I know on this board it is much more en vogue to debate the semantics of liner notes or illegally downloading music (I keed I keed)
but for a second I would love to talk about the thing mentioned in the thread title; the new Kamelot album.
I really am very happy with this album. I guess I should set up a context for my view on the album. In some ways it reminds me of the last Dream Theater album in terms of importance in the band's history. Both bands lost incredibly valuable members that brought into doubt in many people's mind if they could continue to make good music. Unfortunately I was one of those people. Not to devalue the contributions of Youngblood and Palotai, but I always thought Khan was one of the main reasons that they stood out in a very crowded genre. And to be honest when it was announced that Khan left I lost a lot of interest in the band. This was probably a combination of my pessimism in their ability to replace Khan and my feeling that Poetry was a "good" but not "great" album.
Fast forward to the day they announced Tommy as their singer. I was initially upset, not because I thought they made a bad choice, but because I thought it mean no more Seventh Wonder. But once the dust settled I was left with hope for their future and some of that excitement was starting to return. After seeing them twice now with Tommy, I was assured that they were better than ever as a live band, the question still remained about the new music. I must say that I really love the new album and Tommy's performance on it. I was a little worried that Tommy woud evoke Khan (like on Sacrimony) the whole album, but that is not the case. Overall the songs are great and I cannot wait to see them live.
Sure, I agree a bit with some of the complaints others have with some of the song writing being a little "samey" compared to some previous releases. But I think the first album with a new singer, they were likely trying to capture a classic sound for the band. Dream Theater did the same think on ADTOE. When you have such a major change, I don't think it is the time to change up the sound. Also, parts/all of both of those albums were written before the new member joined the band. So in both cases, I really look forward to the next album to see the true creative contributions of Tommy and Mike Mangini.
So in the context of an album that helps reestablish or stabilize their status as a top band in the genre despite a huge line-up change, I cannot see this album as anything but a success. As a person that was a doubter, this album completely reinvigorated my love for the band. My wife felt the same way and we have both been diving into the back catalog a ton after seeing the at PP. As I said, it is not a perfect album and I could nitpick here or there. But to be honest with you, my joy of seeing this band back putting out good music in spite of losing one of the best singers in the genre completely makes me over look such things. So all and all this should likely be one of my top 5 albums of the year.
