Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
That's exactly why I voted for Gamma Ray over Rainbow.
GREATEST METAL ALBUM CUP - Winner: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son!
- Thread starter LooseCannon
- Start date
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Please do. One of the best pieces of music ever written. It alone is better than anything Dream Theater have ever done.
Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
Thanks to my vote, Sabaton's The Art of War will be going up against Gamma Ray instead of Rainbow!
Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
Well by coincidence or not I just yesterday tried The Odyssey for the first time as part of my Symphony X discography discovery (I also heard Divine Wings and V).
By far the weakest of the three. Wtf is that chorus on Wicked?! Incantations of the Apprentice is the most filler song out of them all save for the interludes on V. Accolade II isn't as good as the first one but that means nothing. This is a great album but I'm just saying it's still flawed.
SX are much more cheese than emotion. What's emotional about the riff in Inferno? Most of 6DOIT isn't very emotional either, but it's easier for me to find emotion in so called pretentious interesting musical ideas than in the cheese in the chorus of Inferno. Or Fallen. Or Of Sins and Shadows... Cheese is cheese, this is just tastier cheese!
Also, come on. Disappear?
And calling DT a mishmash of ideas??! Have you heard The Divine Wings title track?! Heck, even The Odyssey is guilty of this a little.
By far the weakest of the three. Wtf is that chorus on Wicked?! Incantations of the Apprentice is the most filler song out of them all save for the interludes on V. Accolade II isn't as good as the first one but that means nothing. This is a great album but I'm just saying it's still flawed.
Wow, swap that around. (Except for the singer part.)
SX are much more cheese than emotion. What's emotional about the riff in Inferno? Most of 6DOIT isn't very emotional either, but it's easier for me to find emotion in so called pretentious interesting musical ideas than in the cheese in the chorus of Inferno. Or Fallen. Or Of Sins and Shadows... Cheese is cheese, this is just tastier cheese!
Also, come on. Disappear?
And calling DT a mishmash of ideas??! Have you heard The Divine Wings title track?! Heck, even The Odyssey is guilty of this a little.
Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
Well, also the second time
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
Lucky we have someone so smart on the forum.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Spreading the Disease is losing to GHOST? Come on, forum.
Spambot
Meme Lord
Iron Maiden. Because I like that album and only Blaze albums I like so far are those with Bermudez brothers (but I don't think I've seen those two in GMAC).
Anthrax. Because I've heard whole Ghost discography for couple of times and didn't found anything interesting in it. Also, I got to comment: Spreading the Disease is the worst possible album title you can have at the moment.
Amorphis. Because it's my nominee and there are better Amon Amarth albums than this one.
Rush. Oh, look. A Rush match. And another one in the next league. Certainly not the thing I was afraid of. Anywho, I actually never listened Clockwork Angels expect the singles (Caravan and BU2
and other one has Villa Strangiato. So, Hemispheres.
Anthrax. Because I've heard whole Ghost discography for couple of times and didn't found anything interesting in it. Also, I got to comment: Spreading the Disease is the worst possible album title you can have at the moment.
Amorphis. Because it's my nominee and there are better Amon Amarth albums than this one.
Rush. Oh, look. A Rush match. And another one in the next league. Certainly not the thing I was afraid of. Anywho, I actually never listened Clockwork Angels expect the singles (Caravan and BU2
and other one has Villa Strangiato. So, Hemispheres.
And Anthrax was the worst possible band name you could have in late 2001. It seems to be a theme with this band.
Spambot
Meme Lord
JudasMyGuide
Ancient Mariner
As someone who dearly loves both bands (EDIT: Dream Theater and Symphony X), I am certainly closer to Shmoolikipod's stance than Diesel's. I'd say that both bands are cheesy, it's just different type of cheese. And while Symph uses often more interesting and less trivial modes and harmonies, you can get overfed on that. Even as a rather "classical" person who appreciates neo-classical metal dearly, there's still only a certain amount of Romeo's exhibitions that I can stomach which hardly ever happens with Trucci, whom I could listen to all day long. And while Allen is undoubtedly the superior singer from a technical point of view (or at least probably, I don't know whether he'll keep his voice like Dio did - time will tell), LaBrie offers more variety in his approach, IMHO, so I can also listen to him for a longer period of time.
And while I learned to like it, I agree the choruses on the first half of Odyssey, especially Wicked and Incantations are somewhat whack.
As for the random, hodge-podge of ideas without structure, both bands are very guilty of that, from Divine Wings to A Change of Seasons. The Odyssey is more logically coherent, but I would still like more development and build-up, which is where DT excel (I already and repeatedly praised stuff like Endless Sacrifice, A Mind Beside Itself or In the Presence of Enemies, which indeed work with their musical material much more organically and logically, again, IMHO).
And yes, probably no Symph song tugs at my heartstrings so hard as a lot of the DT ones. Whether it's This Dying Soul, Anna Lee, and yes
LET ME INTRODUCE
MY BROTHER
A BEARDED GENTLEMAN
HISTORIAAAAAAAAAAN
SUCKING ON HIS PIPE
DISTINGUISHED ACCENT
(okay, that part isn't the most emotional one, but I love it nonetheless, maybe because I have a pipe, distinguished accent, facial growth and a penchant for history; I sorely lack a sibling, though)
(...)
(... I just had to)
COME AND HAVE A TASTE
A RARE VINTAGE!!!
(But yeah. I love, love, love TCOT)
And while I learned to like it, I agree the choruses on the first half of Odyssey, especially Wicked and Incantations are somewhat whack.
As for the random, hodge-podge of ideas without structure, both bands are very guilty of that, from Divine Wings to A Change of Seasons. The Odyssey is more logically coherent, but I would still like more development and build-up, which is where DT excel (I already and repeatedly praised stuff like Endless Sacrifice, A Mind Beside Itself or In the Presence of Enemies, which indeed work with their musical material much more organically and logically, again, IMHO).
And yes, probably no Symph song tugs at my heartstrings so hard as a lot of the DT ones. Whether it's This Dying Soul, Anna Lee, and yes
LET ME INTRODUCE
MY BROTHER
A BEARDED GENTLEMAN
HISTORIAAAAAAAAAAN
SUCKING ON HIS PIPE
DISTINGUISHED ACCENT
(okay, that part isn't the most emotional one, but I love it nonetheless, maybe because I have a pipe, distinguished accent, facial growth and a penchant for history; I sorely lack a sibling, though)
(...)
(... I just had to)
COME AND HAVE A TASTE
A RARE VINTAGE!!!
(But yeah. I love, love, love TCOT)
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These are thematic works more akin to a symphony. I've written extensively about the movements in the Symphony X thread.
Detective Beauregard
Leviathan of Doggerland
One of Symphony X’s best albums versus a Dream Theater one with two great songs, one solid one, and a lot of filler? Easy choice for me. I’ll get more into analyzing Six Degrees once the round actually starts, but let’s just say that I find the tittle track to be one of the most overrated things the band has ever written.
What’s wrong with the chorus of Wicked? I think it’s ridiculously catchy; it’s supposed to be creepy and atonal. I love the groove of that song! Incantations is one of the weaker tracks but the only one I outright dislike is The Turning. The musical parts are great but the vocal melodies are weak. But every other song on the album is pretty much excellent; you’ve got fast and heavy with Inferno and King of Terrors, respectfully, an emotive Accolade II, a wonderfully progressive (even jazzy at times) Awakenings, and one of the most epic pieces of music ever written in the title track.
Also, in case some haven’t heard it, there’s a track called Frontiers that didn’t make it onto the album due to its theme being about space exploration (which is just, like, so un-Symphony X). It kinda has a ‘70s prog vibe to me.
Finally, comparing Russell Allen’s soulful crooning to the screeching of James LaBrie is humor at its finest. Dream Theater may write stronger lyrics, but that’s always been the least important part of music for me.
What’s wrong with the chorus of Wicked? I think it’s ridiculously catchy; it’s supposed to be creepy and atonal. I love the groove of that song! Incantations is one of the weaker tracks but the only one I outright dislike is The Turning. The musical parts are great but the vocal melodies are weak. But every other song on the album is pretty much excellent; you’ve got fast and heavy with Inferno and King of Terrors, respectfully, an emotive Accolade II, a wonderfully progressive (even jazzy at times) Awakenings, and one of the most epic pieces of music ever written in the title track.
Also, in case some haven’t heard it, there’s a track called Frontiers that didn’t make it onto the album due to its theme being about space exploration (which is just, like, so un-Symphony X). It kinda has a ‘70s prog vibe to me.
Finally, comparing Russell Allen’s soulful crooning to the screeching of James LaBrie is humor at its finest. Dream Theater may write stronger lyrics, but that’s always been the least important part of music for me.
JudasMyGuide
Ancient Mariner
Humor at its finest, indeed.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Maiden take another round strictly on the strength of a few songs. Nothing on Blaze’s record can hold up to Paschendale or the title track.
I grew up an Anthrax fan, and STD (hah!) has some classic tracks, but Meliora is a far better album with (hah!) a better singer. Ghost
Hardest match is round three. I have a soft spot for Amorphis and Skyforger in particular is probably my favorite, but it simply can’t hold up to the power and (hah!) melodic hooks on Oden (which is easily the best Amon Amarth album).
Man, shit draw. Clockwork Angels is world’s better than Hemispheres, but the play classics crowd will always prevail for their numbers are greater.
I grew up an Anthrax fan, and STD (hah!) has some classic tracks, but Meliora is a far better album with (hah!) a better singer. Ghost
Hardest match is round three. I have a soft spot for Amorphis and Skyforger in particular is probably my favorite, but it simply can’t hold up to the power and (hah!) melodic hooks on Oden (which is easily the best Amon Amarth album).
Man, shit draw. Clockwork Angels is world’s better than Hemispheres, but the play classics crowd will always prevail for their numbers are greater.
Agreed. I didn't nominate it (somehow) but Clockwork Angels is a true masterpiece, as good as any of Rush's classic albums, and it's really fucking heavy. Like, it's a proper metal album. I really encourage people to check it out.
Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
It's fantastic. The album steps into the ring with Caravan, then delivers a 1-2 knockout punch with BU2B and the title track.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Interesting, because that’s another thing I prefer from Symphony X. They’re power metal so of course there’s cheese, but they never bite off more than they can chew. Can’t say the same about Dream Theater.
Also to anyone who thinks I was actually angry in my posts last night, bruh moment. I just don’t find most DT appealing and I’ve tried and maybe someday I’ll like them but right now I just don’t. Not that all their songs are bad, “Octavarium” and “Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence” I have a lot of respect for, but overall, yeah I’m just not a fan. Symphony X is just about everything I ever wanted in Dream Theater.
I agree it’s not perfect, and the weakest of their Big 3 (V — Wings — Odyssey), but all the songs are strong. Wicked’s chorus is a weird but ultimately worthwhile break into ‘70s type rock. Incantations is one of the album’s weakest, but damn is that chorus huge. Accolade II I agree is weaker than the original but it’s a lovely song all the same.
What’s emotional about those songs? They pump you the fuck up. Russell’s voice in all three of those choruses is godly and just gets down to the heart and brings up the natural human instinct to enjoy power. When that power his voice brings across hits you it just FEELS great. Impactful. Almost rapturous. And also the way he changes up the chorus in Fallen every time it comes up. And the way he hits the final note in Inferno. Ugh it’s just so good. I can’t get anything like that from LaBrie. Not even ‘90s LaBrie. Just not for me.
Romeo definitely had a little ways to go to fully grip the idea of painting scenes solely through music, but all the sections in that song are still great, and every time Russell appears it’s taken to the next level.
The Odyssey is one of the most perfect songs ever made and no second of it is wasted.