Sons of Apollo (feat. Portnoy & Sherinian)

[SwedishGoose]

You should be able to change your mund in this poll...

[dream416]

This album rocks imo. Some very catchy hooks.

[max_security]

I come from an 80shard rock/metal background and I’m not much of a prog fan. Rush are about as prog as I get. I’d rather listen to Asia than Yes. This probably explains why I like it.

I have no problem with the DT like habit of veering off on an instrumental tangent,

Yeah, I like this album.

DS and MP didn’t do themselves any favours with all the rhetoric as it built up an expectation that it doesn’t meet but I’m quite happy with that because if it was an out and out progfest I’d probably hate it.

Instead of guitar solos and instrumental arrangements they should have incorporated some long , slow " Pink Floyd " ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  , ( up two whole step ) , ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Get a muddy sounding bass with a low B ( and bury it in the mix ) , Prog ( 2017 definition )

[Architeuthis]

I liked it after the first spin while driving, great drum sound and overall production. I dont know if JSS's vocal range was showcased enough, I need to give it a few listens but he sounded good from what I could hear, although a bit conservative. That guitar player is a beast with great tone and skill!
DS was pretty awesome throughout, I liked the analog sound. I don't know if it was intentional, but it sounded like he gave quick little knod to BOSTON in the song Divine Addiction ( If I remember right). A snippet from the intro to Foreplay/Longtime. Anybody else catch that?.
 I also really dig the instrumental track at the end.. 

[devieira73]

Just to say, tastes and all, but I can't believe the instrumental got little praise here. That middle section, kind of Sheehan's festival, is wonderful, sorry!

[devieira73]

Also I find a bit odd that here Gods of the Sun gets so much more praises than Labyrinth. To me, they are easily at same level. I have a feel that, if the band had told that Gods.. was written in the studio and Labyrinth was composed before, with one member spending a lot more demoing it, it would the opposite apprecitation.
Also, a lot of praise to Ron's guitar work, but a lot of criticisms about the music in itself, being that a lot of it is carried by his guitar work! Just two observations...
Yes, I'm one of the few that gave 9 to the album

[Skeever]

So DTF's opinion on Sons of Apollo, visually, is something like a Christmas Tree 

[TAC]

I'd so much rather hear James Labrie on Labrynth.

[gborland]

It's brickwalled to hell. Horrible mix and mastering.

[rumborak]

Just to say, tastes and all, but I can't believe the instrumental got little praise here. That middle section, kind of Sheehan's festival, is wonderful, sorry!

You mean that section where Billy's muddy tone prevents you from discerning what he's actually planning?

[DT2003]

For me Russell Allen’s voice was perfect in the earlier Symphony X albums. I don’t enjoy his voice much in Adrenaline Mob and the later Symphony X albums.

[devieira73]

Just to say, tastes and all, but I can't believe the instrumental got little praise here. That middle section, kind of Sheehan's festival, is wonderful, sorry!

You mean that section where Billy's muddy tone prevents you from discerning what he's actually planning?

yeah, that amazing section!

[PROGdrummer]

Can you imagine an alternate timeline where Mike's first project after leaving DT was this instead of AMob?  With Russell on vocals, Derek on keys, probaby Sheehan on bass. He might've had MacAlpine or Bumblefoot on guitar.

A new prog metal band right out of the gate with nothing to compare it to besides A Dramatic Turn of Events and then eventually Flying Colors.

Hate to say it but that would be a much nicer world. AJ Pero and Dave Z could still be here (I'm not blaming anyone for their deaths, I know that's a dark thing to say but I'm just talking hypothetically).

You think the reception to this band would be different?

[Fritzinger]

Can you imagine an alternate timeline where Mike's first project after leaving DT was this instead of AMob?  With Russell on vocals, Derek on keys, probaby Sheehan on bass. He might've had MacAlpine or Bumblefoot on guitar.

A new prog metal band right out of the gate with nothing to compare it to besides A Dramatic Turn of Events and then eventually Flying Colors.

Hate to say it but that would be a much nicer world. AJ Pero and Dave Z could still be here (I'm not blaming anyone for their deaths, I know that's a dark thing to say but I'm just talking hypothetically).

You think the reception to this band would be different?

MP & DS probably would have misbehaved even more online...
I would have loved that though! Also, we'd already have 3-4 more SoA albums by now 

[SwedishGoose]

If the music was the same I think the reception would have been the same...

[PROGdrummer]

If the music was the same I think the reception would have been the same...

For me, I feel like this album really just came 6 years too late. I think it would have fit into the prog-metal scene better in 2011-2012, before bands like BTBAM, Tesseract, Periphery and Animals as Leaders really started blowing up. Back then albums like Iconoclast and ADTOE were still hot.
The prog game has changed a fair bit since Mike left DT. I don't mean to imply that SOA would have gone djent by now (lol),  but I just think this album would have resonated better in the market back then.  Most of the reviews call this "outdated" and "treading old ground". 6 years ago, this album would have been striking when the iron was hot (in my opinion).

[KevShmev]

Were standards lower then to where this mediocre product would have been more acceptable? 

[PROGdrummer]

Were standards lower then to where this mediocre product would have been more acceptable?

...why are you always trying to bust my balls Kev?

[The Walrus]

I do prefer Russell to Soto immensely, but I'm also not sure he would've done much to change this. But, I do think the heavy sections would've been heavier (Russell can really 'roar' when he wants to) and that awful cringey vocal part at the beginning of Labyrinth would've been way better.

[Lethean]

Yeah, what's up with that part? I thought it sounded horrible.

[Fritzinger]

Wow, not to sound bitter.. but all the negative comments are starting to take the fun out of this album for me...  Of course it's not the masterpiece it was built up to be.. but it's not that bad either is it? You guys seem to find something bad in everything of this album...

[MirrorMask]

I have to agree, reading the comments I was expecting a clusterfuck of an album, but c'mon, it's good... it's more than good. All the songs are great. Of course from this to a masterpiece there's a loooooong way, but I think people may have been so put off by the online drama that they "want" to not like it (then of course some may just don't care for the drama and genuinely not liking it, of course).

All the songs are quite good and Jeff Scot Soto sings them all nicely, he's a solid singer and I think he fits the songs. I remember a comment from soneone saying that he would "space out" during the solo sections... same for me, I get lost into them, barely realizing they're going on, and then I remember I'm hearing the same song when finally Jeff starts to sing again the chorus.

I think that a different attitude during promotion and more importantly way more time spent on the songs would have made wonders for this record. And God of the Sun is a fantastic track, the true standout of the album... not a coincidence that it's the song that it took more time to work on (aside from the solo section I guess).

[jakepriest]

Wow, not to sound bitter.. but all the negative comments are starting to take the fun out of this album for me...  Of course it's not the masterpiece it was built up to be.. but it's not that bad either is it? You guys seem to find something bad in everything of this album...

Because it's not good.

[MirrorMask]

I gave it a 7, consider it a 7,5. Overall I like it, it's not a masterpiece but it's very good.

What I like:

- All the (sung) songs, basically. When it comes to the vocal lines and the choruses, there's not a single song on here that I dislike, they're all good.
- Jeff Scott Soto. Good singer, he fits the songs, and from the few interview he did, he seems like a nice and humble guy.
- I'm not too much of a musical expert to realize all the intricacies of the music, but I find nothing to complain about the musicians' performances.

The devil however is in the details, so here we go with...

What I dislike:
- God of the Sun's solo section. Too long and takes me away from the song mood.
- Coming Home's lyrics. Not a fan at all of those kind of tough guy lyrics. And what's even the sense in warning someone that they're coming home? it's a parent talking to a kid that is having a secret party?
- Signs of the Time's solo section. Too long and takes me away from the song mood.
- Labyrinth's solo section. Guess what....? yeah. Too long. Kills the mood. Starting to see a pattern here.
- All the less melodic parts of Opus Maximum.

Basically a quite strong and solid album, whose little time it had to be created influenced negatively on the cohesiveness of the longer songs. It deserved way more time spent in the studio.

[Lethean]

Yes, I do think it's that bad in general. But in my post above, what sounds horrible is the way JSS sings temptation, and whatever other word that rhymes with it.  It sounds like he just woke up and can't get his voice out yet, it sounds like his voice breaks. 

[jakepriest]

But... Signs of the Time's solo section is like the best part of the album. The rest of the track is rather boring.

[gzarruk]

Russell Allen is great but versatile? He doesn’t show that on AMob or SymX. He would have sounded just the same as JSS does here. Just how DS and MP told him to.

Listen to Paradise Lost (the song) and tell me Russell is not veratile.

[Fritzinger]

I gave it a 7, consider it a 7,5. Overall I like it, it's not a masterpiece but it's very good.

What I like:

- All the (sung) songs, basically. When it comes to the vocal lines and the choruses, there's not a single song on here that I dislike, they're all good.
- Jeff Scott Soto. Good singer, he fits the songs, and from the few interview he did, he seems like a nice and humble guy.
- I'm not too much of a musical expert to realize all the intricacies of the music, but I find nothing to complain about the musicians' performances.

The devil however is in the details, so here we go with...

What I dislike:
- God of the Sun's solo section. Too long and takes me away from the song mood.
- Coming Home's lyrics. Not a fan at all of those kind of tough guy lyrics. And what's even the sense in warning someone that they're coming home? it's a parent talking to a kid that is having a secret party?
- Signs of the Time's solo section. Too long and takes me away from the song mood.
- Labyrinth's solo section. Guess what....? yeah. Too long. Kills the mood. Starting to see a pattern here.
- All the less melodic parts of Opus Maximum.

Basically a quite strong and solid album, whose little time it had to be created influenced negatively on the cohesiveness of the longer songs. It deserved way more time spent in the studio.

I find most of the solo sections pretty awesome!
Sounds like you want a Hardrock album, since you are criticizing all the instrumental parts 

[The Walrus]

I do think it is genuinely that bad. Just as some people thought The Astonishing was so poor they used it as a frisbee or a coaster. Okay... maybe not that petty. 

[JayOctavarium]

Gave it a 7..would have been an 8 or a 9 if it wasnt overhyped as the reinvention of prog metal. It's good... But it's not a Dream Theater killer. It is like if Flying Colors was pushed as a DT killer. It wasn't.. We knew what to expect. Not with SOA though..

[MirrorMask]

Nah, I'm fine with long instrumental passages, but they have to fit with the song. I don't mind at all Metropolis' solo section for example, these ones instead feel generic enough that they could have been swapped with each other without too much difference.

[?]

Ok so I wasn't planning on listening to anymore but came across the song Alive. My wife asked what I was listening to and I told her it was a new Mike Portnoy project. She said, "Oh. Sounds like Nickelback."

Sooooooo.....

I didn't mention Nickelback in my review, but that's basically what I was thinking as well (I like the song though) https://www.musicalypse.net/2017-sons-of-apollo-psychotic-symphony-english/

“Alive” is a post-grunge/alternative rock-sounding melodic anthem

[Fritzinger]

Nah, I'm fine with long instrumental passages, but they have to fit with the song. I don't mind at all Metropolis' solo section for example, these ones instead feel generic enough that they could have been swapped with each other without too much difference.

How do you think about, let's say, Beyond This Life, Outcry or - to take a completely different example - Fading Lights by Genesis?
Not trying to annoy you here, just to understand

[?]

I gave it a 7 when I wrote my review, but in hindsight 6 would've been more appropriate. To put it short, I like the hard rock-style songs, but with the exception of God of the Sun the proggy stuff is pretty generic, and Soto's vocals work much better on the straight-ahead tracks. Derek and Bumblefoot do rock on the album, though. I didn't take the "redefining prog metal" marketing hype seriously, so I wasn't really let down.

[Adami]

Why are we already discounting negative opinions? It's very possible we just didn't like it. It doesn't mean the online drama is the reason. It doesn't mean it's because we expected X and got Y. Some of us....just....don't....like it.