I can't stop listening to this beautiful album. So heavy, melodic, and ANGRY. Besides the experimentation with arrangements, the lyrics are what surprises me the most.
So far, my top songs are
1. Calm The Fire
2. Cry of Achilles
3. Bleed It Dry
4. Lover
5. Fortress
6. Waters Rising
7. The Uninvited
8. Farther Than The Sun
9. Addicted To Pain
10. All Ends Well
11. Cry A River
12. Peace Is Broken
Not a bad list, but mine is a bit different after the top 3:
1. Cry Of Achilles
2. Calm The Fire
3. Bleed It Dry
4. Farther Than The Sun
5. Peace Is Broken
6. Addicted To Pain
7. Lover
8. Fortress
9. All Ends Well
10. Water's Rising
11. Uninvited
12. Cry A River
I absolutely love this album, and the only track that I would consider not 'incredible' would by
Cry A River. It just has the least going for it.
I'm not a huge fan of
Uninvited either, as the main riff isn't as strong as some of the other songs, and the bridge doesn't connect with me nearly as well as on, say
Water's Rising, which is EXPLOSIVE.
I probably rank
Peace Is Broken,
Farther Than The Sun, and
Addicted To Pain higher than most. This harkens to my love of super heavy riffs and immense grooves to back them up. The openings of PIB and FttS are blissful in this regard, and the bridge/outro of AtP is heavenly.
Lover and
All Ends Well are both moving and strong songs, and creatively deliver some anthemic choruses without sounding generic or boring. Neither has that extra bit of magic, but they are both solid tracks that keep the album well above the rest. The former gets the edge for me due to Myles' gorgeous delivery, which add yet another layer to an already excellent song.
Fortress doesn't get the same love from me, since I don't get fully hooked until the bridge, which only shines through the 4 solos. The rest of the song isn't bad, of course, but I like the melodies, riffs, and choruses of a lot of other songs more.
At the end of the day though,
Cry of Achilles might be my favorite song they ever made. Yes, more than Blackbird. It simply has absolutely everything you'd want in a song and doesn't let up it's unbelievable emotion for a moment. Might be one of the best hard rock tracks in a very long time.
And let's not forget
Calm The Fire, which has a addictive intro that pulls you in from the first phrase. It has some amazing passages, especially the pre-chorus leading into the monstrous chorus, and keeps you captivated throughout.
Last but not least,
Bleed it Dry it's simply genius. The pulsating groove of the main riff mixed with the unique drumming from Flip really makes this song hit hard. What's remarkable to me is that the chorus starts with one bar in 4/4 then switches to 6/8 in the final bar without you even noticing. Top that off with a passionate bridge that builds up with two of the best solos on the record, and BAM, you have a top 3 track.
This album is incredible. I stand by my original reaction when I said this is the band's best album, and my favorite of the past decade. It's the album I wished I wrote as a musician myself.
Simply put,
Fortress is the album every band in the alternative metal/hard rock world dreamed they created.