Who Likes Shadow Gallery?

I grabbed Carved in Stone off Usenet one time, just on a whim, and was very impressed. The opening tune, "Cliffhanger", is pretty cool, and the interludes which connect the first couple of songs was kinduv a neat idea. But only the first three songs, before it starts becoming cliche. When I realized what they'd done, I had to laugh. The "Ghost Ship" suite meanders a little, but what the heck; it's an "epic".

They obviously take the prog side seriously, but the music is rather pop-sounding, and blending those two sides is always the great challenge of a band that wants to be taken seriously as musicians, but also, you know, get some kind of popularity. So often, such efforts descend into cheese, and "cheesey" is a word I do hear applied to Shadow Gallery from time to time. I guess I can understand it, but I don't care. I like it when bands try to push things, and Shadow Gallery go for it. I went ahead and grabbed the other three albums, and also the new one when it came out. It's different, but also pretty good. I have to burn it all to a CD-R so I can give it a proper listen (in other words, in the car). But what I've heard so far, I like.

mr.burns wrote: Ahhh,the selftitled debut cd.The queen of the city of ice is worth the price alone.A splendid album

The production sucks, but the music is top.

mr.burns wrote: One have to remember that the album is 13 years old.And it is also a debut album.And i think maybe thats the problem witj the other albums,theyre overproduced.It sounds almost like film music,and also to much ballads.But hey,thats only my opinion.How do you guys feel about drem theaters debut album?

The other albums are fine - their debut was actually a demo, recorded on semi-professional equipment.

The DT debut is quite good ... but I really prefer Awake over ANY other DT album.

mr.burns wrote: I cant be the only one who thinks the first dt album is the best.I really have to try to convert some peopleBut then again,it is the dt album i`ve listened to most so maybe thats why.

Maybe you should first decide whether you're sure about it before you try to convert people ... there's a pretty strong consensus among prog metal fans that their debut is not their best album. But there's no arguing about taste, is there?

BTW: Check out the Symphony X debut if you don't know it already ... amazing album!