representation of the album.
Fave Song - Escape To Blue Planet (Official Video) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw9YvCkG_Y8)
I freaking loved this track and I'm going to spin the album tomorrow. My only gripe is the terrible narrator voice in the mid part there but I can overlook that.
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The narration on the rest of the album is pretty minimal. It pops up a few times iirc, but it's not nearly as horrible as a future entry.
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SUE - Pretty generic Vision Divine or DGM sounding stuff. I just get nothing out of these vocals anymore to be honest. This stuff is almost pop to me now. The singers carry on in the video also was annoying.
Odd Dimension - Meh, this is fine I guess. I hear Peruvian Skies in the intro and I skipped to the middle once the female singer started. The instrumental section in the middle was pretty solid.
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You're a hard man to please! :lol Well, these were 49 and 50, so maybe there will be something further up the list (other than things you already know) that will rub you the right way. ;)
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:corn
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Ok Cheffy, here's one you'll relate to. Not sure if you've ever spun it though, as the band/leader isn't exactly one I would think you'd connect with.
Sixx:A.M. / The Heroin Diaries [2007]
(https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ccdaeacf80a1db151ec7b2/1456358857211-R4VVJVCSYZ76NXN8Y5XL/image-asset.jpeg?format=500w)
The concept album serves as the companion soundtrack to Sixx's autobiography, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, and is about Sixx's severe heroin addiction in 1987. Helluva way to open it, especially given the time of year (as I was composing this writeup). I'm kinda feeling some of this opening monologue, unfortunately (albeit, not for the reasons of drug addiction/overdose). This one is a really nice mix of old-school hard rock, with just a zest of proginess to it. I never would have expected an outfit fronted by Nikki Sixx could put together something like this. Such a compelling and personal story, and music that has a depth to it that I never heard from Crue - with a variety of different musical styles coming in and out of the album. The vibe of the music complements the tone of the story from start to finish.
Fave Song - Life is Beautiful (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJIDbxGrRqc)
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SUE - Pretty generic Vision Divine or DGM sounding stuff. I just get nothing out of these vocals anymore to be honest. This stuff is almost pop to me now. The singers carry on in the video also was annoying.
Odd Dimension - Meh, this is fine I guess. I hear Peruvian Skies in the intro and I skipped to the middle once the female singer started. The instrumental section in the middle was pretty solid.
In the end, while the Odd Dimension singer is sure as hell talented, I just thought he lacked the personality and flavor of the original singer, who is definitely inferior vocally.
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I can't do the SixxAM.
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I can't do the SixxAM.
Because of the story, or the music, or the composer?
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I can't do the SixxAM.
Because of the story, or the music, or the composer?
The music. Anything with a lack of real drums is a thumbs down here. Those DJ sounds kill any chance I have of listening.
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I can't do the SixxAM.
Because of the story, or the music, or the composer?
The music. Anything with a lack of real drums is a thumbs down here. Those DJ sounds kill any chance I have of listening.
hmph... never really noticed it.
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The Heroin Diaries is a great album!
I remember randomly picking it up as a used CD a few years ago...I had read good things about it, but I was overall a little skeptical. Thought, what the heck, let's try it. And it was a big surprise! Real good songwriting on this one.
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The Heroin Diaries is a great album!
I remember randomly picking it up as a used CD a few years ago...I had read good things about it, but I was overall a little skeptical. Thought, what the heck, let's try it. And it was a big surprise! Real good songwriting on this one.
Ditto ... except for the buying the CD part.
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I've heard SixxAM come up a lot over the years and never checked it out. I gave "Life Is Beautiful" a listen and I never knew this was sixxam :lol. It's a great track, will check the rest out after Odd Dimension
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There's such a fine line between top tier vocalists and the next level. It's a great song, but I've heard that singer 100 times in a 1,000 bars. Is it the guy from Panic Channel? Might be. How about the guy from Skid Row after Sebastian? Might be. Is it Russell Allen? I don't know, might be.
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It's a great song, but I've heard that singer 100 times in a 1,000 bars.
I feel that way about most modern prog singers. Sometimes it feels like bands are trading off the same dude who sounds like he is gargling marbles.
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Since I haven't finished my newest concept album yet, I assume one of my last two will be on the list? Likely spots 1 and 2?
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There's such a fine line between top tier vocalists and the next level. It's a great song, but I've heard that singer 100 times in a 1,000 bars. Is it the guy from Panic Channel? Might be. How about the guy from Skid Row after Sebastian? Might be. Is it Russell Allen? I don't know, might be.
I can't say I disagree. What I will say, is 'I don't care' IMO, it's' no different than saying 'I've tasted this same cut of red meat 1000 times in 100 restaurants'*. Still sounds fine in my ears. :biggrin:
Take that Russell Allen hate to P/R!!! :lol
*methinks I'm gonna get some mileage out of this red meat analogy! :D
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Since I haven't finished my newest concept album yet, I assume one of my last two will be on the list? Likely spots 1 and 2?
I think I listened to one of them a long time ago when you first were pimping it out <checks bandcamp page>. Yeah, I seem to remember The Fall of Grace. Shit dude, you've had 3 more albums since then?!?!? Well hot fuck. Guess I'm checking those out over the weekend. TBH, TFoG didn't quite strike me too hard back then. I'll give it another go though.
But I'm not re-working my list! #SorryNotSorry
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Since I haven't finished my newest concept album yet, I assume one of my last two will be on the list? Likely spots 1 and 2?
I think I listened to one of them a long time ago when you first were pimping it out <checks bandcamp page>. Yeah, I seem to remember The Fall of Grace. Shit dude, you've had 3 more albums since then?!?!? Well hot fuck. Guess I'm checking those out over the weekend. TBH, TFoG didn't quite strike me too hard back then. I'll give it another go though.
But I'm not re-working my list! #SorryNotSorry
Apparently TFoG didn't strike anyone too hard except me haha. All good. Guess it'll be my personal Lulu. Hopefully my other albums aren't all Lulu's too though.
But only one finished since then. Finished writing a third and trying to arrange to record drums in the next few months then eventually find vocalists and such.
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Since I haven't finished my newest concept album yet, I assume one of my last two will be on the list? Likely spots 1 and 2?
I think I listened to one of them a long time ago when you first were pimping it out <checks bandcamp page>. Yeah, I seem to remember The Fall of Grace. Shit dude, you've had 3 more albums since then?!?!? Well hot fuck. Guess I'm checking those out over the weekend. TBH, TFoG didn't quite strike me too hard back then. I'll give it another go though.
But I'm not re-working my list! #SorryNotSorry
Apparently TFoG didn't strike anyone too hard except me haha. All good. Guess it'll be my personal Lulu. Hopefully my other albums aren't all Lulu's too though.
But only one finished since then. Finished writing a third and trying to arrange to record drums in the next few months then eventually find vocalists and such.
Maybe Nick is available? :lol We should've set you up with Sarah Teets at his wedding (if you need female vocalists)
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Personally I'm looking for a singer that makes people think "I've heard that singer 100 times in a 1,000 bars. Is it the guy from Panic Channel? Might be. How about the guy from Skid Row after Sebastian? Might be. Is it Russell Allen? I don't know, might be."
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Personally I'm looking for a singer that makes people think "I've heard that singer 100 times in a 1,000 bars. Is it the guy from Panic Channel? Might be. How about the guy from Skid Row after Sebastian? Might be. Is it Russell Allen? I don't know, might be."
Stads might be free. :lol :lol
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Personally I'm looking for a singer that makes people think "I've heard that singer 100 times in a 1,000 bars. Is it the guy from Panic Channel? Might be. How about the guy from Skid Row after Sebastian? Might be. Is it Russell Allen? I don't know, might be."
Stads might be free. :lol :lol
I'm your guy. I've sung in bands before.
Is there really a woman named Sarah Teets? That must've been a hellacious middle school era....
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Can't imagine that Sixx:AM album would be my thing at all, but in the interest of this thread I'll give it a go.
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Personally I'm looking for a singer that makes people think "I've heard that singer 100 times in a 1,000 bars. Is it the guy from Panic Channel? Might be. How about the guy from Skid Row after Sebastian? Might be. Is it Russell Allen? I don't know, might be."
Stads might be free. :lol :lol
I'm your guy. I've sung in bands before.
Is there really a woman named Sarah Teets? That must've been a hellacious middle school era....
Yes... her (voice) and her brother Jeff (guitar/writer) are the founders of the band Mindmaze* - coming soon to a countdown near you!
*which Nick played drums for at one point in a long time ago in a galaxy far away.
Can't imagine that Sixx:AM album would be my thing at all, but in the interest of this thread I'll give it a go.
:tup
Surely 4 minutes isn't terribly onerous to try the song I linked
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Can't imagine that Sixx:AM album would be my thing at all, but in the interest of this thread I'll give it a go.
:tup
Surely 4 minutes isn't terribly onerous to try the song I linked
It's no problem, I'll try the full album. I've got time to spin it tonight.
Edit: OK just finished up. It's not bad at all, my main problem is it's just not where I'm at with musical discovery nowadays. The thing is, there are albums I love from around this time, which are quite similar. I know if I'd actually discovered this in '07 it could've become something I ended up loving, but in 2023 it's just OK.
It's obviously not a knock on it at all, and I'm sure you get where I'm coming from. If I ever get around to doing my own Top 50 thread there would be albums on there, that if I heard today for the first time, I'm sure I'd just be lukewarm on.
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Personally I'm looking for a singer that makes people think "I've heard that singer 100 times in a 1,000 bars. Is it the guy from Panic Channel? Might be. How about the guy from Skid Row after Sebastian? Might be. Is it Russell Allen? I don't know, might be."
Stads might be free. :lol :lol
I'm your guy. I've sung in bands before.
Is there really a woman named Sarah Teets? That must've been a hellacious middle school era....
Yes... her (voice) and her brother Jeff (guitar/writer) are the founders of the band Mindmaze* - coming soon to a countdown near you!
*which Nick played drums for at one point in a long time ago in a galaxy far away.
Mindmaze is gooood! :metal
Not a fan of Sixx:AM. You sent them in one of my roulettes and it was ok, just nothing that stood out to me.
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I thought Nick was with the early Neuromancer phase, and they upgraded before the MindMaze era.
Sarah has a killer voice though, I'll save other thoughts for when Resolve pops up on your list.
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Personally I'm looking for a singer that makes people think "I've heard that singer 100 times in a 1,000 bars. Is it the guy from Panic Channel? Might be. How about the guy from Skid Row after Sebastian? Might be. Is it Russell Allen? I don't know, might be."
Stads might be free. :lol :lol
I'm your guy. I've sung in bands before.
Is there really a woman named Sarah Teets? That must've been a hellacious middle school era....
Yes... her (voice) and her brother Jeff (guitar/writer) are the founders of the band Mindmaze* - coming soon to a countdown near you!
*which Nick played drums for at one point in a long time ago in a galaxy far away.
Mindmaze is gooood! :metal
Not a fan of Sixx:AM. You sent them in one of my roulettes and it was ok, just nothing that stood out to me.
That's a negative Ghost Rider - I've never sent Sixx:A.M. (in anyone's roulette). I sent you Roswell Six. Or maybe you're thinking Poison?
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Personally I'm looking for a singer that makes people think "I've heard that singer 100 times in a 1,000 bars. Is it the guy from Panic Channel? Might be. How about the guy from Skid Row after Sebastian? Might be. Is it Russell Allen? I don't know, might be."
Stads might be free. :lol :lol
I'm your guy. I've sung in bands before.
Is there really a woman named Sarah Teets? That must've been a hellacious middle school era....
Yes... her (voice) and her brother Jeff (guitar/writer) are the founders of the band Mindmaze* - coming soon to a countdown near you!
*which Nick played drums for at one point in a long time ago in a galaxy far away.
Mindmaze is gooood! :metal
Not a fan of Sixx:AM. You sent them in one of my roulettes and it was ok, just nothing that stood out to me.
That's a negative Ghost Rider - I've never sent Sixx:A.M. (in anyone's roulette). I sent you Roswell Six. Or maybe you're thinking Poison?
That's a negative hoser. You sent me Sixx:AM in my final EP (which somehow turned into an album) round.
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I stand corrected, I have submitted them... and to you.
But I'm also not totally wrong, since that submission was a "concept album" showdown vs Katt/Walrus that was sent AFTER being eliminated in your v2, (and you reviewed it a year later) :D :P
P.S. I've never sent Sixx AM as a standalone song (that's what I was thinking) - I believe I've sent them a couple times (to Tim too?) as part of a playlist.
P.P.S. The song I sent you was from a different album.
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Just listened to that Sixx AM song and it was pretty good. i was expecting more of a sleaze rock sound, so I was pleasantly surprised.
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That Sixx:AM song was pretty decent for what it was. Not my thing anymore but I could listen to that song again. I think.....Brent?.....sent me one of their songs in a roulette which was really good but remembering the album on a whole didn't do much for me. Unless it was you Chad...
Edit: Nah was Brent.
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Just listened to that Sixx AM song and it was pretty good. i was expecting more of a sleaze rock sound, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Right?? That's totally what I was expecting when I came across Sixx:A.M. a few years back. They are totally NOT what one might expect out of a band named for / founded by Nikki Sixx.
@ Kade... I think maybe Brent had pimped out the Prayers for the Blessed / Damned albums in the B&B podcasts. I suspect that's how I caught on to them.
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Seventh Wonder - Tiara [2018]
(https://myglobalmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/SeventhWonder_featureimage-768x550.jpg)
Shit, I didn't even recognize that this was a concept album until I paid a bit more attention to it leading up to PPUSA '19. I mean, it's a bit of an unexpected story from the band - an alien race called the Everones are unimpressed by the human race and are set to bring judgment upon them. A young girl named Tiara, the only human who can understand messages the aliens are sending is chosen to travel into space to communicate with the aliens, in an attempt to save humanity. That storyline almost seems plagiarized a bit from a segment of Kevin Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns - maybe it is, maybe it isn't ... doesn't matter really. This finished 3rd as my 2018 AOTY, and I had to slide it in on this list.
It was 8 long years between SW albums, with Tommy focusing more on Kamelot, but this was a great return to form - giving him a more proggy, slightly less power/symphonic outlet. This is very polished melodic/prog-rock with symphonic overtones and great vocals (yes, I know Seventh Wonder are often classed as prog metal, but while this is a great album, prog metal it isn't). Tommy Karevik is one of the best frontmen around, and I find he is better suited to the music and style of Seventh Wonder vs Kamelot. After the opening seque track, the album delivers 12 incredible songs one right after another, with lots of highs, and every track 5* for my ears. The below "fave" track is kinda out of place in the theme and style of the album as a whole, but I love it none-the-less... and fuck was it fun as hell when they performed it at PPUSA.
Fave Song - By The Light of the Funeral Pyres (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdLx46eVc4g)
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Hmm, never knew it was a concept album either, though I didn't pay too much attention to that. Solid album though, definitely got some air time from me, may have to do a revisit of it. Not as good as the other concept album by them though, which I assume is coming later. Pretty much anything with Tommy fronting gets a thumbs up from me though, dude can fucking sing.
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It was advertised as a concept album in the run up to release. SW are always excellent. I expect another of their albums further on.
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Yeah, I’m not sure how people didn’t know this was a concept album. Good choice :tup
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So I got sent Hide and Seek in my first roulette, and ended up loving Mercy Falls. Tiara was the first new SW album that came out once I was aware of them.
I remember being really underwhelmed by it, and checking my last.fm I only played it once, so could give it another shot.
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Pretty much anything with Tommy fronting gets a thumbs up from me though, dude can fucking sing.
Agreed. He was in my Top 10 (maybe top 5) on the recent vocalist countdown.
Not as good as the other concept album by them though, which I assume is coming later.
SW are always excellent. I expect another of their albums further on.
Wait …. They’ve got another concept album?!?!
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If it doesn't appear, than this list is already invalid.
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If it doesn't appear, than this list is already invalid.
Spoiler alert … not the first time you’re going to tell me this list in invalid. :lol
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:lol
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I've heard Mercy Falls (Yawn). I hadn't heard this one but checked out a few tunes. The keyboards are a tad cheesy and the singer is pretty generic. The rest of it though is pretty decent though.
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Personally I'm looking for a singer that makes people think "I've heard that singer 100 times in a 1,000 bars. Is it the guy from Panic Channel? Might be. How about the guy from Skid Row after Sebastian? Might be. Is it Russell Allen? I don't know, might be."
Stads might be free. :lol :lol
I'm your guy. I've sung in bands before.
Is there really a woman named Sarah Teets? That must've been a hellacious middle school era....
Yes... her (voice) and her brother Jeff (guitar/writer) are the founders of the band Mindmaze* - coming soon to a countdown near you!
*which Nick played drums for at one point in a long time ago in a galaxy far away.
Mindmaze is gooood! :metal
Not a fan of Sixx:AM. You sent them in one of my roulettes and it was ok, just nothing that stood out to me.
That's a negative Ghost Rider - I've never sent Sixx:A.M. (in anyone's roulette). I sent you Roswell Six. Or maybe you're thinking Poison?
No, I remember now, you sent them as a post roulette concept album after my second roulette.
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I just gave that Seventh Wonder tune a spin and man I didn't expect to be kicked in the balls like that :lol fantastic song.
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My Chemical Romance / The Black Parade [2006]
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81o6k0bPesL._AC_SL1425_.jpg)
Wow… never knew about this album until I started doing a deep dive into concept albums in the middle of 2021 (MCR just isn't my cuppa tea). I found a few threads at DTF listing favorite Concept Albums, and along with my own research, I probably ended up sampling 100+ albums I'd never heard. This one was the most surprising to me - in the fact that this actually hits a sonic sweet spot. Is it Punk? Rock? Something "alt" or "post". Maybe, I don't really know. Wiki calls it "Alternative; rock; emo; pop punk; hard rock; progressive rock". Seems about right, even if I have no clue what "emo" music really is - emotional? Most certainly for this album. If I had to narrow it down, to me it sounds like Punk-Prog Rock… and by Rock, I mean it's almost metal - so I guess in a sense I just violated my own rules (again, apparently). I normally wouldn't connect with this kind of music, but holy shit did this scratch me where I was itching as I searched for some new Concept Albums. Great story here (even though, F#ck Cancer) about The Patient and his apparent death, experiences in the afterlife, and subsequent reflections on his life. The music is frantic, adrenaline inducing, and head-banging. This would probably rank much higher if I'd discovered before 2021, and had the chance to spend more time with it. I suppose I shouldn't be all that surprised… this does have a vibe about it very similar to No Doubt/Tragic Kingdom (which made my initial Top50), and there are lots of albums that have punk elements to it, so…. yeah. Even still, the fact it even made this list ahead of the honorable mentions with only a few listens under my belt is impressive enough.
Fave Song - Welcome to the Black Parade (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRKJiM9Njr8)
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Well Holy Shit dude! I'm calling it right now, this album will be my highest rated album on your Top 50!
If you like this then my all time favourite band should be on your list (partly because they got lumped in with the emo crowd).
This album was huge for me, and if anything I've come to appreciate it more, especially over the last few years. I became an MCR fan back in '04 when their previous album came out. Pretty much all of my friends took the piss for liking an 'emo' band. It was ridiculous as they weren't really even giving the music a chance, just jumping on the band wagon of shitting on the band.
When The Black Parade came out, I bought it the morning of release and played that shit to death. Yes, Welcome to the Black Parade has been overplayed, yes I butchered it on karaoke many times, but it's just so good.
I got the album on vinyl last year so have played it more this last 12 months than I have in over a decade. I've come to realise that actually every damn song is perfect. Dead! was always an absolute favourite of mine, and really has that punk vibe you mentioned.
Well I'm working from home today so I guess I know what record I'm spinning next!
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Indeed this is not what I'd expect, but great pick for the first entry in the top 50 that I already know. Perhaps your tastes are gradually being squeezed wider after all, despite your protestations! ;)
The first three entries were all solid:
- Spheric Universe Experience very enjoyable. The intro is amazing and so it put me in a good listening frame from the start. On further listens the album doesn't have as much staying power as a lot of the vocal sections in particular I just don't find especially interesting, but it's a good album overall still.
- Odd Dimension easily my favourite of the three, I actually like it a lot. A tentative 8/10 from me. The previous album is also on Spotify so I'll give that a listen too.
- Sixx:A.M. was good, definitely more engaging than I might have anticipated, not being a fan of Motley Crue. I didn't love it, but it's solid and very emotionally engaging.
I've not been enamoured with Seventh Wonder in the past, but I've not heard that album so I guess I'll give it a go.
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@Luke... there's something about C&C I just don't connect with. I've tried a long time ago, and indeed there may be something in their discography that will suit me, but I just don't have the will to wade thru it all to find it.
Indeed this is not what I'd expect, but great pick for the first entry in the top 50 that I already know. Perhaps your tastes are gradually being squeezed wider after all, despite your protestations! ;)
The first three entries were all solid:
- Spheric Universe Experience very enjoyable. The intro is amazing and so it put me in a good listening frame from the start. On further listens the album doesn't have as much staying power as a lot of the vocal sections in particular I just don't find especially interesting, but it's a good album overall still.
- Odd Dimension easily my favourite of the three, I actually like it a lot. A tentative 8/10 from me. The previous album is also on Spotify so I'll give that a listen too.
- Sixx:A.M. was good, definitely more engaging than I might have anticipated, not being a fan of Motley Crue. I didn't love it, but it's solid and very emotionally engaging.
I've not been enamoured with Seventh Wonder in the past, but I've not heard that album so I guess I'll give it a go.
Awesome! So glad (and humbled) that you're giving them all a go. :tup
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I should probably give The Black Parade another chance. I never liked MCR, and when this album came out, Welcome to the Black Parade used to annoy me so much! My best friend at the time (high School) was a huge fan and bought the album. I listened to the album once back then and it didn't do much for me.
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I love this album with one exception which is the title track, I've always hated it :lol. I know I'm the only person on the planet with this opinion.
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A.C.T. / The Last Epic [2003]
(https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.progarchives.com%2Fprogressive_rock_discography_covers%2F424%2Fcover_9445542017_r.jpg&hash=27ffd7b7b64bed42d6ef1d8b9b6925b30dd70df8)
Courtesy of Wailings from a Building submitted by Prog Snob in by 3rd roulette, this album has a bit of an odd concept (the story is a tale told from the perspective of a building about its occupants). It's filled with great vocal harmonies, lots of different musical styles, complemented with lots of creative instrumentation. This is precisely this kind of album that is the reason I don't listen to 70s era prog-rock. A.C.T. delivers an album filled with an upbeat/crisp tempo, great melodies, key and time changes asunder, excellent musicianship, equal balance between keys and guitars as the primary driver of the melody, fantastic vocals … and a nice clean production. This ticks all my prog-rock boxes. I read a review of this album that suggested that A.C.T. was the (my words) result of a menage a trois between Queen, Styx, and Saga. I can buy into that, and to answer Booker T, I can dig that…. Sucka! The string of tracks Cause/Effect/Summary is just pure bliss.
Fave Song - The Effect (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L25RywcTxL8)
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Just wrapped up listening to that Sixx AM album and it was a welcome surprise. When it opened with the Xmas narration my eyes almost rolled out of my head but on the whole the album was good.
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My Chemical Romance / The Black Parade [2006]
I know virtually nothing about this band or this album. However, the song "The Black Parade" will forever hold a special place in my heart because of this:
https://youtu.be/tZL7S6vCVKY
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My Chemical Romance / The Black Parade [2006]
I know virtually nothing about this band or this album. However, the song "The Black Parade" will forever hold a special place in my heart because of this:
https://youtu.be/tZL7S6vCVKY
Seems weird to use that song as an 'anthem' of sorts, but ok.
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My Chemical Romance / The Black Parade [2006]
I know virtually nothing about this band or this album. However, the song "The Black Parade" will forever hold a special place in my heart because of this:
https://youtu.be/tZL7S6vCVKY
Seems weird to use that song as an 'anthem' of sorts, but ok.
One of the true post 2000 gems.
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Ok, I guess A.C.T. was a dud - even though I know King likes 'em, and RJ surely would have about 4 years ago. Moving on then, hopefully this will bring out some opinions ...
Kamelot / Epica [2003]; The Black Halo [2005]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/3/0/2/13025.jpg) (https://www.metal-archives.com/images/6/4/7/3/64735.jpg)
I was first exposed to Kamelot in the Power Ballad round of my first roulette. Obscure chose to send Zodiac, and it tanked. Hard. I'm not sure exactly why, but it certainly soured me on Kamelot. It was probably a year or two later that she sent me a tune by an act/album later to appear on this countdown, which featured both Thomas Youngblood and Casey Grillo. I loved that. Which then got me to check out Kamelot. Because of the depth of their discography, and the 'new' vocalist, I started with what was just coming out at the time, Silverthorn. Opinions around here seemed to be mixed on which of their previous albums were their best, so I went with a couple of live releases just to latch on to their 'best of'. It wasn't until the late 2020s that I went back and got the 6-album run that finished Khan's time with them.
Epica one starts with an absolute cracker (one of my Top 5 all-time Kamelot tunes, and imo one of the greatest and purist definitions and examples of Power Metal). An absolute classic. The follow up track, is pretty terrific as well, and (but?) the album pretty much coasts on those two tracks for the next 30 minutes, before finishing strong. The bookend songs are as good as it gets from Khan-era Kamelot. Song for song, I like The Black Halo a little better than Epica. Though, I sometimes find the three interlude tracks take me out of the flow of the former.
Ultimately, I just haven't spent enough time with these two albums (start to finish) to really sink into the story (and I don't know jack about Goethe's Faust), and thus cannot rate them any higher here.
Fave Song - When the Lights Are Down (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LwehBsFIh8)
Fave Song - Centre of the Universe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBl1UPJvbUY)
<both live versions, from One Cold Winter's Night - glorious DVD!>
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Yeah I listened to that ACT album a while back and it was decent but didn't excite much. To be honest I don't really remember much about it so didn't have any comment to make.
Those Kamelot albums on the other hand are classics. So many great tunes across the two albums and pretty good storytelling too.
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Honestly never did a deep dive into the Kahn era.
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Not to jump too far back but I just listened to that Odd Dimension album and it kicked serious ass, I think Flags Of Victory was my personal favorite.
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Not to jump too far back but I just listened to that Odd Dimension album and it kicked serious ass, I think Flags Of Victory was my personal favorite.
(https://media.tenor.com/H1K_Y4okzHoAAAAC/awesome-yes.gif)
Jump as far back as you want!
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Honestly never did a deep dive into the Kahn era.
That's too bad. I doubt these would float your boat nowadays.
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Yeah I listened to that ACT album a while back and it was decent but didn't excite much. To be honest I don't really remember much about it so didn't have any comment to make.
I hear ya. It hits a nice spot for me when I want something a little more light and catchy and harmonious. They almost has a hint of Moon Safari in them.
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Honestly never did a deep dive into the Kahn era.
Either one of Epica or The Black Halo destroy all three of the Tommy albums collectively.
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Honestly never did a deep dive into the Kahn era.
Either one of Epica or The Black Halo destroy all three of the Tommy albums collectively.
yeah... those final 6 albums with Khan are all as good as, or better than, any of the 3 with Tommy. I didn't even bother purchasing the last Kamelot album - I think I spun it a couple times, and then realized I'd rather be listening to 8 other Kamelot albums, so decided to pass on it.
You gonna like the next entry, Kade.
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Honestly never did a deep dive into the Kahn era.
Either one of Epica or The Black Halo destroy all three of the Tommy albums collectively.
yeah... those final 6 albums with Khan are all as good as, or better than, any of the 3 with Tommy. I didn't even bother purchasing the last Kamelot album - I think I spun it a couple times, and then realized I'd rather be listening to 8 other Kamelot albums, so decided to pass on it.
You gonna like the next entry, Kade.
Epica was pretty big for me when it came out. I always thought it was superior to the Black Halo. Good entry and the first that's in my lane.
In relation to the Tommy stuff, I thought the last one was the most interesting. Even though it's pretty damn generic.
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Maybe I ought to give it another shot then.
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I'm a big fan of the Black Parade. The other My Chemical Romance albums I have don’t do a lot for me, but the Black Parade is a perfect blend of emo and classic rock in the vein of Pink Floyd and Queen.
I’m not sure which Kamelot album is my favourite, but the Black Halo is right up there. Good choice.
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The Black Halo is a monster album! :metal
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Kamelot is a funny band for me. I *love* The Black Halo from when I first heard it in college, but nothing else I've heard from them (with either Roy or Tommy) sparks me nearly the same way. None of what else I've heard is bad, it's just kind of there.
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W.A.S.P. / The Neon God: Part 1 - The Rise; Part 2 - The Demise [2004]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3/8/8/8/38883.jpg) (https://www.metal-archives.com/images/5/7/0/8/57088.jpg)
And this suffers the same fate as the last entry of not having spent enough time with it to rate any higher. I will be forever grateful to Kade for opening my ears up to W.A.S.P. – I don’t think there’s a thing I’ve listened from them that I haven’t loved. The only reason that this doesn't rate higher is because after Kade opened my ears to them, I didn’t explore the whole discog (it would've been pretty daunting). So, I just grabbed their latest release (at the time), and a few of the early classics. Had I noticed these two mid-life (if it was a "crisis", it was a glorious one :lol) releases by them, I'm sure I would've jumped all over and spun the hell out of these.
The albums tell a story of an abused and orphaned boy named Jesse, who finds that he has the ability to read and manipulate people. The music is everything that I love about W.A.S.P. … heavy riffs, pounding rhythms, catchy hooks – it’s all right in my wheelhouse. And there's a certain je ne sais quois in Blackie’s voice. Sure, he's toast now, but there's a smooth raspiness he had for the bulk of his career that just clicks with me (and clearly Kade too given how high he rated him on the top singers countdown recently. If I’d discovered this when it was released, it most likely would most definitely be in the top ½ of this list. Sadly, I only stumbled across it back in 2021 when I was running thru a spell of only listening to / searching for concept albums.
Overall, I'll rate Part 1 over Part 2, but just ever so slightly. The former is 5* top to bottom, while Part 2 has a bit of "filler". Oh, and I'll just say that Never Say Die is a face melting riff to open Part 2.
Fave Song - Sister Sadie (And the Black Habits) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72SQbWfe7TM)
Fave Song - Never Say Die (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRK60UFZSHQ)
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Heard these back around the time they came out and... they were not for me. :lol
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I gave the two WASP songs a shot and I don't think it's for me. It sounds like a dude is just yelling over a galloping guitar riff. Not really my jam.
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Sometimes I love Blackie's voice, and sometimes it doesn't catch. I wish the music was a little better; the guy is clearly talented. I just think the direction isn't always for me.
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Guess I'll just need to wait for Kade to wake up before I get any love for this entry! :biggrin:
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Swing and a miss!!!
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Wasn't there someone here at DTF that was close to or friends with someone in the band? I coulda swore someone here pimped them out a lot. I actually was only 'so-so' on their first 2 releases, but this one from last year (well, tecnically "2" years ago now), was one I really could sink my ears in to.
JamminDude knows the guy(s?) in Odd Logic. Is that what you're thinking of?
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I'm a bit late, but that My Chemical Romance album is damn good. :tup
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Swing and a miss!!!
This is my surprised face.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRYMrnOXkAAPYVC.jpg)
Wasn't there someone here at DTF that was close to or friends with someone in the band? I coulda swore someone here pimped them out a lot. I actually was only 'so-so' on their first 2 releases, but this one from last year (well, tecnically "2" years ago now), was one I really could sink my ears in to.
JamminDude knows the guy(s?) in Odd Logic. Is that what you're thinking of?
:justjen
I got the wrong "Odd". :lol
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I'm not surprised no one else is on board with this one, but an unexpected welcome surpsrise for me. I very much appreciate the kudos Chad always gives me when it comes to WASP.
In 2002, Dying For the World came out. I remember getting it in real time. It was very highly anticipated from me and it didn't disappoint. It could be a top 3 WASP album. Great songs, heavy, great production and great energy.
I remember when the Neon God was announced it immediately raised some eyebrows. I remember Blackie talking it up about a two part rock opera kind of thing and people saying he was trying to rehash the glory days of The Crimson Idol. As always, I looked forward to it. I like the separate releases months apart too. Part 1 didn't really hit me right away. The production is pretty poor and I did immediately also feel he used TCI as a blatant template. As time went on, I really did enjoy it as most WASP albums. I'm easily pleased in that respect, except Helldorado, that's crap.
I liked the little short acoustic interludes and used pretty much all of them in my concept album for Puppies. The songs themselves aren't Blackie's greatest, but it's an enjoyable ride. It's probably one of my least listened to WASP albums though. Part 2 however came out of the gates nicely for me. The production was much better and it's certainly more solid and consistent with nine real full length tracks. Never Say Die and Destinies to Come are a couple of Blackie's best, great tunes, and All My Life, again used in my concept album is one of my fav mellow pieces from Blackie. I think the Last Redemption is a really nice epic closer to the saga. Plus I love, love the reprise of I Can't from 1995's Still Not Black Enough in the second half of Clockwork Mary too. (Both songs again, used in my album.)
While these albums can't touch a hair on TCI's head, it's a gallant double album effort from Blackie late in his career. Probably considered deep cuts in the album discography but some nice things to chew on here. I will say though, while both are around 95 minutes, he could and probably should have made a single 70-75 minute album here. It would have pleased more fans I think and made for a killer, consistent album with a nice story.
EDIT: Looks like Chad nailed the best songs from each album too!
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Up next …. The next instance of RJ telling me me this list is invalid.
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I'm an older WASP fan, I don't mean my age (even though I am old...) but my love of the first few WASP albums up to The Crimson Idol. I'm not a big fan of any WASP albums post that era which includes the 2 listed above but each of the 'newer' albums have their moments. I am presuming The Crimson Idol has to be showing up at some stage in this list, as that is a classic.
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The Neon God is good and all, but doesn't come close to The Crimson Idol.
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Wait... the Crimson Idol is a concept album??
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Wait... the Crimson Idol is a concept album??
:lol
I was so befuddled you included this instead of The Crimson Idol.
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Marillion / Brave [1994]
(https://i.discogs.com/DpKejl-hLNWhjBreuD2eVP5pGIjCKRd69RM8A1YcFbg/rs:fit/g:sm/q:40/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI3OTgz/NTMtMTQ1MjAwMzc0/MC01NTM4LmpwZWc.jpeg)
RJ, please don’t hate me. It took a while for me to get into Marillion, although I'm not sure I can really say I'm *in* to them - they’re still largely a fringe act for me :blush. I very much enjoy everything they do when I listen to it, but they came into my musical world fairly late in life, and I just wasn’t wholly and fully captivated by them, and certainly not enough to go exploring their vast discography. I really should fire them up more often, but since I never listened to them in the 80s or 90s, or 00s I just don't find myself proactively reaching for them very often - and I feel shame.
Brave always seems to get rave reviews, generally lauded as one of the better/best Marillion albums, and I can hear why - progressive passages pop oriented catchy songs Marillion often graces their releases with, and some more traditional hard-rocking songs. This is an album with a nice bit of variety … atmospheric, dark, moody, emotive, stoic. Despite the nature and tone of the story (a schizophrenic, disillusioned girl, who commits suicide in jumping off a bridge) there are more than a few musical and lyrical moments that are loving, uplifting, optimistic, and inspiring.
This is another one that rates as low as it is because it was one of the albums I discovered as I was researching the litany of concept albums I wasn't already familiar with in 2021, so I've not spent a whole ton of dedicated time to/with it. Also, does Marillion make any albums that AREN'T concept albums?
Fave songs – Hard as Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOPbilh22ro)
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Love this album! I need to be in a certain mood to spin it though. The Great Escape is an all time great album climax and even though it would have been a good ending to the album I really like Made Again and the contrast it provides as well.
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Not sure if I've heard Brave. I've tried several Marillion albums though, from different eras, and none have ever really done it for me. Might give this one a spin to see what it's like.
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That's one fine Marillion album. But when it comes to their concept records, I prefer Clutching at straws. :tup
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Now we're talking. Brave is tremendous. One of those albums you kind of have to immerse yourself in to appreciate, but it is definitely an immersive experience. Headphones help, or a system with good bass. I prefer the original mix to the recent Steven Wilson remix, but some people find the remix a little less claustrophobic. This is one where if I hear the opening track with the foghorn, I'm pretty instantly transported and want to just take it all in. The Great Escape is peak Marillion, and one of the first tracks I'd probably use to explain to someone what they are all about.
Marillion actually don't have that many proper concept albums. Brave and Misplaced Childhood are usually described as concept albums for sure, and the first volume of Happiness is the Road (Essence) I think the band would call a concept album as well. Clutching at Straws always felt like a concept album to me, but some might disagree about whether there is a definite story there. Afraid of Sunlight is a very thematic album (the self destructive nature of fame and those driven to achieve it), but doesn't have a unifying story. Marbles also has a strong connecting theme (very much about being in a mid-life crisis) but no real story. Those are their only albums that I would characterize as concept or thematic albums really. But all of those albums (except for Happiness) are essential listening.
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I would definitely classify Clutching at Straws as a concept album...it has a main character, Torch, and he goes through a narrative of falling deeper and deeper into alcoholism, all the way to the point of futility.
As to Brave, it's an absolute masterpiece. A fantastic story, captivating songs, insane emotional moments, and some of the best production I've heard from an album. This one is flawless, and easily my favorite of the H era (with CaS nudging it just a bit)
@Rich, if you do revisit Brave, do it with good headphones, with the lights out. A good deal of the magic of this album are the background nuances.
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I had thought for some reason that Script was also considered a Concept Album.
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I had thought for some reason that Script was also considered a Concept Album.
That's the only Marillion album that I can listen to.
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I had thought for some reason that Script was also considered a Concept Album.
Nah, at least I wouldn't call it one....as far as the traditional concept album definition goes, I'd say just Misplaced Childhood, Clutching and Brave, though FEAR and Marbles fall in the concept album blast radius.
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Wait... the Crimson Idol is a concept album??
This is sarcasm.....right?
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Wait... the Crimson Idol is a concept album??
This is sarcasm.....right?
(https://media.tenor.com/_eKKDK9jAZYAAAAC/yes-nod.gif)
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I was worried there for a moment for you Chad.
I haven't tried much Marillion, although what I have heard wasn't really for me. I'll sample this one though.
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I haven't tried much Marillion, although what I have heard wasn't really for me. I'll sample this one though.
That'd be very brave of you.
Sorry..
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I haven't tried much Marillion, although what I have heard wasn't really for me. I'll sample this one though.
That'd be very brave of you.
Sorry..
What a brave, brave boy.
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Brave is great, and a real journey of an album.
I think it was actually the first Marillion album I listened to. I'm pretty sure I had heard Kayleigh before, but just as an isolated song. When Brave came out, it was generally praised as a return to some sort of progressive roots, so I was intrigued and bought it. It certainly wasn't an easy/immediate listen, but my appreciation for it has kept growing over time. At some point I even bought the VHS that had some sort of a movie/documentary that went with the music. It was a little weird, but it had its charm :)
Anyway, fantastic stuff. I agree that it helps to be in a certain mood, and it's the kind of record you need to properly sit down with, preferably with headphones. I can't say it's my favorite Marillion album - that's a spot that Clutching at Straws, Seasons End and Misplaced Childhood fight for - but it's certainly up there, right behind those.
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I had thought for some reason that Script was also considered a Concept Album.
Nah, at least I wouldn't call it one....as far as the traditional concept album definition goes, I'd say just Misplaced Childhood, Clutching and Brave, though FEAR and Marbles fall in the concept album blast radius.
Yeah, Marbles is about as close to a concept album as you can get and not actually be one. Although Steve Hogarth may see it as a pseudo-autobiography, sort of.
I haven't tried much Marillion, although what I have heard wasn't really for me. I'll sample this one though.
That'd be very brave of you.
Sorry..
What a brave, brave boy.
:neverusethis:
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Just finished a re-listen of Brave. It's very very good, and one of my all time favorite albums, but then I followed on to Afraid of Sunlight, and it's just a perfect record. Somehow it's even better than Brave. Dave Meegan is a magician.
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I had thought for some reason that Script was also considered a Concept Album.
That's the only Marillion album that I can listen to.
Guess I will have to sample this one then.
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I had thought for some reason that Script was also considered a Concept Album.
That's the only Marillion album that I can listen to.
Guess I will have to sample this one then.
Script is a very different experience than Brave (though I suppose you can make out some of the same band DNA).
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Brave is my favorite album. It's a work of art, more so than just an album of recordings. They recorded it in a Castle, lol.
Script a concept album? I suppose with some of the lyrical themes that tie-together.
I concluded many years ago, when Fish left, they really could/should have just changed the name of the band, but from a marketing standpoint, and likely contractural reasons, they didn't.
But comparing Script to Brave might be like comparing Orchid to Heritage. It's some of the same musicians, but the approach and even the influences are pretty starkly different, it's almost hard to recognize it is released under the same name.
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Well, I can’t sleep so I’m listening to Brave again. I’d say if you want an idea what the album is about, check out the track Runaway. One of Rothery’s finest solos, and the build up at the end is just tremendous. Then go back to the start because you’ve missed the first 10 minutes of the album!
The other thing you can get lost in on this album is Pete’s bass playing. It’s exquisite and prominent throughout. He’s such a huge part of this band.
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I haven't listened to Brave but I have tried to get into Marillion a few times and it just doesn't click. There is nothing I don't like but nothing hooks me enough to keep exploring.
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I had thought for some reason that Script was also considered a Concept Album.
That's the only Marillion album that I can listen to.
Guess I will have to sample this one then.
Script...is a cool debut, and the title-track is a truly epic prog-rock tune, but even within the Fish era I much prefer albums like Misplaced Childhood and Clutching at Straws...have you tried those?
Another one I'd recommend is the first record with Steve Hogarth, Seasons End. I find it's a album that's pretty easy to like, with fantastic melodies all over.
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I had thought for some reason that Script was also considered a Concept Album.
That's the only Marillion album that I can listen to.
Guess I will have to sample this one then.
Script...is a cool debut, and the title-track is a truly epic prog-rock tune, but even within the Fish era I much prefer albums like Misplaced Childhood and Clutching at Straws...have you tried those?
Another one I'd recommend is the first record with Steve Hogarth, Seasons End. I find it's a album that's pretty easy to like, with fantastic melodies all over.
Script is by far my least favorite Marillion album. It's cool for what it is, but they just got so much better from there.
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Missed yesterday, so how about two today?
Tangerine Circus / The Conspiracy Chronicles [2012/2015]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/5/2/1/4/521443.jpg?0625)
This one is courtesy of (former) DTF’r and hostage-taker, DarkLordLalinc, whom I had the good pleasure of hanging out with at ProgNation at Sea. There are two versions of the album, with the re-release being a monumental improvement - the first vocal efforts rendered the album virtually unlistenable. They were just bad (it was quite a relief when I gave Lalo that feedback, and I learned it was NOT him on the mic, and that they band knew their vocalist was a problem - so they re-released the album a few years later with each of the band members handling various vocal duties). Despite the thin production, the music is absolutely fantastic - largely on the metal side of prog, but there are some moments in which the music is not that metal at all, just pure prog. In the bands own words, "it's a tragic story about an oppressing system and its conspiracy for keeping everyone in line. This is a tale of strength of character, political awareness and an epic struggle!" The album builds up to the mid point with the titular 20-minute epic (which, imo is Odyssey-level amazing), then coasts to a very satisfying conclusion over the final act. The album is on the long side - approaching 80 minutes, so it's a bit of a chore to get thru at times, and it probably would've benefited from a bit of trimming. If you don't think you've got it in you to spend the next 20 minutes with the below track, I'd encourage at least a listen of the first (Overture) movement, and see if it keeps your interest.
Fave Song - The Conspiracy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMo0qiIjs48)
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Ayreon / The Source [2017]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/6/3/0/0/630031.jpg?5419)
Killer cast… so many of my fave vocalists that made my recent Top 25 singers list (JLB, Floor, Karevik, Allen) and quite a few others who I adore. This one is heavier than most Ayreon albums; closer to Star One than Ayreon, imo. I thought this was a great idea to do a prequel to a previous album - it makes me want to listen to 01 right after it … as a quad-disc concept album. I listened to this a lot in 2017 - it was a Top 10 AOTY, despite being a double disc. It does take some commitment to have a sit down with it, and I don't come back to it very often these days … hence the relatively low rating here. I love that it kicks off with the biggest song on the album, giving everyone a fair shot to start the story and journey. There are a ton of great tunes in here, and despite the absolute cheesiness of Arjen's lyrics sometimes (I've come to accept that aspect of his writing), the music is just too much fun to be turned off by the (at times) pedestrian lyrics.
Fave Song - Star of Sirrah (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obySu2DExWY)
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I've been listening to this Ayreon record for the last few days in preparation for continuing Ayreon Discography thread and I'm torn, there are some killer tracks on the album but on the whole it just doesn't quite deliver.
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I've been listening to this Ayreon record for the last few days in preparation for continuing Ayreon Discography thread and I'm torn, there are some killer tracks on the album but on the whole it just doesn't quite deliver.
I can see what you’re saying, but at the time this dropped, 7 years since the last Star One, I was really loving the heaviness of this. There are some lesser tracks in on here for sure, but still worthy of this Top-50
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If you have The Source you got to have a couple more Ayreon still to come. While The Source is a good one, there are definitely better Ayreon records.
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If you have The Source you got to have a couple more Ayreon still to come. While The Source is a good one, there are definitely better Ayreon records.
Wait … Ayreon has other concept albums?!?!?
:lol
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(https://media.giphy.com/media/gJWJP4U0QL7cQ/giphy.gif)
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Never did a deep dive into the Tangerine Circus album, but I do remember enjoying what I heard.
Arjen's work never really clicked for me. I respect deeply what he does, and am in awe of his ability to find the best voices out there, but it just doesn't get a lot of air time.
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That's the only Marillion album that I can listen to.
Script is by far my least favorite Marillion album.
:lol
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I stopped caring about Ayreon a while ago unfortunately. Nothing touches THE and 01 was okay but after that I found everything pretty boring.
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I stopped caring about Ayreon a while ago unfortunately. Nothing touches THE and 01 was okay but after that I found everything pretty boring.
Pretty much agree dude. Nothing after 01011001 really grabs me. The Source wasn't too bad but Jesus, Transitus felt like such a chore to get through.
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I stopped caring about Ayreon a while ago unfortunately. Nothing touches THE and 01 was okay but after that I found everything pretty boring.
Pretty much agree dude. Nothing after 01011001 really grabs me. The Source wasn't too bad but Jesus, Transitus felt like such a chore to get through.
Pretty sure I didn't even listen to it.
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I stopped caring about Ayreon a while ago unfortunately. Nothing touches THE and 01 was okay but after that I found everything pretty boring.
Pretty much agree dude. Nothing after 01011001 really grabs me. The Source wasn't too bad but Jesus, Transitus felt like such a chore to get through.
Yes also agree with all of the above. And for the record I also couldn't get through Transitus.
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I stopped caring about Ayreon a while ago unfortunately. Nothing touches THE and 01 was okay but after that I found everything pretty boring.
Pretty much agree dude. Nothing after 01011001 really grabs me. The Source wasn't too bad but Jesus, Transitus felt like such a chore to get through.
Transitus is tripe. Listened to it once, maybe twice … it’s awful.
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Can't claim to be the biggest Ayreon fan but, while the guest singers in THE, 01 etc. are great, I still maintain that his most fun albums are The Final Experiment and Into the Electric Castle :)
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That's the only Marillion album that I can listen to.
Script is by far my least favorite Marillion album.
:lol
Now I do understand the shock a few weeks ago when the two of you agreed on something :lol
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:lol
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39. Flaming Row / Mirage - A Portrayal Of Figures [2014]
(https://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/6846/cover_2454149112019_r.jpg)
The band's second release, and final collaboration between Martin Schnella and Kiri Geile …. Sadly, because the subsequent album w/o Kiri sucked ass, and I don't think there will be any more Flaming Row - certainly not anything that approaches the level of awesomeness of the first two releases. Which is disappointing, as I think the plan was for this to be a 3-album trilogy. This duo somehow manages to attract an incredibly strong list of vocalists (Ted Leonard, Magali Luyten), and musicians (Jimmy Keegan, Arjen, Billy Sherwood, Dave Meros, Kristoffer Gildenlow Gary Wehrkamp). While a great album with tons of musical diversity – metal, prog, folk, ballad, funk/jazz etc … I found it a bit of a difficult story to follow though; it seemed strange that not only were the vocalists playing multiple parts/roles/characters, but additionally, one character would have multiple vocalists singing the role. For instance, the main protagonist, “John” was voiced by four different singers… while those four singers also voiced different characters – and sometimes the same vocalist singing two different characters in the same song - which oft left me as confused as a baby in a topless bar. Without routinely following the lyric sheet, there’s simply no way to know what the hell is going on in the story – and even still the story is a little convoluted.
Fun fact… when I saw Spock’s Beard at PPUSA, I had Jimmy/Ted/Dave autograph the cover of this album, and as I ran down the table/line, Ryo was looking confused as Jimmy passed the booklet back to me, and not to him. He looked at Jimmy and said “did I play on this?” “No” was Jimmy's response :lol
Fave Song - Aim L45 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk7Te_1GGEI)
Or, if you want a better representation of what the album is like, Pictures (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGlcLevjI9E) (Ted is god-fucking-tier despite a fairly limited role on this song).
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Alright, finally I can go off on one. The album was definitely meant to be a trilogy, and Martin already had all the music mapped out for it, I had that confirmed when I had drinks with Jimmy before a local Spock's Beard show. Jimmy couldn't stop talking about how much of a genius Martin was (this was obviously before whatever the heck happened between Martin and Kiri that killed the good parts of the band). And I agree with you, while this was a solid album, it doesn't touch Elinoire.
Pictures is definitely the strongest track of the album, and it's not even close for me. In fact, I think it was my song of the year for that year.
Funny sidenote, when I got this and started listening for my review, it was trying to read the liner notes on it that made me realize that my eyesight was finally going to shit, and I bought my first pair of readers. Fuckers.
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I've no idea what the story here is and I own the album :lol
My favourite track is either Aim L45 or the album opener.
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Don’t think I’ve ever heard of this one, but I’ll at least check out the track for Ted’s contributions.
Or, if you want a better representation of what the album is like, Pictures (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGlcLevjI9E) (Ted is god-fucking-tier despite a fairly limited role on this song).
Ok, that's a nice song, even apart from Ted's vocals. Will have to check the rest of this out when I have a chance.
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Alright, finally I can go off on one. The album was definitely meant to be a trilogy, and Martin already had all the music mapped out for it, I had that confirmed when I had drinks with Jimmy before a local Spock's Beard show. Jimmy couldn't stop talking about how much of a genius Martin was (this was obviously before whatever the heck happened between Martin and Kiri that killed the good parts of the band). And I agree with you, while this was a solid album, it doesn't touch Elinoire.
To the bolded parts, it's such a shame (whatever it was... I always suspected there was some kind of romantic involvement between them, and Martin/Melanie's relationship kinda kiboshed that - just my gut feel though... they certainly looked like more than just friends in their 'making of Elinoire' series of YT vids). The two of them had such great chemistry when it came to music and writing. It's clear that the 3rd album (totally forget the name of it - based off of The Gunslinger) should've been Mirage Part 2 ... so many melodies and sounds and styles that were on full display with Mirage - clear as day. But the lyrics and overall musical compositions were crap, and the vocal melodies and performances kinda sucked too. I think I listened to that once, maybe twice.
And yeah, Pictures is the best them (reprising a lot of the melodies of Aim L45), imo ... I just have a soft spot for the folksy sound of L45, and Maggy's performance of course.
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Yeah, I always speculated that they had a thing as well, and Melanie came in and was all lol no...
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It's clear that the 3rd album (totally forget the name of it - based off of The Gunslinger)
The Pure Shite Shine
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It's clear that the 3rd album (totally forget the name of it - based off of The Gunslinger)
The Pure Shite Shine
Probably the biggest letdown in our collective lives. I didn't make it through the first spin.
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It's clear that the 3rd album (totally forget the name of it - based off of The Gunslinger)
The Pure Shite Shine
Probably the biggest letdown in our collective lives. I didn't make it through the first spin.
Personally, The Astonishing deserves that gold medal for that award, but that album is on the podium for sure.
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I'll give you that point
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After somewhat liking Elinoire I remember checking this one out and it didn't leave a lasting impression.
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I stopped caring about Ayreon a while ago unfortunately. Nothing touches THE and 01 was okay but after that I found everything pretty boring.
Pretty much agree dude. Nothing after 01011001 really grabs me. The Source wasn't too bad but Jesus, Transitus felt like such a chore to get through.
I feel similar about the releases in the past decade. I still like all of it, but something feels missing, and I'm not quite sure what. Part of it might just be more listening time, I haven't heard any of those more than a few times each. For me Transitus is actually helped by having the deluxe version with the guide vocals, where I like some of the vocalists better than the ones that are on the album. But I feel like The Source has the most potential to become better over time, and possibly Revel In Time.
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Busy day at work yesterday. So, how 'bout another two?
38. Absolute Priority / Hunter [2012]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3/5/5/6/355623.jpg?3954)
The first of a few recommendations coming specifically from RJ, and as is to be expected, it does not to disappoint. In fact quite the opposite. It's one of the most unique and captivating stories on this list. "Hunter" deals with the last moments of a death row serial-killer, Alan, and his confession to a Priest. Alan's flashbacks are divided throughout the 11 tracks and 1 hour runtime. Intensive, atmospheric, dark, frantic & emotional moments pass by, while Alan is narrating all those incidents. The instrumental tracks are there to add a different mood to the story that Alan tells. And it is capped off with his execution, that is absolutely a God-tier album closer. Possibly the best closing song in this whole list. I've used it many times in a Roulette (as have others, iirc), and it always scores well. I read a review that suggested the album draws influences and inspiration from Queensryche, Fates warning, Kamelot, Vanden Plas, Pain of Salvation, IQ, Shadow Gallery, and Threshold. That's quite a fucking list. I'm not sure I hear all of that, but you get the gist of what you're about to listen to (should you take the plunge). Sadly, the band never did put out another release. Who knows, maybe they have something in the works, but I highly doubt it.
Fave Song - Dead Man Walkin' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FhOdT0w5nU)
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37. Rhapsody / Dawn of Victory [2000]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/1/0/110.jpg?5354)
This album holds a special place in my path and journeys of musical exploration and discovery - I simply was not prepared 22 years ago for the Tolkein-meets-Malmstein mashup that my ears were experiencing... and I was floored by it. I probably shouldn't rate it this high on this particular list. But, I did, and I only have a few mild regrets that some of already mentioned albums fell below it. Oh well… I didn't have the appetite to re-jig the ratings. C'est la vie. I'll just quote myself from my first Top 50.
Cue the cheese metal. Yes, it's cheesy, and yes, I love it. I stumbled on to Rhapsody (before they were Rhapsody of Fire) in 2001 and instantly loved it. This is one of the first non UK/North American bands that I got into. I'd never really been exposed to any European music east of the UK before the early part of this millennium, and am now amazed by my ignorance (I've got LOTS of European bands in my catalog today). Luca Turilli can put together some really raw and heavy riffs to get you into the head-banging mood. Dawn of Victory is the third in a 5-album story line called the Emerald Sword Saga, virtually it's own concept album, but contributing to the overall story. I didn't really expand my exploration with Rhapsody chronologically, which is probably the reason this stands as my favorite disc of theirs, and not their first or second release. Right from the first 30 head banging seconds of the title track, the listener is thrust into a mythical world where a fantastical war meshes with symphonic heavy metal. Luca Turilli proves his skills on the axe, shredding solo after solo, and riff after riff just like Yngvie did in the 80s. When you allow your mind to be transported into this fantasy world, the lyrics are just badass.
"Face me evil bastard, smell the hate of angels / glory pride and bloodshed
Cowards and beholders, rapers of my wisdom / mix of dust and bones"
Fave Song - Holy Thunderforce (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMkBuI6mc4E)
Edit: It's too bad they didn't have the Frontiers marketing machine behind them 20 years ago - that video was so bad. Frontiers could've made an epically glorious and amazing-yet-awful-at-the-same-time video out of this song. :lol
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Hunter :hefdaddy
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No interest there. Alrighty then .... moving on.
36. Marillion / Clutching at Straws [1987]
(https://e.snmc.io/i/1200/s/5dd07700f3cb8979adf314be56a58478/3296576)
Allow myself to kick …. myself once again (see my Brave writeup) for not spending enough time with this album. RJ's #1 Album of All-Time (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=33837.msg1394233#msg1394233) is a deeply personal story, and luckily, not one that I personally connect with. The end of the Fish-era, it's an extremely cohesive album from start to finish, with no obvious flaws. I should probably just stop writing, and let Cheffy tell you how great this album is, because my words and experiences won't do it any justice. Hit that link to his writeup from 10ish years ago. Given a recent FB post, I know that it all still applies today.
Fave Song - Incommunicado (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OkmfIFxCus)
P.S. While you're there, hit his honoroable mention wrapup post (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=33837.msg1395147#msg1395147). One of the best posts in DTF history (imo)
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Fave Song - Incommunicado (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OkmfIFxCus)
That's my least favourite song from this otherwise great album :lol
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Incommunicado is a crucial part of the story though... It describes the manic episodes, the false pedestals we put ourselves on in the course of addiction that only serve to fool us into thinking everything is OK. It's the mood of hitting the bar on payday and buying rounds of drinks like a king,only to be dead broke 2 days later.
Obviously I have much more to say about this album, but personal connection aside, it's hands down one of the most amazing lyrical products ever, the finest lyricist at the top of his game speaking to a very personal subject.
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Clutching at Straws is the masterpiece of the Fish era, and definitely one of the great concept albums. I think it’s mostly a thinly veiled autobiographical sketch of Fish’s own issues, and the tensions in the band were super high at the time, especially between him and Rothery. I think you can feel that in some ways in the way Rothery’s playing seems really visceral, almost like he’s trading musical blows with Fish. The one oddball track that doesn’t seem to have much to do with the concept is White Russian, but that one especially is driven by Fish and Rothery.
It’s a dark but powerful album. In Marillion’s catalog, I rank it only below the big 3 of the H era (Afraid of Sunlight, Brave, and Marbles).
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Clutching at Straws is the masterpiece of the Fish era, and definitely one of the great concept albums. I think it’s mostly a thinly veiled autobiographical sketch of Fish’s own issues, and the tensions in the band were super high at the time, especially between him and Rothery. I think you can feel that in some ways in the way Rothery’s playing seems really visceral, almost like he’s trading musical blows with Fish. The one oddball track that doesn’t seem to have much to do with the concept is White Russian, but that one especially is driven by Fish and Rothery.
It’s a dark but powerful album. In Marillion’s catalog, I rank it only below the big 3 of the H era (Afraid of Sunlight, Brave, and Marbles).
It's definitely autobiographical, and it absolutely reflects band tensions. It was written on the road in the US, especially all the lyrics when Fish was in a really dark place. When he showed the lyrics for Going Under to his wife, she straight up asked him to be honest and tell her if she was ok. And you're correct about Rothery's playing as well, it too was feuled by the tensions, there was a story in one Marillion bio that said the solo in Hotel Hobbies was a one take, he walked into the studio all fucking pissed and blasted it out. There's so much rawness in it, so much I think anyone could relate to, not just an old school drunk like me.
And yeah, I never really figured out where White Russian stood in the story either.
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And yeah, I never really figured out where White Russian stood in the story either.
The best I’ve come up with is that a writer/journalist might be concerned with covering those sorts of issues, and maybe digging into it is another part of what is feeding into Torch’s (Fish’s) personal crisis. The “racing the clouds home” section is epic though.
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Best Marillion album. Period.
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Great record, although I think Misplaced Childhood is a tad better.
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On most days, this is my favorite Marillion album.
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My second favorite Marillion album. That being said it's an A grade album!!
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yeah it was definitely a dark period for the band, and it got even darker after it came out through the time leading up to when Fish resigned.
I'm actually finally reading the Separated Out biography and I just finished the chapter that whole story is told. Basically Fish and the band were completely at odds. They wanted nothing to do with each other and couldn't stand being in the same room together. Looking back on it, it is sad to hear about, but I suppose it was meant to be and things happened how they did for a reason.
That being said, musically it's the band's greatest work with Fish and a record that is incredibly powerful. I get sucked in every time I listen to it now.
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Not heard Lalo's Tangerine Dream stuff, so I guess I should give that album a listen along with checking out Brave. Will add them to my list.
The Source isn't my favourite Ayreon album, but it's a good one. I wouldn't say I'm super into the Ayreon story stuff, but this added nicely to the lore, and musically I rather enjoyed the quite direct approach.
After that has been a whole run of albums that I've heard, but none of which I've loved.
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I heard this one for the first time in the summer of 2021 and thought it was really good. :tup
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Incommunicado is a crucial part of the story though... It describes the manic episodes, the false pedestals we put ourselves on in the course of addiction that only serve to fool us into thinking everything is OK. It's the mood of hitting the bar on payday and buying rounds of drinks like a king,only to be dead broke 2 days later.
Obviously I have much more to say about this album, but personal connection aside, it's hands down one of the most amazing lyrical products ever, the finest lyricist at the top of his game speaking to a very personal subject.
This. This is a top five all-time record for me, and one of those few records that has NEVER fallen out of favor. I'm just as likely to put it on today as I was back in 1987 when it came out. In fact, as I type this, a copy is sitting right to my right on my desk, and I just sent the "Warm Wet Circles" suite in a roulette last week.
And I STILL get new things, find new nuances in the lyrics. I honestly don't know how he did it, given all the turmoil around the band at the time (and as much as I love Fish, he never reached these heights again).
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And yeah, I never really figured out where White Russian stood in the story either.
The best I’ve come up with is that a writer/journalist might be concerned with covering those sorts of issues, and maybe digging into it is another part of what is feeding into Torch’s (Fish’s) personal crisis. The “racing the clouds home” section is epic though.
I think it fits nicely; Fish has spoken about this. My opinion only, but it's Torch, dealing with internal demons and internal issues, being divided (in terms of the realist versus the escapist) and trying to look outside and finding no comfort, no relief, no AFFIRMATION for his conscience. I think this is the key passage:
The more I see, the more I hear
The more I find fewer answers
I close my mind, I shout it out
But you know it's getting harder
To calm me down, to reason out
To come to terms with what it's all about
I'm uptight, can't sleep at night
I can't pretend every thing's alright
My ideals, my sanity
They seem to be deserting me
To stand up and fight
I know we have six million reasons
Fish has always had an eye to the world around him - Forgotten Sons, his period around Sunsets where he spent a fair amount of time talking about (and visiting) Bosnia - and this was him seeing the world was as fucked up as he is/was, and also realizing that to maintain some consistency with his own personal ideals he may have to reevaluate his own position.
But, in keeping with the bleakness of this record (and sort of contrary to how Fish ACTUALLY handled the situation over the next two years) Torch chose to 'race the clouds home' and escape, not face reality. ("Racing the clouds home" a sort of reference to running from an impending storm; think of the black and white portion of The Wizard Of Oz where they see the storm coming and run for shelter).
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And yeah, I never really figured out where White Russian stood in the story either.
The best I’ve come up with is that a writer/journalist might be concerned with covering those sorts of issues, and maybe digging into it is another part of what is feeding into Torch’s (Fish’s) personal crisis. The “racing the clouds home” section is epic though.
I think it fits nicely; Fish has spoken about this. My opinion only, but it's Torch, dealing with internal demons and internal issues, being divided (in terms of the realist versus the escapist) and trying to look outside and finding no comfort, no relief, no AFFIRMATION for his conscience. I think this is the key passage:
The more I see, the more I hear
The more I find fewer answers
I close my mind, I shout it out
But you know it's getting harder
To calm me down, to reason out
To come to terms with what it's all about
I'm uptight, can't sleep at night
I can't pretend every thing's alright
My ideals, my sanity
They seem to be deserting me
To stand up and fight
I know we have six million reasons
Fish has always had an eye to the world around him - Forgotten Sons, his period around Sunsets where he spent a fair amount of time talking about (and visiting) Bosnia - and this was him seeing the world was as fucked up as he is/was, and also realizing that to maintain some consistency with his own personal ideals he may have to reevaluate his own position.
But, in keeping with the bleakness of this record (and sort of contrary to how Fish ACTUALLY handled the situation over the next two years) Torch chose to 'race the clouds home' and escape, not face reality. ("Racing the clouds home" a sort of reference to running from an impending storm; think of the black and white portion of The Wizard Of Oz where they see the storm coming and run for shelter).
Yeah, that all makes sense. It’s also kind of similar to the end of Blind Curve, which initially comes a little out of nowhere in the scheme of Misplaced Childhood as well but fits upon further reflection.
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If it matters, I loved the record from the jump; I heard the "rock" version of Incommunicado before the album was released and was all in from the start. White Rissian was the one song I didn't get (not in terms of fitting in, but generally). The band was all invested in it, and there were a number of live versions put out (one as a b-side, if memory serves) and I didn't get that. But in recent years, it's really clicked and it's one of my favorites (still doesn't top the WWC/TTON suite or Slainté Mhath, though. :)
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If it matters, I loved the record from the jump; I heard the "rock" version of Incommunicado before the album was released and was all in from the start. White Rissian was the one song I didn't get (not in terms of fitting in, but generally). The band was all invested in it, and there were a number of live versions put out (one as a b-side, if memory serves) and I didn't get that. But in recent years, it's really clicked and it's one of my favorites (still doesn't top the WWC/TTON suite or Slainté Mhath, though. :)
My first experience was that first full spin, and man, did the Hotel Hobbies suite hit me like a fucking sledgehammer. Oddly enough, I really didn't make an emotional connection with it at the time, even though I was literally living that lifestyle, doing blow all night and feeling that sense of dread when you realized you partied till the sun came up. There's such a delicious sense of shame mixed with pride in it in the moment, and Fish captured it perfectly.... "and the sunlight flares, through a curtain's tear, shuffling its beams as if in nervous anticipation....of another day..."
Nobody ever did it better.... Pete came close in Quadrophenia.
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35. Affector / Harmageddon [2012]
(https://i.discogs.com/xtPA9UwSd6Q1GXZou_7fxf3F0if_p9IHo_s2JUVPVI4/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:599/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTExMTI4/MzM3LTE1MTAzOTE2/MjMtMjczNS5qcGVn.jpeg)
The spiritual/religious/Christian aspects don’t bother me at all, everything about this is soooo good. I used to spin this a ton - as evidenced by it's near Top-10 rating in my last Top 50. Alas, if I need me a Ted Leonard fix, I don't normally come to this album. Still, worth its inclusion here. To steel some of my commentary from 10 years ago ...
I’ll start this one off by saying what I said all throughout 2012... this is the best album of 2012 featuring Neal Morse and a former Dream Theater member (ie, this one is better than Flying Colors). Affector is a progressive rock/metal band founded by German guitar player Daniel Fries and Dutch drummer Collin Leijenaar (Neal Morse/Dilemma). Bass player Mike LePond (Symphony X) and vocalist Ted Leonard (Spock's Beard/Enchant/Thought Chamber) joined when they started working on this, the debut CD (and man-oh-man I hope there’s more to come). The best part of this album is the four special guests on keyboards: Alex Argento, Neal Morse, Jordan Rudess, and Derek Sherinian.
Harmagedon fuses dark apocalyptic scenery with themes of hope and light and features heavy riffs and fast solos, but also has lighter and more fragile moments where the soulful singing of Ted Leonard opens a wide spectrum of vocal harmonies. Harmagedon consists mainly out of parts of Biblical text put to music. The biblical theme’s in the lyrics are not overly prominent, but undeniably recognizable. It’s by no means a religious album, just based on those stories in the bible around the end of the world – so don’t get all ornery when you hear the lyrics of “salvation”, “God”, “glory” and “halleluiah”. The album starts with a great 2-part opening instrumental overture, then runs through the next 6 tracks catering mainly to the progressive tastes of this listener, stepping on the edge of metal, but never fully diving into full head-bang mode for too long. Lots of musical themes and melodies get reused, as should be the case with any good concept album.
When I met Ted in '14 on ProgNation at Sea, I asked if there was going to be any more Affector, and he kinda hinted there would/might be. Either he was bullshitting me, or it just never came together. Too bad, cuz this one is strong.
Fave Song - Harmagedon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsQU5SAe1n8)
P.S. I stumbled across acoustic versions of the final 2 tracks on YT late last year. They don't have Ted singing on them, so I'm not sure if maybe they are actually covers - thought they're posted on their official YT channel. Either way, they were pretty cool.
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What a shame—I was expecting Leonard Cohen.
You did send me a phenomenal song from this one though, way back when.
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Best Marillion album. Period.
This.
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Catching up.
That Absolute Priority song was excellent, added that album to my playlist so will give the whole thing a go.
Dawn of Veek Torr Eee is a great album. Rhapsody’s best. The riffs are just incredible despite the obvious cheese.
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Catching up.
That Absolute Priority song was excellent, added that album to my playlist so will give the whole thing a go.
Dawn of Veek Torr Eee is a great album. Rhapsody’s best. The riffs are just incredible despite the obvious cheese.
:tup :tup
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34. Teramaze / Her Halo [2015]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/5/2/8/7/528747.jpg?5630)
I swear this band is schizophrenic. Their first 2 albums are nothing like anything else they did. Very bizarre, tbh. Then, a 14-year hiatus, and they come back with something pretty strong in 2012. For me, though, they hit their stride 2 albums later with Her Halo. The opening and closing tunes are pure bliss, and prog-metal perfection imo. The 6 tracks in between are mostly top-shelf material, with a few "fillers" - again, not to be interpreted as duds or mediocre; it’s a matter of the songs being godly vs merely damned fucking good. I wished they'd stuck with lead singer Nathan Peachey. Teramaze founder Dean Wells has evolved to be a competent vocalist, but has not been able to deliver a performance anywhere near as strong as Nathan did on this release.
The story is about a travelling circus and a female trapeze artist, as displayed by the cover art depicting her "fall from grace" and the band incorporates those appropriate sound effects setting the scene as the tale unravels. Vocal melodies are just *chef's kiss* and my ears hear a perfect complement between Nathan's voice and Dean's music/writing that they haven't recaptured since (don't get me wrong, I love all of their subsequent releases, just none of them have any of the highs that exist on this album).
Fave Song - Delusions of Grandeur (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spFJvQrq5y4)
P.S. Just yesterday, they announced the return of Nathan to tag-team the vocal duties (at least, when they perform live ... we'll see what their next release has in store).
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Teramaze IS schizo. But this album I love, and Delusions Of Grandeur is one of the best songs released last decade.
And catching up a little, the Affector album is indeed awesome!!!
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This is the only Teramaze album I can really get into. It's excellent.
I own that Harmageddon too. It's very good, but for some reason the religious lyrics too it put me off slightly. Musically it's fantastic.
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Her Halo is indeed an excellent album.
I lost track of their more recent releases, and the whole thing with the vocalists is a bit puzzling. But I also enjoy their 2012 album, Anhedonia. Not a ton of variety, but it's a good example of very riff-y prog metal.
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33. Styx / Paradise Theater [1981]
(https://bestclassicbands.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/styx-paradise-full.jpg)
AD 1921 and Rockin the Paradise is an absolutely killer opening. I'll never tire of that "Best of Times" intro… only to explode into an absolutely bombastic opening. The whole album is just so theatrical – unsurprisingly so. To me, this album encapsulates everything that was awesome about the 70s-AOR era. As far as I'm concerned, this was peak Denis DeYoung. Just read PG’s writeup of it - I can't top it. https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=4997.msg2822155;topicseen#new
Fave Song - Rockin The Paradise (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFQLq_X643U) - bask in the glory of that cheesiness!!!
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Brilliant fucking album :hefdaddy
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Brilliant fucking album :hefdaddy
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I don't know much Styx but I know this one.
Brilliant fucking album :hefdaddy
Nothing to add.
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Played at every jr high and high school dances in 82.
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33. Styx / Paradise Theater [1981]
...
AD 1921 and Rockin the Paradise is an absolutely killer opening. I'll never tire of that "Best of Times" intro… only to explode into an absolutely bombastic opening. The whole album is just so theatrical – unsurprisingly so. To me, this album encapsulates everything that was awesome about the 70s-AOR era. As far as I'm concerned, this was peak Denis DeYoung. Just read PG’s writeup of it - I can't top it. https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=4997.msg2822155;topicseen#new
Fave Song - Rockin The Paradise (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFQLq_X643U) - bask in the glory of that cheesiness!!!
Dude...you spelled the name wrong! :lol
Thanks for the link to my write-up (I need to get back to those!). I highly recommend checking out the Half-Penny, Two-Penny live video to which I linked (do it with headphones). Also note Orbert's comment about this not being a "proper" concept album (in a similar vein to Genesis's Duke).
As I noted in my write-up, it was a GREAT return to form after Cornerstone.
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Never became a Styx fan and only know the radio stuff. Kind of surprised the only song on this one that I know by the titles is Too Much Time On My Hands, which I never particularly liked.
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Shit... I'm so used to spelling it the Dream Theater way! Though, I did spell it right in the OP. Also, not a 'proper' concept album??? Wiki says it is (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Theatre_(album)), and if Wiki says so, it must be!
A concept album, the album is a fictional account of Chicago's Paradise Theatre from its opening in 1928 to its closing in 1958 (and eventual abandonment), used as a metaphor for America's changing times from the late 1970s into the 1980s. (Dennis DeYoung, who envisioned and developed the entire concept, confirmed this in an episode of In the Studio with Redbeard about the making of the album.)
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Paradise Theatre is a definite classic.
Going back a couple of albums in your list, I listened to the whole Absolute Priority album this morning and really enjoyed it. :tup
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The only Styx I know is The Grand Illusion. It's a nice album.
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Shit... I'm so used to spelling it the Dream Theater way! Though, I did spell it right in the OP. Also, not a 'proper' concept album??? Wiki says it is (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Theatre_(album)), and if Wiki says so, it must be!
A concept album, the album is a fictional account of Chicago's Paradise Theatre from its opening in 1928 to its closing in 1958 (and eventual abandonment), used as a metaphor for America's changing times from the late 1970s into the 1980s. (Dennis DeYoung, who envisioned and developed the entire concept, confirmed this in an episode of In the Studio with Redbeard about the making of the album.)
With bands spelling it Theater or Theatre, you can't win. I remember Helloween put something in the CD booklet for the first Keepers CD about mixing up the spelling of the band's name with the song "Halloween."
It's definitely more of a loose concept than Scenes/TA or The Lamb or Tommy, but it's more so than I had known years ago. My write-up contained some comments relating to how Lonely People and Half-Penny tie in to the concept. However, I have no idea how Too Much Time, She Cares and Snowblind relate to the concept. The thing that really struck me was DDY's use of different piano sounds to represent the passage of time.
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32. The Chronicles Project / When Darkness Falls [2015]
(https://progressivemusicplanet.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/chroniclesproject.jpg?w=640)
I absolutely love the sci-fi / psychological thriller aspect of this … there’s more than a few albums that have this psycho-thriller theme. This is classic European melodic progressive power metal - "The immortal soul gatherers Twilight, Nightfall, and Sirelius came to Earth to collect the souls of the deceased and deliver them to the sleeping god Isaari. But an ancient pact and the murder of the mortal Mary threaten not only their mission, but also the equilibrium of forces and therefore the existence of mankind."
(https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/memecreator-cdn/media/__processed__/b37/template-im-in-0c6db91aec9c.jpg)
I think it was Seneca that gave them to me in a roulette, and Kade's response was perfect when he sampled the song ….. "I thought Kamelot was banned". No, it’s not Roy Khan you're hearing on the mic … but his vocal doppelganger, Vasilis Georgiou (who's also on Black Fate* and Sunburst). Along with Andi Kravljaca (Aeon Zen, Silent Call; Seventh Wonder's debut) , the moments voiced by those two are simply gorgeous. The highs are incredibly high. The lows … they’re not bad, but are the cause of this not being rated higher.
Fave Song - Forever (https://youtu.be/6p_eliw4PPo?list=OLAK5uy_mYkcmuRyKXfZo9yC-DhdYbit0XaLUY7Q4) (this is with the segue/intro ... which is kinda mandatory.
*Ironically, I got a song from them the exact same round of that Roulette.
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I think it was Seneca that gave them to me in a roulette, and Kade's response was perfect when he sampled the song ….. "I thought Kamelot was banned".
Jeez, I don't remember this at all, but sounds like me for sure! :lol
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Well, that one went over like a fart in an elevator. Kamelot fans, you should check that last one out. If that didn't stimulate any commentary, this one will likely get a lot of blank-Homer stare's as well.
31. Stargate / Beyond Space and Time [2012]
(https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b27396fe2677e705f00471fc5d50)
Every time I listen, I wonder why I don’t spin it more often. It's Italian Prog/power… which I'm not sure I've ever come across an Italian prog-power act that I haven't had a reason not to love. I could rhyme a dozen plus off the top of my head. This rated pretty well in my last Top 50.... pretty much the exact same spot (32), so I'll just replay that writeup...
So, I’m sitting in the airport in San Antonio back in the summer of 2012, and I get this Spotify/FB message from RJ telling me to check this album out. Sure, what the hell??, I got a few minutes to spare. I click play, and after song 2 (song 1 is an introductory setup), my response is “Mother of god that was spectacular”. If you want a real review of this, I can’t really do anything better than the good chef already said when he reviewed it for ladyobscure.com. So, I’ll simply paraphrase ... and by paraphrase, I mean copy-and-paste.
The instant the opener ends, the album jumps into high gear, and rarely lets up. With the exception of the one “ballad”, every song is done at an overly caffeinated pace, but in a textured and competently balanced way. This relentlessness is one of many highlights of this band, echoing earlier prog metal pioneers who paved the way. the maturity in their playing is very clear, these guys are familiar with each other’s boundaries, and push them at every opportunity. Keyboards are done as a background, a pacesetting and harmonic element. Bass is a lead and a rhythm element, a resounding heartbeat. Drums carry the beat, but with enough flair on the side to really stand out in a fantastic fashion. Vocalist Flavio Caricasole fits the music wonderfully, lows are done at a subdued tone, and most high notes are pure, though there are one or two that should have been re-thought.
Fave Song - Nothing's Forever (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXc3xg2bYm4)
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I have this and always enjoyed it. Been ages since I have heard it though.
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One of my first real 'discoveries' while at LO...I think it was maybe my fifth review, behind Black Tide, Lalu, Mandroid Echostar, and Mechanical Poet. I think this stood out as another example of 'holy shit there's so much more out there besides DT/Marillion/IQ' and held to the promise of what more music awaited discover.....needless to say as I'm currently miles deep in the J-metal rabbit hole after falling for years into respective holes of prog, prog metal, death metal, djent, etc etc... I severely underestimated what lay ahead.
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I might have to listen to this just based on the name, I love all of the Stargate shows.
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30. Royal Hunt / Paradox [1997]
(https://metal.academy/uploads/releases/b5587246b9b47dec5ed58383e473428f.jpg)
The thanks goes to Nick for introducing me to this outfit via his weekly When Prog and Power Unite radio listening sessions I had many of in the mid 2010s. I'm not really sure if RH is prog or melodic metal, but they are very heavy on the keyboard influence and delivery, that’s for sure, and this is peak Royal Hunt. DC Cooper is just great, has such a smooth and silky voice. The guitar melodies and solos are clean and crisp, and don’t really get ‘in your face’ and dominate the overall vibe - naturally with RH, that's left to André Andersen tickling the digital ivory's.
I don't come back to this terribly often, but every time I do (including right now as I write this up), I feel like this is rated exactly where it needs to be. It's just some excellent keyboard driven melodic metal. This is one of the albums that blurs the line between being a concept-vs-thematic album. At minimum, there is an underlying theme, and I've read some reviews that go into great depth as to the story being an examination of the pitfalls of religion and the philosophical paradox where by can violence be a justifiable action to protect the one's you love. Either way, the songs are clearly connected to each other, and there are some spoken word clips at the end of a couple of songs, suggesting an intention to tie everything together.
Fave Song - Tearing Down The World (https://youtu.be/JOMrRT4bMLw?t=38)
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I liked that Royal Hunt album.
Good list. I didn't read every page. Was the whole top 50 posted?
Did Pleasant Shade of Grey make it?
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I liked that Royal Hunt album.
Good list. I didn't read every page. Was the whole top 50 posted?
Did Pleasant Shade of Grey make it?
Hey Kris. Read the OP, the list (so far) is there. Stick around and you'll see what's still to come. ;)
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Sheesh, loads to catch up on.
The Affector was alright. Just about made my 7/10 mark but a little borderline. Like, in theory it was all perfectly fine but I found it a bit of a chore.
The Teramaze on the other hand might be my favourite discovery of this thread so far, possibly more so than the Odd Dimension album. Very rich and warm and full of great melodies and playing. I guess I'll have to check out their other stuff now.
The next two - Styx and the Chronicles Project - I already know and like. And of course I only know them thanks to you sending me their stuff in my roulettes.
Not heard the other two yet. I'll check them out although my expectations are tempered - what I've heard of Royal Hunt before hasn't grabbed me, and same goes for quite a lot (though not all) of Italian prog/power metal.
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This is awesome! Thanks for giving them all an honest go, Rich. :tup :tup
As for Teramaze, I've never listened (or found) their first two, so I can't give any guidance there. The rest, here's how I'd rank them.
I Wonder
And The Beauty They Perceive
Flight of the Wounded
Esoteric Symbolism
Anhedonia
Sonella Minore (only rated last, because it's just a 4-song EP... the title track is a 26-min beauty, though).
Royal Hunt has had 3 other vocalists over the years (Henrik Brockmann, John West, and Mark Boals), so if you don't know any DC Cooper fronted RH, you may find this a different experience. TBH, their last 3 albums haven't been terribly impressive.
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Marillion / Brave [1994]
(https://i.discogs.com/DpKejl-hLNWhjBreuD2eVP5pGIjCKRd69RM8A1YcFbg/rs:fit/g:sm/q:40/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI3OTgz/NTMtMTQ1MjAwMzc0/MC01NTM4LmpwZWc.jpeg)
RJ, please don’t hate me. It took a while for me to get into Marillion, although I'm not sure I can really say I'm *in* to them - they’re still largely a fringe act for me :blush. I very much enjoy everything they do when I listen to it, but they came into my musical world fairly late in life, and I just wasn’t wholly and fully captivated by them, and certainly not enough to go exploring their vast discography. I really should fire them up more often, but since I never listened to them in the 80s or 90s, or 00s I just don't find myself proactively reaching for them very often - and I feel shame.
Brave always seems to get rave reviews, generally lauded as one of the better/best Marillion albums, and I can hear why - progressive passages pop oriented catchy songs Marillion often graces their releases with, and some more traditional hard-rocking songs. This is an album with a nice bit of variety … atmospheric, dark, moody, emotive, stoic. Despite the nature and tone of the story (a schizophrenic, disillusioned girl, who commits suicide in jumping off a bridge) there are more than a few musical and lyrical moments that are loving, uplifting, optimistic, and inspiring.
This is another one that rates as low as it is because it was one of the albums I discovered as I was researching the litany of concept albums I wasn't already familiar with in 2021, so I've not spent a whole ton of dedicated time to/with it. Also, does Marillion make any albums that AREN'T concept albums?
Fave songs – Hard as Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOPbilh22ro)
I just want to chime in on this again.
I was never really that big on this album. I mean it's a good album, but it just didn't grab me like Marbles or Clutching or Afraid of Sunlight, etc etc. However I just listened to the live version, Made Again, all the way through again and I'm not sure what changed, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. So it's gone from merely good to great for me!
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Marillion / Brave [1994]
(https://i.discogs.com/DpKejl-hLNWhjBreuD2eVP5pGIjCKRd69RM8A1YcFbg/rs:fit/g:sm/q:40/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI3OTgz/NTMtMTQ1MjAwMzc0/MC01NTM4LmpwZWc.jpeg)
RJ, please don’t hate me. It took a while for me to get into Marillion, although I'm not sure I can really say I'm *in* to them - they’re still largely a fringe act for me :blush. I very much enjoy everything they do when I listen to it, but they came into my musical world fairly late in life, and I just wasn’t wholly and fully captivated by them, and certainly not enough to go exploring their vast discography. I really should fire them up more often, but since I never listened to them in the 80s or 90s, or 00s I just don't find myself proactively reaching for them very often - and I feel shame.
Brave always seems to get rave reviews, generally lauded as one of the better/best Marillion albums, and I can hear why - progressive passages pop oriented catchy songs Marillion often graces their releases with, and some more traditional hard-rocking songs. This is an album with a nice bit of variety … atmospheric, dark, moody, emotive, stoic. Despite the nature and tone of the story (a schizophrenic, disillusioned girl, who commits suicide in jumping off a bridge) there are more than a few musical and lyrical moments that are loving, uplifting, optimistic, and inspiring.
This is another one that rates as low as it is because it was one of the albums I discovered as I was researching the litany of concept albums I wasn't already familiar with in 2021, so I've not spent a whole ton of dedicated time to/with it. Also, does Marillion make any albums that AREN'T concept albums?
Fave songs – Hard as Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOPbilh22ro)
I just want to chime in on this again.
I was never really that big on this album. I mean it's a good album, but it just didn't grab me like Marbles or Clutching or Afraid of Sunlight, etc etc. However I just listened to the live version, Made Again, all the way through again and I'm not sure what changed, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. So it's gone from merely good to great for me!
It's funny because I found the Made Again performance/recording to be disappointing, and in general I struggle with Brave as a live piece (aside from a few spots that translate well live). It's more of a studio thing for me (as is Marbles).
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Marillion / Brave [1994]
(https://i.discogs.com/DpKejl-hLNWhjBreuD2eVP5pGIjCKRd69RM8A1YcFbg/rs:fit/g:sm/q:40/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI3OTgz/NTMtMTQ1MjAwMzc0/MC01NTM4LmpwZWc.jpeg)
RJ, please don’t hate me. It took a while for me to get into Marillion, although I'm not sure I can really say I'm *in* to them - they’re still largely a fringe act for me :blush. I very much enjoy everything they do when I listen to it, but they came into my musical world fairly late in life, and I just wasn’t wholly and fully captivated by them, and certainly not enough to go exploring their vast discography. I really should fire them up more often, but since I never listened to them in the 80s or 90s, or 00s I just don't find myself proactively reaching for them very often - and I feel shame.
Brave always seems to get rave reviews, generally lauded as one of the better/best Marillion albums, and I can hear why - progressive passages pop oriented catchy songs Marillion often graces their releases with, and some more traditional hard-rocking songs. This is an album with a nice bit of variety … atmospheric, dark, moody, emotive, stoic. Despite the nature and tone of the story (a schizophrenic, disillusioned girl, who commits suicide in jumping off a bridge) there are more than a few musical and lyrical moments that are loving, uplifting, optimistic, and inspiring.
This is another one that rates as low as it is because it was one of the albums I discovered as I was researching the litany of concept albums I wasn't already familiar with in 2021, so I've not spent a whole ton of dedicated time to/with it. Also, does Marillion make any albums that AREN'T concept albums?
Fave songs – Hard as Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOPbilh22ro)
I just want to chime in on this again.
I was never really that big on this album. I mean it's a good album, but it just didn't grab me like Marbles or Clutching or Afraid of Sunlight, etc etc. However I just listened to the live version, Made Again, all the way through again and I'm not sure what changed, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. So it's gone from merely good to great for me!
You're welcome!!! :lol
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Made again is decent... It's the performance from the 2013 Marillion Weekend that's hands down brutal. Seriously some of the best live video I know of, H is at the top of his game in that one.
https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM (https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM)
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Made again is decent... It's the performance from the 2013 Marillion Weekend that's hands down brutal. Seriously some of the best live video I know of, H is at the top of his game in that one.
https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM (https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM)
Wow, that was fantastic!
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Made again is decent... It's the performance from the 2013 Marillion Weekend that's hands down brutal. Seriously some of the best live video I know of, H is at the top of his game in that one.
https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM (https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM)
Wow, that was fantastic!
+1
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Made again is decent... It's the performance from the 2013 Marillion Weekend that's hands down brutal. Seriously some of the best live video I know of, H is at the top of his game in that one.
https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM (https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM)
Yep, that performance is tremendous. That’s one of the songs on Braves that plays better live. It’s the atmospheric bits that don’t translate so well.
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Made again is decent... It's the performance from the 2013 Marillion Weekend that's hands down brutal. Seriously some of the best live video I know of, H is at the top of his game in that one.
https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM (https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM)
Looks like I'm buying a new bluray :lol
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Sorry man.. You can charge me for it :lol
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Made again is decent... It's the performance from the 2013 Marillion Weekend that's hands down brutal. Seriously some of the best live video I know of, H is at the top of his game in that one.
https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM (https://youtu.be/pQ74CwXcliM)
Yep, that performance is tremendous. That’s one of the songs on Braves that plays better live. It’s the atmospheric bits that don’t translate so well.
Yep, I don’t disagree…
The Great Escape is such an amazing song to start with. It nails all of the emotional bits big time and doesn’t over-do it. H is great on it, and Rothery’s solos are sublime.
I hadn’t seen the performance Lonestar posted. I might have to get myself the Blu ray too ;)
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Forgot to update yesterday, so here's a deuce!
29. Transatlantic / The Whirlwind [2009]
(https://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/337/cover_374273062018_r.jpg)
What do I really have to say here? As I look at my list, this is the first of four albums I'm practically certain everyone following has heard (or at least would be utterly shocked if anyone was like 'I should check this out'). Anyone gonna prove me wrong? Raise your hand; post in shame. Neal is such a prolific musician, lyricist, and performer, the in-your-face religious elements of his music don't matter to even the most staunch of Atheists or Agnostics (which is where I fall to some degree). You know a concept album is in the final boss level tier when the band spends an entire tour performing it in its entirety, with a DVD release, and that live version is as good if not better than the studio (spoiler alert: a couple more of those kinds of albums still to come). It flows effortlessly, and reprises so many of the best sounding moments. I love it, but it can be a LOT to digest in one sitting, and usually feels every bit of its 77 minute runtime. It can be a chore to listen to sometimes.
Fave song - Is It Really Happening (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYXQYB95AuQ)
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28. Hemina / Venus; Nebulae [2016; 2014]
(https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.progarchives.com%2Fprogressive_rock_discography_covers%2F5774%2Fcover_1015472019_r.jpg&hash=4779a4e669613cf0658a2907925ef1eea111c4f1) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.progarchives.com%2Fprogressive_rock_discography_covers%2F5774%2Fcover_65014472019_r.jpg&hash=4b4dd00f9c74f99dee2244bb2c76a2d093f360c5)
I had to cheat here a bit. As I was finalizing this list, I'd originally had these two albums (parts 2 and 3 of a trilogy of albums) as separate entries. But upon realizing I'd omitted one very important album, I decided I'd collapse these into one entry. Venus is the better album, but Nebulae is top notch, with just a bit of "filler".
It's clear I love me some Aussie prog-metal. Both albums have a TON of djent-y guitar riffs… the first 10 seconds or Venus will grab you by the nads and doesn’t really ever let go. There's lots of variety and diversity here – sax, duets, ballads
Venus was pretty damned near my AOTY in 2016, and it’s aged quite a bit better than 2 of the one’s those that I’d initially rated ahead of it back then. Both have quite a few great duets here too… naturally given the concept (relationships - with Nebulae being a story about apathy and meaninglessness giving way to love and fullness of joy; Venus touching on trust and infidelity, and a cheater in a relationship later becoming the victim)
Fave Song - Moonlight Bride (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SlW3cWrrCk) (for the sax!)
Fave Song - Loss (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gcM6TIjLXo)
Edit... I fully expect these to get little/no attention given the other entry today. Oh well. I hope they don't get overlooked
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The Whirlwind is a classic, such a good, mature album.
Hemina: I ended up checking out all their discography after you sent them in my roulette, it's not bad, in fact it's perfectly alright but it's not something I long to return to. Soulmate is probably the only song I really love.
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The Whirlwind is a classic, such a good, mature album.
Hemina: I ended up checking out all their discography after you sent them in my roulette, it's not bad, in fact it's perfectly alright but it's not something I long to return to. Soulmate is probably the only song I really love.
Soulmates is probably song 1b for me off of Nebulae. I've used it a few times in roulettes.
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Transatlantic never really did much for me...solid music for sure..but like all Neal Morse projects, just ain't my thing.
I'll be that guy, heard the album maybe once or twice but never really revisited.
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Forgot to update yesterday, so here's a deuce!
29. Transatlantic / The Whirlwind [2009]
(https://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/337/cover_374273062018_r.jpg)
What do I really have to say here? As I look at my list, this is the first of four albums I'm practically certain everyone following has heard (or at least would be utterly shocked if anyone was like 'I should check this out'). Anyone gonna prove me wrong? Raise your hand; post in shame. Neal is such a prolific musician, lyricist, and performer, the in-your-face religious elements of his music don't matter to even the most staunch of Atheists or Agnostics (which is where I fall to some degree). You know a concept album is in the final boss level tier when the band spends an entire tour performing it in its entirety, with a DVD release, and that live version is as good if not better than the studio (spoiler alert: a couple more of those kinds of albums still to come). It flows effortlessly, and reprises so many of the best sounding moments. I love it, but it can be a LOT to digest in one sitting, and usually feels every bit of its 77 minute runtime. It can be a chore to listen to sometimes.
Fave song - Is It Really Happening (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYXQYB95AuQ)
Yea, I've never heard this album
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Top 5 album of all time for me. So glad I saw it in full at Morsefest this past year.
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Transatlantic never really did much for me...solid music for sure..but like all Neal Morse projects, just ain't my thing.
I'll be that guy, heard the album maybe once or twice but never really revisited.
Well then, you're *not* that guy if you actually have heard it. ;)
I should've put the caveat in there of "except Tim". I know TA ain't his thing.
Luke ... :omg:
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Honestly the only reason I listened to it was because of the April Fools theme. :lol
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The first two Transatlantic albums were life changing for me. I’ve said this before, but by the time they reformed for The Whirlwind I had lost interest in the music Neal was making, and I avoided The Whirlwind because I didn’t think there was any way it would live up to its predecessors. I only got it about 2-3 years ago, and it has its moments, but on the whole it doesn’t really do anything for me.
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I like The Whirlwind but I think it's too long and too bloated to be really great. The first two Transatlantic records and a lot of other Neal Morse related music is miles ahead of this.
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I like The Whirlwind but I think it's too long and too bloated to be really great. The first two Transatlantic records and a lot of other Neal Morse related music is miles ahead of this.
I don’t disagree.
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That's kind of you :D
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I gave The Whirlwind a spin around the time it came out and I didn't like it. TA is a tough band for me to get into, there are moments where I really like their music but those moments are just too far apart. I gave Is It Really Happening a spin and it was better than I remember (to be fair I remember very little) but I'll give it a listen sometime this week.
I think Hermina is the most interesting thing you've posted (out of the albums I haven't heard). I love the sax and I'm all about the riffage.
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I gave The Whirlwind a spin around the time it came out and I didn't like it. TA is a tough band for me to get into, there are moments where I really like their music but those moments are just too far apart. I gave Is It Really Happening a spin and it was better than I remember (to be fair I remember very little) but I'll give it a listen sometime this week.
I think Hermina is the most interesting thing you've posted (out of the albums I haven't heard). I love the sax and I'm all about the riffage.
If you dig that riff, you’ll love the rest of Venus.
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Awesome, that will be the next album I listen to.
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Those Hemina albums are great!
The Whirlwind was a bit of a letdown after the first 2 Transatlantic albums.
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Hemina is an obvious hole in my Aussie repertoire. I may have heard them, you may actually sent them to me in a roulette. I'll check them out.
I may own the Whirlwind. I have no idea why though. Never taken to this band. Maybe I'll revisit it one day.
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Maybe I have heard them before. I didn't like those songs at all. Definitely not my thing anymore.
When I thought they were sent to me in a roulette, I think I was thinking Hibria, sent by Tim.
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I’m fairly surprised at the luke-warm reception for The Whirlwind. Not surprised that Hemina didn’t click for you, Kade. Not to worry, you’ll swoon for the next entry.
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Updates from me.
I found Stargate a bit meh. Not bad, just nothing that grabbed me at all.
Royal Hunt was pretty good though. I'd only heard the odd song here and there before, no idea which era they'd been from but I had an idea of what to expect and this was definitely more engaging. Still wouldn't say I love it, but the album had quite a lot of good hooks and cool ideas.
The Whirlwind is amazing, definitely TA's best album.
Those Hemina albums are great too, and thank you for introducing me to them in one of my roulettes. The other two albums of theirs didn't grab me so much, but those two are excellent.
Also, I'm enjoying digging further into Teramaze who seem like a really great band. I might like I Wonder even more than Her Halo, and am currently on my first listen to Esoteric Symbolism which I'm very much enjoying too. Each of these albums has a slightly different vibe and style to them, which also keeps things interesting. Like, while it's still prog metal, I Wonder definitely has a slightly more "alt-prog" sound with influences from post-hardcore and I think they do a great job of balancing the modern and classic prog metal stylings on it.
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I know for me, The Whirlwind was good not great, until I listened to it one day while painting, not long after my dad died. It really pressed some buttons and will always be special to me for that.
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27. W.A.S.P. / The Crimson Idol [1992]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3/9/8/0/3980.jpg)
Goddamn, thank you Kade. Arena of Pleasure was my gateway to all things W.A.S.P, and fuck me hard for not discovering them in the 80s when I should have. Metal from that era didn't have a lot of intricate concept albums, and this is a fucking golden one. Clocking in at just under an hour, it's a detailed story with a long list of characters, which boils down to the ups and downs of being a rock star. Perhaps metaphoric for the band? Maybe, maybe not. No matter, it starts out frantic as fuck with combo of Invisible Boy / Arena of Pleasure. The quality of writing on this album is miles ahead of anything W.A.S.P. / Blackie had done before this. Good as it may have been, there wasn't a lot of depth to much of their earlier compositions - their earlier albums were littered with some 'Killer', but also a lot of "filler" (in the traditional sense). Every song on here has a purpose and most have a memorable chorus. 'Murders In The New Morgue' has a chorus with hooks as melodic as any traditional AOR act from the 70s/80s could have written, and songs like 'I Am One' has a catchy chant and chorus that would stand toe-to-toe with anything out of 80s-era Iron Maiden. Not all the songs are your typical fist in the air, guitars up to 11, :2metal:. In fact the album is far from that. Many songs have a short acoustic interlude, accompanied with some ballad work. Combine all that with a simple forward moving plot, this is an amazingly enjoyable listen, sprinkled with reoccurring themes, verses, and lyrics that pop up all around the album - putting it on par with all of the other great albums on this list.
RJ, stop rolling your eyes and give it a try.
Fave Song - Arena of Pleasure (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b6i9LMkRnU)
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This is ranked far too low. From memory was number 16 or 15 in my top 50. It's elite.
The quality of writing on this album is miles ahead of anything W.A.S.P. / Blackie had done before this. Good as it may have been, there wasn't a lot of depth to much of their earlier compositions - their earlier albums were littered with some 'Killer', but also a lot of "filler" (in the traditional sense).
This album was my gateway to WASP too and it took me a while to branch out and explore the rest, so while I can see where you are coming from and pretty much agree, I think this statement is being unfair on The Headless Children. That's a wonderful album that I know some rate higher than TCI.
TCI however for me, will always be their pinnacle.
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Fair point re: THC. I was thinking more about the first 3 albums. In fact, I think I'll play THC right now to remind myself how good it is!
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Fair point re: THC. I was thinking more about the first 3 albums. In fact, I think I'll play THC right now to remind myself how good it is!
The debut IMO is so much better than Circus and Last Command, but I kinda knew what you meant though. The debut is probably top 3 WASP for me. Although, on any given day, THC, WASP, KFD and DFTW could all take two spots in that top 3.
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Top 5 album of all time for me. So glad I saw it in full at Morsefest this past year.
Top 5? It’s the third best Transatlantic album.
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Top 5 album of all time for me. So glad I saw it in full at Morsefest this past year.
Top 5? It’s the third best Transatlantic album.
TASTESTM!!!
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Fair point re: THC. I was thinking more about the first 3 albums. In fact, I think I'll play THC right now to remind myself how good it is!
The debut IMO is so much better than Circus and Last Command, but I kinda knew what you meant though. The debut is probably top 3 WASP for me. Although, on any given day, THC, WASP, KFD and DFTW could all take two spots in that top 3.
Agreed ........debut , Headless and Crimson Idol are a cut above.
When it came time for my DTF Top 50 many years back I went for Headless Children but Crimson Idol and debut were very close.
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Ok.. I gave the wasp album a sample. There's some good stuff there, definitely not in my wheelhouse though. Also, not sure if it's because it's dated to me or if it's a shit Spotify mix, but the sound on what I sampled was pretty muddled.
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Yeah that's probably the most interesting thing I've heard from W.A.S.P. and better than I expected. Still not entirely my thing really, but I'm glad I checked it out.
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:fistpump:
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Fair point re: THC. I was thinking more about the first 3 albums. In fact, I think I'll play THC right now to remind myself how good it is!
The debut IMO is so much better than Circus and Last Command, but I kinda knew what you meant though. The debut is probably top 3 WASP for me. Although, on any given day, THC, WASP, KFD and DFTW could all take two spots in that top 3.
Agreed ........debut , Headless and Crimson Idol are a cut above.
When it came time for my DTF Top 50 many years back I went for Headless Children but Crimson Idol and debut were very close.
Yeah, if I had to make a definite call, these would be the top 3.
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Fair point re: THC. I was thinking more about the first 3 albums. In fact, I think I'll play THC right now to remind myself how good it is!
The debut IMO is so much better than Circus and Last Command, but I kinda knew what you meant though. The debut is probably top 3 WASP for me. Although, on any given day, THC, WASP, KFD and DFTW could all take two spots in that top 3.
Agreed ........debut , Headless and Crimson Idol are a cut above.
When it came time for my DTF Top 50 many years back I went for Headless Children but Crimson Idol and debut were very close.
This. Crimson Idol made my top 50
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Just catching up, sorry.
Royal Hunt - not my favourite by them, that would be Fear, but a pretty good album. I’m not a huge DC Cooper fan.
Transatlantic- probably my favourite from them. Excellent.
Brave - bored me shitless back in the day, and I saw them do it live on the tour and almost fell asleep. A recent play through was better but not a favourite from the band.
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Work has been a bit of a bear the past couple of days. Double update tomorrow morning.
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Whatever you say Deadeye....
:neverusethis:
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Sure must be awful driving to work. ;D
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Ok.. I gave the wasp album a sample. There's some good stuff there, definitely not in my wheelhouse though. Also, not sure if it's because it's dated to me or if it's a shit Spotify mix, but the sound on what I sampled was pretty muddled.
I’m sure if it was Japanese girls you’d be cool with it.
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26. Threshold / Legends of the Shires [2017]
(https://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/333/cover_2543112392017_r.jpg)
I came into this expecting not to like it. I wasn’t much of a fan of Glynn’s voice/style on Psycadelicatessen, and thought it was kinda shady the way the band had parted with Wilson (I'm glad they all reconciled though). Boy, what a mistake I’d made. I was blown away by this with the opening tracks after the intro, and dare I say they probably made the right call. I’m not sure I can hear Wilson’s voice doing this album. The sound is distinctly Threshold – crunchy/catchy riffs, pounding rhythms, warm keyboards, and great hooks/melodies all over the place… the formula is all there and I love it, and Glynn's sound complements it beautifully. But it's not Threshold by the numbers - the album is filled with variety, with no two songs taking the same path, or sounding samey whatsoever.
I'm not totally sold on the story - sort of dual story with lyrics that are as much about a nation trying to find its place in the world as it is about a man trying to find his place in society, which provides an interesting balance between the personal and political themes; comparing and contrasting the broken promises of a man with the broken promises of a nation. While there are clear political themes, the lyrics don’t cross the line into the sort of preachiness that’s likely to turn off listeners who don't want politics in their music. Seeing many of these tracks performed at PPUSA was an absolute treat.
Minor gripe - it didn't really need to be a double album at 82 minutes! I'm sure there was 2 minutes in there they could have trimmed somewhere to make this fit on a single disc for those that like physical media. It doesn't bother me though, as I haven't bought much physical media in the last 5 years, so digital only works just fine.
Fave Song - Trust The Process (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1UHjP7MQrk)
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Great album, my favourite is Small Dark Lines. They sure know how to write choruses.
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I was lucky to see them tour for this album on Rosfest. Really enjoyed the new songs from this album.
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Great album, my favourite is Small Dark Lines. They sure know how to write choruses.
SDL is 1b for me. It's a great tune as well.
I was lucky to see them tour for this album on Rosfest. Really enjoyed the new songs from this album.
Same... at PPUSA '19.
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Great album!
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Very solid album :tup
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Good album, and I would agree that Glynn might be a better fit than Wilson at this point, which I think the new album cements that POV.
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Good album, and I would agree that Glynn might be a better fit than Wilson at this point, which I think the new album cements that POV.
agreed
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The Crimson Idol and Legends of the Shires. 2 amazing albums there :metal
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Ok... 1/2 way now.
25. TSO / Christmas Eve and Other Stories [1996]
(https://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/819/cover_122882912008.JPG)
For some ungodly reason, I forgot this one when I first made my list. Maybe because it falls in that 'grey' area of not *exactly* fitting into my definition of "concept" album, but fuck it, it's just too damned good not to include. I hope most of the Americans reading this have had a chance at some point in the last 15 years to see a TSO concert (I think my first was back in 2006). It's quite a spectacle. Haven't gone in about 7-8 years, but once you've seen a few of these, you aren't going to see much new. Another one I'm going to plagiarize from my Top 50v1:
Born from Savatage after Christmas Eve, Sarajevo 12-24 garnered some mainstream attention in the mid 90s, TSO’s first release is a concept telling a story of an Angel coming to earth, searching for something good in humanity, and witnesses a child trying to find her way home for Christmas. With a blend of rock, classical, orchestral, prog, and metal, this album is not just to be listened to at Christmas time. Mixed into the story are 4 acoustic Christmas themed instrumentals, and 4 blazing instrumentals with melodies that will give you chills while demonstrating the proficiency with which the band blends rock and orchestra together. Arranging familiar Christmas songs into the story is done magnificently. Seven different lead vocalists grace the album, giving a different and unique experience for the listener. Vocally, it’s got so much range – harmonizations, choirs, opera, duets, gospel and inspirational solo’s. Several songs give me goose bumps every time I hear them – Old City Bar and This Christmas Day in particular.
And this album is so good, you need not wait for December to play it.
Fave Song - Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrlXfOw5X_A) (skip to 2:35 if you don't care for the narration).
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Decent album the Threshold. Didn't have a real last effect, but I am a pretty casual Threshold guy.
Even though I love Savatage, I could never dig anything from TSO.
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Fave Song - Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrlXfOw5X_A) (skip to 2:35 if you don't care for the narration).
Backs up TSO for me when the best song is the Savatage one.
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Man, I'd forgotten how early that came out. Savatage was one of the first prog metal bands I discovered after DT in '99, and somehow my memory was telling me that TSO didn't come out until after then, but I guess it just took slightly longer to find them. I remember my mother somehow coming across that song, and I was amused that she liked it, given that it was Savatage members, and the heaviest thing she liked prior was Journey. I think they single-handedly tricked a bunch of people into enjoying some heavy metal.
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Dead Winter Dead by Savatage should be in this slot. Just sayin.
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agreed.
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Dead Winter Dead by Savatage should be in this slot. Just sayin.
Sign up and do your own list then! :biggrin:
Savatage vocals just never clicked with me.
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Safe to say I agree with them too. ;D
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24. Epysode / Fantasmagoria [2013]
(https://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/6826/cover_422232492013_r.jpg)
This one is Part 2 in what’s supposed to be a 3-part story that is a doozy of a psycho-analytical thriller - and 10 years later, we're still waiting for part 3 (I seem to recall much of the vocals were recorded in 2014, but Sam Arkan had some terrible health issues for the better part of the last decade… although did recently confirm on FB when I questioned him, that Epysode is not entirely dead). On this one though, yours truly (and at least a couple other DTFrs) are in the liner notes as pre-buyers, and I'll be right there again when Part 3 is announced.
Sam and partner-in-crime Julien Spreutals (keyboards) assembled a killer musical cast, and recruited a whole new set of vocalists over the first album. Just take a look at the line up and you’ll know you’re in for a treat: bombastic keys, slashing guitar riffs, thundering bass, thrilling drums and top notch vocals delivered by an impressive ensemble led by the distinctive voice of Tom Englund (Evergrey) featuring on 5 songs. Also featuring Matt Marinelli and Ida Haukland, this album was also my gateway to Borealis and Triosphere, and of course further cemented my love of Evergrey. Amazing riffage, fantastic solos from Simone Mularoni (DGM, Sunstorm and a metric shit-ton of guest spots and sessions appearances)
All 5 vocalists mesh together extremely well, delivering combinations of all, whether it is two or three vocalists on each track, mixing it up musically to bring out the best of their abilities. 14 tracks coming in just over an hour, it is paced perfectly and lasts exactly as long as it needs to (:eyebrows:). Musically, it's metal af with some massive and aggressive riffage coming out of Arkan and Mularoni, pounding rhythms (thanks to Mike LePond of Sympnony X) and double-bass beats (courtesy of Léo Margarit from POS), a handful of softer moments, mid-paced tracks with powerful and catchy melodies, prominent bass and just the right amount of keys/synths and orchestral elements, and a couple of appropriately placed ballads.
Fave Song - Forgotten Symphony (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z76ZK4AZFrw)
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Yeah, this is a good one. You introduced me to this band and this is probably my fav out of the two, easily. Lots of great stuff going on here. I haven't listened to it in a long time, should rectify that. Simone really rips up on some of these too as you mentioned. Some elite level soloing.
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Slight delay - thanks bronchitis!
23. Trond Holter / Swing of Death [2015]
(https://www.metalexpressradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/JORN-LANDE-TROND-HOLTER-Dracula-Swing-Of-Death-678x604.jpg.webp)
I mean c’mon… it’s Jorn Fucking Lande (just giving Tim the opportunity to meme his response). Jorn Lande has always been a force to be reckoned with in the world of heavy metal, often sounding like the bastard love child of Ronnie James Dio and David Coverdale. I'm really surprised I didn't put him in my Top 25 vocalists list.
I would have to say that this album is the most unique on this list in terms of story AND the music. Virtually every single track has its own distinct sound and style. There is an amazing fusion of styles across the board – there is nothing ‘samey’ about this anywhere. Is it Rock? Yes. Is it Metal? Yes. Is it Proggy? Yes. Is there some Jazz and Swing? Do I hear Spanish influenced flamenco guitar playing? Hell yes to all of it. All in all, it’s both metal AND groovy af.
Hands of God starts out with Jorn sounding as menacing as he always does while laying out the framework of the story. There really isn't much to it musically, but it is an excellent way to help people on their journey through the concept. Enough albums are labeled as a concept and don't really begin the story very well. Jorn and Trond are well on their way even in the introduction in portraying a storyline that can easily be followed. It comes with a lot of usual conventions typical to Jorn's handiwork, namely rocking riffs with a heavy edge, plenty of gravely and sleazy shouts out of the helmsman with maybe a hint of soul, and a mid to upper mid-tempo feel that inspires a fair amount of foot tapping. However, it also comes with a fair amount of Neo-classical detailing, acoustic guitar and piano interludes like an occasional visit to the ball in between a bloody feast, Although their are some darker elements to it, its actually a pretty upbeat album. Swing of Death is actually a pretty accurate title for the album and is very descriptive of the music. The title track is incredible, although a heavy metal song it has a bit of a swing element to it that kind of gives you the illusion that you're in a time centuries ago, dressed elegantly, and ballroom dancing with a beautiful maiden - or four. There are frequent appearances of amazing backing vocal contributions (and duets) from Lena Fløitmoen (I'd never heard of her before, and don't know if she's done anything meaningful since) that accompanies Jorn's power voice quite nicely.
The follow up Vlad the Impaler (with Nils Rue of Pagan's Mind on the mic) was pretty damned good as well, but not on the same level as this one.
Fave Song - Queen of the Dead (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccl1yN-dKQ8)
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I mean c’mon… it’s Jorn Fucking Lande (just giving Tim the opportunity to meme his response).
The picture of Jorn he always uses is actually from this album, I think it's from the music video of Walking on Water.
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I mean c’mon… it’s Jorn Fucking Lande (just giving Tim the opportunity to meme his response).
The picture of Jorn he always uses is actually from this album, I think it's from the music video of Walking on Water.
Too funny!
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For later day Jorn, this is a surprisingly great album. Holter rips on some of these solos too.
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Wasn't expecting to see this appear but definitely approve. :metal
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I mean c’mon… it’s Jorn Fucking Lande (just giving Tim the opportunity to meme his response).
The picture of Jorn he always uses is actually from this album, I think it's from the music video of Shitting on Water.
Nice!
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I mean c’mon… it’s Jorn Fucking Lande (just giving Tim the opportunity to meme his response).
The picture of Jorn he always uses is actually from this album, I think it's from the music video of Shitting on Water.
Nice!
:clap:
Well played, my friend.
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Wasn't expecting to see this appear but definitely approve. :metal
You sir need to post more.
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Wasn't expecting to see this appear but definitely approve. :metal
You sir need to post more.
This.
Nice to see you popping in here, Dave. :tup
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22. Consortium Project / V:Species [2011]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3/0/9/4/309451.jpg?0204)
Fun fact … Ian Parry (founder, writer, composer of this pentalogy of albums), was a member of Arjen's first band - Vengeance - in the 80s. Originally, this was just supposed to be a trilogy, but then blossomed into a pentalogy due to the positive reception, and plenty of writing ideas still in his head. The dude is pretty prolific - at least in terms of quantity - Species was his twenty-first album in twenty-five years
Best and easiest if I just quote my original writeup around this pentalogy - which was #6 in my Top 50v2. I don't rate it that highly anymore, as I just don't spend as much time with them as I did when that list was being composed.
Offering to do an album review here and there for LadyObscure had its perks. One of them was the introduction to Ian Parry. I thought I’d heard of his band Elegy before, but I had not. So, when Nem linked me to Enemy Within, within the first 30 seconds, I instantly knew I had to check this out. Upon finding out that this was a 5-album concept, I was floored. Then I listened to them... and was blown away. These five albums (starting with Criminals and Kings released in 1999, and concluding with Species mid-2011) weave a complex and very intricate tale from what could be a parallel universe, or how ours turns out depending on how a variety of global-reaching cultural, social and economic issues unfold. Each album builds upon the story of the previous album, and takes the listener through centuries of events of how mankind evolves:
I: Criminals and Kings is a reflection on our current generation
II: Continuum in Extremis picks up a century later, with mankind split by our genders – men living in asylum, women evolving to a higher plane, and dominating society
III: Terra Incognita …. after the depletion of the ozone, while women have secluded themselves in a biosphere, its safety is threatened, and a search for a new world begins
IV: Children of Tomorrow recounts how this society started on the path it did, and an unspeakable truth hidden for generations
V: Species (the final chapter of this epic tale), has a single scholar searching for mankind’s true origins, and ends up “on a final epic journey into outer space met with dire consequences the world has never known.”
Overall, these 5 albums are filled with a fantastic blend of guitar and keyboards… neither grabbing one's attention over the other for too long. There are little guitar and keyboard licks and wails placed appropriately against the main riffs and melodies which had me listening to the songs over and over again just to try and catch what I missed the first (and second, and third…) time around. Parry’s singing portrays all the right emotions - anger, rage, pain, fear - to pull you in to (and through) the storyline. Combined with the fact he has excellent range with some fabulous screams and long notes, as well as the emergence of some excellent female leads starting in the third album, the strength of the vocals alone were quite an unexpected surprise.
Over the course of these five albums Parry was able to draw on some very household names in prog for these albums - Stephan Lill (Vanden Plas, guitars), Casey Grillo (Kamelot drums), Kris Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation, bass), Markus Teske (Red Circuit, Keyboards), Arjen Lucassen, Thomas Youngblood (Kamelot, guitars), Günter Wernö (Vanden Plas, Keyboards), Patrice Guers (Rhapsody, bass), Ivar de Graff (Within Temptation, drums), and some fantastic (albeit unknown) female vocalists. If you’re a fan of ANY of these bands, I highly suggest checking at least some of this series out. Any Ayreon fans should also check this out, as it’s very much similar to his compositions, and that style of musical and lyrical writing.
Fave Song - Enemy Within (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqFwMVO9Sv4) - cheesy-assed video; excellent song.
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Is that a Roger Dean cover?
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I have one album from this project......from memory it was pretty good.
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Is that a Roger Dean cover?
I have no freakin clue.
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I have no idea what a great majority of these albums are, but was pleasantly surprised to be quite familiar with Swing of Death. It regularly gets listened to, at least on shuffle, and I love it. The style is weird and cool and the girl is amazing along with Jorn. Obviously the lyrics are cheesier than a Frenchman's artery, but they don't bug me at all.
Edit: They did a follow up with Nils?!?! ON IT!
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Aha, an artist I wasn't sure was on DTF's radar, though the Arjen parallels make it an easier sell. I have sampled a bit of the Consortium Project albums, but don't know them that well. The one that I discovered him through was actually his solo album Visions, because Judith Rijveld, one of my favorite vocalists, from Kingfisher Sky, does a small amount of lead vocals on a couple tracks, as well as backing ones on other tracks on that album and a couple Consortium Project albums. Her husband, Ivar de Graaf (mentioned in that writeup), also from the same band, does drums on a few cuts. I ought to check the others out more thoroughly sometime.
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^ Yes, you ought to give them a go. :biggrin:
I hope you enjoy Vlad, Adami.
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21. Green Carnation / Light of Day, Day of Darkness [2001]
(https://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/1160/cover_57715932009.jpg)
I'd seen DTF chatter about this for a long time, but never took the step to commit 60 minutes to a single song - until they were announced to be playing it at PPUSA in 2016. Naturally, I needed to sample it.
:jawdrop:
The opening chord sets the sombre tone and ambience that is deserved for the story about to unfold. And or the next 60 minutes, you are enveloped in a kaleidoscope of sounds that surely captivates anyone with the good sense to listen to this song/album. What is amazing is the fact that it manages to hold your interest - more than just holds your interest, for it truly mesmerized me… and still does to this day. I mean, how can it not? This song has every element of story-telling and musicianship one would expect in a concept album - and a whole host of things I would normally not love, for its riffs are what most would consider goth or doom-metal, and then there's those pesky growls - but in this instance (as I've always said), I can appreciate them (sacre bleu!) when they're tasteful, minimal, and with a purpose. But the music transcends its own style. And the lyrics/story. I mean, :'( the roller coaster of emotions that Tchort takes the listener on with this album are unparalleled.
I don't suspect that Green Carnation is normally my cup of tea, but wow is this song/album something else. Inspired by the death of founding member Terje Vik Schei's (Tchort) daughter and dedicated to his son, this is a wonder to behold. I suppose it didn't need to be a single track, but it is what it is. There are quite clearly different sections to the piece.
- At the 4:45 mark, we get the first of many different angry and aggressive riffs - and this one will become centrepiece of the music.
- The symphony makes its first appearance just before the 11 minute mark
- At 13:20, the music goes full tilt, and the spoken style of the lyrical melodies are chilling.
- The tone turns sombre and dark again around 17 minutes, and then in a sense becomes a bit of it's own poetic lullaby at 21:45 - both musically and lyrically.
- Then picks up again at 30:20 just to come to the end of the first act with a very a distinct 'pause' in the album at 32:40 for everyone to just kind of exhale and take a moment (nearly 15 minutes of moments), including a glorious 2-minute guitar solo towards the end of those moments
- At 47 minutes , it's as if the band says "Ready? Cuz you better buckle up bitches, time to finish this bastard off", building up to the concluding reprisals that will close out the album.
- The final 4 minutes just reeks of the motif of lighting up a smoke after a glorious climax - while tugging at the heartstrings one final time with samples of Tchort's baby.
When watching it at PPUSA, I was sitting with Nick, and he clearly had not done the advanced research I'd done. About 15 minutes into the performance, he nudges me to show me his phone - it was an Amazon check-out receipt of the CD. This album is definitely worthy of "instant purchase" status.
Fave Song - yes
P.S. You'd think with a writeup this big, it would rate higher. Maybe it should. But the song/album is so powerfully emotive - moreso than any other album on this list - there was a lot to say.
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This made it to number.......14 or something in my top 50 years ago. It may even be higher now. It's simply one of the greatest 60 minutes of music I've ever heard. It's a masterpiece.
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This is one that I know and like. Great record. :metal
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If anyone wants to watch me cover the solo I put a video up......11 years ago! :omg:
https://youtu.be/JyPsLYQ63QQ
I got comments from Bjorn who composed and played the solo, the singer Kjetil and Anders the drummer. Absolutely honoured.
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I remember you putting up that vid, was good back then and us still good now. I'm mightily impressed and slightly jealous, I was never a 10th that good. :D
And you had a Pain Of Salvation shirt, that's always a good thing. ;)
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Thanks mate. That POS shirt is still my night shirt. A bit big now but still gets worn each night. :metal
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20. Seventh Wonder / Mercy Falls [2008]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/0/2/9/202982.jpg?2034)
The whole album is a ride of ups and downs, with Tommy Karevik setting the atmosphere with his amazing and well-controlled voice. This is a diverse entry combining various tempos with the level of complexity one would expect (demand?) from an album of this nature. Incorporating compelling instrumental sections, the members of Seventh Wonder give this listener an exhibition of their exceptional talents. Each member is so proficient in their instrument, and the playing and chemistry between the band members is so tight that it serves to project the emotion of the album even more. Of particular impress is bass player Andreas Blomqvist whose contributions are immense; the keyboards are simply brilliant, always standing out when they should and giving the guitars the limelight when time is ripe; the melodies conjured by the keyboards and guitars are simply brilliant. Musically, lyrically, and vocally, this is just god-tier. But hot-damn, that narration :tdwn, and really brings down the rating. This could be Top-10 material if not for the god-awful spoken parts of the wife/mother and Doctor. The fact almost makes the Top 20 regardless says something about the musicality.
Fifteen songs may seem a bit long to some, but the story kinda requires it - I'm really not sure where any trimming could have occurred, and to me it doesn't really matter, as the album passes in the blink of an eye. The melodies are simply blissful, there sure are many of them, and the band will just keep 'em coming, executing them with near-impossible perfection. Karevik can put many prog singers to shame, but I'm only mentioning him since people tend to pick their bands based on how they like the vocalist. Everyone threw in a top-notch performance here.
I believe it is/was this album that separated them from the usual comparisons in sound and style of the prog/power metal greats before them - DT, S-X, Ayreon and the like. This broke them away from being a 'me-too' kind of band, to be recognized and appreciated all on their own merits - largely on the performance of Karevik. This is album #3 (of 7) that has an accompanying live DVD performance, and it's simply spectacular, aided by the fact they were smart enough not to sample the narration on top of it (though, I believe it was a one-off performance, not a full tour of it).
Fave Song - One Last Goodbye (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtLj5RZ760U&t=3880s) (the live version though, so I don't have to listen to that damned narration)
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Solid album
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If anyone wants to watch me cover the solo I put a video up......11 years ago! :omg:
https://youtu.be/JyPsLYQ63QQ
I got comments from Bjorn who composed and played the solo, the singer Kjetil and Anders the drummer. Absolutely honoured.
Time to revisit it and cover the whole song. Hop to it! :corn
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I checked out One Last Goodbye and really dug it. Giving the album a spin now!
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I have this album. I remember it being solid.
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Whoops! Forgot about this for a few days. It's been a strange week.
19. V: The New Mythology Suite / Symphony X [2000]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3/1/9/9/3199.jpg)
Complex, yet melodic Prog Metal blended with Neo-Classical hard rock, big choirs, classical music and magnificent instrumental passages. The musicianship and songwriting is first class and there's a reason I recently put Russell Allen as my favorite singer of all-time. As much as I have a hard on for Allen’s voice, he doesn’t stand out here like he does on most other SX albums – he weaves his vocals in and around the music so gracefully. Musically, Romeo and Pinella are flawless. I don’t have enough good things to say about this album. All told, this is full of awesomesauce. This is one of those albums that wastes little time to capture your attention - 1:07 to be precise. Those opening symphonic arrangements are stunning, and the rest of the orchestral passages throughout the album maintain that high standard of excellence. Despite being a concept album, individual tracks are very accessible in and of themselves. Romeo weaves wonderful melodies blending piano, acoustic guitar, keyboards, strings and all manners of instrumentation across the entirety of this hour historical and mythological adventure.
I'm not sure if TSO intended to plagiarize some melodies from this, but Prelude and A Fool's Paradise have a few distinct similarities to some later-day TSO.
Fave Song - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjgLSxX7Jeg0A Fool's Paradise0/url)
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If anyone wants to watch me cover the solo I put a video up......11 years ago! :omg:
https://youtu.be/JyPsLYQ63QQ
I got comments from Bjorn who composed and played the solo, the singer Kjetil and Anders the drummer. Absolutely honoured.
Nice dude, you gained a subscriber!
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My favourite SymX album :tup
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Symphony X just never clicked with me :dunno:
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Symphony X just never clicked with me :dunno:
Same unfortunately
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Symphony X just never clicked with me :dunno:
Same unfortunately
It's funny, I have a friend who is good friends with Russell, she used to tour with the band back when she lived in Germany, and always hangs out with him when he heads through town. On their last tour when they had Haken opening, she tossed me an offer to go with her, and all I could think of 'wonder if I'll get to meet Haken'. Work shit happened, and I ended up having to dump on the show anyways.
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Symphony X just never clicked with me :dunno:
Same unfortunately
They never clicked with me either, but they do have a lot of good tracks, and this album overall is pretty good
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Love V. It was not only my intro to the band, but it remains my favorite of theirs.
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If anyone wants to watch me cover the solo I put a video up......11 years ago! :omg:
https://youtu.be/JyPsLYQ63QQ
I got comments from Bjorn who composed and played the solo, the singer Kjetil and Anders the drummer. Absolutely honoured.
Nice dude, you gained a subscriber!
Cheers Luke.
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V is good, but mid tier SX for me.
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My first SX album. I have a soft spot for it but I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting so much more with the comparisons with DT. It lacks melody in the songwriting for me. Great performances all round but needed better “songs”
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I love the Mercy Falls album. That would be much higher on my list.
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I'm way overdue for another Symphony X binge, but I feel like V might be my second favorite. "Evolution" is so badass.
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Love V. It was not only my intro to the band, but it remains my favorite of theirs.
Same here. And when I saw them with Haken last year it reminded me how much I enjoy them, particularly this one and The Odyssey. And, DAMN, is Russell a beast live and a great front man.
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Love V. It was not only my intro to the band, but it remains my favorite of theirs.
Same here. And when I saw them with Haken last year it reminded me how much I enjoy them, particularly this one and The Odyssey. And, DAMN, is Russell a beast live and a great front man.
Hell fuckin yeah he is.
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18. Spock's Beard / Snow [2002]
(https://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/320/cover_9528312017_r.jpg)
Another album that marks the end of an era on one of it's initial members, capping off the run of albums with a 10-alarm bell Concept Album - a double album no less! "Snow" is truly a powerful album full of grand themes, heavy musicianship and a very well crafted and detailed story line. I am sure some might believe this double-disc is unnecessarily prolonged as a double album, but I am not one of those. Although they may have been able to tell the story in less than 80 minutes, they took the time and space to really unleash some telling musicianship. The music as usual is rich and expressive with some great vocals by Neal Morse and crew. As with the previous 4 albums, "Snow" is full of vocal harmonies and wild timing to keep your toes tapping. Sonically this album is pure magic with some instrumental depth. Musical themes run throughout the album with both soft and loud moments. The story line is bit wild with some human abhoration named SNOW and the album tells us of his story and encounters - in many ways not dissimilar to the stories of earlier classic prog concepts such as The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, or Subterranea. But, for me, this one gets the nod - I never really connected too deeply with those other two classics.
A couple of comments from my original writeup in Top 50v2 that still apply today. First, I seem to recall there was some DTF hate for the 2nd disc for some reason (not sure why), but for me, this one start-to-finish is about as good a prog concept as there is. Second, Neal really plays up the keys on this album, letting Ryo loose, and I love all of those Hammond and moog moments. Neal’s religious tendencies come through here, but not in the obvious in-your-face way his solo stuff is. Is there filler here? Sure, but in my opinion, it all serves a purpose. The range of musical styling’s runs the gambit here... instrumentals, heavy pounding rhythms, ballads, blues, jazz, poppy, melodic. Nothing (that I enjoy) is missed. No growlies, and that’s a plus!
Fave Song - Devil's Got My Throat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrp1qLHXRXc)
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I liked Snow when I first heard it which came as a surprise to me, I'm not a big Neal Morse fan. One thing that I loved about Snow was the mix. All the instruments came together perfectly, keyboards especially.
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Good stuff for sure...Spock's is always inviting to me, but never really is a must go to band when I need to listen to music. Great live show though for sure.
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Snow has held up very well for me over the years. In fact I'd say it's grown on me a good bit, even though I loved it when it first came out. I really may be Neal's masterpiece (I still prefer Bridge Across Forever, but that wasn't all him). It has a few parts that I like less than others, but as you said it all has serves a purpose on the album. I used to think disc 2 dragged after Looking for Answers, but seeing them play that live on the Morsefest DVD really brought that segment to life for me. I think it's all great now.
But I wanted to especially point out how much I love that run on disc 2 from the start through Looking for Answers, especially Reflection > Carrie > Looking for Answers. I also frequently return to Solitary Soul, especially for that Al Morse solo. It's interesting that while this is very much a Neal Morse production, I do think he gave the other members a lot of space to shine here, which maybe set them up better for carrying on without him.
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I have a couple of SB albums, maybe even this one. Couldn't tell you a damn thing about them though.
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I have a couple of SB albums, maybe even this one. Couldn't tell you a damn thing about them though.
I literally laughed out loud when I read this—you literally typed my thoughts.
That said, I probably should revisit this album, or any Neal Morse for that matter.
Over the years, I’ve dove into his catalog at various points, largely due to the effusive praise from forumers I respect and trust, but for some reason it never really sticks :huh:
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17. Mind’s Eye / A Gentlemen’s Hurricane [2007]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/4/6/3/146346.jpg?2049)
I've said it before, any band with "Mind" in it's name is pretty much gold in my ears. I can't think of any that aren't. Prove me wrong. This one isn't a terribly original story … clearly it steals quite a bit from Mindcrime (political/religious/assassination/thriller/arc of redemption). This album doesn't waste any time pulling you into the story by the first track Praying for Confession. The mood is set with an eerie beginning and an introduction to your main characters Adam Evangelista and at the end of the track Father Cavallero Di mori. Then it goes right into Seven Days which is a rocking track which holds and conveys most of Adam's guilt. Assassination contains a great chorus and this track becomes the basis of Adam's justification for what he has become and what he must still do.
Vocalist Andreas Novak provides some great screams and wail’s, then counters with passion and elegance in the softer moments; Guitarist Johan Niemann lays down incredible riffs with a hard and raw sound; Drummer and keyboardist Daniel Flores provides a hint of symphony and keyboards throughout, but rarely in the foreground; then the two combine for a rhythm section that bears down on your soul. Pandora’s Musical Box is an absolute monster of prog craziness, while on the flipside, Ashes to Ashes could be a commercially successful hit, but what the hell does commercial success matter to this genre, amirite? This album is very melodic with some great compositions. Although the raw emotion and extreme technical prowess are absent, it's still a very nice story with gifted musicians. The voice tracks are well done and not overbearing, so it doesn't get old like watching the same television episode. This is another one courtesy of the MIA Obscure - she always did have some amazing prog-metal submissions in my first couple of Roulette's.
Fave Song - Assassination (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5oj-Z8v4cM)
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I saw the thread title and thought “surely Mindcrime is higher than 17!”
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Better than the last three albums on this list? That’s mighty fine praise.
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I saw the thread title and thought “surely Mindcrime is higher than 17!”
(https://media.tenor.com/W3ThqxOhD-cAAAAC/gotcha-fooled-you.gif)
Better than the last three albums on this list? That’s mighty fine praise.
I may or may not have been feeling a little generous to Mind's Eye when I finalized my list. This one is heavier than the other three; Snow suffers from being a double disc and a good time commitment to listen to; Mercy Falls ... well, that damned narration; V... there's a bit of filler in the segue tracks. I could reasonably interchange any of these four for one another if I was to blind rank them again.
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16. Mindmaze / Resolve [2017]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/6/3/4/0/634046.jpg?0505)
Most everyone around here surely knows Mindmaze - considering Nick used to be in the band a lifetime ago. Just as I said last entry, name me a band with "mind" in it that doesn't suck. I'll wait.
While waiting… this is the 3rd release by this grass roots prog/power metal band from PA, and absolute stroke of shear magnificence. It is masterfully composed and constructed, flawlessly performed by four amazing musicians. It's got an absolutely killer opening instrumental (honestly, it rivals O:M for how glorious it is) and then delivers upon that excellence for another 63 minutes that just flies by. Jeff Teets (guitarist and primary writer) and the rest of the band display more personal, introspective moods and phrasings that convey an ongoing theme throughout the13 tracks. Sarah Teet’s (sister) soaring, high-pitched vocals cut through like a hot knife through butter; smooth and slick, which are accompanied by jaw-dropingly amazing guitar work from Jeff and excellent instrumentation from the rhythm section. I believe Jeff was "inspired" by some very personal circumstances and situations, leading him to write the story of a someone realizing they’ve wrongly blamed other(s) for their own mistake(s). As great as their first two albums were, Resolve features some very complicated arrangements, as well as their best musicianship to date. In fact, some of the instrumental portions on this album are nothing short of stunning, as Jeff has really gone into overdrive with his solo work, producing solos that are both incredibly impressive on a technical level and yet also very melodic and at times even giving off some emotion, which can be a tough thing to pull off. At the same time, he plays some very heavy, thick sounding riffs, and uses a more down tuned guitar tone than on previous albums, which gives the riffs a very - VERY - powerful sound
I gave this one to Puppies in one of his roulette's, and here's his review. He's pretty spot on (except for the drumming issues).
I want to get something out of the way really quick here. The drum production is the only thing holding this album back. The bass drum is mixed way too loud and the rest of the drums sound like they were recording with a potato (this is a slight exaggeration). The drummer is definitely talented and what he does works well with the music.
So having gotten the bad out of the way, lets talk about all the good this album does. Right off the bat the guitarist (whose last name is Teets (hehehehe)) makes himself known with some fantastic Iron Maiden on speed riffs and solos, mixed with jazzy solos on crack, intermingled with some heavy as balls metal riffs, and some early Queensryche riffage. This is continued throughout the album. This guy is going places. The next thing that is very apparent is the vocals. Not only are they employing a female vocalist, but she isn't the typical female metal vocalist. She isn't an over the top operatic singer. She doesn't have an especially feminine tone (not that she doesn't sound like a woman). She is an anomaly when it comes to female vocalists in metal. I like it. I also don't think she is being used to the extent of her abilities. I think she has way more range that she is displaying here. She just seems to be singing for the song, not trying to outdo anything. The bass also stands out, mostly because you can hear it (which in and of itself is an anomaly in any type of power metal) and because it is well played. I noticed that Mike Lepond was part of this band at one point, but not on this album, and I like his bass chops. This guy here, though, is really good too. I also like the way the keyboards are used here. More of an accompanying instrument to give the music more depth instead of trying to take over the music.
I like what this band is doing. They sound modern and classic at the same time. Kind of a timelessness to their sound. This album was really just a joy to listen to, top to bottom. It's too bad about the drums, but I won't let that impede my enjoyment too much.
9.3/10
If only the band "went places". It's absolutely criminal that these guys aren't more well known/revered, they are so incredibly talented. Jeff's got a lot of health issues he's dealing with, and while still (occasionally) writing and performing, I don't think there's going to be a follow up to this anytime soon.
Fave Song - Fight the Future (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orzM7khEsnE) Shred-tastic!
P.S. Here's another where I and a few others from DTF are thanked in the liner notes. Nick, in fact, contributed to the chanting vocals in Fight The Future
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Great album, definitely hit all the right marks. When I gave Fight the Future to Indiscipline in his roulette, he said Jeff must've been taking PED's :lol
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Most everyone around here surely knows Mindmaze -
Errrrr......
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Most everyone around here surely knows Mindmaze -
Errrrr......
I guess I assumed it since they're kinda 'friends' with DTF - good friends with Nick; I've hung out with the band a few times, I think RJ has as well. And they've been given away more than a few times in Roulette's.
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That's cool. I have seen the name I think.
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When I went to see Soen last winter, when I introduced the girl next to me to Jeff, her response was, “Wow, Mindmaze is awesome!”
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When I went to see Soen last winter, when I introduced the girl next to me to Jeff, her response was, “Wow, Mindmaze is awesome!”
Awesome!!!
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Yep, definitely a top tier album! :metal
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Great recent updates. Snow isn’t a favourite SB album for me - I 5hink it was just too long and my attention span just isn’t up to it. I’ll have to give it another go.
AGH is very good, and MindMaze are great. Nice people too.
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15. M.I.GOD / Specters on Parade [2019]
(https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d00001e02bc62c08a72af124e49bfd559)
This was my AOTY for 2019, and as I look at the list of albums still to come here in the Top 15, virtually every single one of them was my AOTY for the year it was released - there are only 2 instances that one of the remaining albums was my #2 AOTY... and only because there was another Concept Album that finished #1 ahead of it.
This one is courtesy of Glenn Harveston's Top 50 album list (Glenn is the PPUSA promoter, and every December, he lists 50 of his favorite albums), and is one mammoth of a fucking METAL masterpiece. I always get a gem or two (or a dozen) out of those, and this was one of the best- technically, 2nd best … the best one is still to come). I first spun this while walking around a mall Christmas shopping (probably the last time I ever did that since it was 2019). I was so floored with it, I actually had to stop, grab a coffee, and just sit "with" this album to take it in.
The band has been kicking around for over 20 years, but Specters On Parade is not only the best album of their career - their first since 2012 - it's one of those records where, after taking it all in, it's easy to wonder why in the hell M.I.GOD. hasn't been picked up by a label and put on a well-deserved promo pedestal. Specters On Parade is a bold concept album featuring 20 tracks - ten full songs separated by brief soundscapes - that focuses on the protagonist's internal battle with his mind - perhaps some kind of Personality Disorder manifested as “spectres” or “ghosts” in his mind (there is a song-only version on Spotify if you want to skip those interludes, but I hear them as a necessary element to the experience). Heavy, melodic and dark, the vocals are remarkably versatile and theatrical despite the mid-range delivery - it's one of those smoky goth voices yet all metal right up to hitting the highs. There is the occasional use of harsh/death vocals to good effect - mostly as a haunting way of underlining the madness in the protagonist. and using that style of growls as a nuance rather than the primary sound - which I'm very thankful.
Musically, there are moments of middle-eastern influenced melodies, synth-heavy orchestration gives a theatrical vibe to the certain tracks, crunchy riffs and melodies with catchy hooks, great solo'g, guitar riffs and tones range anywhere from Queensryche to Dream Theater to Devin Townsend depending on the song, and the drum work stands out in a very Portnoy / Rockenfield way, providing a solid metal backbone without being overbearing. The album starts and ends quietly but the songs never lag, and there is always some sort of prog-weirdness around the corner to keep the listener engaged. There is a slight 'pause' mid album with a lovely and psychedelic, acoustic-based ballad (Tears of Today) with an amazing, melodic riff, emotional singing, and alternative rock sound. This would not be out of place on an 80s glam metal album - and most of you know, I love me my power ballads
Fave Song - Weight of A Million Souls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE3x_-nZ7r0)
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Crickets? Good... then I can still use them in upcoming roulettes :) I know a few people will be weighing in on this one ....
14. Ostura / The Room [2018]
(https://i0.wp.com/sonicperspectives.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Ostura-The-Room.jpg)
The Room edges out Spectres on Parade solely because it's a year older, and has had more spins. It finished ahead of Resolve solely on the superior vocal performance - no disrespect to Sarah Teets, but Elia Monsef's performance is just God-tier here. This was my 2018 Album of the Year - I was actually quite stunned and shocked that this album only rated 14th, but as I said with my last entry, every other album ahead of this was my #1 or #2 AOTY, and all of them have many more years of listening under their belt. Time is the only reason this doesn't rate higher, because the quality of everything - writing, composition, arrangement, performance, sound, instrumentation, mix, production… everything is without a flaw. The Room is the second album from Lebanese band Ostura. Clocking in at 1 hour and 14 minutes, this is an album which immediately stands out as flawless, but it will take at least a few (or more) listens to fully grasp what it has to offer.
The Room is a massive production with performers from 12 countries, alongside the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the core band. The recording includes a Chamber Quintet, Live Percussion, Ethnic instruments, Solo instruments, and analog synthesizers as well as a fair share of electronica. Ostura ’s music is known for its cinematic structure and change of atmospheres based on character emotions and dialogue. The music is as melodic as can be with heavy arrangements and occasional orchestral sections never heard in a rock context before, and the album impresses from the first glance at the exquisite artwork until its final note. The 12 songs were written in chronological order and work as a score for an equally cinematic storyline about a socially reclusive girl who takes refuge in a room. Locked in with her thoughts, fears, and ambitions, the girl’s imagination turns the room into an endless universe where she is the creator. Soon after, her creation gains the ability to create and ask the right questions. The story tackles the notions of fear, perfection, social anxiety, ambitions, rage, power, and the struggle between the creator and the creation.
The one word descriptor for this one is bombastic. It is so prog … so tight … so melodic… so dense. Thomas Lang just pounding – POUNDING – on the skins, and with other big names making guest appearances - Marco Sfogli, Arjen, Michael Mills… this one is just oozing with musical talent. Ostura may be pegged as “Symphonic Power Metal” or “Prog Metal”, but the after a few dedicated listens, it's painfully obvious that they clearly transcend all those genres, with the technical and emotional aspects this album amplified in equal measures.
Fave Song - Deathless (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP3958zgNFY)
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While I know the band names, I have not heard the last 2 albums.
Listening to Ostura now, enjoying it so far :corn
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Ostura :hefdaddy
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The Room is great, and I agree with Deathless being the best song :metal
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On a side note, Elia posted a few days ago that Ostura 2 is recorded and ready, they're just working on a distributor and plan.
:caffeine:
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0/2 here.
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Chad, I have criminally neglected this thread, and for that I apologize. After my roulette, I will go through this.
These last two albums are pretty good, but I'd have to revisit them.
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I'd go back too, but I'm not sure how many of these bands you would use in my roulette later this year? Based on the first few though I did check, probably not wise unless there is some more variety in a lot of these other albums.
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I’ve been listening to the Ostura album a lot after discovering it through Lonestar’s top 50 thread. Definitely a good one.
I’ve been trying to listen to as many on your list as I can, Jingle. I have to say that my favourite so far is The Last Epic by A.C.T. I knew of this album and that it was highly regarded but never checked it out before as it was described as poppy. I’ve listened to it about half a dozen times over the last couple of weeks and it’s fantastic! Like a prog Jellyfish. Awesome.
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I'd go back too, but I'm not sure how many of these bands you would use in my roulette later this year? Based on the first few though I did check, probably not wise unless there is some more variety in a lot of these other albums.
Challenge accepted. I think I’ll have a handle on which ones would be up your alley, and which wouldn’t.
Tim…when the list is done, I’ll let you know which ones to avoid. :)
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I'd go back too, but I'm not sure how many of these bands you would use in my roulette later this year? Based on the first few though I did check, probably not wise unless there is some more variety in a lot of these other albums.
Challenge accepted. I think I’ll have a handle on which ones would be up your alley, and which wouldn’t.
Tim…when the list is done, I’ll let you know which ones to avoid. :)
I'd probably avoid half of them anyway! :lol
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I'd go back too, but I'm not sure how many of these bands you would use in my roulette later this year? Based on the first few though I did check, probably not wise unless there is some more variety in a lot of these other albums.
Challenge accepted. I think I’ll have a handle on which ones would be up your alley, and which wouldn’t.
Tim…when the list is done, I’ll let you know which ones to avoid. :)
Hmmm....we will see but my tastes really have changed lately I feel. Hoping for some surprises though.
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I've been quietly following this thread. A lot of albums I would rank among my all time favorites (Mercy Falls, Clutching at Straws, LoDDoD, The Whirlwind come to mind), but a lot more that I've never heard of. I clearly need to give this Ostura a listen.
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I just clicked and listened through Deathless and man I am going to spin this first chance I get tomorrow. I'm a big fan of Thomas Lang and seeing Marco make an appearance was also awesome.
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Most everyone around here surely knows Mindmaze -
Errrrr......
I guess I assumed it since they're kinda 'friends' with DTF - good friends with Nick; I've hung out with the band a few times, I think RJ has as well.
Sorry I am super late with this comment... Cool! I did not know this. I have their albums, but only as of recently. I will make a point to give them a good listen over the next week or two.
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Ostura is great! :metal
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13. Dream Theater / Scenes From A Memory [1999]
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/vD0AAOSwczlbN4T8/s-l500.jpg)
The fifth studio album by our flagship band. Do I really need to say much?? Everyone has heard this one. The album is a masterpiece of progressive metal, showcasing the incredible musicianship and songwriting skills of the band. The guitar work of JP and the keyboards of JR weave intricate and complex melodies throughout the album. Top to bottom, this disc covers it all from Dream Theater – great instrumentals, terrific ballads, head-banging riffs (WOMP WOMP), complex arrangements, instrumental wanking, insane unisons … this disc gives the listener everything. When the Gospel Choir hits from the live version, it never fails to give me goose bumps. My only complaint (and complaint is too strong a word) with this album is that James’ vocal abilities weren’t up there with the rest of the band, or up to his own usual standards (at this point in their career). I fully realize this is a function of his accident, and this is still a good performance from him – it would likely be higher on my list if the accident had never happened, and his voice was more like how he in the early 90s, or even as good as he was in the late 2000s. Despite that, he delivers emotive and powerful performances on tracks like "Through My Words" and "The Dance of Eternity." :lol
From start to finish, the album is a cohesive musical journey that showcases the band's incredible musical skills and their ability to tell a story through their music. It is a true masterpiece that has stood the test of time but doesn't quite crack my top 10.
Fave Song - Strange Deja Vu (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_idY-2Pig-0)
P.S. 1/2 of the above was from my first writeup of SFAM in my original top 50; the other 1/2 was written by ChatGPT - including the part of the emotional vocals in TDOE. :rollin :rollin
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What a fucking masterpiece.
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I think I‘ve heard of this band, it‘s probably time I check them out.
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Now, I have to listen to this today.
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Eh, it's alright.
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What a fucking masterpiece.
Indeed.
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That's the album I came in on. I was on the Joe Satriani e-mail forums in '99, they did a poll of their favorite bands, and DT came in second. I checked out three DT songs from Napster, the cover of Tori Amos' "Winter", the cover of "Damage Inc." with Barney Greenaway on guest vocals, and "Overture 1928". Quite a spread, eh? :) The latter in particular hooked me, I bought SFAM when it came out, and the rest as they say, is history.
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I’ve listened to that Ostura album several times the past few years, including right after you posted it, and nothing sticks. Pretty sure it’s not my AotY that year.
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12. Vanden Plas / Chronicles of the Immortals: Netherworld (Path 1); Netherworld II [2014/2015]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3/9/7/0/397022.jpg?5543) (https://www.metal-archives.com/images/5/4/1/6/541684.jpg?3743)
With 6 albums under their belt, Vanden Plas was already a fave Prog/Power metal band of mine. While early releases of the band were very much what some might describe as ‘standard’ prog metal, very strong albums, there was still a fair amount of range between killer and filler (filler in the traditional sense). Well-written and executed, the albums nonetheless contained all the chops, time changes and understated melodies that typify the genre. The Vanden Plas of 2014 however, put out a very different beast - and beastly it is. Over the years, the band have become increasingly interested in the theatre, becoming more and more involved with stage shows and rock musicals. ‘Chronicles Of The Immortals: Netherworld’ takes the concept story idea to a whole new level. In conjunction with renowned German author Wolfgang Hohlbein, the band created a new rock opera based around Hohlbein’s ‘Chronicles Of The Immortals’ novels. Once the opera sold out for each of it’s 25 performances in Kaiserslautern, it seemed necessary to the band that they needed to create a (double) album based on the stage show. Each of these was my AOTY, so including them in a single entry just seemed fitting.
The album begins suitably theatrically, in the vein of a film score with narration by Dave Esser (incredibly, the same narrator from The Chronicles Project which released the same after Netherworld I) which sets up the story, and segues into what I can only describe as a bit of a dark lullaby … Vision 2wo: The Black night barges in, and Kuntz’s unmistakable voice soars over an increasingly metallic piece which builds the tension ahead of the main body of the album - immediately grabbing the listener, and hardly ever lets go over the next 55 minutes. There's one orchestral passage as a segue track, and a single ballad to break up the action, but otherwise this is head-banging metal from start to finish.
Musically, it's properly and perfectly heavy (for these ears). Unrelentingly powerful double-pedal drumming and monstrous bass work create an impressively strong framework upon which sit riff-hungry guitars that growl and shriek with real intent. The guitar tone throughout offers a satisfying crunch - clean prog-power, yet incredibly heavy without being djent-y or too aggressive - and the sparingly used lead runs are expertly crafted to provide that most metal of embellishments without detracting from the overall feel of the music. All of this is then wrapped up in some stunning keyboard and synth work, that adds depth, warmth and richness to the compositions. Always present, it is often subtle but comes to the fore when required, underlining that dramatic, filmlike feel to the vast majority of the material. The rating for these is aided by the fact that I absolutely adore the immediately recognizable and distinctive sound provided by Andy Kuntz’s voice and delivery. Part 2 takes all of 30 seconds to get right back into the frantic headbanging with one mother-fuckin grandiose riff, and uses virtually all of the same basic ingredients of Path 1, while giving the listener a whole new recipe. The second part is a fair bit more 'progressive', with more frequent, but perfect, use of symphony patches throughout, longer tracks, more complex (yet accessible) song structures, more technicality to the musicianship, greater variety in style and delivery … all of which provides a slightly different tone to the album - but still metal af.
Fave Song - Vision 7even: The King and the Children of the Lost World (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQcVwx_-1eU)
Fave Song - Vision 13teen: Stone Roses Edge (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usyk875uMBM)
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Rights, loads to catch up on. A run of stuff that's not quite my cup of tea mostly!
TSO - Eh. I love the idea, but ultimately I find their Christmas covers really quite bland. Never been a fan of Savatage either, so that might be part of it. The only TSO album I quite like is actually the Beethoven one - had a dramatic vibe I quite enjoyed.
Epysode - One of those good-but-not-great albums for me. But to be honest I don't remember very much about it.
Trond Holter - Not on Spotify here but I gave it a listen on Youtube before going on holiday, then forgot all about it. Didn't wow me but I found it rather enjoyable from what I remember - I'll have to give it another spin. (EDIT: Yep, listening again and this album is a blast. Enjoyable variety and theatricality, and even in the more straightforward metal parts it's full of good hooks.)
Consortium Project - Not heard that album. Other stuff I've heard from that band/project was not really my thing. Might give it a listen at some point.
Green Carnation - Solid album but one I can't quite get into. That said, I love the album they did a couple of years ago, so maybe I should give this another listen as I've not heard it in years.
Seventh Wonder - This SW album was one I had already heard, and it's yet another of those 7/10 albums I liked but didn't love. I think this band just doesn't quite do it for me for some reason.
Symphony X - Now we're talking, great album. My first exposure to the band, and while it's not my favourite of theirs, it's still great. The use of famous classical music is cheesy as hell but epic in a fun way.
Spock's Beard - Great album and excellent narrative. I'm one of those weirdos who likes a higher proportion of albums from the Nick and Ted eras than the Neal one, but this album and V are really excellent.
Mind's Eye - Not heard it, will try and give it a listen.
Mindmaze - Another of those 7/10s I remember little about. :lol
M.I.GOD - Great album, thanks for sending me their stuff in my roulette!
Ostura - See Mindmaze. :lol
DT - Never heard of them. :neverusethis: Interestingly enough I went off this album for a while and still rank it lower mid-table within their discography, despite how loved it is by other fans. But it's still a pretty great album.
Vanden Plas - I've heard Netherworld II and it was pretty good. Another 7/10 for me but this one I do actually remember reasonably well enough - the overall sound was good and I liked what was going on, just for some reason even with a few listens the vocal hooks just didn't really grab me, and so I lost interest.
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Yeah, these two Vanden Plas albums rock. :metal
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In this thread, Rich ranks everything 7/10
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In this thread, Rich ranks everything 7/10
That is definitely the median and mode and probably close to the mean average. :lol
EDIT: Yep, I checked and the current mean average is 7.2. :P
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Part 1 may be my fav VP album. Part 2 may be close to my least fav up to that point. I felt let down.
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In this thread, Rich ranks everything 7/10
:lol
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11. Ayreon / Into the Electric Castle [1998]
(https://i.discogs.com/H9ThcbIiczuNwFqfYDhLxiPZ7FhDeuzzK1GCWMLiOIw/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:597/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTExNTU5/NDYyLTE1MTg2NDk5/NTEtNDE5MS5qcGVn.jpeg)
Arjen Lucassen writes some of the coolest and most creative of concepts. Personally, I think he is a musical genius - at least, that's what I wrote 10 years ago. Given his trend of 'meh' or 'ugh' output lately, I'm thinking his best material is in the rearview mirror. This 100+ minute double disc tells a sci-fi story of eight different characters from different era's in time suddenly transported into another dimension and subject to experiments conducted by an alien race. In recording the album, Arjen went 'old-school' (relative to his previous 2 works) using less digitization/samples, and more true sounds direct from the instruments - including some vintage 70s synthesizers for the keyboard sounds, which tend to remind the listener of those fantastic 70s keyboard sounds produced by the likes of ELO, ELP, Yes, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, etc... Using a plethora of instrumentation including mandolin, violins, flute, sitar, and Minimoog, the instrumentation, orchestration, and arrangement is all beyond compare. With vocalists ranging from Damian Wilson (damn I love his voice), Robert Westerholt (Within Temptation), Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering) and Fish, Arjen finds some of the most talented, yet (mostly) unheralded singers, and mashes them together with a result that is pure auditory bliss. There are is a litany of songs that start slow/soft, and build to absolutely epic outros.
Like any great concept album, it’s been delivered live (almost with the full original cast), and in a way that enhances the listening and viewing experience. And unlike a few other albums on this list, the narration actually contributes to the story and the mood (at least on the studio version ... in the live show, DeLancie was given a new script, and while it was nice, it was a bit over the top - but I suppose that's to be expected with Arjen), rather than just being there (SFAM) or actively making things worse (Mercy Falls)
Fave Song - Across The Rainbow Bridge (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCYeIWeznXs)
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That hint was a dead give away. Great album and rightfully in the top quarter of the rankings. With THE still to come, the question is how much of the top 10 does AAL own?
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I'm not a huge Ayreon fan but this one is my favourite out of those I've heard, it hits the spot for me.
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Good record; I bought this on Jingle's recommendation, and he was right as rain. I think I might prefer 01011001 overall, but this is good.
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Very good record but still not Arjen's best. But I can never devide if the story is clever or just stupid. And I could absolutely do without the narration, even if it contributes to the story.
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On ITEC? That's not narration, that's Forever addressing the team of time travellers.
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Call it what you want, I still think it hinders the flow. :D
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On ITEC? That's not narration, that's Forever addressing the team of time travellers.
Yes, that's literally what it is. But in the context of the structure of a concept album, it is essentially narration to connect the tracks.
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Early Ayreon is always solid.
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That's the start of the Ayreon golden era. Lots of classics on that one.
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10. Scarecrow / Avantasia [2008]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/7/9/2/179243.jpg?4238)
I'm not going to cheat and do the whole 3-album 'Scarecrow Saga', but just the opening album. Some may argue this is not a proper concept album. But from the booklet of The Scarecrow, Tobias offers the following introduction to the storyline “The Scarecrow is a tragic story of a lonesome creature, emotionally isolated from his environment and suffering from a distorted sensory perception. His feelings for the love of his life unrequited, he sets off on a journey exploring the left-hand path, striving for inner peace, sloughing his way to approval and eventually facing temptation at the inner depths of the human soul.” Sounds like a legit concept album to me.
The Scarecrow is packed with 11 beastly tracks, and doesn’t disappoint for a single, solitary second. With legendary voices of Khan, Lande, Kiske, Somerville, Cooper*, and Catley adding contributions, along with Kai Hansen and Henjo Richter laying down so mean solos, there is a lot of firepower on display here.
The follow up albums to the trilogy are a little more hit and miss, so this one comes in as a standalone entry to start the Top 10.
* It was actually the DTF member Scard that first mentioned Avantasia to me, at a meetup before DTF’s ADTOE show in Toronto in Oct '12. I even wrote the name of the band down to check them out. Alas, I completely forgot. Thankfully, a few weeks later, Nick rolled them on his weekly WPaPU radio show (Toy Master specifically), and I thought ‘wow, these guys sound like Alice Cooper, but way proggier!’. :lolpalm:
Fave Song - The Scarecrow (https://youtu.be/r6wLizV5Xpc?t=29)... perfection
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Wonderful album. Great songs throughout, even the more poppier ones.
Sadly, the last we hear from Henjo on an Avantasia album. Wish Kai was featured on more than one track but the duel between those two was a nice touch on Shelter.
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This is a really great record, my introduction to Avantasia and still my favorite.
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He just wants a brain? Icy_skater the musical
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9. Anthriel / The Pathway [2010]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/8/2/7/282786.jpg?5452)
Years ago, as I was coming up to 1000 artists in my last.fm profile, I solicited DTF to make some recommendations as to who my 1000th artist should be. Enter Zook, and this glorious masterpiece. Outside of roulettes and the #1 (or #2… I still haven't decided yet) album to come, this was the best recommendation from an individual DTF'r I've ever received. The album is inspired by fantasy author R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy (which I found last year as a single package for $20 - still haven't read it yet though). It is structured magnificently such that the album just flows from start to finish - and it doesn't even feel like 65 minutes has passed. There is excellent musicianship form all, catchy riffs and melodies that stay in your head and are not easily forgotten. Some will accuse Anthriel of being DT and/or S-X clones, and even if it is a little true, I don't care - those are 2 of my favorite all-time prog-metal bands, so this isn't a bad thing. The album is largely progressive with a power metal style and a little neo classical thrown in as well. There is nothing really groundbreaking here but great a delivery of masterful songs played superbly! This scratched me right where I was itching at the time, and always fulfills.
Fave Song - Promised Land (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzRbVK4l1zs)
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You've sent me a couple of songs from this one in the past. I never really caught onto it however.
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Lots of fantastic guests on Avantasia albums, including that one, but I'm still not sure what to do with Tobias' voice. I loved Edguy earlier on, soured on his voice, and in recent years it bugs me less than it did, but I still don't love it.
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Lots of fantastic guests on Avantasia albums, including that one, but I'm still not sure what to do with Tobias' voice. I loved Edguy earlier on, soured on his voice, and in recent years it bugs me less than it did, but I still don't love it.
I have always kind of strugged with Tobi too. Like you say, it worked in early Edguy. But I thought he was exposed on the Avantasia albums, but over time, I feel like he's improved greatly.
He's a phenomenal vocal producer though, always getting the best out of his guests. I mean Joe Lynn Turner on The Mystery Of Time is fantastic, as is Geoff Tate when he came on board for Ghostlights.
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Oh, and I'll vouch for the Anthriel. :tup
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Lots of fantastic guests on Avantasia albums, including that one, but I'm still not sure what to do with Tobias' voice. I loved Edguy earlier on, soured on his voice, and in recent years it bugs me less than it did, but I still don't love it.
I have always kind of strugged with Tobi too. Like you say, it worked in early Edguy. But I thought he was exposed on the Avantasia albums, but over time, I feel like he's improved greatly.
He's a phenomenal vocal producer though, always getting the best out of his guests. I mean Joe Lynn Turner on The Mystery Of Time is fantastic, as is Geoff Tate when he came on board for Ghostlights.
He tried to copy Kiske too much with the vibrato. I think I remember that was a big aspect of what put people off.
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I read those books when I was in middle school. Guess I have something to check out next Bandcamp day or when there is a slow release month.
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8. Beyond the Bridge / Old Man and the Spirit [2012]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3/2/8/3/328370.jpg?2152)
My (and I’m sure plenty of others around here) album of the year for 2012. Hard to believe it’s only been out for over 10 years now. There’s no way I can top the review that Cheffy-poo wrote on this one, so (like Stargate earlier), I’m not even gonna try.
It was with trembling hands and a humbled soul that I removed the headphones, having just finished my first full listen to Beyond the Bridge’s debut album, The Old Man and the Spirit. I had come across something miraculous, wondrous, and beautiful; a true work of art, and had to pause a moment to appreciate how the music had changed me. Moments like this are rare in music; some bands can have a massive body of work, all wonderful, and yet only touch this height once or twice. The fact that this was a debut just stunned me all the more, usually bands have to work years, even decades, to develop a sound like this, and this band nailed it on the first shot. My curiosity got the best of me, as it usually does, though luckily I had to go no further than their website to find what lay behind the maturity that they show.
The album is a concept album, in every sense of the word. The basic story is that an old man, in the final stages of his life, is in a state of frustrated despondency, and in his desperation, calls out to a spirit to find meaning in his life. The spirit who answers his call embodies all the wisdom that man cannot achieve, but lacks the real life experience to make sense of it. A deal is presented by her, in that if the old man surrenders his memories, he will be given the wisdom. Though simplistic, the story is deftly handled, and leaves enough room for the listener to interpret it via their own emotions and experiences, further involving the audience in the story in a personal way by letting their own emotions intimately ride the tale with the music. This works perfectly, so perfectly that I was moved close to tears on a few occasions, reflecting upon where the music took me to in my own personal life, and how my memories and emotions mirrored those of the old man. Would I be willing to sacrifice them for the ultimate answers? Were my most cherished possessions sacrificable at all? Such is what this work left me to ponder.
Musically, this thing is a straight up prog metal monster. From the textbook opening thunder of chords to the closing dreamscape of bliss, it dishes out a gauntlet of wondrous sound, covering all the best things that good prog has to offer; the beast of an instrumental in Triumph of Irreality, the soul searing ballad Worlds of Wonder, the staccato verbal onslaught of The Struggle, the soul crushing distorted beatdown of The Primal Demand, and so much more, it carries its message with authority. Grounded by an extremely solid bass and drum performance, the other instruments dance and play around like caffeined up kids on the first day of summer, free and with the sole purpose to live for the day.
Vocally, it is near perfection. Thematically, it is structured so unbelievably well, I am in awe with every subsequent listen. Though the songs don’t tend to run together, they are tied musically in a fantastic fashion, and each piece is a stand alone work. Lyrical and musical themes are repeated throughout, but are built upon with each use, the words expand with emotion, and the music expands with intensity. This works wonderfully to build the gravity of the outcome, and ties the listener even closer to the struggle that the Old Man has to face.
There isn’t anything more I could add, even if I wanted to. That sums it up perfectly. Perfectly. Full review is here (https://ladyobscure.com/http-www-ladyobscure-com-p7656-2/)
But if that wasn't enough, Morawintersoul also wrote an exceptional review of the album here (https://www.metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=11168https://www.metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=11168)
RIP Simon. You gave us a most wonderful gift while you were with us.
Hey, don't you see the light?
Don't you feel its might?
Tell me, donʼt you see?
Don't you feel it?
There's a strength in your veins of glory
And it breathes light in your soul
Fave Song - Triumph of Irreality (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvq3w9ocbYo)*
*This is probably the first album on this list where it's virtually impossible to pick just one, but I'll offer up one of my most favorite instrumentals of all time, and one of the coolest fucking song titles. I've used this song regularly in "instrumental" rounds of roulette's, and the worst score it ever got was a 9/10
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Had it at my #8 in my first Top 50 (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1915593#msg1915593).
This is such a brilliant album. I'm proud to own a copy and every once in a while I listen to it and I'm still in awe of how much it means to me. Incredible effort.
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I've got nothing to add, but can confirm that this is a very very good record.
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Hmmm, guess I don't need to say anything about the album itself since you quoted my review... :lol
I do want to share an experience surrounding the album though, one I don't think I've shared to anyone. So at the time I did this one, I was barely over a year sober. I was still struggling for day to day sobriety, still neck deep in debt, still had half my teeth rotted from years of meth usage, and still felt like a forgotten mistake as I walked through life each day. My life was work, and doing reviews for LO, it was the one thing that kept my sanity in check, and I'll never be able to repay Nem for what she did for me in those early days (and she's well aware of this, it's why were such close friends). Now, I was as floored by the album as much as anyone else, as my review shows. I think it was like my tenth review or so, very early in the game, and I hadn't had any interaction with musicians at this point. About a week after the review, it had gotten back to the band, and the guitarist Peter had reached out to me via FB to thank me for the review and tell me how touched he was by my words, and how beautifully written it was. I was in a Starbucks at the time, where I usually did my review work (it made me feel a bit more connected to humanity to be in public), and his comments, these massively complimentary remarks coming from this brilliant musician halfway around the world whose work so deeply touched me, did something magical. It was the first time in decades, maybe ever, that a sense of worth and value crept into me. That I had something to offer, that I had purpose and meaning. It cracked me open, and right there in Starbucks tears just started running down my face. Recovery is a process of peeling back layers of an onion, and this was the first, big layer. For decades I could never look anyone in the eye, I'd always stare at my feet as I went through my days in shame. This was when I started raising my head and looking around at life.
That is the power of music and connections. :heart
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Wow. Amazing. :heart
I'll be forever grateful to everyone that had a hand in getting you to and thru your sobriety. :hug:
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:hearts:
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Wonderful story mate.
Apologies, but I could never understand the hype for this album.
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I do want to share an experience surrounding the album though, one I don't think I've shared to anyone. So at the time I did this one, I was barely over a year sober. I was still struggling for day to day sobriety, still neck deep in debt, still had half my teeth rotted from years of meth usage, and still felt like a forgotten mistake as I walked through life each day. My life was work, and doing reviews for LO, it was the one thing that kept my sanity in check, and I'll never be able to repay Nem for what she did for me in those early days (and she's well aware of this, it's why were such close friends). Now, I was as floored by the album as much as anyone else, as my review shows. I think it was like my tenth review or so, very early in the game, and I hadn't had any interaction with musicians at this point. About a week after the review, it had gotten back to the band, and the guitarist Peter had reached out to me via FB to thank me for the review and tell me how touched he was by my words, and how beautifully written it was. I was in a Starbucks at the time, where I usually did my review work (it made me feel a bit more connected to humanity to be in public), and his comments, these massively complimentary remarks coming from this brilliant musician halfway around the world whose work so deeply touched me, did something magical. It was the first time in decades, maybe ever, that a sense of worth and value crept into me. That I had something to offer, that I had purpose and meaning. It cracked me open, and right there in Starbucks tears just started running down my face. Recovery is a process of peeling back layers of an onion, and this was the first, big layer. For decades I could never look anyone in the eye, I'd always stare at my feet as I went through my days in shame. This was when I started raising my head and looking around at life.
Wow, that's an amazing story. Thank you for sharing.
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Hmmm, guess I don't need to say anything about the album itself since you quoted my review... :lol
I do want to share an experience surrounding the album though, one I don't think I've shared to anyone. So at the time I did this one, I was barely over a year sober. I was still struggling for day to day sobriety, still neck deep in debt, still had half my teeth rotted from years of meth usage, and still felt like a forgotten mistake as I walked through life each day. My life was work, and doing reviews for LO, it was the one thing that kept my sanity in check, and I'll never be able to repay Nem for what she did for me in those early days (and she's well aware of this, it's why were such close friends). Now, I was as floored by the album as much as anyone else, as my review shows. I think it was like my tenth review or so, very early in the game, and I hadn't had any interaction with musicians at this point. About a week after the review, it had gotten back to the band, and the guitarist Peter had reached out to me via FB to thank me for the review and tell me how touched he was by my words, and how beautifully written it was. I was in a Starbucks at the time, where I usually did my review work (it made me feel a bit more connected to humanity to be in public), and his comments, these massively complimentary remarks coming from this brilliant musician halfway around the world whose work so deeply touched me, did something magical. It was the first time in decades, maybe ever, that a sense of worth and value crept into me. That I had something to offer, that I had purpose and meaning. It cracked me open, and right there in Starbucks tears just started running down my face. Recovery is a process of peeling back layers of an onion, and this was the first, big layer. For decades I could never look anyone in the eye, I'd always stare at my feet as I went through my days in shame. This was when I started raising my head and looking around at life.
That is the power of music and connections. :heart
That's an amazing story of how music (and the people responsible for it) can be a catalyst for change. I've often said how music is the biggest thing in my life (outside of my parents) that made me who I am today. My emotional response to music is exponentially greater than any other art medium.
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RJ. Love you my man.
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Agreed.
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:-*
That's an amazing story of how music (and the people responsible for it) can be a catalyst for change. I've often said how music is the biggest thing in my life (outside of my parents) that made me who I am today. My emotional response to music is exponentially greater than any other art medium.
And all of you should know, it all started here, I met Nem here, along with all you losers. It all started with DTF... (and my pancreas shutting down and almost killing me :lol )
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And it all started when some dipshit showed up at your place of work in 2010 ;D
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And it all started when some dipshit showed up at your place of work in 2010 ;D
You will always be my first. :-*
(granted when you visited was right before I got sober)
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That's a beautiful story, RJ. And what a beautiful album too. It's certainly one of my favorites if not my favorite among the lesser-known DTF darlings.
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And it all started when some dipshit showed up at your place of work in 2010 ;D
You will always be my first. :-*
(granted when you visited was right before I got sober)
Exactly. You said, “I don’t want to end up like this loser dipshit.” And thus the road to recovery began.
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I'm glad I checked in on this write up. I'm looking forward to hearing the last half hour of this LP tomorrow.
Now I get to read more of Morawintersoul's writings.
Lonestar: :tup :tup (and keep metal head banging from the front row :metal )
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Beautiful, RJ. Both the review and the story. Thank you. Sincerely.
(But it sucks to be Chad; top THAT with seven through one. There better not be any Russell Allen in there!)
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Or anymore Damian Wilson, who renders the BTB unlistenable.
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Or anymore Damian Wilson, who renders the BTB unlistenable.
Damian Wilson is not on this album unless I've missed something :lol
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Or anymore Damian Wilson, who renders the BTB unlistenable.
Damian Wilson is not on this album unless I've missed something :lol
That's how much Tim hates Wilson ... he detests the music that he only THINKS Wilson sings on!
Tim... you know the male voice is Herbie Langhans? He who also fronts Lightbringer of Sweden.
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Oh why did I think Damian Wilson sang in this?
EDIT: I had this confused with the Headspace album.
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Beautiful, RJ. Both the review and the story. Thank you. Sincerely.
(But it sucks to be Chad; top THAT with seven through one. There better not be any Russell Allen in there!)
Thanks man :heart
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I've been aware of this album for a couple of years, but never took the time to give it a listen. I will give it a spin in the near future.
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I'm gonna rewind a bit here...
Chad you MF'er. You put that Jorn Dracula album on here and I can't find it on iTunes, Bandcamp, or Amazon other than an overpriced physical CD and I stopped buying physical media a few years ago (except for special stuff).
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I'm gonna rewind a bit here...
Chad you MF'er. You put that Jorn Dracula album on here and I can't find it on iTunes, Bandcamp, or Amazon other than an overpriced physical CD and I stopped buying physical media a few years ago (except for special stuff).
Wow... didn't realize they'd pulled it from Spotify. Best I can do - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgvwI1OlO8p51rEtLZwtuQjjNmWvvGcqN
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Never heard of Beyond the Bridge. Interesting album, I'll need to listen to it a few more times but liked it on first listen.
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I don’t touch Spotify except for podcasts.
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7. Daydream XI / Circus of the Tattered and Torn [2017]
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/6/6/3/4/663462.jpg?2747)
Thanks go to Glenn Harveston's Top 50 on this one as well (just like M.I.GOD) - although Tim should get a shout out, since he pimped them on me at one point (probably from their debut album), but they just didn't click for some reason. And it wasn't until a year or so after discovering this album that I realized they also played on ProgNation at Sea - sadly, I never went to watch them. :-(. This topped my AOTY list for 2017. The album goes on a metaphorical journey, where Phillip, the Circus master, takes his new apprentice, Circe, across the various acts of this Circus. Each song represents a feeling or aspect of human life, channeled by the storyline of each character. The band has composed a piece that unearths nuances and emotions and a blend of blazing progressive metal with touches of hard rock, symphonic prog, and even power metal. Simultaneously, they provide an accessibility factor of intense and emotionally personal songs with enough hooks for all fans of these genres to enjoy.
A fluid, powerful, persuasive, and hugely entertaining work of melodic progressive-power-metal, with complex sections seamlessly giving way to gorgeous, pastoral segments, passionate vocals and musicianship out of the very top drawer, musical themes that get reprised again and again. Metal-af riffs to die for, wild guitar exchanges and intricate rhythms, blazing guitar, bass, and keyboard lines dazzle around the arrangements with vocalist Tiago Masseti (who is also the mastermind behind the band and brilliant guitarist as well) soaring to the heavens, “The Circus of The Tattered and Torn” is an exciting and magnificent offering from a young band with multitudes of talent and truckloads of potential. Bold and ambitious enough that can easily stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any of the greats of the progressive metal scene.
Now, where's that third album??
Fave Song - Circus of the Tattered and Torn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xNHlVMgn-8)
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I think....Tim sent me a song from these guys in a roulette......was pretty good, but never followed up.
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I think....Tim sent me a song from these guys in a roulette......was pretty good, but never followed up.
Their first album is a fucking ripper too. I know he favours that one over this, so he may have sent something from the debut.
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Seems every time I send them they don’t do well but when Chad sends them they score pretty high.
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Seems every time I send them they don’t do well but when Chad sends them they score pretty high.
Shopping cart karma, bitch! :lol :lol
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Seems every time I send them they don’t do well but when Chad sends them they score pretty high.
Lethean sent them in my first round and they scored in the top half. I listened to another song or two after, but haven't gotten around to an album yet.
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Seems every time I send them they don’t do well but when Chad sends them they score pretty high.
I'm sure you sent me something from The Grand Disguise. It did quite well from memory.
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Once you got to the top 10, I figured that it would be just classics and I could just nod and agree. But NO, you had to put this out, and this month is already busting my wallet with new releases. Jerk :)
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Once you got to the top 10, I figured that it would be just classics and I could just nod and agree. But NO, you had to put this out, and this month is already busting my wallet with new releases. Jerk :)
Yeah, I just spent the day at the jerk store. Sorry.
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All that was left is you.
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Ok, back to the classics so Doc's wallet takes a break.
6. Pink Floyd / The Wall [1977]
(https://i0.wp.com/musicaficionado.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/The-Wall-front-cover.jpg?fit=1600%2C1600&ssl=1)
What really can/needs to be said about this album? I can't imagine anyone following here has not heard this album. I said that Thick As A Brick is the Grandfather of all concept albums, and if that's the case, then this one is The Godfather. Without a doubt, the greatest Concept Album/Rock Opera of all time*. I defy anyone to point out a band that has also written a Concept Album since 1979, and doesn’t cite The Wall as an influence. You probably can’t. But if you can, then I'd wager next week's pay that whatever influenced them can tie back to the wall by 1 degree of separation. This caps off that 5 album run from Floyd that is arguably the greatest 5-album run in rock/metal history, and really was the climax of the bands career (The Final Cut was a definite drop off, and Water-less Floyd – while fantastic – was still Waters-less). The Wall is noticeably harsher and ‘angrier’ than any other Floyd release preceding or following. Inspired by Waters’ and Gilmour’s feelings of alienation while touring in 1977, and culminating by spitting on a fan in Montreal, Waters wrote the story of protagonist's (Pink) self-imposed isolation after years of traumatic interactions with authority figures and the loss of his father as a young child, all symbolized through a metaphorical wall. The album brings together so many themes (musical and lyrical), so much emotion, so much reality that it sucks you into the world that Waters writes, and you can feel the panic, anxiety, loathing (self and for others), distress and terror that consumes Pink. Choirs, helicopters, orchestra’s, telephone operators, screeching tires, TV shows, movie samples all contribute to the reality of the experience – and that’s what listening to the Wall is … an experience. Classic Albums Live has done re-creations of The Wall, and it takes a dozen musicians (+ the child choir) to recreate this one. Add to that what is arguably the best guitar solo EVER, and this is an album has every trait that justifies it's place as the OG of Rock concept albums.
For those of us that saw it live, it was an event to behold.
Fav Songs … I simply can’t call out individual songs - and it's not like anyone needs to sample a tune to check the album out. Fav Moments – Mother guitar solo, intro of Goodbye Blue Sky (“Did did did did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath the clear blue sky?”... in a single breath - gives me goosebumps just thinking about it), end of Happiest Days of Our Lives, the Judge in The Trial.
*so why is it only #6 you might ask. Well, greatest =/= favorite. And I've got five more that I'd sooner reach for above this.
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The first time I ever realized that an album could be more than just a collection of songs. The Wall changed how I listen to music. A masterclass in storytelling for sure.
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Oh, jfc. I knew this was going to happen. I was keeping the list in a separate file from my actual writeups, and I accidentally skipped over one of the writeups a while back. And it won't make Stadler happy :lol. I was thinking this morning ... "wait, I know that The Wall is a Top 5 Concept Album of all-time for me". Oh well, bonus one tomorrow (ironically, #13) to get back in sync for the Top 4.
:facepalm:
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I wasn't big on Floyd until my college years. I knew some songs here there, but nothing really attracted me enough to listen to them. Then I saw my professor was running a "Pink Floyd" class, and I thought "easy A, why not?". All we did in the class was listen to their music in order, one album a week, and write about it. Best class I ever took and I became a huge Floyd fan because of it.
The Wall is just an incredible album
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Just chiming in.
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Not a PF fan personally.
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The first time I ever realized that an album could be more than just a collection of songs. The Wall changed how I listen to music.
+1 for me.
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Definitely a masterpiece.
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To pass the time during the NCAA hoops over the weekend, I read the wiki article, and then this incredibly in depth website (if you didn’t already know of it) https://thewallanalysis.com/
I didn't know of their financial problems at the time, or that Richard Wright was the only one to profit from the following tour. I knew that Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, KISS,...) had produced it, but not of his immense involvement.
I was aware of Michael Kamen's involvement (Queensryche, Metallica, Queen, Brian May and the '02 Winter Olympics theme, etc)
I did not know that Fred Mandel (Queen ‘Hot Space’ tour in North American and Japan, ‘The Works’, Brian’s ‘Starfleet Project’, Freddie’s ‘Mr. Bad Guy, and then touring with Supertramp and Elton John) also performed on this.
Or, in addition, on some backing vocals, Toni Tennille.
Toni Tennille? WTW?!?! :D
This made for a nice listen last night. Memories of my junior year in college <gulp>
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To pass the time during the NCAA hoops over the weekend, I read the wiki article, and then this this incredibly in depth website (if you didn’t already know of it) https://thewallanalysis.com/
I didn't know of their financial problems at the time, or that Richard Wright was the only one to profit from the following tour. I knew that Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, KISS,...) had produced it, but not of his immense involvement.
I was aware of Michael Kamen's involvement (Queensryche, Metallica, Queen, Brian May and the '02 Winter Olympics theme, etc)
I did not know that Fred Mandel (Queen ‘Hot Space’ tour in North American and Japan, ‘The Works’, Brian’s ‘Starfleet Project’, Freddie’s ‘Mr. Bad Guy, and then touring with Supertramp and Elton John) also performed on this.
Or, in addition, on some backing vocals, Toni Tennille.
Toni Tennille? WTW?!?! :D
This made for a nice listen last night. Memories of my junior year in college <gulp>
Don't forget Jeff Porcaro on drums for "Mother" and Bruce Johnston from the Beach Boys on vocals (same tracks as Tennille, who played with the Beach Boys with her husband). I think Jeff's dad is somewhere on there too, according to the Steve Lukather autobiography I'm reading.
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Hey Jingle, not to be pedantic, but the Wall came out in 1979.
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FFS Chad!
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Hey Jingle, not to be pedantic, but the Wall came out in 1979.
It's the Canadian Exchange Rate.
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Hey Jingle, not to be pedantic, but the Wall came out in 1979.
To think I didn't see that. Crazy, eh TAC? :lol
No need to age myself anymore than necessary.....
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Hey Jingle, not to be pedantic, but the Wall came out in 1979.
Different time zones, probably.
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I'm not sure why I'm giving Chad a pass, since it's a rookie mistake, but the event that triggered (in every sense of the word) the album occurred in '77, so there's that (the famous spitting incident in Montreal in July of that year).
EDIT: I was just re-reading the Wiki page on the making of the record, and while I knew Waters was a prick, I didn't quite realize how MUCH of a dick he is/was. Forget Gilmour, I can't imagine why Ezrin hung around. Making buttons that read "NOPE" ("No Points Ezrin", alluding to the fact that Ezrin got a smaller share of the writing proceeds) and wearing them around...
Too much about Floyd is apocryphal though; it's hard to know exactly what went down, since there are usually (a minimum of) four different stories for each event. Did Wright quit in a rage at Waters' dictatorship, or was he fired by Waters? Did Ezrin come in later or was he there at the start (supposedly Waters talked to him the night of the Montreal show). The Beach Boys involvement... that band is something else, for sure.
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:impatient:
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It's been a bit of a week - both work and personally. I'll try to get back at it tomorrow morning. We'll see what today brings.
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(https://comicvine.gamespot.com/a/uploads/original/3/30334/1135528-trek771.jpg)
If you are a true Klingon warrior it will bring you glory.
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Ok, double entry - one to fix the miss (lucky #13), and then back to the countdown.
Also, brain fart on the year released for The Wall - dunno what I was thinking. And ... Stads, feel free to skip this entry. :D
13. Symphony X / Underworld [2015]
(https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/500x500/96432977ce882f860d6232f4e9fb2962.jpg)
Ok, here's one of the Top 15 albums I referenced earlier that wasn't my AOTY - that's coming in 2 more posts (welp... that was Vanden Plas Netherworld II). And I'm stretching my own definition of "Concept Album" here, as Romeo himself stated it isn't, but a collection of ideas. But… when Allen announces this as a story of a man who has lost his love, and goes to hell and back (perhaps metaphorically) for his girl, well… it's a concept album to me. AFAIC, the structure and flow of the songs and lyrics and story suits my criteria.
Underworld is a fantastic and perfectly balanced mixture of emotion, power and jaw-dropping virtuosity. It is also probably the darkest album they've released to date and it is very typical heavy metal in sound. And to understand it and enjoy it you have to listen to it for what it is, not for what you want it to be. I know that heavy songs about hell and darkness have been done and overdone, and that gets you thinking that it's not original but always remember: lack of originality does NOT automatically equate to a lack of quality. There's nothing wrong with bringing the classic heavy metal atmosphere if you do it right. Symphony X have tackled this task in their own way, put their own print on it and turned it into something completely new.
The guitar sound is heavy, crystal-clear and might I add, awe-inspiring on the lead parts. As commercial as they could go, Michael Romeo is still Michael Romeo, and that means total epicness in the solos, and some killer riffing - leads and rhythms. And the duels with the keyboard are still here. The songs are very beautifully put together and despite the typical structure of verses, choruses, a bridge and a solo, they do sound amazing and complete each other very well. And despite the fact that there's no 20+ minute long colossus of sheer genius poured in millions of perfectly crafted notes like they did on the legendary "The Odyssey" and "The Divine Wings of Tragedy" the genius is still there, scattered across the entire album as the music flows through your senses. This isn't just a cheesy album about hell. It's a fabulous interpretation of ideas from "Dante's Inferno" and "Orpheus in the Underworld".
Musically, Underworld has things reminiscent of the bands previous albums but this one definitely has its own individuality. Every element added was in service of the song, so the album flows and becomes a total listening experience from start to finish. Every song is to the point and fine-tuned, with the band paying a lot of attention to the hooks, voices, riffs, and keeping the interest and the energy high for the entire record. It is heavy and aggressive as fuck when it needs to be, yet soaring and emotional at other times. I think the balance is just right. It had to have all the elements of what they normally would do, just tweaked up a notch and really fine-tuned. This is THE album that offers an absolutely fantastic blend of Allen’s garbly vocals, and his beautiful melodic style.
Being on the rail twice to see this live (almost the complete album) in a club with about 200 people on both occasions was amazing
Fave Song - Without You (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZe-Pmgq9DY)
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4. Obsessions / Epysode [2011]
(https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b273f3728e034436d377ccfaf7c9)
Unbelievably, this was *not* my AOTY for 2011. Stay tuned.
May 2012... My first roulette, round one. The format I had had a little head-to-head competition going on, and I had Nem (Obscure for those that don't know, since she's not regular anymore) vs RJ out of the gate. Got RJ’s song first (IQ, The Wrong Side of Weird). What a great tune. I had no idea how Nem was going to match up with that song it was so good. Well, as Connery said in The Untouchables “They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.” She did it ‘The Chicago Way’ and :pwnt:. Sending me the title track from this album, and I make very little exaggeration when I say it ‘moved’ me... as in the George Costanza “I think it moved” way. Prog-metal as fuck, and sending the video was something special; a nice little intro to the concept, and a beautifully produced rendition of the band laying the beat down on my musical senses, in a way akin to how a chunk of undissolved wasabi hits your pallet and nasal passage. Epysode is a project-based outfit, forged from the brilliance of Samuel Arkan. Musically, outside of Kris Gildenlow the rest of the musicians aren’t exactly from the A-List - Samuel Arkan (Virus IV), Léo Margarit - Pain Of Salvation, Ruud Jolie), Christophe Godin (Gnô, Morglbl Trio), and Julien Spreutels (Ethernity). However, as I’ve come to learn, unbelievable talent is everywhere, and popularity or notoriety is not a requisite for brilliant talent.
On to the album... most concepts are pretty easy to grasp, or might need a handful of listens to get the general gist of what’s going on. Obsessions is like no other concept I’ve heard... not politically motivated, sci-fi, fantasy, real life or romantic. Just by the names of the characters, you can tell that this is a super-natural thriller. Vocally, it’s a powerhouse. Kelly Sundown - Kallon (The Profiler); Magali Luyten - Esh (The Soul); Oddleif Stensland - Yae (The Fallen/Killer); Liselotte "Lilo" Hegt - Valma (The Medium); Rick Aitzi - Maymos (The Ghost). However, what can’t be told from the lyrics or the cast is the depth of the back-story, which could very easily be a full-length feature movie, a delicately woven tale with dark, unearthly, and unexpected twists. Up to this point, most of my love for female vocalists had been either the bluesy rocker chicks of old (Joplin, Wilson, Jordan), or the newer symphonic opera babes (Turanen, Adel, Jansen). Luyten gave me some deep, hard-core metal that I’d never heard from a lady before. Wow (and man, she’s smokin’!). Stensland nails whole bunch of vocal styles from clean to aggressive, and delivers them with a deep and powerful aggression. Altzi is gritty and full of charisma, and Hegt (Gildenlow’s wife if you didn’t know) provides a nice counter-balance to Luyten’s deep and dark vocals, with a smoother and more traditional sound and range that I’d expect from a female vocalist.
Since some of the above comments “borrow” from Nem’s review of the album, I’ll now give formal credit, and finish with some “paraphrasing”.
Musically... “The thick textures, the structure, the sound, the variety, the jaw dropping guitar work, the atmospheric and exciting keys, competent drum work… What this combination yields, coupled with the dazzling vocals – oh, there are many moments of pure vox-gasm there! -- is a masterpiece.”
Vocally... “All these guys are doing a phenomenal job at conveying the emotion of their respective roles. The cast works call and responses very well… The diversity in their voices and styles is yet another win. All in all, very well chosen bunch shining brightly throughout the album. At times, the album gets vocally driven which is not surprising as the musicianship on the background is consistently impeccable throughout and the vocals have the freedom to drive the listener. And, oh boy, these guys have the means to drive you every which way they want – from desperation to hope, frustration to rage, despair to happiness… If it wasn’t for the brilliant musicianship, they could have been singing to anything and it would have been a masterpiece anyway!”
On the album as a whole ... “the Song-writing is phenomenal. There’s not a bad, even average song in this batch. All are technical, complex, layered, catchy and all complement to the whole picture. At times, it gets really metal and when it does it just grabs you by your collar and slams you into your speakers so you pay attention. They also flow perfectly into each other. Obviously, having this concept behind, it’s one of those albums you want to hear in one go, each song in sequence. It is best to be enjoyed as a whole as it is clearly envisioned to be a complete experience. Even if you visit the album for one particular song, it will make you want to hear the whole thing!”
It’s pretty incredible that despite being a brilliant concept album that must be listened to start-to-finish to be truly appreciated, other than the two opening/intro tracks, each song can stand on its own merits as an individual song. Put them all together though, and it is something beyond special, beyond magical, beyond impressive, beyond spectacular ... I really don’t know what single word in the English language can be used to describe it.
Still waiting (10 years now) for the final instalment as I'd mentioned in the Epysode/Fantasmagoria writeup a couple months back, down at #24
Fave Song - Obsessions (https://youtu.be/3INsDZbs-Z0?t=156)
I've probably watched this video a 100 times (not exaggerating), and never tire of it. Gonna go watch it again right now.
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I've tried to get into Symphony X a bunch and I just can't do it. It's too much. That said the song you posted sounded pretty good so I guess I'll give them another go :lol
I haven't heard of Obsessions before but that song is posted was great so I'll be spinning that record today.
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I'm in the same boat with Symphony X, just never could get into them. Epysode was decent enough, haven't spun it since way back when... Sam actually turned out to be somewhat of an asshole when Nem met up with him though she still has a large Epysode themed tattoo on her shoulder :lol (he's since gotten a lot better after health issues /having a kid/therapy, he was quite open about it on FB tbh).
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I had no idea Underworld was a concept album.
Good album though.
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I've tried to get into Symphony X a bunch and I just can't do it. It's too much. That said the song you posted sounded pretty good so I guess I'll give them another go :lol
I haven't heard of Obsessions before but that song is posted was great so I'll be spinning that record today.
Awesome! :tup
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I had no idea Underworld was a concept album.
Good album though.
Not in the truest sense, but as I said ... As Allen explained it when they played it, it's close enough for me.
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I love earlier Symphony X, particularly for Russ, but I've never really spent a ton of time on their later releases. I oughta bump that one up in my queue.
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News to me on Underworld too, but cracker of an album.
I thought the Epysode would be higher.
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I thought the Epysode would be higher.
You’ll get it when I pose ‘em.
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Completely baffled as to the top 3.
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Underworld is REALLY good.
I love earlier Symphony X, particularly for Russ, but I've never really spent a ton of time on their later releases. I oughta bump that one up in my queue.
I'm with you in that I was never too crazy about their albums post-V. I mean, always good stuff to be found, for sure, but I much prefer the Damnation Game-Divine-Twilight-V run to The Odissey-Paradise Lost-Iconoclast...however, Underworld was (to me, at least) a very pleasant surprise when it came out. Just very strong songs all around.
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I thought the Epysode would be higher.
You’ll get it when I pose ‘em.
Pretty sure I know one of them and I think it's going to be number 1. The other two, who knows.
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Underworld is REALLY good.
I love earlier Symphony X, particularly for Russ, but I've never really spent a ton of time on their later releases. I oughta bump that one up in my queue.
I'm with you in that I was never too crazy about their albums post-V. I mean, always good stuff to be found, for sure, but I much prefer the Damnation Game-Divine-Twilight-V run to The Odissey-Paradise Lost-Iconoclast...however, Underworld was (to me, at least) a very pleasant surprise when it came out. Just very strong songs all around.
I actually would put The Odyssey in the first grouping. It's a bit thin-sounding production-wise, but the songs and performances are great. It's Paradise Lost where I just started losing track of them, because I was getting burned out on the power/prog sound by then. Now it's a reasonably-sized piece of my taste enough that I'm fine dipping back into it again on occasion. Supposedly the last few albums are heavier, which theoretically should appeal to me more, so I really ought to bring them back to my rotation.
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Iconoclast is definitely heavier...Underworld has a little bit of everything, it's a real nice collection of the different sides of SymX, from heavy riffage to great melodies.
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As for the final 3, without spoiling it completely:
1 is the greatest Prog-metal concept album of all time. And most of ya’ll would concur.
1 is an unheralded gem those that know me should know it’s coming
1 is from an artist that pretty much only writes concept albums.
As to the order … all will be revealed shortly.
There really are no surprises coming.
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Completely baffled as to the top 3.
Me too.
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Had a moment of clarity, figured out all 3 I think
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Pretty sure I figured out two.
1 is the greatest Prog-metal concept album of all time. And most of ya’ll would concur.
The Astonishing
1 is from an artist that pretty much only writes concept albums.
Pain Of Salvation
Am I rite? :D
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:lol
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:lol
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Pretty sure I figured out two.
1 is the greatest Prog-metal concept album of all time. And most of ya’ll would concur.
The Astonishing
1 is from an artist that pretty much only writes concept albums.
Pain Of Salvation
Am I rite? :D
:lmao:
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Pretty sure I figured out two.
1 is the greatest Prog-metal concept album of all time. And most of ya’ll would concur.
The Astonishing
1 is from an artist that pretty much only writes concept albums.
Pain Of Salvation
Am I rite? :D
:lol
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3. Queensryche / Operation:Mindcrime [1988]
(https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b27302cef687536fc65c76563557) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.progarchives.com%2Fprogressive_rock_discography_covers%2F674%2Fcover_36592227112008.jpg&hash=a122c1501e78ec7c91de7185dd06dcf048ac2e2e)
<I'd be remiss if I didn't give a nod to Livecrime, as I'm just as likely to reach for it when I need a Mindcrime fix. The live rendition just gives it that extra zhuugshe :hefdaddy>
I called The Wall the OG of Concept Albums. IMO, this is the Godfather - at least in the genre of Prog-Metal. There's no question. Some will argue SFAM, but which album influenced which? That gives O:M the nod, imo. I'd also match put it in the conversation of Greatest Metal album of all-time... and for these ears, we can even drop the "metal" requirement, as it's in my Top 10 of all-time. Period.
I first picked this album up after the band reached their mainstream popularity with Empire, and fuck me hard I never got to see this performed in it's entirety - as I recall just getting in to the band a few months after Building Empires had rolled through Toronto. At the time, I did most of my album purchases from a flea market vendor who always had like-new quality CDs on the cheap. He was a great source to buy/sell CDs in the pre-internet era where you didn't really have any opportunity to sample things. Dropping $20-ish on a new album on a whim sometimes paid off; other times it didn't. This was one of those times it paid off massively, digging into the back-catalogue of this band I'd only heard the radio hits off of one album.
Mindcrime is the peak of their career and 'maximum' Queensryche. From a truly progressive perspective, this is the album that propelled Queensryche from being a cult-like prog metal band, to a full on heavyweight in the genre. Like most rock opera’s, it’s a very unique and gripping story, takes the listener through all the requisite ups and downs of moods and emotions, and gives you new insight to it each time you listen to it. Like any good rock opera, it’s got a live version as good – nay, better – than the studio (when the crowd screams “REVOLUTION CALLING!”, it brings goose bumps every time). I've watched the concert DVD dozens of times, and it's still gripping and compelling, 35 years later. It’s one of those albums that you know right from the first 90 seconds, you’re going to be in for something special, on the edge of your seat for what’s about to come. I remember hearing “Sweet dreams … you bastard” and thinking, ‘well, this is going to be interesting, wonder what he did?’ Then the power packed Anarchy-X instrumental, highlighting DeGarmo’s brilliant guitar work and Rockenfield absolutely obliterating the skins. The overall concept covering religion, political upheaval, chemical manipulation and social wrongdoings was something Tate put more effort into than anything else he ever did with Queensryche .. and the result reflects that effort. A compelling story, absolutely precise and flawless musicianship, fantastic production quality, and vocals from Tate when he was one of (if not) the best in the prog/metal genre. This album stands the test of time and is another one of those concept albums that has heavily influenced all others after it. No one can deny the impact on its niche of music, O:M takes the title as the greatest of Prog-metal concept album – and yes, I do believe it’s better than SFAM (despite what this community believes). TASTESTM!!! There likely isn't a single album on my list that came out post 1988 that can't point to O:M as a source of influence and/or inspiration.
Fave Song - Suite Sister Mary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CZGion20E4)
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I'm pretty sure I know what the final 2 are gonna be as well :)
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Most will (should), but the order is in question.
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I'm pretty sure I know what the final 2 are gonna be as well :)
Well we know what one of them isn't. :lol
Operation Mindcrime blew me away when it came out. Still does. I'm not aware of any album that once you start it, you don't come up for air until well into Side 2. Just one great song after another. And to think that this album loses steam with I Don't Believe In Love and Breaking The Silence...two songs that would lift any other album.
Amazing.
Believe it or not, I have never listened to LiveCrime. I never bought it because I thought the video was awful. And back in the day you couldn't buy one without the other. Plus it was just a live version of the album and not a full concert.
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I think O:M was the first complete album of QR I checked out and while I liked it at first my appreciation only grew as time went on. It's still the only QR album that I like start to finish, the band felt like it was firing on all cylinders back then.
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Fall of '91, my ex and I saw this show in Auburn Hills, Michigan, even though they played in Kalamazoo that week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeK8iv2G2do&t=28s
('Silent Ludicidity' from Toronto to make it complete https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pltux5jnxc8)
A real pity an official live release of the entire show was never made available, especially considering the gap before PL was released.
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A great album that I gained renewed appreciation for during the most recent QR top song thread.
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Solid album and well-deserved placement.
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Yesterday would have been the perfect time to roll out The Astonishing. Elon Musk would have approved.
Damn straight O:M is a top 3 concept album.
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Yesterday would have been the perfect time to roll out The Astonishing. Elon Musk would have approved.
It would have been, but I was away for the weekend with Mrs.jingle and only had no time to consider doing that.
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Yeah, this record has to be here in the top 3, absolute masterpiece.
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I saw "Godfather of Concept Albums" and expected to find Tommy. But O:M is an absolute monster for so many reasons. So glad I got to see the whole thing (and also most of it) live.
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So glad I got to see the whole thing (and also most of it) live.
Er...what exactly does this mean? :lol
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And to think that this album loses steam with I Don't Believe In Love
I actually think that's either my favorite or second favorite on the album. It's obviously a classic, though I have to admit I've been neglecting it in recent years.
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So glad I got to see the whole thing (and also most of it) live.
Er...what exactly does this mean? :lol
He accidentally the whole thing.
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1 is an unheralded gem those that know me should know it’s coming
1 is from an artist that pretty much only writes concept albums.
I know the second one and I know I really should know what the first one is, but can't pick it.
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Some will argue SFAM, but which album influenced which?
Some would be idiots then. How does an album that comes out in the Fall of 1999 influence an album that came out mid-1988? :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
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I tried, many times, to get into QR, but they are one of those bands that I enjoy individual tracks here and there, but nothing more. I listened to this album in full a few times, and it just never clicked with me. It's been a while though, maybe I should try again to see if it clicks now :dunno:
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3. Queensryche / Operation:Mindcrime [1988]
(https://i.scdn.co/image/ab67616d0000b27302cef687536fc65c76563557) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.progarchives.com%2Fprogressive_rock_discography_covers%2F674%2Fcover_36592227112008.jpg&hash=a122c1501e78ec7c91de7185dd06dcf048ac2e2e)
<I'd be remiss if I didn't give a nod to Livecrime, as I'm just as likely to reach for it when I need a Mindcrime fix. The live rendition just gives it that extra zhuugshe :hefdaddy>
I called The Wall the OG of Concept Albums. IMO, this is the Godfather - at least in the genre of Prog-Metal. There's no question. Some will argue SFAM, but which album influenced which? That gives O:M the nod, imo. I'd also match put it in the conversation of Greatest Metal album of all-time... and for these ears, we can even drop the "metal" requirement, as it's in my Top 10 of all-time. Period.
I first picked this album up after the band reached their mainstream popularity with Empire, and fuck me hard I never got to see this performed in it's entirety - as I recall just getting in to the band a few months after Building Empires had rolled through Toronto. At the time, I did most of my album purchases from a flea market vendor who always had like-new quality CDs on the cheap. He was a great source to buy/sell CDs in the pre-internet era where you didn't really have any opportunity to sample things. Dropping $20-ish on a new album on a whim sometimes paid off; other times it didn't. This was one of those times it paid off massively, digging into the back-catalogue of this band I'd only heard the radio hits off of one album.
Mindcrime is the peak of their career and 'maximum' Queensryche. From a truly progressive perspective, this is the album that propelled Queensryche from being a cult-like prog metal band, to a full on heavyweight in the genre. Like most rock opera’s, it’s a very unique and gripping story, takes the listener through all the requisite ups and downs of moods and emotions, and gives you new insight to it each time you listen to it. Like any good rock opera, it’s got a live version as good – nay, better – than the studio (when the crowd screams “REVOLUTION CALLING!”, it brings goose bumps every time). I've watched the concert DVD dozens of times, and it's still gripping and compelling, 35 years later. It’s one of those albums that you know right from the first 90 seconds, you’re going to be in for something special, on the edge of your seat for what’s about to come. I remember hearing “Sweet dreams … you bastard” and thinking, ‘well, this is going to be interesting, wonder what he did?’ Then the power packed Anarchy-X instrumental, highlighting DeGarmo’s brilliant guitar work and Rockenfield absolutely obliterating the skins. The overall concept covering religion, political upheaval, chemical manipulation and social wrongdoings was something Tate put more effort into than anything else he ever did with Queensryche .. and the result reflects that effort. A compelling story, absolutely precise and flawless musicianship, fantastic production quality, and vocals from Tate when he was one of (if not) the best in the prog/metal genre. This album stands the test of time and is another one of those concept albums that has heavily influenced all others after it. No one can deny the impact on its niche of music, O:M takes the title as the greatest of Prog-metal concept album – and yes, I do believe it’s better than SFAM (despite what this community believes). TASTESTM!!! There likely isn't a single album on my list that came out post 1988 that can't point to O:M as a source of influence and/or inspiration.
Fave Song - Suite Sister Mary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CZGion20E4)
Best concept album, and best album of all time. Hands down. :metal
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Yeah, I listened to the album again and it's just not for me.
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Some will argue SFAM, but which album influenced which?
Some would be idiots then. How does an album that comes out in the Fall of 1999 influence an album that came out mid-1988? :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
I had to re-read that myself, but I think jingle's just saying that some would argue SFAM is the better/more important album but Jingle (thinking O:M is better based on this list) is pointing out that Mindcrime was a major influence on SFAM.
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Some will argue SFAM, but which album influenced which?
Some would be idiots then. How does an album that comes out in the Fall of 1999 influence an album that came out mid-1988? :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
I had to re-read that myself, but I think jingle's just saying that some would argue SFAM is the better/more important album but Jingle (thinking O:M is better based on this list) is pointing out that Mindcrime was a major influence on SFAM.
And if you are right, those people are also idiots. Can someone argue SFAM is better? Sure. More important? Only if they enjoy being as credible as a brain damaged skunk.
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Well, saving this from Page 2. Life has been brutally hectic lately, so I think I'll just wrap this up. Couple of long posts - given these are the top 2, and 2 of my Top 5 of all-time. The order might surprise some, but not the albums (at least, for those that know me).
2. Elinoire / Flaming Row [2011]
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/IMAGERENDERING_521856-T1/images/I/61mkRK10ysL._AC_SX466_.jpg)
It all started with a random post by Ich Bin Besser (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=25455.0) hyping this album. At the time, I’d never even heard of IBB before, and he doesn't post often anymore - I'm not even really sure why I clicked on the thread. Interesting writeup, and decent lineup of contributors (including Gary Wehrkamp and Brendt Allman from Shadow Gallery, Jimmy Keegan from Spock’s Beard, and Billy Sherwood ex of Yes). It probably wasn’t until Nick’s reply that he was sure to check it out that I took any notice. After watching the trailer on YT, I was hooked enough to purchase. Spent $30 to buy directly from the band (that’s the only place I could find it at the time), and that’s easily the most I’ve ever spent on a single CD. I’ll tell you this, it was worth every fuckin penny. Amazingly, Nick posted his review (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=27179.0) about an hour after I got the CD in the mail, and with a 10/10 rating, and statements like “I will even go so far to say that the various female vocalists on this album are better utilized than the woman on any Ayreon album.” I was intrigued (given my – and Nick’s – absolute love for everything Ayreon). Following the ‘making of’ videos they posted to YouTube made me love this all the more. And because I was very proud of the review I did for the good Lady Obscure back in the day, I have to paste it here.
I’m not an artist by any stretch, in any discipline -- music, video, art … anything. I don’t have much talent in that arena anymore. I’m not all that creative either. Even if I did have the talent or creativity, I don’t have the discipline or patience to fine-tune and hone my craft over, and over, and over again until it’s just right. I much rather prefer to just appreciate the efforts and talents of others. I’ve often wondered if musicians, artists of any sorts really, truly appreciate their own work, and can recognize when they’ve put together something special… given the countless times they’ve had to re-listen to every little aspect of their creation. Then, an album comes along like Flaming Row’s Elinoire, and I can’t help but think that the creators MUST know it. How could they not? When the end result is a true gem that was the best album I heard in 2011, topping (in my opinion) heavy-weights such as A Dramatic Turn of Events, Iconoclast and Imaginaerum. And amongst my musical peers, I wasn’t alone in the belief that it was one of the (if not the) best prog-metal albums of 2011.
Such is the creation that Martin Schnella and Kiri Geile ended with in Elinoire. Brace yourselves, here’s another concept album. Yes, we do love them here. Elinoire provides another very unique and intriguing concept:
The story about a young British family. Lea and Adam Baltwin are at their prime of life, having great jobs and live in prosperity. Lea became pregnant. But while the birth of their daughter Elinoire, Lea died because of medical reasons. Adam never overcame the sudden death of his beloved wife and laid the blame on Elinoire. Within the years he could not build up an ordinary relationship to Elinoire. Adam’s father Cyrus Baltwin took on the role of the father figure. But after some years, some true facts about the previous life of Lea were revealed. Was Lea’s death really an accident?
The story is told by the real characters, their emotions (Love, Rage…) and some virtuals (Time, Destiny, Death, Spirit and so on). There are 15 different singers, female and male, performing the roles of the story.
Something is to be said when a relatively unknown German prog-metal act is able to attract some (almost) household prog names in Gary Wehrkamp and Brendt Allman (Shadow Gallery), Billy Sherwood (1990s Yes), and Jimmy Keegan (Spock’s Beard) to contribute to this masterpiece. Combined those talents with relatively unknown female vocalists (at least for my North American ears) Micheala Auer, Jessica Schmalle, and Anne Trautman, and this is pound for pound, easily comparable against some of the greatest prog-metal concept albums of all time… as good as Scenes From A Memory and Operation:Mindcrime. The ladies on this album are the true hidden gems. The passion that comes through their voices is unmistakable, and incredibly moving. The album contains some remarkably impressive vocal layering, especially in the opening track, which at 95 seconds, tells much of the story, and has more lyrical content than 8 minute tracks that come later. Schnella was even able to make me a fan (at least on this album) of scream/growl vocals. Usually, I can’t stand them, but they are used so incredibly appropriately, you can’t help but appreciate and love them.
Musically, the guitars are what really stand out to me – and all forms… electric, acoustic, baritone, 12-string, mandolin, banjo. Raw, powerful, delicate, simple, grandiose… I’m not sure what other ways I can describe how incredible and diverse they are from track to track. The melodies and solo’s (contributed by seven different axemen) are simply astounding. There are so many riffs that just get stuck in your head. Like any good concept album, Schnella was not afraid to incorporate several non-traditional instruments, most noticeably on the banjo-led Do You Like Country Grandpa? -- a short instrumental that is so out of place, it fits magically, and is a welcome (albeit brief) reprieve from the prog-metal on auditory display.
Rage of Despair is the first apex of the story, and the heaviest track of the album, containing one of the aforementioned riffs that get stuck in your head. Unearth the Truth is the true climax, and (re?) opens the true questions of the story that go unanswered, left up to the listener to figure out, or draw their own conclusions (of which I have drawn three distinct possibilities of my own). The final conclusion comes with A Place to Revive Your Soul, a five part track that revisits all the elements you’ve just experienced for the last 17 songs … guitar melodies and riffs that envelope you, vocal layering that hits you from every angle, multiple guitar solos that change the mood and emotion being portrayed, all stitched together in a magnificent manner.
Lyrically, Elinoire is a wonderfully complex character driven album, using not only “people” as the characters, but (similar to The Human Equation) utilizes more non-human characters (Spirit, Love, Time, Season, Conscience, Destiny, Death, Rage, Liberty and Forgiveness) to deliver the story. Some (Schnella as Spirit, Wehrkamp as Conscience and Geile as Destiny) are prominent throughout, while others pop in for key contributions, or even just a chorus or two. The lyrics are intricately woven between physical and virtual characters, and it is the latter that carries the sub-plot -- one of the many reasons I keep coming back to this album. Many concept albums (including the greats of Tommy, The Wall, Operation:Mindcrime and Scenes From A Memory ) don’t leave a lot to the imagination with respect to the story – being fairly easy to follow and understand, even the sub-plot’s. However, I still haven’t figured out the true story behind Elinoire. I still find something new every time I listen to it, a new sound that ‘wows’ me, or a new piece to the puzzle uncovering the truth behind the story. Given English is clearly a second language for Schnella and Geile, the lyrics are filled with cute translations and pronunciations – not in a bad way whatsoever. While they provide a charm that (ironically) can’t be accurately described in English (“Don’t fool about”; “I’m forever on your side at all the time”; “My camouflage’s uncovered now” and several other instances) they also make comprehending the sub-plot a little more difficult.
Based on the web-series the band released on Youtube chronicling the recording, Elinoire appears to be essentially a self-produced album. And in that case, the overall package is even that much more impressive. It’s fantastic to see two people so committed and passionate about their craft, and that dedication shows in the final output.
Fave Song - Unearth The Truth (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFFuX34kY1A)
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1. The Human Equation / Ayreon [2004]
(https://i.redd.it/unfytyz9uae91.jpg)
I'm not sure how to top that writeup, so I won't even really try. THE gets the slight edge ad #1 for the quantity (20 mins longer than Elinoire), The Theater Equation (despite the not great video production), and it's been around for 7 years longer. THE was my gateway album to a shit ton of prog-metal discovery back in 2005 - the same guy that got me 'in' to DT introduced me to Ayreon. And from Ayreon, I discovered so much more prog-metal. THE was the proverbial snowball - the first little ball rolling down hill ... and it keeps growing to this day. THE unlocked an insatiable drive and desire to discover and consume as much music as I feasibly could. It's my #2 Album of All Time. For all those reasons, it had to be my #1
Some people have a gift and know how to use it. Arjen Lucassen is one of them. He's got three albums here in this Top 50, (and four in my original Top 5) ... yes, I do believe he’s a musical genius, and a modern day “The Godfather” of concept albums to some degree. I’ll admit to being a massive fanboi of his works, as there isn’t anything I’ve heard of his that I don’t like (and yes, that includes Ambeon and The Guilt Machine). This one in particular has to be his most ambitious project (at the time) with 12 brilliant vocalists and 10 musicians producing sounds from over 20 different instruments (including a recorder and a didgeridoo!), and even more sounds when you consider the keyboard samples. Straying from the sci-fi/fantasy feel and themes from his previous 5 Ayreon discs, The Human Equation takes the listener on a grandiose emotional journey – with some incredible highs and lows, never letting you go, pulling you into the life of ‘Me’. For those that don’t know the story, here’s the Cliffs Notes – a man (“Me”) is hospitalized and in a coma due to a car accident. Cut off from the outside world, he finds himself trapped in a strange realm where his emotions- most of which he's ignored for a long time- have come to life to confront him with all the choices he has made in his life. As he is taken from one memory to the next, he slowly becomes aware of all the events leading up to his accident, and realizes that if he ever wants to wake up from his coma, he must find a way out of this emotional prison. Right from the very first track and complete listen (and like any concept album, there’s really no other way to do it), you find that it’s so expansive and diverse – lyrically, melodically, stylistically, instrumentally, vocally… there’s nothing simple about this album or any of the 20 tracks in any way imaginable. It gives the listener a blend of rock, metal, space and some traditional rock, symphonic, and atmospheric all in one double-disc. Arjen gets the absolute best out of his musicians and vocalists, and makes you want to learn more about their music (if you didn’t already know them). It was his projects that in turn got me in to Symphony X, After Forever, Blind Guardian, Stream of Passion, Shadow Gallery and others. Lyrically, it’s second to none in my book, some of my favorite lines being:
- I can’t accept this, we will find a way / Out of this cesspool of doom and dismay / Beyond this dejection there’s beauty and grace / A glorious future we long to embrace
- Be a man, give into hate / You better learn to communicate / Better to learn to protect yourself / That's not the way to get out of this hell
- The loved ones are waiting, break out of you cage / You have the power, give in to your rage / Listen to Pride now, for once he is right / Listen to Reason, let us be your guide
The cast is glorious; honestly, the best gathering of prog-metal vocalists of any multi-vocalist album ever. Most I'd never heard of at the time - Arjen does have a knack for finding the rare and obscure.
James LaBrie (Dream Theater) as Me
Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth, Bloodbath) as Fear
Eric Clayton (Saviour Machine) as Reason
Heather Findlay (ex-Mostly Autumn) as Love
Irene Jansen as Passion
Magnus Ekwall (The Quill) as Pride
Devon Graves (Deadsoul Tribe, Psychotic Waltz) as Agony
Arjen Anthony Lucassen as Best Friend
Marcela Bovio (Elfonía) as Wife
Mike Baker (Shadow Gallery) as Father
Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad) as Rage
Each vocalist plays their role amazingly. The the way the story of THE has them playing off of one another, and working in harmony is just brilliant - in both the writing and the performance.
Fave Song - all of 'em, but I am kinda partial to the combo of Day 10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cva4BiH6nc) and Day 11 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF-pdp12lk8)
And with that, we're done.
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It's late here and I'm going to sleep, but just posting to remind me to go back to this thread. I've got a lot to say about these, particularly THE.
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I very much agree with THE, it's awesome and worthy of the number one pick. I kinda disagree with Elinoire, not a bad record, but it tries to be much more than it really is, imo.
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Two great albums! I actually thought Elinoire would be #1, it's been a long time since I've heard it, I shall play it again someday soon :)
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Always knew from the start that THE was number 1. I agree though, it's fucking amazing.
I should have picked number 2 also.
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First off awesome thread Chad! A lot of music that I've never heard of (and still need to visit) and some fantastic write-ups! I'm currently cruising through the Flaming Row album and I'm really digging it, especially the vocal melodies. It actually might be my favorite album that you've posted here that I wasn't already familiar with (so not including The Wall, or O:M etc.)
I remember listening to that Ayreon album years ago and not really connecting with it for some reason, I didn't hate it but I never really listened to it after the first couple listens. I gave the two songs you posted a spin and I liked them better than I remember (which is very little). I'll give that album a go tomorrow and see how my thoughts have changed.
I think you might've answered this before but how much of the story do you pick up from the music? I enjoy concept albums too but I personally piece very little of the story together until I do some actual research into the lyrics and overall theme.
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If I didn’t have the liner notes and/or lyrics, I probably wouldn’t know much about a given story. Like, would I know JLB Is “Me”, or Devin Townsend is “Rage” without a little extra research? Not likely. Would any of us really comprehend the story of Victoria, Julian, and Edward without the liner notes / lyric sheet?
Some albums we’ve all spent so much time with, we just pick up the lyrics and the story regardless.
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So glad I got to see the whole thing (and also most of it) live.
Er...what exactly does this mean? :lol
:lol
On May 12, 1989, I saw QR at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. They played most of O:M (everything except Suite Sister Mary). On December 14, 1991, I saw QR on the Empire tour at Long Beach Arena and they played the whole thing. I also saw the abridged version when QR opened for Metallica on December 7 and 8, 1988 at LB Arena (Anarchy-X, Revolution, O:M, Speak, Disease, Mission, I Don't Believe and Eyes - with Take Hold of the Flame nestled in between Mission and IDBIL)
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I was mowing the lawn today and listen to Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers and I thought of this thread. If you're feeling adventures for fairly intense hip hop concept album I'd recommend it a listen Chad. It's actually an album I feel like you'd get the concept without needing to look up anything up.
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I was mowing the lawn today and listen to Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers and I thought of this thread. If you're feeling adventures for fairly intense hip hop concept album I'd recommend it a listen Chad. It's actually an album I feel like you'd get the concept without needing to look up anything up.
I don't see Chad liking Kendrick Lamar at all. I don't even like Kendrick Lamar and I like everything. :lol
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My son and his friends went to see Kendrick Lamar at the Garden last year, and the footage was incredible.
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Thanks for this thread. I just checked it every now and then, didn't really have much to say. All I can say for now that it was wrapped up with a very worthy n. 1. What music, what a cast! It was my gateway to a lot of other prog/metal stuff too.
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Definitely a great argument for the best Ayreon album. I discovered it and Star One around the same time and it wound up being a pretty pivotal moment for the expansion of my musical universe.
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I had 34 of these before you started. Anthriel was a great find, and I know that Jorn/Dracula album will be the tits if I find it.
Also, no Savatage? Is it because you haven’t heard Streets and Dead Winter Dead,or is it TASTESTM?
Back me up on this Kade.
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I had 34 of these before you started. Anthriel was a great find, and I know that Jorn/Dracula album will be the tits if I find it.
Also, no Savatage? Is it because you haven’t heard Streets and Dead Winter Dead,or is it TASTESTM?
Back me up on this Kade.
Heh, Streets and Dead Winter Dead are my 2 least favorite Savatage albums post-Fight for the Rock. :lol
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And I prefer their later, more nuanced albums. TASTESTM!
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I like Savatage every time I hear them, but I only discovered them after / through TSO, and jumped in to their entire discography at once - and then just never spent a *lot* of time with any one album. I swear, every time I spin *any* album of theirs, I always think "why don't I listen to Savatage more often?" It's not so much a TASTESTM issue, but TIMING - as in, I discovered them late in my musical life, and have spent as much time with them as I would have otherwise.
I can "lend" you Dracula if you'd like?