Caught In The Whirlwind
Posts tagged symphony x
Albums Of The Year: 2007
Dec 4th 2007
Well, since the end of the year is closing in and Vox hasn't done this as the question of the day yet (watch, it's going to show up tomorrow) I decided that I'd do it myself. 2007 was a pretty good year for music barring some disappointments. I'm looking at you Dream Theater. But to balance out the fact that the album I was looking forward to most was generally "meh", I made a whole lot of new musical discoveries this year. Radiohead, Epica, Riverside, Redemption, Little Atlas, just to name a few. Inspired by a thread on the mikeportnoy.com forums, I think it's time to rank my favorite albums of the year like I did last year. Except if I could do last year's again, I'd put the Frost* album on top. I don't know what I was thinking with that one. But anyway, onwards to the list.
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Porcupine Tree – Fear Of A Blank Planet
Porcupine Tree – Nil RecurringWhat can I say about Steven Wilson? He turns everything he touches to gold and this release was no exception. I'm including Nil Recurring in here too since it was originally intended to be part of the album.
Porcupine Tree continues to impress with Fear of A Blank Planet, continuing the evolution they began with In Absentia. This album sounds like Porcupine Tree, but it has a different feel from their previous works, a trait which Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson have carried through the bands entire discography.
This release, while not quite as strong as In Absentia to me (but that's a tough thing to live up to, honestly) easily captures my top spot this year. The middle section of Anesthetize is one of the most well constructed pieces of music I've heard in quite some time.
This album was made even better by getting front row seats at the Porcupine Tree concert in Albany.
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3 – The End Is Begun
I didn't think I was going to like 3 at first. I heard they were good over at the mikeportnoy.com forums after having opened for Porcupine Tree on a previous tour leg, but my first impression wasn't very good.It was only after I decided to check them out more after hearing they were going to be opening for Porcupine Tree at the show I was going to and I'm really glad I did. 3 vaulted into one of my favorite bands and this release, and as you can see, to my number 2 spot of the year.
They've got a fairly unique sound to them (like a lot of the bands I'm into actually…) and until I saw them live, I didn't realize they had two drummers which explains some of their sound. The lead vocalist also has a very unique voice.
What's more, they're awesome live. When I saw them with Porcupine Tree…I'm having a hard time deciding if I was happier with PT's show or with 3's. I'm glad they're going to be opening for Dream Theater in the spring.
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Redemption – The Origins Of Ruin
Another band I discovered because they were opening for a band I wanted to see. Redemption opened for Dream Theater, and thus I checked them out.
I was surprised to learn that Ray Alder was their vocalist. I liked him in Fates Warning, but I think his unique vocal style really works much better in Redemption's format. And the stuff he sings is very well thought out. The lyrics on this album are some of the best I've heard all year.
Fall On You, in particular, is one of the highlights of the album lyrically. I'm glad they played that one live at the show I went to.
Speaking of their live show, it's fairly good as well. Ray Alder was spot on live, even though he had a cold. I really need to get some of their other albums if they're going to be anything like this one.
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Blackfield – Blackfield II
Hey, Stephen Wilson manages to get on the list again! Who would have thought. Well, this release shows off the versitility of the man again. Blackfield is a more pop oriented group than Porcupine Tree is, being a collaboration with Aviv Geffen. Simpler songs rule here with more lyric driven pieces. There's a few weak spots (Miss U, specifically) but overall this album is extremely solid.
The album retains a lot of Stephen Wilson signatures with a lot of vocal harmony parts thrown in. Christenings is pretty much all of the members of Porcupine Tree playing a song on the Blackfield album with Aviv added in, so it's very much a Porcupine Tree sounding song. One of my favorite tracks, along with 1,000 People and Once.
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Symphony X – Paradise Lost
Russel Allen is one of my favorite Metal vocalists out there right now. He's extremely versitle, singing soft, soulful parts as well as powerful soaring vocal lines and even more metal growling type (well, not growling as in death metal…more of a gravely type voice) often in the same song.
The only reason why this album isn't listed higher on my top 5 is because Russel Allen's usage of the more metal type vocals through the entire thing. He doesn't really let loose with the powerful soaring stuff that I like him so much for. They suit the music though, as we'll get to in a moment, but I would have preferred more variety.
Musically, though, this album doesn't disappoint. It's extremely heavy (which is why the vocals are as they are) and well constructed. There's a lot of musical references to their song The Divine Wings of Tragedy, this album being related to it in some way. Still trying to figure out what the connection is, but it's most definitely a concept album.
Symphony X is so delightfully cheesy and they know it which makes them so awesome. I really wish I was able to see them live this tour, but I'm going to have to skip the show, unfortunately.
So there you have it. My top 5 of 2007. This marks the first year where a Dream Theater album was released where it didn't get placed on the top spot. In fact, Systematic Chaos didn't even make the list which surprised me a lot. I really wanted to like the album, but I'm getting the feeling that Dream Theater is straying from their roots a bit too much, away from well constructed songs into instrumental wank-fests that do litle to add anything to the song. There's some good stuff on there. Constant Motion, Repentance, Prophets of War and The Ministry of Lost Souls are standout tracks for me, along with Forsaken to some degree, but…the lyrics this time around by John Petrucci really killed several songs for me. They do work really well live though. I'll have to give them that much.
Maybe I'm moving on and DT is moving in a different direction. We'll have to see what the next album brings. Now…where's my music for 2008??
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Metal Fish!
Jul 7th 2007
Ok, I was trying to get a video of my bleeding heart tetras playing in the bubble stream but they were being all boring. What I did get though was a fish video with Symphony X in the background…
Wanderlust in a Paradise Lost
Jul 6th 2007
This is the third time I'm going to write this post due to crashing web browsers, so hopefully it'll take this time…
I mentioned earlier that I was going to talk about Symphony X's new album Paradise Lost which I picked up over the weekend. I also found a new, smaller band called Little Atlas that I'm really liking right now, so I'll mention them a bit later.
First, Symphony X. This album has really grown on me. The first time I listened to it was in my car and the speakers really didn't do it justice. It came across sounding kinda muddy and I really didn't get to hear many of the nuances that were there. But after repeated listens I'm happy to say I'm really enjoying it.
Symphony X, historically, is known for their over the top orchestral inspired song arrangements, their fantasy based lyrics, Michael Romeo's guitar work and Russell Allen's vocals. This album, though is slightly different from their previous efforts in that it's so, so heavy that a lot of the orchestral arrangement is lost here, although on occasion it does shine through. The guitars on this album are probably some of the best (and most technical) playing that Michael Romeo has done for the band. A heavy album really helps to showcase the guy playing guitars.
My one major complaint is in Russell Allen's vocals. Russell is an amazing, versatile singer. He can sing with a variety of vocal styles such as a very beautiful (I believe that would be the correct word) "clean" type of vocal with a lot of emotion and power as well as being able to switch into more of a growling metal type vocal (not death metal of course). He can hit the high notes…he can go low…he can do everything in between. However, on this latest album, his vocals are fairly one dimensional, in the metal growling style. Don't get me wrong, it fits in with the heavier musical style, and he does switch things up occasionally, but I would have liked to hear him sing more clean vocals.
Right now though Paradise Lost is my second favorite album released this year, behind Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Dark Planet.
Now, moving off Symphony X and into a completely different style of music, we get to Little Atlas, a local band from Miami Florida. They're in the category of band that's very hard for me to explain. I guess I'd just label them as Progressive Rock, featuring a lot of experimentation and analog keyboards and such, but with a modern touch. It's really a unique and interesting sound. The arrangements are also worth mentioning. There's a lot going on, as there is in a lot of prog rock, but it never sounds too busy or too much like a wall of randomness while the song is bouncing all over the place between different feels. The entire album is extremely well constructed.
I listened to two songs on their MySpace page and I ended up placing an order for the CD, which was a good move on my part because this CD hasn't left the CD player in my car since I got it.
A Long Overdue Update
Jun 14th 2007
I figure I should post some updates on the happenings of this week since I've been fairly quiet recently. I've been sick with a cold, so I haven't had the energy to update things.
There's no updates on what's wrong with my desktop. Things are pretty much as they were when I last reported it. Still dead. I've been trying to clear enough space on my MacBook Pro to install windows XP and City of Heroes so I could at least get my fix in. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to clear enough space due to my music and videos. But more on that later.
Tuesday night, Wassy came over to my place in a continuing series of visits where I corrupt her musical tastes. This time it was Symphony X and some Spock's Beard. She really liked Symphony X. It's kinda too bad they're not going to be playing around here relatively close on their tour since they're pretty good live. But at least they're releasing a new album, next or the week after I believe. I'll have to check.
As she was leaving, we were talking about my computer and the fact that they had an external hard drive they weren't using came up, which is a temporary answer to my prayers here. So I made arrangements to swing by their place the next night after my class to pick it up.
Class was…incredibly boring. We ended up watching half a video of moon stuff and then, for some reason, a documentary on lightning strikes which really doesn't have much of anything to do with the moon, so I'm not sure why she showed it. We did, however, convince her to give us the first (take home) test last night and having it due the week after next still. And since she gave us the test tonight, we no longer even have to show up for class on Monday because all she was going to do was hand out the test. Any time I don't have to rush home from work and run around trying to get to class on time is a plus in my book.
I stopped by my friends place and picked up the drive, went home and got to work. It took a little longer than I was hoping but I now have Windows XP and City of Heroes installed on the MacBook.
Now to get all of my keybinds reconstructed…
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