Shadow Gallery - Legacy
Magna Carta - 2001
By Rodrigo
/images/covers/ShadowGallery.jpg
Legacy is the newest Shadow Gallery album and one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2001 for me. Their last release Tyranny was one of my favorite releases of that year and I count it as one of the best progressive metal albums ever released. So I was really looking forward to what Shadow Gallery would do next.
The first thing I noticed immediately was that Legacy is over 70 minutes long but only features 6 songs. The last song "First Light" is over 34 minutes long, a length that could be an album all to itself. The only song that I know of to be as long is Pink Floyds "Echoes" (one of my all-time favorite songs) and it is no coincidence that I can hear plenty of Pink Floyd influences in this song. It turns out that one of Gary Wehrkamp s (in this album he is credited with the majority of the music writing credit) biggest inspirations is Pink Floyd. "First Light" is one incredible journey that I really do not want to spoil for you by describing it. Just be prepared to listen to some incredible music and singing by Mike Baker. I also consider Mike to have an excellent voice and I wonder why he doesnt get more mentions as one of the best vocalists in the progressive metal world. This is especially true because Shadow Gallery has always made their vocals a crucial part to their songs.
All the typical Shadow Gallery elements are present in "First Light" and the rest of the album. You will hear beautiful and intricate melodies, incredible vocal harmonies and piano driven passages all tied up by the excellent mixing that Neil Kernon assisted with. Legacy contains elements from previous Shadow Gallery albums. For example, the song "Society of the Mind" could easily fit in Tyranny because of the heavy music and darker lyrical themes (it deals with the heavy use of the Internet) and of course "Cliffhanger 2" features similar musical ideas from the original song found in Carved in Stone. "Cliffhanger 2" is another excellent song from this album. It is divided into two parts. The first part, "Hang On" is where the similarities to the first song are found but the second part, "The Crusher" is something completely new and exciting. This section is pure instrumental playing that lasts for almost 7 minutes and it is just simply amazing. The musicianship by the entire band is simply unbelievable, everyone does an excellent job. In Legacy, Shadow Gallery has no problems with belting out the instrumental sections and everything is wonderful. The sad thing about this song is that it goes by so fast and you are left desiring for more but you can easily play it over and over and you will never get bored of it.
But Legacy is not about rehashing old ideas but using those ideas and moving them forward and the entire album does that. The title track is the shortest of the album but still just as good as the rest. The vocal melodies sung by Mike and the entire band are incredible and there are some very cool guitar and bass solos. "Colors" is a slower ballad-type tune with an extremely radio-friendly chorus and finally "Destination Unknown" features some great piano work by Chris Ingles.
Shadow Gallery continues to amaze me. In my book these guys can do no wrong and have come out with another outstanding effort. Of the progressive metal albums that I have heard so far (I still have to listen to more) Legacy is right now my favorite 2001 album of this genre. This is simply a must buy!
Magna Carta - 2001
By Rodrigo
/images/covers/ShadowGallery.jpg
Legacy is the newest Shadow Gallery album and one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2001 for me. Their last release Tyranny was one of my favorite releases of that year and I count it as one of the best progressive metal albums ever released. So I was really looking forward to what Shadow Gallery would do next.
The first thing I noticed immediately was that Legacy is over 70 minutes long but only features 6 songs. The last song "First Light" is over 34 minutes long, a length that could be an album all to itself. The only song that I know of to be as long is Pink Floyds "Echoes" (one of my all-time favorite songs) and it is no coincidence that I can hear plenty of Pink Floyd influences in this song. It turns out that one of Gary Wehrkamp s (in this album he is credited with the majority of the music writing credit) biggest inspirations is Pink Floyd. "First Light" is one incredible journey that I really do not want to spoil for you by describing it. Just be prepared to listen to some incredible music and singing by Mike Baker. I also consider Mike to have an excellent voice and I wonder why he doesnt get more mentions as one of the best vocalists in the progressive metal world. This is especially true because Shadow Gallery has always made their vocals a crucial part to their songs.
All the typical Shadow Gallery elements are present in "First Light" and the rest of the album. You will hear beautiful and intricate melodies, incredible vocal harmonies and piano driven passages all tied up by the excellent mixing that Neil Kernon assisted with. Legacy contains elements from previous Shadow Gallery albums. For example, the song "Society of the Mind" could easily fit in Tyranny because of the heavy music and darker lyrical themes (it deals with the heavy use of the Internet) and of course "Cliffhanger 2" features similar musical ideas from the original song found in Carved in Stone. "Cliffhanger 2" is another excellent song from this album. It is divided into two parts. The first part, "Hang On" is where the similarities to the first song are found but the second part, "The Crusher" is something completely new and exciting. This section is pure instrumental playing that lasts for almost 7 minutes and it is just simply amazing. The musicianship by the entire band is simply unbelievable, everyone does an excellent job. In Legacy, Shadow Gallery has no problems with belting out the instrumental sections and everything is wonderful. The sad thing about this song is that it goes by so fast and you are left desiring for more but you can easily play it over and over and you will never get bored of it.
But Legacy is not about rehashing old ideas but using those ideas and moving them forward and the entire album does that. The title track is the shortest of the album but still just as good as the rest. The vocal melodies sung by Mike and the entire band are incredible and there are some very cool guitar and bass solos. "Colors" is a slower ballad-type tune with an extremely radio-friendly chorus and finally "Destination Unknown" features some great piano work by Chris Ingles.
Shadow Gallery continues to amaze me. In my book these guys can do no wrong and have come out with another outstanding effort. Of the progressive metal albums that I have heard so far (I still have to listen to more) Legacy is right now my favorite 2001 album of this genre. This is simply a must buy!
