A SENSE OF CHANGE
Sieges Even
•Progressive Metal
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Studio Album, released in 1991 Songs / Tracks Listing 1. Prelude: Ode To Sisyphus (1:51) - Jogi Kaiser / vocals CD Steamhammer - SPV 084-76412 (1991, Germany) Thanks to ProgLucky for the additionand to Quinino for the last updates Edit this entry |
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![]() | Sense of Change Steamhammer Europe 1995 | $13.09 $3.58 (used) |
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SIEGES EVEN A Sense Of Change ratings distribution
(149 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(32%)
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(40%)
Good, but non-essential (18%)
Collectors/fans only (9%)
Poor. Only for completionists (2%)
SIEGES EVEN A Sense Of Change reviews
Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings
Collaborators/Experts Reviews
PROG REVIEWER

"A sense of change" is a definite masterpiece and must-have in any kind of progressive music collection!!
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator

Rating: 4.5 stars
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator

It's excellently produced, the sound quality is clear and the instruments are perfectly balanced. Together with the excellent music, this gives the album a unique mood to it. It's hard for me trying to find some weak moments here, the only one possibly being "Change of Seasons", a pure classical track supported with an acoustic guitar. It's a very good track, though I like the rest much better.
In sum: A unique and superb release, recommended to anyone who likes complexity in their music with great control, melodic and diverse songs backed up with flawless playing and great production. One of my finest discoveries on this site! My rating: 5/5
PROG REVIEWER

PROG REVIEWER

"Prelude : Ode To Sisyphus" is a short intro track that brings RUSH to mind right away.The sound is so clear as we hear outbursts of guitar,bass and drums.The vocals are very well done by Jogi Kaiser. "The Waking Hours" really is a stage for the band to display their skills.This is complex yet melodic music. The vocals really stand out as well on this one. "Behind Closed Doors" features some intricate guitar melodies and crisp drumming on a song that again brings RUSH to mind. "Change Of Seasons" is literally a classical piece of music with violin, cello, acoustic guitar and reserved vocals. I grew to appreciate it but this song (in part) keeps me from giving this album 5 stars. "Dimensions" is my favourite song on the record and the best song I have heard in some time. The RUSH like intro is amazing ! I am reminded of FATES WARNING as well in this one.The acoustic guitar and vocals sound beautiful as a powerful display of drums, guitar and bass comes in. I love the guitar, and the vocal melody is cool.
"Prime" has some crisp pounding drums as synths swirl about and the bass and vocal melody is great. Another cool vocal melody follows and I have to say that this song is so uplifting at times. And that is really in part what seperates this album from most Metal I listen to, especially complex Metal. This is so emotional at times like ZERO HOUR's latest record. "Epigram For The Last Straw" is mellow for the first couple of minutes then we get some amazing drumming.This song is blessed with lots of time signatures and strong vocals.The guitar and drum melody is impressive. "These Empty Pages" is my second favourite and the longest song on the album. More short, crisp outbreaks of drums and guitar. Some scorching guitar solos as well. Geddy-like synths come in reminding me of the "Moving Pictures" era. What an album !
This is the best SIEGES EVEN record I have heard so far.
PROG REVIEWER

I don't understand why I have such a hard time enjoying this album. Everything about points to something I absolutely adore, yet every time I give it a go, I fill like I'm ramming a pill down my throat when I try not to press the stop button out of boredom and a general feeling of discomfort in my gut. The material in the album is often compared to Rush, and rightfully so. The distorted chorus-effect guitar and melodic bass scream almost too loudly the Rush influence. The drumming is really very fusion-ish in spirit, albeit on the technical side. Odd meter and meter changes abound throughout the album, reminding me of some later tech metal groups such as Blotted Science. These elements are some of my favorite elements that can be found in any music, period (as Rush is my favorite band and probably always will be), and they're all right here in this album. Which is exactly what puzzles me, this really should be one of my favorite albums of all time. I've listened to it several times in the attempt for it to "click," which usually happens around the fourth or fifth listen, but every time I come back to it it just leaves me cold.
I think the main reason for this is that, while I'm listening, I can't help but think through almost the entire album a few burning questions, "where exactly is this music going? Where do all of these notes, meter changes, and complicated structures lead to? What point and purpose are these musicians getting to with this madness?" Sadly, the answer to these questions always pops into my head as I listen to the album right now: nowhere. It's just a bunch of complicated quasi-Rush-rip-off composition with no real direction or meaning, to be brutally honest. Even the album as a whole has little cohesiveness to it, it seems like a bunch of tracks assorted to create an album with little thought on how the album as a whole would sound.
Though Rush certainly isn't the only influence for this band. The singing is much like that of Fates Warning, only this vocalist's tone bothers me even more, almost as if he has an orange stuck in the back of this mouth or something. He's a pretty good vocalist in all fairness as far as competence, but I just personally dislike his tone. Psychotic Waltz is another band that comes to mind as an influence, as some of the other reviewers have pointed out.
Though this album certainly has its good, in fact very pleasant moments, mainly when the band drops all of the complicated electric stuff and turns to acoustic instruments. The track Change of Seasons is really a wonderful track for this reason, especially the nice intro with the strings and acoustic guitar. I only wish there were more of these moments, as right after the track we go right back to the directionless Rush sounding material.
I can't stand it when I see reviewers give negative reviews on albums that seem so obviously masterpiece quality to me, but I suppose I've come to sympathize with them now, for this album seems to have collected many starry reviews. There is VERY little prog I ever encounter that I dislike, I can only think of three or four bands that I have many complaints about of the hundreds I've encountered on this site. I guess I might try some of this band's later material, from what I hear it's quite different from this, so I'll give them another shot. But as for this album, while I have much respect for the complexity of the writing and the strong Rush influence, I'm quite terribly disappointed with this album.
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator

The music on "A Sense of Change" is technical progressive metal. Sieges Even have developed their technical approach to progressive metal even further since the release of "Steps". New lead vocalist Jogi Kaiser is skilled and has a strong voice. The tracks have multible sections, very complex rythms and intricate and quite melodic playing. Especially the Holzwarth brothers rythm section is incredible. Very fusion influenced, extremely tight and innovative. Guitarist Markus Steffen is also quite the asset. His playing sometimes remind me of how Alex Lifeson from Rush sounds. Actually there are many references to Rush throughout the album but also "Perfect Symmetry (1989)" by Fates Warning must have been a big influence on Sieges Even. The music on "A Sense of Change" is much more complex than anything those two acts ever released though.
There are 8 tracks on the album. Most tracks are in the trademark complex and technically challenging Sieges Even style but the track "Change of Seasons" (hmm...does that ring a bell anyone?) is a bit different because it features strings. The tracks generally take quite a while to get to know, but repeated listens help. Itīs not the most accessible music in the world and itīs probably not meant to be either. The vocal melodies are not that memorable to begin with and personally I find them a bit unremarkable if I have to be honest. Itīs often that the technical playing gets in the way of power and while the music flow pretty well I could have wished for more focus on strong melodies and less focus on impossible to play time signature changes. But itīs probably the lack of power that gets me the most. Itīs like these guys forgot that they were once a metal act. Itīs all very sophisticated but I really miss some bite.
The production is professional but a bit cold and uninviting if you ask me.
I like music to captivate me and conjure up emotions in me. Anger, happiness, melancholy...etc. The music on "A Sense of Change" conjures up nothing like that in me. In fact it pretty much leaves me cold. Itīs an excellent display of technical playing and in that field Sieges Even are way ahead of most other acts in the genre. And thatīs actually saying a lot when you consider the general high quality of playing on most progressive metal albums. The music is somewhat soulless to my ears though and while I can enjoy the technical playing on the album from a musicians point of view, the lack of emotion and power becomes a big issue in the end. Itīs not a bad album as such and thereīs a chance others might feel emotionally touched, but as I said above "A Sense of Change" leaves me rather cold and I feel like Iīm stretching when I`m giving this album a 3.5 star (70%) rating.
Latest members reviews
PURE MASTERPIECE!This album is one of the best ones in the world of prog rock!A fantastic vocalist and some more
then competent musicians !Some call this album ,the German answer to RUSH!In a way,that's true...Yogi Kaiser is 100
times better then the annoying Geddy Lee,which ruins the genial si
... (read more)
Report this review (#1912195) | Posted by Ovidiu | Wednesday, April 4, 2018 | Review Permanlink
It so happens that the most known of the seven Sieges Even albums are the softest - this album, 1991's A sense of change, and 2005's The art of navigating by the stars. A sense of change has a sparse production, features lots of clean and classical guitar and even a fully classical piece.
But soft
... (read more)
Report this review (#1029184) | Posted by Progrussia | Wednesday, September 4, 2013 | Review Permanlink
I firmly believe there is something someone must accept before trying to review A Sense Of Change.
No matter if they liked it or not, nobody ever really understood it to its full extent. In my
humblest opinion, this album is like newly found oceans to any new listener. Especially to a metal
fan..
... (read more)
Report this review (#209808) | Posted by Mogorva | Thursday, April 2, 2009 | Review Permanlink
If there's one band being an Apotheosis Of Taste it is Sieges Even. Especially this record is pure art - but
one has to acquire the taste. I gave this CD so many spins I know this sophisticated stuff by heart now.
Each of the tracks is worth 5 stars - maybe the title track with the string quarte
... (read more)
Report this review (#162547) | Posted by strayfromatlantis | Sunday, February 24, 2008 | Review Permanlink
I bought The Art of Navigating... and was (am) blown away by that album. Of course I
wanted to delve into some of SE's back catalog and saw this as the highest rated
album on the site. It was also the last album that featured Markus Steffen on guitar
before he left the band. He then came back
... (read more)
Report this review (#112809) | Posted by johnobvious | Tuesday, February 20, 2007 | Review Permanlink
Having witnessed a remarkable display of talented features, provided through PA,
started a willful desire to participate in Sieges Even's audible ambrosia, delving
into exiguous record stores probable to possess the album for emption, only to have
it ordered from the said establishments in a vag
... (read more)
Report this review (#74423) | Posted by Aspiring hope | Saturday, April 8, 2006 | Review Permanlink
"A Sense of change", the follower of the genious "Steps", surprises with a new
vocalist, Jogi Kaiser, who replaced Franz Herde, who was the only weak point of
"Steps". The trend of their lowering in complexity and heaviness continues here and
reaches the highest point. The songs are still qu
... (read more)
Report this review (#61066) | Posted by W.Chuck | Wednesday, December 21, 2005 | Review Permanlink
This is one of the forgotten gems from the early 90s. I originally bought this CD not
having anykind of clue what kind of material it contains. The sheer instrumental
virtuosity almost gave me a headache at first, but slowly I began to understand it
better and better. After a while this very a
... (read more)
Report this review (#59914) | Posted by | Friday, December 9, 2005 | Review Permanlink
sense of change, the best progressive rock/metal/fusion/jazz album ever recorded! i
bought it 7 years ago and i spent three years listening to it at least one time every
day. the album is quite emotional. kaiser's voice is so pure, steffen creates new
standards with his quitar and the holzwarth b
... (read more)
Report this review (#36200) | Posted by | Saturday, June 11, 2005 | Review Permanlink
This is my favourite one from this band. This is no metal at all. The sound could rather be compared to Rush but much more complex.The singer sounds very classical and it fits to the music.The only minus is the track "change of seasons" which is a little boring.
... (read more)
Report this review (#24233) | Posted by | Friday, October 31, 2003 | Review Permanlink
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