I do like Dream Theater, but their time is up. They are perhaps one of the only prog bands to make it to such heights. And have set a standard for everyone to sound like them. Sadly not even Dream Theater can sound like themselves anymore. And personally I don't enjoy that standard nearly as much as half of the bands out there!
News about the CD
- Thread starter Neva Kee
- Start date
I'm hoping that since Mike's hold on the band is now released they'll go back to their old style
WhoFooldU
Fool for a Lifetime
I believe if you look back through posts of recent, you will find enough from me. I'm jumping in within relative threads. I won't reveal things that I know because it's not my position to do so. If asked by the band to do so, then it would be a different story. I value my friendship with MJR more than the notoriety involved with being first with newsleaks.
Here's what I will say for now...Iconoclast (and I found out about the title like the majority of us here) will further cement the reputation of SX. It will be the summation of all you know about the band with some new sonic seasonings. As frustrating as it may seem about a lack of news, it's oddly refreshing at the same time. Fire up the hype machine nearer to an actual release date. Besides the band will be on tour this week. Interviews will be done. More details will get out and there will bw more to talks about.
Until then, I'm sitting back watching a growing mass trying to figure out who to attack first. Being on a sideline hasn't been this much fun in years.
Glenn
Kenneth R.
Cináed
Petrucci was just as bad though. It's the guys who played the keyboards and contributions from myung that really stood out.
Glenn, don't you think that's a shitty way to treat fans? I'm not one of those need-to-know-everything-and-feel-entitled-to-it types but this, this even offends me! It's just piss-poor management and PR. Apologetics don't help.
Glenn, don't you think that's a shitty way to treat fans? I'm not one of those need-to-know-everything-and-feel-entitled-to-it types but this, this even offends me! It's just piss-poor management and PR. Apologetics don't help.
Kenneth R.
Cináed
It might be the "cool" and badass way to go to not tell anyone anything until release date.
But you know what? Hype or not, that is going to seriously seriously impale album sales on that first week. And that's what labels are looking at. Promotion is band-van 101. There are bands who formed last year that could headline next year but Symphony X will keep being that band that usually supports others. Festival orgs and tour orgs know the game - draw = slot. If you don't promote, you don't increase your draw?
But you know what? Hype or not, that is going to seriously seriously impale album sales on that first week. And that's what labels are looking at. Promotion is band-van 101. There are bands who formed last year that could headline next year but Symphony X will keep being that band that usually supports others. Festival orgs and tour orgs know the game - draw = slot. If you don't promote, you don't increase your draw?
keeperxiii
Awakening...
They're touring in a week? Cool, some interviews then will definitely shed some light on the album. Not much more to wait then.
Prismatic Sphere
We Carouse
Glenn, thank you for that. Now my only question is does this mean that the actual release date will be by summer or when it is as cold as a witch's tit again?
I love all you guys and trust Romeo implicitly. This has just been really poor promotion thus far(and I blame the label, not the band[am i wrong?]) and incredibly frustrating.
Dark Lucidity
Wrath
Glad its fun for you, I'm personally not having a lot of fun with this thing. But I suppose sitting on the sideline would be fun if you had inside info.
Kenneth R.
Cináed
or NIN. but what works for those guys are exceptions to the rule. You can be the exception if statistics back it up. Doesn't work for SX.
JPX
Member
- Jun 9, 2010
- 32
- 0
- 6
Wow, look at that...I totally agree with Kenneth!!!
And to think that I got shot down months ago for pointing out how badly SX (the band or otherwise) promote themselves.
_Gentleman of_the Snow_
Prog' Drummer
^
JAX?! ... oh... my mistake.
I'm okay with waiting because there are many bands and albums I have to listen to at the moment.
This bugged me a lot more in PL days than it does now.
JAX?! ... oh... my mistake.
I'm okay with waiting because there are many bands and albums I have to listen to at the moment.
This bugged me a lot more in PL days than it does now.
They are going on tour in a week, sure there will be interviews. That doesn't mean the site will be updated. Normally if you want news on something, you go to the band website/forums. You should not have to google "Symphony X, Iconoclast" or type it in the youtube search bar to find this information it. This is supposed to be the place for that information, on an equal note, nuclear blast as well.
I mean if you receive the news paper at your house once a week, and it arrives at 4:00PM. If you knew you could get it twice a week from an alternate source, at an earlier time. That news paper becomes obsolete!
I mean updates on the album aside, much like Paradise Lost was said to have bi-weekly updates originally. Iconoclast was said to bring a new band website, there has been no news on this front either. As unimportant as it is, especially in the event that the band gives two shits about updating fans with news via the interwebs.
I agree with Ken, its poor management. IMO its fair to say everyone is to blame, right down to the fans. Since Paradise Lost was leaked, and the whole V thing I heard about with samples being sent to people who shouldn't have. So they have good reason to hate the internet after such douches ruin it for everyone. But the band should stop being butt sore and move on. They are killing their own sales, with such things. If they don't want to do it. Find someone who will. I'm sure there is plenty of young talented fans who would be more than happy to get a website up and running, and provide news at a constant base for free, or close to nothing. The only thing stopping them than, is the label. Even than just because their are constant updates to the news/site. Doesn't mean they have to spoil everything. Most bands, even ones less known than symphony x have the formula right. If you don't keep your fans interested. They lose interest! I mean it can't be any clearer than that, its not rocket science.
Sure they release awesome albums, just about all the time. Thats really all you can ask for. But as a band, they need to get with the program. Doing live shows, and releasing an album every 5 years does not cut it anymore. They are missing so many boats, that they've chosen to swim. And they are drowning!
I mean if you receive the news paper at your house once a week, and it arrives at 4:00PM. If you knew you could get it twice a week from an alternate source, at an earlier time. That news paper becomes obsolete!
I mean updates on the album aside, much like Paradise Lost was said to have bi-weekly updates originally. Iconoclast was said to bring a new band website, there has been no news on this front either. As unimportant as it is, especially in the event that the band gives two shits about updating fans with news via the interwebs.
I agree with Ken, its poor management. IMO its fair to say everyone is to blame, right down to the fans. Since Paradise Lost was leaked, and the whole V thing I heard about with samples being sent to people who shouldn't have. So they have good reason to hate the internet after such douches ruin it for everyone. But the band should stop being butt sore and move on. They are killing their own sales, with such things. If they don't want to do it. Find someone who will. I'm sure there is plenty of young talented fans who would be more than happy to get a website up and running, and provide news at a constant base for free, or close to nothing. The only thing stopping them than, is the label. Even than just because their are constant updates to the news/site. Doesn't mean they have to spoil everything. Most bands, even ones less known than symphony x have the formula right. If you don't keep your fans interested. They lose interest! I mean it can't be any clearer than that, its not rocket science.
Sure they release awesome albums, just about all the time. Thats really all you can ask for. But as a band, they need to get with the program. Doing live shows, and releasing an album every 5 years does not cut it anymore. They are missing so many boats, that they've chosen to swim. And they are drowning!
_Gentleman of_the Snow_
Prog' Drummer
SymphonyXV
Member
It looks like their tour begins on Friday. Hopefully someone will go to the show and blog about it or something. I am not holding my breath, I am expecting that they won't even mention the new album. Maybe Russ will say something like "Yeah, new album coming very soon, everyone..." then forget about it.
In their defence, maybe they just are not proud of their new album. Maybe they sat around in a room jamming and just couldn't agree on anything. That's kind of like what happened with The Mars Volta, they wrote an entire album and then decided that they didn't like it so decided to go back to square one. SX probably think "Well, we made a concept album about Atlantis, Paradise Lost, we wrote two 20 plus minute epics, now what do we do?".
In their defence, maybe they just are not proud of their new album. Maybe they sat around in a room jamming and just couldn't agree on anything. That's kind of like what happened with The Mars Volta, they wrote an entire album and then decided that they didn't like it so decided to go back to square one. SX probably think "Well, we made a concept album about Atlantis, Paradise Lost, we wrote two 20 plus minute epics, now what do we do?".
Well, they're not "drowning". Come on... That's an overstatement at best.
Releasing an album every 5 years is not a bad thing in itself. It's better than releasing a bullshit album full of generic filler material every year to please the crowds of metal kids out there and increase revenue.
SymphonyXV
Member
WhoFooldU
Fool for a Lifetime
Nothing I can say or do will quell the distaste within you. Nothing the band can do either because it seems it's way too late in your vocal opinion. I do not wish to get into invididual he said she said BS. The internet is already more than full in that department. However, what I did in my post is of my own volition. I will not give away any secrets. In dealing with SymX, and other bands as well, I have been privvy to things that are just not meant for consumption of others. There is a level of tact and a level of dealing with secrets that some people fail to understand. Again, as much as I might want to shed light on things, I can not. It's not my in my position to do so. This is one of the fine lines one has to walk when you know how things are behind the curtain.
You want a release date, that will be Nuclear Blast making the call. Until one is announced, everything is speculation. The quest about the release date out of Japan in the other thread was interesting, but if someone has a release date, there would have been much more supporting data to go with it. There was no album title or track list and yet the date was like a month from the date of the post...you don't think this sort of thing would be finalized with a month left?
For the last month the band has been gearing up for a tour and that's where the focus was. Getting through a series of practices in order to knock off the rust for the band and to learning how to translate the new material from it's current form into the living breathing live beast it has to be.
This will be the second time the band will go out to support a cd that hasn't been released. Paradise Lost happened the same way. First gig was a month before the actual release of the cd. Yeah, it sucks, but that's the hand being dealt at this time. However, it could it be possible that a series of live dates along with concurrent press may generate that much more interest, but then again this is the internet and SymX has it's own built in fanbase. A fanbase that, whether you liked it or not, grew with the last release.
Symphony X is not the same band that they were 10 years ago. They have grown quite a bit with all of the touring behind V, The Odyssey and Paradise Lost. Each tour has taken them successively further than that of the previous tour. They are who they are now. They are different people who have different circumstances in their lives than they once did. It's a living journey of progression. They aren't following a trend. They are blazing a trail. Witnessing them on stage for the Paradise Lost tour was like watching a freight train barrelling down the tracks. A freight train that still left those people seeing them for the first time slackjawed.
Will they do it again with Iconoclast?
So, let's see... no release date....sooner more so than later I can only hope.
New website, guess we'll see what happens once the art has been made available and something can be done. Content, guess we'll see who approves what for official consumption. It's a whole new team in the works dealing with a new rule book.
In the meantime, I'll continue to contribute something to the discussion. And if I'm given the green light to say something more, then I'll share it with you. It's a fine line to walk, but it's what has to be done.
Glenn
WhoFooldU
Fool for a Lifetime
Quite the contrary is true. I'm eagerly awaiting to see what the reaction is to this next step. I'm waiting for the "I didn't see that coming" type of comments.
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