Adagio - Underworld

Hoping that this thread isn't moved to non-prog ... here's my question about the PROGRESSIVE band Adagio: 

What do you guys think about Adagio, in particular their album Underworld?

http://www.adagio-online.com

www.adagio-online.com/_mp3/nextpro.mp3

any thoughts, comments?

Thanks for the link! Beautiful stuff, tons of melody and it's got that 'colour' I love, if you know what I'm talking about...

They are not that bad, except I must say kinda generic though.....

King of Loss wrote: They are not that bad, except I must say kinda generic though.....

I'm not sure what you mean by generic, but it's true that they're somewhat puristic. They fuse classical music and metal and don't have as many jazz/rock/pop/whatever influences as other bands. A LITTLE bit like Symphony X.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: nacho wrote: I like them: prog metal close to its best... but still not there. I like Underworld (never heard Sanctus Ignis) and my only real complain is that I don't like David Readman's voice too much... Anyway, I think it's rather pompous to state in the booklet: Inspiration for this album: W.A. Mozart, Kriztof Penderecki, Witold Lutoslawski, Bela Bartok (see: he's prog!!!), Arnold Shoenberg (sic), Gyorgy Ligeti, Erik Satie, Maestro John Williams, Elliot Goldenthal, Vladimir Horowitz, Arcadi Volodos, Dimmu Borgir (), Cacophony (), Derek Taylor. Yes, everything included in brackets was added by me... That's funny, because I think that one of their biggest advantages is (was) that voice ... a matter of taste, really. I wouldn't call it "pompous" ... I'm not a very versed piano player, but I imagine that "inspiration" in this case means includings some parts from their parts in the interludes they play, intros and outros etc. Like Symphony X did on "V: The New Methology Suite": Lacrimosa is actually a requiem by Mozart. Some time ago I heard it on television during the Pope's burial ceremony and was amazed ("Hmm, they play Symphony X at the Pope's funeral ... have I been missing something?"). Dimmu Borgir: Not my cup of tea - probably, I know very little about them Cacophony: What's bad about them? Jason Becker and Marty Friedman are excellent guitarists. I highly recommend Marty Friedman's Music For Speeding, a metal fusion album a little bit like Derek Sherinian's Black Utopia, bit more diverse and biased towards guitar, of course.

Yep, I guess it's taste, but still I don't like his timber...

Of course, Symphony's X Lacrimosa is taken from Mozart's Requiem (the Mozart's Requiem). Lacrimosa is a part of the Catholic funeral liturgy, so you will actually find a Lacrimosa in many of the classical Requiem Masses out there. As an addition, the tune heard in the Prelude, from the same album, is taken from the Dies Irae of Verdi's Requiem. I was actually quite angry to see that they didn't state that these tunes are ripped off in any part of the album. I guess these tunes are so well known that they thought it wasn't needed, but see, you thought they were playing Symphony X at the pope's funeral  (not a bad idea, now that I think on it)...

As for Cacophony, I don't know, I heard that Metal Symphony (or something like that) some time ago and all I could think was "just a couple of guitar w**kers". But maybe I wasn't paying too much attention.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: You're right, they should have mentioned it, if only for people like me who don't know that many classical pieces. But I DID notice the Holst references in Divine Wings ... that's at least a start, isn't it?

Not bad...

If you are interested in listening to the original classical pieces ripped off by SX you can PM me an email address and I cand send you the mp3s.

Cheers!

King of Loss wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: King of Loss wrote: They are not that bad, except I must say kinda generic though..... I'm not sure what you mean by generic, but it's true that they're somewhat puristic. They fuse classical music and metal and don't have as many jazz/rock/pop/whatever influences as other bands. A LITTLE bit like Symphony X. But Symphony X is much better, even though Symphony X does try to copy bands' sounds quite often... V is still better than the Underworld.

It took me a while to think it over ... I have to disagree. I've listened to both albums a GREAT DEAL, and I honestly can't decide which is better. V contains some stellar songs, like Egypt, Fallen, Evolution, The Mythology suite. But if you look at it as a work of art, I prefer Adagio.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: King of Loss wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: King of Loss wrote: They are not that bad, except I must say kinda generic though..... I'm not sure what you mean by generic, but it's true that they're somewhat puristic. They fuse classical music and metal and don't have as many jazz/rock/pop/whatever influences as other bands. A LITTLE bit like Symphony X. But Symphony X is much better, even though Symphony X does try to copy bands' sounds quite often... V is still better than the Underworld. It took me a while to think it over ... I have to disagree. I've listened to both albums a GREAT DEAL, and I honestly can't decide which is better. V contains some stellar songs, like Egypt, Fallen, Evolution, The Mythology suite. But if you look at it as a work of art, I prefer Adagio.

Now (6 months later) ... what I wrote seems not really fair for V, which is a masterpiece. Adagio - Underworld is equally good IMO, and I listen to it maybe a tiny bit more than Symphony X - V.

Drew wrote: Nevermind- new album in December- looks cool! Even though the realease is in Japan- why????????

Must be  marketing strategy, too bad for us