Lethe

@davejongilmour: no, I can assure you that ajeje is not my "little friend," I've never even spoken to him! (if you're really not convinced, look at my comments on the reviews, you'll see that we've never had a chance to discuss together!). "WELL, THEN, WHICH OF US 2 WAS MORE MODERATE?"... well, you, for sure! but I had deliberately been unmoderate (I usually don't comment with this colorful language, I refer you again to reading my comments on the reviews) to see how you would react, mine was a prepared gesture, yours a spontaneous reaction. just to tell you that it's not nice to feel insulted by the first person who passes by, even though we have very different ideas, in discussions that should (I use the conditional, because obviously it’s all theory) be maintained in civility and respect. anyway, I apologize for everything I said, I just wanted you to realize the annoyance caused by certain attitudes. no hard feelings...bye

Beautiful "square," great review! As for the album... Black metal? No thanks! Oh, and why did you write symphonic death among the genres? If I’m not mistaken, you didn’t mention it in the review.

calm down DaveJon, don’t get worked up. It’s exactly the reaction I wanted to read. Have you ever wondered why an average user, who has never caused much trouble and tries to swear as little as possible, would come out and offend you so harshly (obviously, I’m talking about me)? I’ll explain it to you right away. I read your discussion with ajejebrazor in the review of Symphony X, and I saw how you told him to fuck off. Now, far be it from me to be a moralist and bring that discussion back, but you can’t imagine how annoying what you wrote on that page can be, and not just for me! And since you used harsh tones with ajeje, I wanted to see how you would behave when severely offended. Just that; as you can see, try to be moderate. This isn’t a provocation, or maybe it is, but don’t take seriously the insults I wrote to you earlier. I just wanted to point out that just as you get annoyed by certain things, there’s also a good number of people who can’t stand your way of being. P.S. the quote isn’t from Waters; it’s a thought developed in the Romantic era, if I’m not mistaken. That Waters made it his own, just like you did above, doesn’t mean anything.

yes yes, davejongilmour, do you know you said something stupid? you’re such a jerk, you don’t understand a thing about music and you act like you’re an expert. anyway, to inform others, the idiot in question has poorly copied a saying from an anonymous thinker: "La musica consta nel disseminare ad arte silenzi più o meno lunghi tra le note." good job, our idiot.

Well, now the team dynamics come into play (what a phrase! I really outdid myself), as you also mentioned in your review, so one cannot deny the great attention to detail in this album, whether one likes it or not (like in my case) is a different story. Anyway, it would be better to exclude Satriani from the discussion since the genre he proposes is worlds apart from both Malmsteen and SX. Lastly... you see, making a solo album requires a certain amount of guts; it is certainly much more "risky," so to speak, to release a record without the "defense" of a solid band behind you, especially at the beginning of a career. So, in my opinion, the phrase "Symphony X are overall much better" is somewhat misleading, in the sense that they are two completely different realities (not genres, mind you, I'm talking about realities: songwriting, recording, and stuff like that are done in a decidedly different way).

Well, to each their own. The concert is relevant anyway, because I was slightly drifting off the topic talking about "neoclassical metal" (not prog) and surely the SX have borrowed heavily from this genre: Romeo is inspired by Malmsteen, that's undeniable! And if I'm not mistaken, he has admitted it himself. It's just that in my opinion, they draw from it poorly. Anyway... so, speaking of Satriani or Malmsteen, if you compare those two to Michael Romeo, I would immediately leave this page, because it's absurd! I could even concede some indifference towards the Swede, who is even despised by many, but Satriani, I'm sorry, is off-limits! Elegance, technique, style!

Great review, you’ve really piqued my interest since Pain of Salvation has never attracted me that much (I’m talking about albums like the aforementioned Perfect Element or Remedy Lane). From what I read, or maybe I just didn’t get it at all, there’s quite a difference with this album! I’ll probably look into it further. Just one comment: "My favorite songs are probably...". What does probably mean? Can't you make up your mind? :D

wow, what a comment! well, anyway, I’m averaging it out (in any case TDWOT isn’t a 2, come on!)

Russel Allen's voice? I like it little to none, at least on this album! When he tries aggressive outbursts to give more depth to the song, he simply fails! Michael Romeo? Surely an excellent guitarist; anyone who studies the instrument knows him well, beyond his Symphony X work, and knows he could do so much more: great technique, but an even greater potential that's certainly not expressed at its best! And then, to be honest, I didn't understand this phrase: "è inimitabile ma allo stesso tempo faro da seguire per i provetti virtuosi, che spesso erroneamente vorrebbero cogliere i messaggi dei Satriani o dei Malmsteen, andando così a complicarsi vacuamente il percorso artistico." What does that mean??? General thoughts on the album: I think at certain moments it's too redundant and self-celebrating, not to mention tacky and out of place (especially in some keyboard and choral digressions). Grandiose baroque and neoclassical interludes? Definitely! It's just that these interludes are often too pronounced, and inevitably become tiring or even bothersome. Just to mention a guitarist you named, Malmsteen, well, listen to "Concerto Suite for electric guitar" with the Prague Philharmonic and you’ll truly understand neoclassical metal, assuming we can even talk about metal in this case (more than anything, the Swede's electric guitar seems to be a classical instrument on that album). Maybe there was a desire to impress with TDWOT, but Symphony X didn’t achieve that goal, at least as far as I'm concerned. Lastly, I'd like to emphasize that the above are all personal opinions; I know very well that many consider this a masterpiece, and that’s understandable.

"the immortals evoke battles on the snow-covered mountains, the snowy sky lashes the faces of the fighters with whips of icy snow"... it's phrases like these that make you eager to read every new review of sofficino!!