Paradise Lost: Your Opinion

[ABQShredHead]

It has not been removed from my CD player since I bought it.

 

[mawdyson]

Nothing SX release will come close to Divine Wings. Even though they have a number of amazing albums, Divine Wings just happenes to be my favorite. When I listen to PL, I can hear some stuff being repeated or sounding simlilar to previous work, but I've always come across this on the last few SX albums. But somehow it works for me and doesn't seem to get old. Kind of like the way Dream Theater revisted parts of This Dying Soul on Octavarium, but in a much more subtle way. Over all I really like PL. They're all on top of their game as usual.

 

[theVikingR]

Awesome. Unbelievable. Worth every second of the last four and a half years and then some. The band have surpassed themselves again. Thank you Symphony X for this legendary record.

I listened to it over and over with a big stupid grin on my face and wore various Symphony X t-shirts to work every day for that week.

I prefer it to The Odyssey, some tracks from which I never got on that well with. I think it's on a par with, or slightly better than V and Divine Wings, with Twilight and Odyssey one notch below, and TDG the next notch down.

 

[Vacant_Planets]

I like it a lot and the songs were very fun live!!!! My remains the Odyessy but this will most likely become a close #2.

 

[Kenneth R.]

a lot of bands say their new record (every record) is heavier and darker... but this one actually IS. most of the time, it's just hype. personally i love the direction they're headed with paradise lost, it distances them from the same old boring prog bands and brings them closer to more extreme music.

 

[Matt]

I like the new direction as well, but the songs were not as good on this record.

 

[freezingeclipse]

An amazingly consistent album. Every song is good, however none rank within my top 5 or 6 songs by the band. Also I agree that a lot of the material is not very original. Set the World On Fire is very similar to Inferno, the first time I heard the intro to Domination I immediately thought they were trying to revamp Sea of Lies, and even Pardise Lost uses that same arpeggio that they have now reused TWICE. (Accolade I is the first appearance, second is Communion and the Oracle.) Even Sacrifice carries some Awakenings touches. In any case, I am just being critical. Obviously the album is great, but no way is it their best (Divine Wings will always be...)

 

[Matt]

STWON and Inferno don't sound very similar at all.

 

[Accolade2289]

STWON and Inferno don't sound very similar at all.

I believe he meant that the choruses do. If you listen, they both have that power metal sound, especially with similar drum tracks and guitar riffs. Overall both songs are obviously different, but chorus wise, Inferno and Set the World on Fire are similar.

 

[NoSoup4you]

And most songs have one or two parts that sound like Wicked.

 

[Bartakus]

I don't understand the nay sayers, but I spose all have their opinions. I was blown away by the new album. and the show I caught in Mokena, IL (Chicago) the new album is darker heavier and all together awsome keep it up guys. come back to chicago after the euro tour with DT

 

[raythetse]

while it is darker and heavier, to me it sounds VERY symphony x, almost like this is where they were bound to end up from the start. i do agree that sometimes russ's grittiness on this album is a little overwhelming(like in sacrifice as someone mentioned) but but i think its incredibly well written and there is still some classical influence in each song even if its not apparent right on the surface.

 

[Symphoswede]

At first I was a bit skeptical about the new album, then I thought it was one of their best if not the best... now I truly believe it's right under V and Divine Wings which makes it the third best Symphony X album, and obviously one of the best metal album's ever created too of course.

Although it doesn't quite reach up to these albums it does have a lot of qualities which makes it stand out and even top the top 2.

1. As someone said: it doesn't have any skippers. Try skipping a song and you'll probably have nightmares about it later!
2. It's got a fresh sound and the best production of any SyX album.
3. It's easy to get into but still really deep which makes it a great album to recommend people when you've told them about this great band you listen too.

 

[Lorem Ipsum]

It's in the same league as 'Diving wings' and 'V.'

That's what I think. Those are my top three, for sure. I can't rank them, because they each have different strengths and I like them for different reasons.

Of the other albums, I would rank them as follows:

- Twilight in Olympus
- The Odyssey
- Damnation Game
- Self-Titled

 

[freezingeclipse]

Inferno and Set the World on Fire obviously don't sound exactly alike but they are noticeably similar. For example, the verse riff is like an updated version of the one in Inferno. :Smug: If you still aren't getting what I'm saying you have to agree that its more similar to Inferno than it is to their openers, like Smoke and Mirrors. Its like the same formula. By the way, has anyone noticed the keys during the verse on Set the World on Fire? They are waaaay in the back of the mix.

 

[webmajstr]

i think that PL is great album!! It's hard and heavy, i like this music and pinella's and romeo's solos rules!! Thank you Symphony X for great album!!

P.S. i think next time i won't must wait for next album for 4 years

 

[Time-Machinist]

A very good album but not that great i think. On positive sides; as for sound production, PL is SX's best album by far. Even if the composition is not very impressive in a couple of songs, i can not stop taking pleasure in them for the sake of the great sound. The keyboard solo tones are very good for the first time (for me) and the rhythm guitar sound is kickass. Drums and bass sound is again ok, at least far better than the terrible drums of the Odyssey. Apart from the sound, the guitar riffs are great. And on the negative; i don't like the guitar solo tone very much. And the vocals are not only too gritty at times, yet Russ's voice seem to lose some strength. The half growling parts are not as powerful as in the Odyssey, or the cleans are not as smooth and good as before. I hope this situation in his voice is not permanent. Yet again, the vocals are very good because he is Russel Allen And finally, as some people have said, i was expecting a more profound album after such a long wait. I take great pleasure listening to the album though.

 

[naboo]

It's a fucking great album, but I feel like The Odyssey, V, and Divine Wings are still better. Maybe it will grow on me a little more though.

 

[Nightrunner]

I must say this, I never listened to Symphony X before...but after reading a lot that it's their "heaviest and best album", got 10/10 in Sweden Rock Magazine...I just felt I had to get it and listen to it.

And WOW, what a luck that I did. I really got surprised in a good way, this album truly rocks! Surely among the 5 best released this year. It's always pleasant with good surprises Thanx to Symphony X for that!

 

[progmetaldan]

I love the new one, in and of itself it is nothing short of brilliant! I don't quite rate it as high as V, as V contained some really cool heavy parts as well as awesome progressive parts, but I do think it is a step up from The Odyssey. Apart from the title track of The Odyssey (which I reckon is their best song ever) Paradise Lost takes the heavier direction and improves the production and overall goodness and I like it a lot!