2012 Tour

[gilbertn923]

I've been a fan since 2004 and I was introduced to the DWOT album first. As a fan for about 8 years I am very disappointed to see the results of their last two albums. I was a huge fan of everything they did before PL. Don't get me wrong I still like PL and IC, but compared to the rest of their previous albums I was just a little pissed off. Now I see this setlist and I'm in rage mode, this is basically IC and PL with two songs that will piss off any SX fan.

 

[Prismatic Sphere]

^Very well said.

 

[LavagesOfTime]

Like many of you, I was introduced to SX with DWOT and followed their evolution thinking that every new album made it to be better than the previous ones, including Paradise Lost, which is my favourite, because it has the perfect balance of melody and power.
Like many of you, I still think that V is a masterpiece that deserves much more exposure live (who wants to see them performing Abscence Of Light or Fool's Paradise), but I'm happy with the way they moved forward instead of repeating themselves
Like many of you, I thought that with Iconoclast they put aside the melody and the keyboards in general, and instead of progressing they regressed enhancing too much the metal element of PL: it sounds like Pinnella was busy at the toilet while the album was recorded, and that they completely forgot how to write memorable choruses (and choirs) like they used to do in the past, but with this said I still consider Iconoclast a good album with a bunch of songs I really like (Iconoclast and End Of Innocence).

With this said, it is more than natural to be ABSOLUTELY UPSET to see that setlist, and the more you are a devoted fa, the more it gets worse. The feeling when you read the songs it's nothing but "oh, no, not that, once again!".
I completely agree with those who consider Inferno, Sins and Shadows and Set The World On Fire overplayed: they are! They can be the best songs on earth, but overplaying will make people hate them in the end! How many of you can no longer stand some of those classic rock tunes? Do you get excited when cover bands start playing smoke on the water?

And for the very same reasons I was not sad at all when I had realized I wouldn't have made it to see them this time around: as many of you said, only the newbies would be thrilled (and I know a few who were, indeed).

And it's such a frustration that this setlist comes after the poll about the songs to be played, the feeling of being cheated is hard to wipe away... I think that the main error from the band is to give no explainations at all. Saying that "we've been too busy to rehearse new stuff, and god knows how we'd love to play some of the songs that came out from the poll, but this time we couldn't, hope you can understand". Well, I would. It would have been, above all, HONEST.

But nothing like this is likely to happen...

 

[nckissfan]

in this part of the US, not too many good metal shows come along. So, no matter what Symphony X, or Iced Earth, or whoever I listen to wants to play, it's fine by me. I love seeing them play live. Would I love to see more of the older stuff? yes, but I will take what I can get. I get two nights of SymX and Iced Earth. That is great, in my book.

I think Iconclast has some great choruses, I find myself singing them while at work, with no music playing.

 

[Liampie]

Someone should ask them about this after a show. Not on an angry tone, but more like "why didn't you rehearse any new songs after the facebook polls showed that the fans wants to see other songs being played". That, in a shorter sentence. I really want to know what's going on in their minds. Especially Pinella. I wanted to ask him about keyboards and songwriting after a show last year, but I decided to leave before the Paradise Lost encore. I don't know if there was a 'meet and greet' moment after the show, so I don't know if I could've asked anyway.

Someone do this!

 

[LavagesOfTime]

Someone did something similiar, indeed, check this interview with Russel: http://www.rocksins.com/2012/02/symphony-x-russell-allen-interview-2012-part-1-14168/

here's some highlights:

Q: Was the fact that you only toured Europe back in the spring behind the decision to play almost all of Iconoclast in the set list for this tour? Was that something you always planned on doing?

A: Yeah, on this tour we do have to play more of the new material because we were just here and on that tour we played a lot of the older stuff, a combination of a lot of old albums. When we come out on a tour for a record we try to play a lot of that record to give that record it’s due and then the next time we come around we probably won’t play as much of it, or maybe different songs we didn’t play and then more older material. This tour is the Iconoclast tour and this is what we’re playing and then we’re only doing a handful of the old songs at the end of the show. [...] We try to do stuff to balance the show, play some newer material that the critics and newer fans are really into then to try and put some of the older stuff in there to make our older fans glad they came. That’s the trick.
>>

So it looks like that since the last time they played in USA they played just a bunch of the news songs, they feel they have to play the whole new record this time around. And, err, some of the older stuff in there to make our older fans glad they came.


This is instead good to read:

<<
Q: I know you’ve touched on the Symphony X recording cycle in other interviews, do you think there’s any chance of that getting sped up at all?
A: I would like to see it get sped up, my portion of it is always the same. [...] I feel like it has to happen or the band’s going to lose all of it’s momentum. That’s what this band has always done. We’ve been in the clubs our whole career because we’ve never been able to maintain any momentum. We’ve had a lot of cool moments in the sun where we’ve had some nice shows and we did some really cool stuff but the reality is is that here’s a new fanbase again. I look out in the crowd and I recognise no-one. There’s always a few people you know and that you see over the years but nowadays they’re all young faces and fresh faces. It’s like wow it’s a whole new generation. In America it’s even crazier because we’ve never had success there until recently. Now we’re playing big places in the States and we’re having good shows and massive moshpits and security guards and it’s a crazy crazy scene at home but it’s a lot of fun. I think if we can stay on train and get another album out by, I’m gonna throw it out there now, if we can get an album out in say 2013 that would be the ideal time. We need to come back here I think one more time on another tour
>>

 

[donKyle]

^I'm confused, because just this past summer, the only old songs they played were the ones that they always play: Smoke, Sins and Inferno. Then it was Paradise Lost and 2 songs from Iconoclast that hadn't come out yet, and ended with the Odyssey. With the setlist that was posted at the beginning of the thread, it just looks like they switched Paradise Lost and Iconoclast, and only left a couple "old" songs.

 

[LavagesOfTime]

I think the setlist had a good balance duting the PL tour: together with a good number of new ones, they picked up Masquerade and they changed the songs from time to time (not just the very same setlist every night), adding "unusual" tunes such as Egypt, Through The Looking Glass, King Of Terrors or Church Of The Machine. THAT was "do stuff to balance the show, play some newer material that the critics and newer fans are really into then to try and put some of the older stuff in there to make our older fans glad they came" to me, indeed.

 

[symphonyXjapan]

This is instead good to read:

<<
Q: I know you’ve touched on the Symphony X recording cycle in other interviews, do you think there’s any chance of that getting sped up at all?
A: I would like to see it get sped up, my portion of it is always the same. [...] I feel like it has to happen or the band’s going to lose all of it’s momentum. That’s what this band has always done. We’ve been in the clubs our whole career because we’ve never been able to maintain any momentum. We’ve had a lot of cool moments in the sun where we’ve had some nice shows and we did some really cool stuff but the reality is is that here’s a new fanbase again. I look out in the crowd and I recognise no-one. There’s always a few people you know and that you see over the years but nowadays they’re all young faces and fresh faces. It’s like wow it’s a whole new generation. In America it’s even crazier because we’ve never had success there until recently. Now we’re playing big places in the States and we’re having good shows and massive moshpits and security guards and it’s a crazy crazy scene at home but it’s a lot of fun. I think if we can stay on train and get another album out by, I’m gonna throw it out there now, if we can get an album out in say 2013 that would be the ideal time. We need to come back here I think one more time on another tour
>>[/QUOTE]


I actually find this not good news. This response here makes it sound like they have no real care for the decline in "old fans" and that all they care about is the momentum of the "moshing" new fans. On top of that, the talk of wanting to get another album out by 2013 in order to keep this momentum they are speaking of scares me too. This is because in order to keep the momentum of these new fans it is most certainly not going to go more back to their more progressive roots, but going to be another in your face nothing but metal kind of album, which will probably not even have some redeeming qualities like the last two albums due to it being rushed....

 

[J-Dubya 777]

...and if the band took 3-4 years to put out the next cd (I really hope NOT!) Then EVERYBODY would be bitching, especially the long time fans. IMO, the band can't "win" no matter what it does.

However, as long as there's that Sym-X flavor to it, I don't care if it's another heavy release, or if the prog it up a bit more... Happy to see the guys get some success which I think they have deserved since day 1.......


@symphonyxjapan - I think you're reading into it a little too deep

 

[Wander]

An album that came in 2013 would NOT have to be rushed. Masterpieces have been made in the past within one year of the previous album. It should not be a problem for Symphony X to release a good new album in 2013, because, as some of you may remember, Divine Wings was released in 97, TIO in 98, V in 2000 and the Odyssey in 2002. The only one that had to be "rushed" was TIO, and it's one of my favourite Symphony X albums, so whatever.

The bigger problem is that they just might not be able to climb back to the top of their game anymore.

 

[Liampie]

I wonder what a rushed Smyphony X would sound like nowadays.Iconoclast sounds rushed in a way, because a lot of the songs sound almost identical. The same tricks over and over again. Maybe a rushed album would have more variety; Romeo: "shit, we've got to get a new album out next week. Guys, help me with the songs". Nah, that's a dream... In all seriousness, I don't think a rushed album would sound very different to Iconoclast or Paradise Lost.

 

[Prismatic Sphere]

Horrendous news indeed.

 

[Prismatic Sphere]

I mean it's not like the band were rushed in their early days like when they the delivered the gem TiO. Or like when Rush was rushed(lol) and delivered their proggiest album Caress Of Steel. This does not bode well for the older fans of Symphony X.

And here I was hoping they were gonna duplicate their pattern of threes. A 20(or over) minute epic on album #3, #6, and #9 and maybe an Accolade III. I guess we can toss that into the scrap heap along with any ideas of the band returning to melody and prog.

Oh.......how I hope I'm wrong. But I don't think so based on the above statements.

How the mighty have fallen.

 

[AsoTamaki]

Lol, Accolade III. The story of a brash, powerful young knight who is deceived by a lie, causing his noble line to be forsaken. In his quest to reclaim all that was lost, he rides through the flames with rage, unleashing hell upon the masses and striking down all who stand in his way from shore to shore.

I could see it.

 

[Prismatic Sphere]

LOL. Nice.

With a running time of 5 minutes.

 

[Marwen]

I think it's all up to Romeo at this point. He's our best shot as he does enjoy the proggy style more, but still don't hold your breath. Just put yourself in his shoes, you got a lot of new fans exceeding the old ones in number who prefer the new sound, you got a singer who clearly personally prefers the new sound, you got a label that (although they don't tell you what to do) got interested in you only after you released PL, and you got the critics whose majority seems to prefer the newer direction of your music as well. Realistically I'd say forget it as the band will probably take the obviously safer route for them and the best we (the older and of course cooler fans) can hope for now is one or two old-style kind of songs per album.

But hey maybe Romeo will somehow decide that PL and IC were enough for now and it's OUR turn now. Or better yet, maybe he'll do a prog album that can still interest the new fans, I know the latter loved 'When All is Lost' for instance so way not build on that? But that's just me being optimistic.

 

[donKyle]

Lol, Accolade III. The story of a brash, powerful young knight who is deceived by a lie, causing his noble line to be forsaken. In his quest to reclaim all that was lost, he rides through the flames with rage, unleashing hell upon the masses and striking down all who stand in his way from shore to shore.

I could see it.

Ha! The shore to shore part made me laugh pretty hard.

It wouldn't surprise me to see the band releasing a few more albums with the recent style, and then get tired of it and do a proggier album in the last stages of their career.

 

[Kyo]

We’ve had a lot of cool moments in the sun where we’ve had some nice shows and we did some really cool stuff but the reality is is that here’s a new fanbase again. I look out in the crowd and I recognise no-one. There’s always a few people you know and that you see over the years but nowadays they’re all young faces and fresh faces. It’s like wow it’s a whole new generation.

*facepalm*

It's because your old fans find out about the setlists you're playing, decide that they aren't getting any decent songs and end up staying at home. Duh!

I can't believe how tone-deaf this band is. We've had this discussion before (during the Euro tour) and they're still playing the same boring stuff. And as I've said before, it's not just that they're playing so many new songs from Iconoclast (which I regret buying at this point) - it's that they can't pick any interesting songs from their back catalog to spice things up. And Eve of Seduction and Serpent's Kiss are mediocre, overplayed and in no way classic songs that should never even get close to the encore section of a show!

Symphony X are so frustrating these days!

 

[LavagesOfTime]

It's because your old fans find out about the setlists you're playing, decide that they aren't getting any decent songs and end up staying at home. Duh!

Anyway, I guess they haven't changed the setlist basically because they have not played yet the new stuff to the american audience, so having 7-8 songs off iconoclast on he setlist is, huh, ok. Is that "please the older fans" playing just inferno and sins and shadows that is ridiculous