PAINT BY NUMBER

It's no surprise for those who know me, but Three's The End is Begun is one of my favorite records, and something very unique among modern music as far as I'm concerned. I honestly think, having evolved to where they are, they are a very accomplished band, even if bordering on the fringes of prog, and that if they continue in the direction of their most recent album, Joey Eppard will become an icon of many classically-trained guitarists and could pave a new wave of guitarists of this breed. All that being said however, the band still has quite some way to go before they can be properly talked about in progressive circles.

The lineup here consists of Joey Eppard and his brother, Joey Eppard (who left after this album for Coheed and Cambria's drummer), and Christopher Bittner handling most of the instrumental duties on here, with a healthy plethora of some 4 other guest musicians. All the musicians are quite competent, especially Joey Eppard and his classical finger-picking guitar playing. This the songs are all fairly strong here, they could stand a bit more maturing though, which will come later in the band's career though. The album also has a pretty strong alternative rock leaning to it, with touches of experimenting. It's also quite mellow throughout but has appropriate moments of slightly more energy. While they're enjoyable if you can appreciate that sort of thing, there isn't really any aspect of this album that I could say makes it progressive rock. That aspect of the band's sound has yet to manifest itself, not really until Wake Pig does it become very strong and noticeable.

While this may not be progressive rock, I still enjoy it quite a bit. It's a fun album to listen to, like I said, if you can appreciate this type of music, but if not, then I would recommend starting with The End is Begun. It's the band's strongest and most progressive output as of yet anyway. If you like the rest of the band's output then check this out. Unless you like the sound of modern alternative rock, this might turn you off from the Three. 3 stars, although this is quite frankly enjoyable when I'm in the mood for it.