Damnation game -revisit

[estYMaj]

Just wanted to know if anyone else had done this , but I have not listened to this cd in well over a year , threw it in the cd player on my way home yesterday and wow I think i really like a lot of this cd more than i did when it first came out
I mean I have listened to cd's that i liked before and came back to them years later and never got this reaction before , maybe its just because i always disliked the production on damnation before i don’t know

 

[anacrucix]

the edge of forever is one of my favourite songs of all time! savage curtain probably one of my least favourite songs of all time!

 

[Phanto]

I got it at the same time I got all the others pre-V albums. The title track is amazing and I really like A Winter's Dream. I find the rest mediocre by SX standards, but it's a good album.

 

[EyeballKid]

I am sitting in wait to see how quickly this turns into a "HoW comez SX don't play TEoF live?!?!?!!!1" thread.

Also, Damnation Game is pretty solid on relisten, minus the production.

 

[Wander]

I listen Damantion Game through just about once or twice a year. I guess it's about time for this year! Pretty good album.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

The first three songs are great, but I think it goes downhill from there (with the exception of Winter's Dream).

 

[EyeballKid]

The first three songs are great, but I think it goes downhill from there (with the exception of Winter's Dream).

Disagree.

Savage Curtain has some really cool parts, Whispers is actually solid (though generic), and Secrets grows on me more and more with each listen. I love the turn-arounds.

 

[CantoX]

Damnation Game is cool.. but not something I could listen to over and over again.
Dressed to Kill is pretty cool. Its got some great parts and it and the chorus is catchy as hell. Solo is pretty cool too.
Edge Of Forever is classic Sym X. Awesome riffs, awesome lyrics, awesome chorus, cool ending.
Savage Curtain certainly has its cool parts and pretty cool riffs.. and the verse lyrics are cool, but the chorus just makes it weird. Its not memorable.
Whispers is 2/10. What is this song trying to accomplish? That huge pinch harmonic in the solo that sounds like its part of cartoon foley makes it so out of place.
Haunting is actually decent. It has a pretty generic song structure, but I like the eeriness of it all. The chorus lyrics are kind of weird and that bridge part is weird too, but overall I like this song.
Secrets is almost instant skip for me 90% of the time. I just think its a horrible song altogether.. the riffs aren't that great, the solo isn't.. and what the hell were they thinking making a song about keeping a secret lol.
Winters Dream I and II are very interesting songs. I like them but theyre just not something you would want to listen to every now and then.. you know what I mean?

4/10 for me.

 

[Postulate]

I only like Edge of Forever and Winter's Dream - the rest are full of pretty bad songwriting IMO

 

[razoredge]

These two topics have given me the chance to replay these CD's by themselves and pay more attention rather than poping them in with a few others and just letting them play in the background as I typically do, not even paying attention to song titles. I do recognize them immeadiatly and always seem to know whats coming next, so I still absorbed them anyhow.

I think Damnation Game was an excellent early effort for the band at a time when very few bands were playing this level of progressive metal. They are certainly compositions that few could match, especially armchair critics. I believe they improved in vocal application as well as over all composition but that does not make this recording insignificant or lacking in brilliance. This was their standard at the time and forged the way for what was to come.

I actually like Whispers and Secrets

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

The Damnation Game - 8.5/10 - I like the solos, but something is lacking to make this song great.

Dressed to Kill - 10/10 - Love it. I wish the band would replace Sea of Lies in their live set with this (same kind of song, really).

The Edge of Forever - 10/10 - What's not to love?!

Savage Curtain - 5/10 - There's some cool parts (the bass in particular), but overall it's really average.

Whispers - 7.3/10 - Decent song, but a little bland and undynamic for Symphony X. Still, the song has some feeling in it.

The Haunting - 6/10 - I like the verses, but I find the rest to be filler.

Secrets - 6.5/10 - Better than the previous track, but still a filler to me.

A Winter's Dream pt. I - 5.5/10 - I could never get into this one. Not enough happening for me.

A Winter's Dream pt. II - 9/10 - Much better! Still, not perfect.

OVERALL - 7.53

I know most will disagree, but I actually find the music on Symphony X's first album to be better than the music on this one. Obviously, though, this is the superior album, due to the vocals.

 

[Prismatic Sphere]

The Damnation Game is their real beginning. Even Romeo called the debut album not much more than a demo.

I think every song on it is worthy of bearing the Symphony X name; with only "Secrets" being the exception. To me it seems they were dusting off the last remnants of their s/t record on that track.

"The Edge Of Forever" and "A Winter's Dream" remain two of the greatest songs ever written.

And yes, I'd love to hear them play these live.

 

[proulxski]

T'is a solid album from start to finish IMO, I don't see why there is so much hate. Agreed mind you, 'secrets' is perhaps there weakest track. But I mean you can only please all the people some of the time, or some of the people all of the time.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

T'is a solid album from start to finish IMO, I don't see why there is so much hate. Agreed mind you, 'secrets' is perhaps there weakest track. But I mean you can only please all the people some of the time, or some of the people all of the time.

^^^^^^What he said....
DG was my 1st SY-X cd, since Impulse was out of TDWOT which is the one I was looking for. Damn, that was a LONG fricken time ago already....

 

[OfSinsAndShred]

I'm with proulxski. And whoever mentioned that it's a great album for its time and for that stage in the band's development (sorry, I'm posting from a phone so it's a pain to scroll back up there).

 

[wdiv]

I've never been impressed with DG... at least compared to rest of SyX catalog. But I haven't listened to it in a few years, so I'm due for a relisten myself.

 

[antonis]

i always forget how good a winter's dream is

 

[Julz]

I don't dislike the album any more than say TiO or tO.

The title track, The Edge of Forever, Whispers, Secrets and Both Winter's Dreams are on the iPod (I'll have to remind myself to put Dressed to Kill on there too).

The Edge of Forever bores me a bit more than the rest especially with the solo's lower notes getting lost and near inaudible in the mix.

That huge pinch harmonic in the solo that sounds like its part of cartoon foley makes it so out of place.

Can't be worse than the one at 1:12 in The Edge of Forever.