Ruflux
Ancient Mariner
FTGGOG is kinda eh, if you ask me. It has a nice idea behind and the question it asks is very intriguing (and I fucking love the sudden transition from the nice quiet intro to the heavy and fast verse, especially in the live version where they sped it up a little), but musically it's hardly a masterpiece. Good riffs, nice melodies, but the mediocre and short solos and the sort of annoying pre-chorus repetition take it down a notch. I'd still happily see it live, but for me it's never been any sort of holy grail.
But then again I'm total scum because I genuinely like TRATB better. It has its flaws, sure, but there's something strangely catchy about it once it gets going. It takes a moment to build up, but I don't necessarily think that's bad. That said I would probably get bored halfway seeing it live, honestly. It's one of those songs you can't listen to too often or you'll start mentally picking it apart.
But then again, and I am sort of ashamed to admit this, I think Steve's latter 80s epics fall in this category too. Yes, Rime, SSOASS, ATG and To Tame A Land are all tunes that I can't listen to too frequently or else they start sounding pretty bland. Hallowed and Phantom I could listen to on loop forever in comparison.
But then again I'm total scum because I genuinely like TRATB better. It has its flaws, sure, but there's something strangely catchy about it once it gets going. It takes a moment to build up, but I don't necessarily think that's bad. That said I would probably get bored halfway seeing it live, honestly. It's one of those songs you can't listen to too often or you'll start mentally picking it apart.
But then again, and I am sort of ashamed to admit this, I think Steve's latter 80s epics fall in this category too. Yes, Rime, SSOASS, ATG and To Tame A Land are all tunes that I can't listen to too frequently or else they start sounding pretty bland. Hallowed and Phantom I could listen to on loop forever in comparison.