Alright, I went and bought the CD after listening to the Mp3's for about a week. A lot of songs grew on me... BUT...
I really don't get all the love for "Iconoclast". I mean, the first 2 minutes should've been called "Prelude" or something and kept in a separate track. I ALWAYS skip that part in the car. And sometimes the "we are strong, we will stand and fight" part just makes me cringe, grind my teeths and get horrible Dragonforce'ish flashbacks, so much that I sometimes just skip it entirely right at that part. The rest would be INCREDIBLE, but those 2 things just kill the whole song for me, kinda sad. Cause the part that starts at 7:15 really rocks! All in all, skipable.
"Prometheus" is also skipable, it's too bad cause the lyrics are pretty good.
"When all is lost" could've been a keeper, alas, for such a "short" song, the slow intro is FAR TOO LONG. Don't get me wrong, I love DWOT'S and Odyssey's intros, but this one, nope. I find myself skipping it frequently.
All the other songs are worth listening to while headbanging and shouting to Allen's vocals.
In order:
1- The End of Innocence ( bbye Electric Messiah )
2- Reign in Madness ( incredibly atmospheric keyboard in the chorus, IN LOVE with the whole chorus and chorus aftermath )
3- Heretic
4- Dehumanized ( really, REALLY love the lyrics on this one, so true )
5- Bastards of the Machine ( same as above )
6- Electric Messiah ( Look for the Chi/electricity analogy/reference in there )
7- Children of a Faceless God ( love the lyrics )
8- Light up the Night ( not at all dragonforce'ish, I like it )
9- The Lords of Chaos
10- Prometheus
11- When all is lost
12- Iconoclast
Lifetime favorite SymX song : Still Odyssey.
Lifetime favorite SymX album : Still V - The New Mythology.
Album ranking:
1- V
2- Odyssey
3- DWOT
4- Twilight in Olympus / Iconoclast ( tie )
6- PL
7- Damnation game ( this album BEGS for a remastering )
8- Symphony X ( This one too )
Yeah I know... my choices are paradoxical, there must be some kind of universal truth in there. Comet Nostre! My truth...