The Great Unknown

How good is The Great Unknown on a scale of 1-10?

  • Total voters
    16
Just wow. Instantly grabbed me from first listen. I love the melody : such passion from Bruce ! " it'll never be the same or calm again!"
This part brought me to tears!! The inflection in Bruce's voice here is so moving! My favorite tune on the album right now. Unfortunately no chance of getting this live. (Am I right?) love the great unknown!! Played it four times back to back.
 
Machiventa said:
Official Lyrics:

Winter softly falling to the ground
Calmly waiting don’t you hear a sound
When the world has fallen to the depths below
Where the future’s open and the fear has grown
And the path to follow to the great unknown
Where the dark has fallen and the seed is sown

In the selfish hearts of some
The nightmare’s coming
With the spilling blood of others
Now wringing through
Now the cup is spilling over
Wake to news of death
And the prophecy of sages
Destiny is met
To the depths of human mind
The cry is burning
With the mentor’s anger
Of the lesson ringing true
And for those who live by and are dying by the sword
They will take their ideals with them
Justify their end

Where the fools are lying and the meek are crying
Where the wolves are preying
On the weak alone
Where the sons are dying
Hear their mothers crying
And the distant sound of fire
Begins again

Never ending the desires of men
It’ll never be the same or calm again
In a time of changing hearts
And great unknown
It’ll be the damnation and end of us all

Where the fools are lying
And the meek are crying
Where the wolves are preying
On the weak alone
Where the sons are dying
Hear their mothers crying
And the distant sound of fire begins again

Never ending the desires of men
It’ll never be the same or calm again
In a time of changing hearts
And great unknown
It’ll be the damnation and end of us all

When the world has fallen
And we stand alone...
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Ouch! I didn't realize it had the Rainmaker problem (the same verse repeated a few times) :(
 
Seems to be a grower this one, only really liked the instrumental part at the end at first listen, but now detect more things to like. Nice!
 
Forostar said:
This song is unique in the catalogue because it's the only co-written Smith song from the current line-up that has Janick doing the first solo. Can't remember who does the next, but I thought both H and Dave did one as well. From my first impression: this song is imo one of the three/four least good ones.
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This song has grown already. Perhaps still one of the lesser ones, but clearly better than the two that follow.
 
Probably the biggest surprise on the album, because I expected something underwhelming (don't know why, maybe because Mother of Mercy was also a 3rd track) and the song turned out to be actually very good. It's surprising that it's the only song that opens with this kind of clean intro (TBoS doesn't have them and that's interesting given the amount of songs on AMoLaD and TFF which opened this way). Build-up is nice and so is the following rhythm part. Chorus is one of the best on the album. I really like this one! Lead part at 4:11 is a bit sudden, but that's not really important. For me it's Adrian's best songwriting input on this album (which overall disappointed me a little, because Adrian is my favourite guitarist).
 
An almost perfect song. Bruce struggles a bit, which bothers me. And the ending is a bit too long. But all in all a terrific song.
 
I also overlooked this one on the first listen as I was too eager to hear TRATB. But after a few listens, it totally clicked! I love the build up, the catchy chorus, solo and everything... And of course the AMOLAD feeling, my favorite reunion album :)
 
this is brilliant, love the outro when it sneaks back in to just deliver a single line of lyrics, it reminds me of Won't get fooled again
 
I actually really like this one. I feel it would have worked even better as an "epic", though, with a long instrumental section in the middle. Still a great song. Nice chorus.
 
blindg3 said:
Ouch! I didn't realize it had the Rainmaker problem (the same verse repeated a few times) :(
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If you didn't realize it, it shouldn't bother you. The songs is well balanced. No parts are repeated too many times IMO.
 
Still probably the 1 song that hasn't completely grasped me yet..seems to be the grower on the album for me.
 
I happen to love the Aerials intro / outro. Very well done. And this is coming from someone who hates most of the post reunion intros.
 
Night Prowler said:
This exactly. On the first listen I was like "this ain't bad, but I sure hope there are better songs". Then I played it two more times so that I can say something about it here and it clicked immediately. Insanely catchy chorus once it clicks. Very AMOL&D-ish too.
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It dropped a bit again, but it's understandable considering its competition :D Right now I'd say it's 8th best song on the album.

Gk1 said:
I happen to love the Aerials intro / outro.
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Heh, didn't think of that one. They are pretty similar, yep.
 
The intro started and I thought I had put on Killers for a few seconds haha. But I like the intro to this one - it at least feels like it fits the song. Good melodies too. The transition from the solos back to the strummy reprise of the intro is a bit wonky but the only thing I really don't like on this one.
 
I have liked The Great Unknown from the outset. Bruce's vocal performance is epic. I really dig the guitar work and the chorus is stunning.

9/10
 
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Really getting into this song now.
The intro is amazing and it never lets up throughout.
Nice feel to Ade's main riff and the lyrics are cool.
10/10:)
 
This song has been a definite grower for me, and for several others it would seem. The way it ends still seems a bit strange to me, and when I first listened, it didn't really jump out at me. But the intro and solo section are amazing, and the song really moves along nicely with wonderful energy, and the chorus is very strong. This is still one of the songs that I'm not entirely sure where I'll end up ranking it on the album in the end, but its prospects improve everytime I listen to it.
 
While I do like this song and think it has good melodies, there really is no reason to reprise the intro again here as the outro - it basically just adds another minute to the song that doesn't have to be there. Which is unfortunate because up to that point it's pretty awesome.
 
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