I didn't really enjoy 00110101 or whatever the hell it's called either, but Universal Migrator is an absolute classic and The Human Equation was solid too. Definitely check those two out before you write Arjen's music off. Ayreon is still worthy of a blind purchase from me because of them.
Seriously listen to the woman singing. No particular skills in terms of range or strength, and also no particular voice. Sounds like a background vocalist given too much space.
I googled her and she's the vocalist of Lacuna Coil. No surprise there. A sad case of sex appeal and image over music I'm afraid.
Damn, some prog fans are so out of touch. Lol. Cristina's voice is pretty distinctive. And how are you gonna admit to having to google the woman and then turn around and make such denouncement as if you're actually familiar with her and Lacuna Coil's music? Come on, man.
Anyway, I like what I heard in that track much better than the over-dramatic operatic performances that a lot of these albums end up being full of.
Matheos isn't about riffs, he's about songwriting and arrangements. Always has been.
Well, I agree. That's true for everything he's done in the past, but I find this record to be very guitar-driven and riff-driven. It all sounds like it was written by a guitarist for a guitarist with the other stuff thrown in as an afterthought. The songwriting is just not there for me. There are very few moments where the melody or lyrical content is what's carrying the song. Listen to APSOG for Christ's sake - or even something comparatively simple like "Life in Still Water". The guitar work still manages to be appealing for the listener (with a far better guitar solo than anything on DIADL btw), but the primary intent seems to be supporting the song. Emphasizing what the vocals are doing. Flawless transitions from section to section. All of the instruments working together perfectly. There's nothing remotely close to that on this album.
As far as being "forward-thinking," what do you think about Lighthouse and And Yet It Moves, for example? Both are pretty unconventional. Though I'm not as impressed with breaking conventions alone as I used to be...
"Lighthouse" is quite possibly the most boring Fates track (seriously threatening to dethrone "Afterglow") in their entire discog. It's like if you took the first verse part of "Something From Nothing" or "River Wide Ocean Deep", stripped away the electronic elements and just looped it over and over instead of letting it build and develop into something greater. I get that they were creating a certain vibe and trying to keep that mood throughout, but it's just not interesting to listen to.
"And Yet It Moves" is quality stuff. I don't feel that it's a masterpiece like their other longer pieces of the past, but it's a really good track. Definitely the most ambitious thing on there. Oh, the "falling, floating, feeling..." part melodically sounds more like something Redemption would do and I kinda don't like that part. Definitely an excellent song from when the strummed acoustic guitar comes in though.
First, the "radio metal complaint" is nonsense, because FWX was the closest to "radio metal" that FW ever did the album was influenced by Deftones, which was a major influence on Ray Alder at the time, and he admitted as much, and also shows some Tool influences.
You sure you're not mixing things up? His Engine albums were definitely influenced by Deftones and similar nu/alt metal bands of that time. That's clear as day in everything from his vocal delivery and effects used to the guitar riffs. A little of that crept into the vocals on FWX (partly because his voice had changed from what it used to be by that point), but musically I hear nothing related to Deftones on that album. As far as Tool goes...sure, but not to the level that this new album has. They should've named the album Toolpeth. The amount of "influence" from those two bands is off the charts. They've always taken inspiration from other popular acts (you can clearly date any of the old records to its time period) and made pretty straightforward songs, but they always brought their own unique style to the music which is usually what made it progressive. However, with this record, it's like the progressive parts are what have been influenced by the current "radio metal" or popular "progressive metal" bands. It's not actual progressive music within the metal genre, but rather the popular style of music commonly referred to today as "progressive metal". The music just keeps rolling along steadily with their new "progressive metal" drummer.
I agree that Zonder's better, but Mark Zonder is Mark Zonder, what are you going to do...
Have Zonder play on the album, imo. That would be a solution. *sighs* Someone should force Jarzombek to play with a single bass drum. I'd pay to see that. Zonder plays a lot of busy intricate stuff, but it complements the song and is often only noticeable if you really pay attention. Jarzombek's playing is just distracting and irritating. A lot of the time it's not even anything creative or interesting, but it's just always there making every moment sound 10x heavier and more "metal" than it really is. The drumming just pisses me off overall. I think that's one of the biggest reasons why I can't get into these songs.
So the new album from Zonder's band Slavior is coming out soon...
Sounds better than the stuff from his first one at least...