Sons of Apollo (feat. Portnoy & Sherinian)

[The Walrus]

Well, they've proven they can copy it at least once

[JayOctavarium]

So...

Everytime I read "Coming Home", the Alter Bridge song pops into my head.

[MirrorMask]

Stratovarius has a ballad named like that. Grave Digger too. Probably other 48 bands, including song titles such as "Carry on" and "Forever".

[The Walrus]

Stratovarius has a ballad named like that. Grave Digger too. Probably other 48 bands, including song titles such as "Carry on" and "Forever".

It's pretty comical to go through one's collection of metal songs and try to group all the songs that have all those generic titles. Forever, Coming Home, and Carry On are three of the biggest offenders. Also "Silence" or "Silence of (whatever)".

[Fritzinger]

There's even a (pretty cool) Falco song named Coming Home 

[cramx3]

Even JLB has a song Coming Home.  Iron Maiden's Coming Home is pretty solid.

[Architeuthis]

I read it as they wanted ten more songs like Coming Home in terms of the reception it gets live, not as literally copying Coming Home ten times.

I think the reason it gets a big reception at their shows is because they save it as their final encore. By that time the crowd is all fired up.  They would have had the same result if they had swapped any other song in that spot..
 Coming Home is a fun song though. 😎

[El Barto]

Coming Home is the worst song on the album, IMO, but it does come off much better live. And saving it for last, and after ATCWR definitely helps.

[Adami]

Coming Home is the worst song on the album, IMO, but it does come off much better live. And saving it for last, and after ATCWR definitely helps.

What? No way is it worse than whatever's whore and the instrumental thing.

[MirrorMask]

Even JLB has a song Coming Home.  Iron Maiden's Coming Home is pretty solid.

Wow. My favorite band and my second favorite singer and I thought about Stratovarious before that. Silly me.

James' song is about Dexter, and is better as a standalone song than the entire final season.

[bosk1]

I FEEL A RANKING COMING ON!!!

1.  Alive - Great song.  My #1 and #2 are close.  Seeing the song live put it over the top.
2.  Labrynth - Usually, I am a "more is more" kind of guy.  I love MOST of this song and I think I probably had it as my #1 for awhile.  But some of the instrumental stuff feels that it meanders just a bit too much to put it ahead of Alive.
3.  God of the Sun - Great opener, both on the album and live.  Lots of cool things going on in this one.
4.  Signs of the Time - I liked this one from the get go, and if anything, I like it more now than when it was first released.
5.  Divine Addiction - I'm not sure why I don't rank this song higher, other than just the simple fact of liking the other songs more.  Nice, tasty organ riffs definitely evoke some great '80s hard rock moments.
6.  Coming Home - Just a solid, enjoyable song. 
7.  Lost in Oblivion - This song has a lot going for it, but doesn't feel cohesive to me.  Not a bad song, but not one I usually want to hear either.
8.  Figaro's Whore - Decent little keyboard wanky transition piece that doesn't overstay its welcome.
9.  Opus Maximus - An instrumental generally has to be REALLY good to get my attention.  This one does not fall in that category.  Some cool parts.  But I often just shut off the disk when it starts. 

So, 6 songs I actively like, 2 that I don't mind, and 1 that I don't care for at all.  That's not a bad ratio.  If this were the '80s, that would be a VERY solid album.

[Stadler]

Stratovarius has a ballad named like that. Grave Digger too. Probably other 48 bands, including song titles such as "Carry on" and "Forever".

It's pretty comical to go through one's collection of metal songs and try to group all the songs that have all those generic titles. Forever, Coming Home, and Carry On are three of the biggest offenders. Also "Silence" or "Silence of (whatever)".

My buddy Eric and I used to play a lot of softball, and we were in bands for probably 20 years.  There were these two other guys who were in a band together and they were sort of our nemeses.   One of the guys and Eric were like two alpha males, always in competition.  The other guy married my high school girlfriend; I later realized I made a mistake, so I hated him and he always knew I was "the one that got away" and so he hated me.  Anyway, one weekend Eric and I played them in a softball game tournament and we won.  We're drinking beer after and those two come up and start in with the excuses "we would  have won but we're hung over from our album release party, blah blah blah."   So they hand us this CD.  Eric looks at me and says "cover band?" and they get all mad, because they were so proud they wrote all the songs.  It sounded like bad Night Ranger and all the titles were like "In Your Eyes" and "Need Your Love" and "Round and Round" and "Feels Like Forever" and "I Believe In You"  (All real titled from that band, by the way).    So clichéd its an insult to real clichés. 

[Destiny Of Chaos]

My ranking:

God Tier (Right up there with some of DT's best)
1. God of the Sun
2. Opus Maximus
3. Labyrinth

Very Good Tier
4. Lost in Oblivion
5. Divine Addiction
6. Signs of the Time 

Okay Tier
7. Alive
8. Coming Home 
9. Figaro's Whore

[cramx3]

God of the Sun
Alive
------------------
Opus Maximus
Signs of the Time
Labyrinth
Coming Home
Lost in Oblivion
Divine Addiction
------------------
Figaro's Whore

[MirrorMask]

God of the Sun first and foremost, and then Labyrinth if you cut a good part of the solo section
----------
Alive, Divine Addiction, Signs of the Time
----------
Lost in Oblivion, Coming Home
----------
The two instrumentals

But I really like them all, save for the instrumentals, especially if you make some little cuts here and there.

[Architeuthis]

It's hard for me to rank, because my favorite song on the album changes sometimes from day to day. GOTS and Alive seem to stay pretty consistent in my top two. There is not a weak song on this record, I really like listening to the whole thing each time.
 As far as Opus Maximus, I absolutely love it!  Great instrumental that takes me on a journey, and the transition to the soaring melodic part towards the end is awesome live!

[El Barto]

I never got the hate for Figaro's Whore. I like Sherinian, and it's simply him doing his thing.
Not a big Alive fan. Portnoy's callback vocals are becoming tiresome. It's neat at first, but the fun wears off quickly.
God of the Sun is a great song, despite being a ripoff of both Home and Scarface. The highlight, I think.
I really dig Divine Addiction, as it's essentially just an old Kansas song. PoNR era, I'd say.
Opus is good at times and not at others. Pretty varied.

The rest of the album is all pretty samey for me. Generic stuff, honestly.

[Architeuthis]

I don't see GOTS being a Home rip-off. Perhaps the middle eastern feel in some parts, but that is pretty common in the world of metal..
Each of those songs are two different beasts imo, GOTS being the better song..

[IDontNotDoThings]

Decent Tier
1. Labyrinth
2. Coming Home
3. Opus Maximus

Mediocre Tier
4. Signs Of The Time
5. God Of The Sun
6. Divine Addiction

Awful Tier
7. Alive
8. Figaro's Whore
9. Lost In Oblivion (would be undoubtedly the worst DT song if it was one)

[Madman Shepherd]

Top Tier (In no order)"
God of the Sun, Labyrinth, Divine Addiction - Be honest.  This one was left over from DP's Perfect Strangers and are just letting the band use it.  It's that good. 

Middle Tier:
Alive - Honestly it would be lower tier but it translates really well live. 

Bottom Tier:
Everything else.  Ya know, Figaro's Whore would have been fine if it wouldn't have had a stupid name and would have just been saved for the live show.  Jon Lord used to have cool intros before songs like You Fool No One.  It could have been along the same lines but he had to pretend like it was the keyboard version of Eruption.  Lame. 

[Stadler]

I really dig Divine Addiction, as it's essentially just an old Kansas song. PoNR era, I'd say.

Huh, that's a good observation.   

[Schurftkut]

so i just read that they're going back into the studio in November, and that they signed for a 3 disc contract with Sony, so at least we'll hear some more music from these guys in the future :-)

[Architeuthis]

so i just read that they're going back into the studio in November, and that they signed for a 3 disc contract with Sony, so at least we'll hear some more music from these guys in the future :-)

 

[Orbert]

3-disc contract?  I had no idea that labels still did that.  Definitely a good thing.

[IDontNotDoThings]

3-disc contract?  I had no idea that labels still did that.  Definitely a good thing.

triple album confirmed? 

[Madman Shepherd]

3-disc contract?  I had no idea that labels still did that.  Definitely a good thing.

triple album confirmed? 

Yeah but disc 2 is a covers album and disc 3 they cover their first album.

[Orbert]

[Anxiety35]

3-disc contract?  I had no idea that labels still did that.  Definitely a good thing.

triple album confirmed? 

Yeah but disc 2 is a covers album and disc 3 they cover their first album.

 

[RodrigoAltaf]

Disc 2 will be the live album to be recorded later in the year in Bulgaria.

[Evermind]

3-disc contract?  I had no idea that labels still did that.  Definitely a good thing.

triple album confirmed? 

Yeah but disc 2 is a covers album and disc 3 they cover their first album.

I just can't stop laughing at this.

[cramx3]

Disc 2 will be the live album to be recorded later in the year in Bulgaria.

And isn't this already going to be a double disc?  The full album and then a disc of covers?  That would leave one more studio disc for the new album in the deal maybe?

[ReaperKK]

3-disc contract?  I had no idea that labels still did that.  Definitely a good thing.

triple album confirmed? 

Is this not just a 3 album contract? Surely a band with only one album under their belt is not doing a triple-album.

[The Walrus]

A triple album would be soooo prog though 

[Architeuthis]

If their next album tops Psychotic Symphony, I think SOA will gain popularity.  They got some of the best musicians in the business, and certainly have the potential to put out some great music in the future.
Psychotic Symphony is a very strong start imo.. 

[Enigmachine]

If their next album tops Psychotic Symphony, I think SOA will gain popularity.  They got some of the best musicians in the business, and certainly have the potential to put out some great music in the future.
Psychotic Symphony is a very strong start imo.. 

It's very strong only as a start though, as sort of a "here's what we can do" sort of thing. PS is not something I find myself wanting to come back to, despite liking it. Some good foundations there, but just needs a little more depth.