Black Thunder said:
You stubborn non-believers probably never heard Gettysburg.
It's a good song, no question. Some impressive moments here and there. But I just can't understand how people think it even has a chance of standing up to masterpieces such as
Travel in Stygian,
A Question of Heaven (and mostly the entire
Suffering trilogy) or what may be one of the most underrated tracks ever,
When the Night Falls.
If I had to make up an attribute to describe
Gettysburg, I guess I would say it is "over-composed". It just has too much going on, even for thirty minutes or whatever. It seems like Schaffer is just shoving the progress of the battle down my throat, leaving nothing to my imagination. It's not that I don't like complex music, but I think that if you are going to put so much complexity into a song, you also need to give the listener some liberty as to what he makes of what he hears - and that is totally lacking here. We are told the progress of a battle with no intention to reflect on what happened, why it happened (it only mentions what led to it), and what its essential outcome is. There is a moment when the tragedy of it all is being revealed at the start of the second part, but this avenue is not explored any further, and you basically forget all about it later on. The song paints a grandiose picture of the battle, but just doesn't address in any way the reason why it is being painted or why you should look at it. It's just sort of there, and nobody asked for it, and nobody would miss it if it weren't there.
I'm picking on the content so much because the whole song revolves completely around the content. No artistic liberty, no occasion to marvel at a guitar solo, a break or a vocal line just for what it is, it's all just there to tell the story of the battle and doesn't warrant any appreciation for the individual musician's achievement. Basically, it's just like the rest of the album, a huge vehicle for Schaffer to rub it into everyone's face how great he is. It's not that I don't like story-telling songs, I just don't like it when it's being done so offensively and without any sort of sublety. Any well-told story, especially when being told through music, should give your mind the occasion to wander and come to its own conclusions.
Sorry for the rant, but after reading so many reviews praising
Gettysburg to the highest of heavens for seven years now, I just had to get my own opinion on it out.
I rarely listen to them together.
