TYRANNY

I'm not a big fan of concept albums. I think too many prog bands feel an obligation to record such an album, even when it doesn't suit their talents. This is usually why so many concept albums fall flat on their face. My biggest complaint with concept albums is that the music is often lost in the pursuit of the "story". This makes for albums with songs that can't stand on their own and albums loaded with useless filler tracks.

All that aside, I can say that Shadow Gallery have proved to me that a band can actually record a concept album that sounds like an album. The songs on Tyranny can easily stand on their own as single tracks. There aren't any meaningless filler tracks or non-musical narrations. What the band presents here is a cohesive collection of great songs that you can easily identify.

And the music? Well let's just say that this is top notch prog metal. It's progressive music with a metallic bite and yet it's metal music with progressive tendencies. It's neither light nor is it heavy. It's just a excellent mixture of styles and textures without being boring or pretentious. Another aspect I love about this album is the use of vocal harmonies. At times it really reminds me of Uriah Heep with Mike Barker often sounding very similar to Bernie Shaw. The choruses are well executed and catchy which is yet another reason why each of the songs can stand on their own.

As much as I like Dream Theater, Tyranny is a much better executed concept album than Scenes from a Memory. While Tyranny isn't as heavy or as instrumentally bombastic; it is certainly more cohesive, better paced, and more even from start to finish. I would recommend this album highly to prog metal fans if you want to hear what I consider to be the right way to do a concept album. Some of you may not agree with my assessment of concept albums, but for those of you that do, this is definitely an album you need! I'd gladly give this album 4.5 stars if it were allowed.