Circus Maximus- "Isolate" ( a 2,272 word review)

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

I will be honest and I definitely in the minority I am not as impressed as what I was expecting to be with the release. I am on my third or fourth listen all the way through and while it is getting better I dont hear one song that holds a candle to Sin, Alive, or Glory of the Empire my 3 favs from the last album.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

I will be honest and I definitely in the minority I am not as impressed as what I was expecting to be with the release. I am on my third or fourth listen all the way through and while it is getting better I dont hear one song that holds a candle to Sin, Alive, or Glory of the Empire my 3 favs from the last album.

I'll back you up on this one ... I've been thru it twice fully, and I am not all that wowed yet. Michael is an excellent singer, but the tunes haven't really hit me yet. I think it's more solid/good than great, but it could still grow on me quite a bit. I agree also .. no real standout track for me so far either.

Britt

 

[Kenso]

movies have trailers
music has sample tracks
so you have some kind of idea what your getting before you buy it, and also you have the bands, or writers/directors/actors reputation to go on.


i think that downloading music helps some artists and hurts some others, depending on their popularity. but the artist it overall hurts, probably has enough recognition that it doesnt make a difference. when were talking about progressive metal, or more obscure music, i think downloading in the long run helps them. but we dont know for sure, but i know that almost every cd i buy is something i have listened to.

what i want to know is artists view on people that CANT afford to blow money on cds and stuff, i mean when were talking an average of 14 bucks an album, 10 cds doesnt last an average listener THAT long, and thats 140 bucks. now, there are some cds that people will play more than others. im just talking about the people that dont have the money to listen to all the great music thats out there. lets say that joe makes 20 grand a year, and is very tight on his money and trying to make ends meet. in his time off he likes to put on some music. well the new (insert artist) cd is coming out, joe has heard their first albums from a friend, but joes money is so tight he doesnt have the dough to spend on cds. so would the artist rather joe NOT hear their music, or hear it. hes not buying the cd, thats a given. im just wondering in cases like this one, what the artist would rather have. now i know everyone isnt like this, but there are some people like this. im not saying feel sympathy for joe, he probably could make a better life for himself if he wanted to, maybe he should have went to college or what ever, but in THIS situation, i just want to know the artists point of view.

i think as long as the musicians are making a good living, everything is fine. there are still a bunch of cd buyers out there, and there are alot of downloaders who still buy cds as well. but the real question is, how many downloaders are going to buy the cd either way? would you rather the downloader hear your music and not buy it? or just not buy it.

 

[Iced Dog]

ugh, the concept of people downloading music and buying the stuff they really like isn't exactly new, nor rare...and anyone posting here will likely have enough respect to support the artist, so I see it as a non-issue in this case. BTW, the new Epica and Anubis Gate albums also leaked this weekend

Back to the topic at hand, I just heard Isolate and was very intrigued...it's definitely going to take several listens to digest everything. I remember hearing a track or two from the first album but it didn't grab me for whatever reason, but I think I'll have to revisit it. But congrats to Circus Maximus, you just made a new fan (who will buy your stuff )

 

[Harvester]

Let's keep this thread on topic please. If you wish to continue the eternal download debate, please post a new thread.

-Management

 

[General Zod]

I'll back you up on this one ... I've been thru it twice fully, and I am not all that wowed yet. Michael is an excellent singer, but the tunes haven't really hit me yet. I think it's more solid/good than great, but it could still grow on me quite a bit. I agree also .. no real standout track for me so far either.

After my second and third listen, the music had yet to hit me. But after that, it all started to fall in place.

Zod

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

After my second and third listen, the music had yet to hit me. But after that, it all started to fall in place.

Zod

That makes me feel a little better, because honestly I felt guilty for not liking the album more. I LOVE the first one and when I wasnt totally floored by the end of the first track I was really worried.

"Isolate" thus far is just a good album not an amazing one, but I hope this will change.

 

[Theandromedastrain]

I love the disc. Tracks are pretty amazing actually. The only letdown to me is the epic "mouth of madness". It doesn't keep me entertained, kinda slow. The rest of the songs are fantastic! Best tracks IMO: Abyss, Wither, Zero, and From Childhood's Hour. This disc is a must listen. No it doesn't have the great bombastic choruses like their previous disc did with Sin, and Alive. And it doesn't have a single track that stands up to Glory of the Empire, but it is still great in it's own innovative view.

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

It is official "Wither" has officially hit me and I have listened to it about 5 times in the last hour. I hope the rest of the tracks hit like this in the next few days.

 

[General Zod]

"Wither" was the first track to click with me. Now almost all of them are clicking.

Zod

 

[Harvester]

Once the emotion of the lyrics and vocal delivery hit you, it will all fall into place. "Wither" is the perfect start for that. "Zero" will come rather quick next.

 

[rushzil2112]

I love the whole disc. I made a copy for my friend yesterday and I will get his reaction today. He is a huge fan of dream theater and such, and after I found that out and all of the other music he loves, there was a lot of bands for me to get him into. I already gave him copies of a couple symphony x cds and he went straight out the next day and bought all of their cds, so I figured circus maximus would be the next band, and then a million others after that.

 

[Metaldrumz]

Once the emotion of the lyrics and vocal delivery hit you, it will all fall into place. "Wither" is the perfect start for that. "Zero" will come rather quick next.

Couldnt agree more!

 

[Ascension]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolamite S. Biffle
I will be honest and I definitely in the minority I am not as impressed as what I was expecting to be with the release. I am on my third or fourth listen all the way through and while it is getting better I dont hear one song that holds a candle to Sin, Alive, or Glory of the Empire my 3 favs from the last album.

I'll back you up on this one ... I've been thru it twice fully, and I am not all that wowed yet. Michael is an excellent singer, but the tunes haven't really hit me yet. I think it's more solid/good than great, but it could still grow on me quite a bit. I agree also .. no real standout track for me so far either.

Agreed...no other comment necessary at this point.

 

[sccaldwell]

First off, I rarely download, and when I do, I ALWAYS buy it if I actually like it. On to my response...

In the end, I think rushzil2112's quote of Nergal sums it up, put out a good product and people will buy it.

That's a nice thought, but in that context, "people" excludes a lot of people (particularly younger people, it seems), who have no morals or conscience, and have no problem stealing the product of someone else's hard work.

For those that give the "but I don't have money to buy everything I want" argument, I say "Tough. I can't have everything I want, either. Get a job. Or live without what you can't afford. Or get a second job."

Their frequent response, "I don't have time for a second job" gets my response of "many of those artists that you listen to have "making music" as "a second job", so if you want their music, buy it, even if it means getting a second job yourself. The reality is that if they don't get paid for working their "second job" of putting out music, many of them will likely quit it. Do you want your favorite band to quit their "second job?"

Personally, the ability to download music has more than doubled the number of CDs I buy.

I know that's the case for many people, and for those people (and the artists whom they're downloading), it's a GOOD t

 

[sccaldwell]

what i want to know is artists view on people that CANT afford to blow money on cds and stuff

I'm not "an artist," but if you can't afford it, then you can either (a) do without it, or (b) work harder so that you can afford it. Most of the artists discussed on this forum have "real jobs" in addition to their "second job" of musician. If they can work another job and still take the enormous amount of time required to be a musician and put out this music, anyone who wants it can get a second job and make the money to buy it. Or not listen to it at all. Anything else is simply stealing (after a 2 or 3-listen "preview", IMHO).

i think as long as the musicians are making a good living, everything is fine.

But based on that logic, as long as a car dealership is "making a good living," then it's OK that a few get stolen off the lot every month? Stealing music is no different than stealing cars, except that I'd guess more people consider it to be OK to take music for a "test drive" in the middle of the night.

If you're working 40 hours a week and being paid $100/hour, that's definitely "a good living" ($200K/year). So then, if whoever you're working for stops paying for half of your work (so you work 20 hours/week for free), you're still making $100K/year, which is still "a good living," so is that OK?

BTW, this isn't directed at you personally, just giving my $0.02 and trying to give the true "music stealers" some perspective on why it's wrong.

Craig

 

[Harvester]

LAST WARNING. STAY ON TOPIC.

All other downloading posts will be deleted from this thread. There is an appropriate thread already going.

 

[Snowmaker]

Anyone know what happened to their official site? Its not there.

 

[OFTHEBORG]

Beautiful Review.

I didn't get a chance to really focus on it the first two times. But I'm laying in bed now >< wich is when I truly get to lay in the dark and immerse myself in the music, without lending my attention to any of my other senses. It's an amazing album. Every song clicks and gives me the shivers. : ) Each song rings true, and I'm happy to say that I'll be getting it the day it comes out.

Oh, and Mouth of Madness may not be extremely fast, but it is just amazing in it's entirety. I'm not really qualified to give it a detailed review, but I am pretty picky, and these guys deserve my applause. I hope to see them again... headlining at a future PPUSA.

 

[mel_progson]

Once the emotion of the lyrics and vocal delivery hit you, it will all fall into place. "Wither" is the perfect start for that. "Zero" will come rather quick next.

I dont think I've ever paid attention to lyrics. To me they're just something to sing to convey the melody. Could be singing about oompa loompa's for all I care lol.

Good album though. Didn't hit me instantly like the first album did. Its a bit of a grower and half the time I think some of those albums are the best ones.