Adagio - Underworld

yyzmoose

yyzmoose

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Sep 27, 2002
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Thought I would start a new thread for these guys. If you were not overly impressed with the debut, you still owe yourself the chance to listen to their new album, Underworld. The debut was nice, but this album blows it out of the water. To start, the production is so much better, this is an incredibly well recorded album. Its also much more original this time. At times similar to Symphony X, but not a clone anymore. The classical references are much stronger. In fact if you don't have an appreciation for classical music, it may dampen your enthusiasm for this disc. But there is still a ton of heavy shred here to keep any neo-classical/prog-metal fan happy. The melodies are strong, and the use of a choral group is amazing. These are not just songs with added classical embelishments, but fine crafted pieces of work, where the orchestrated sections blend almost seamlessly into the prog-metal fury. The playing is top notch, with many jaw dropping:OMG: guitar and keyboard solos. But the songs are what matter, its not just a shred fest. What I keep going back to when I listen are the orchestrations. They are just as important to the sound of the album as the metal crunch and prog complexity. Bottom line is that they really nailed it this time out. This is my album of the year.
 
I just got this. My opinions:

Excellent musicianship
Love the dark, evil atmosphere

But. A lot of the songs sound similiar, espescially if you aren't paying close attention. Symphony X's songs are distinct in almost every way. But I have found I've been listening a lot more. I find once you get to listen to some of the songs some more you'll more and more like them. Since I sorta blank out after track 3, my favorite is Next Profundis, simply because I haven't paid any major attention to the others (like I said before, a lot of them sound a like).

-Kronikle
 
Kronikle makes a good point about the songs being a bit similar to each other. I agree, and I also think that they try to be overly "epic" a little too often, like the intro of the title track. BUT, this is one of the best albums I have heard all year. Each musician is amazing at what he does. I love the drums on this album, considering a lot of bands in this genre tend to have boring repetitive drums. The keyboard and guitars are amazing, as is the bass. Forte has very tasteful solos, not just all out shred, which is a big plus. I think the choruses on this album are waaay better than they were on SI, and the songs are generally catchier. Lately, this album's just been stuck in my CD player, as I always feel like hearing the songs that they get in my head.

All in all, I'm pretty suprised by how much I'm into this album. I'm not a big fan of the power/prog genre, but I can get into a really amazing band when it comes along, and I see a very bright future for Adagio. Underworld gets a 9/10, with one point knocked off for the overuse of the orchestral stuff.
 
i have both albums, and its tough to decide which one is better. personally i like the first one better. i have to compare more, but so far its my choice.
 
Btw... I feel that "The Mirror Stage" is very similar to some Symphony X song... like the mixture of Fallen and The Eyes of Medusa. I don't know, maybe it's just me... but there is that similarity, IMO. Although the song itself is great... :cool:

PS: And the "sea of lies" on steroids solo in Chosen... goddammit, that song blew me away!!
 
arglebargle said:
Adagio is horridly overrated by the people on this board. Don't get me wrong, I like 'em, but the way people slobber over them...
Click to expand...
Hey arglebargle don't you know yet that you have no opinion? Hehe....just kidding!

I just think that it depends on what your thing is, I mean you maybe don't like music to be so orchestrated all the way through the album. I know a lot of people who didn't like it that much said that is why. I think Stepan Forte worked his ass off on writing this album and in due respect think his hard work paid off. I am more worried that Adagio doesn't get enough recognition. I would of never picked Sanctus Ignis as my fav album when it came out. The reason I do for Underwold and not SI is that the music contains just enough neoclassical elements to not bog down the music into typical neoclassical/Malmsteen metal. I love the neoclassical sounds, but think full blown it can become very repetitive after so long. There is so much more to hear on it than in SI because they now blend in more prog elements, classical piano, orchestrations, and black metal guitars. All mixed finely in one package!
 
Nah, I LOVE orchestrated music. I think Adagio is a great band, but they ARE overrated on this board. I don't mean it in a bad way or anything, it was just a random observation.
 
Demonspell said:
I like both of their albums very much, but I have to agree that they are discussed so often that sometimes this place feels like an unofficial Adagio froum (which actually does exist on UM)...
Click to expand...
I know and I found it too (the adagio fourum) but it has no activity going on.....

Anyway, a lot of things on this board and other boards are brought up all the time and it is just because people start threads and at the same time don't think about the fact that the band or subject has been discussed before on the particular forum. To me I think that new Adagio threads are good because people are liking the new album that is my number one pick of 03! BTW, it is not like there is much going on with SX right now......
 
"But. A lot of the songs sound similiar, espescially if you aren't paying close attention."

This is the quote of the year! My answer to this is simple. Pay attention, damn it! I don't like to listen to anything causually. I need to give all music my undivided attention. If it can't hold up to that scrutiny, its not worth listening to.
 
To those here who are critical of Adagio, or just think they are overrated, have you had the chance to listen to 'Underworld'? Its a vast improvement over the debut album. It just may change the views of many people.
 
This is the quote of the year! My answer to this is simple. Pay attention, damn it! I don't like to listen to anything causually. I need to give all music my undivided attention. If it can't hold up to that scrutiny, its not worth listening to.
Click to expand...

So you're saying listening to like 10 different versions of... let's say Out of the Ashes is fine for a CD? I don't like the fact that most of their songs sound alike. Otherwise they're really awesome. And jamming to Symphony X while gaming is not worth listening to? It gets me into the mood listening to Inferno as I start capping my foes :D

-Kronikle
 
Kronikle66 said:
So you're saying listening to like 10 different versions of... let's say Out of the Ashes is fine for a CD? I don't like the fact that most of their songs sound alike. Otherwise they're really awesome. And jamming to Symphony X while gaming is not worth listening to? It gets me into the mood listening to Inferno as I start capping my foes :D

-Kronikle
Click to expand...

no, but 10 different versions of Inferno would kick ass....:headbang:
 
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