Song With Best Musical Prowess

[Daniè]

As for the song with the best vocal performance, it is soooo hard, therefore for me it would have to be between a few songs...

TDWOT- From the choir part at the beginning (even though it's obviously layered, it's still really sick) to the softer and cleaner part around the 4 minute mark. And then the more aggressive style but still hitting those really high notes like "Like the river Styx, the gates of hell, abandon hope all ye who enter here" he is just top notch. Even the "looking out on a blue sky" ending is great. This epic just has variety.

The Sacrifice- Soft vocals at the beginning that progress to become louder, more ronchy and higher until the magnificent finish.

Underworld- All his styles are at their best here (except for the soft and lower). But he goes from being extremely aggressive, so much so that he basically screams and does it oh so effectively. And then he does the "Soar through the flame" part as well as the "When will my dark skies disappear" which are just top class and inspiring.

Charon is also another phenomenal performance, I love what he does in that song.

 

[Adam Fiske]

I've never heard of Vangough, but the only Suspyre album which really clicked with me was Silvery Image. I generally prefer prog to power metal, but the two albums that followed seemed needlessly complex and didn't flow very well. But that first album is great; I still throw Father of Hate and Serpent I Am on from time to time.

Too be honest, When Time Fades never really clicked with me, a bit too complex for my taste (except I really like the song Siren), and the self titled follow-up seemed even more complex. But I used to jam A Great Divide a lot back in college. I think it was the saxophone that did it. I do really appreciate what they do, incorporating all the jazz and classical stuff into the prog, but it is quite dense and tough to parse. I love his voice though.

As for the actual topic to this thread, a very hard question. Even the songs that you don't think are complex or demanding are when you start to dissect them. Nevermore is insane on the guitar, I can agree to that. Legend has some pretty gnarly bass going on. A ton of the stuff on Iconoclast is also really complex with all the polymetric things going on. I think as MJR put it once, it's like a bunch of different sized gears rotating together and every once in a while lining up with each other before starting to rotate again. I think, if we are including it (which almost seems unfair because of the length), the Odyssey is probably the clear winner for most everything. Russ runs the gamut of all his vocal styles, tons of time changes, great keyboard work everywhere, demanding syncopation. Although, Walls of Babylon does come to mind for the most demanding vocal performance for Russ.

 

[Daniè]

Yeah I def see your point about the Odyssey being kind of unfair to include in the question. I even thought of excluding it.

 

[anonym115]

The acoustic section of Odyssey is probably the hardest guitar part. Probably should not have put it on the list. Oh, and Detective, I hear it now. I never noticed that polymeter before!

I'm no vocalist, but I would have to guess that Charon and Underworld from the new album are quite difficult to sing correctly all the way through. DWOT of course is another. I sometimes find parts of Looking Glass and Fallen hard to sing well. Damnation Game as an album has alot of tough vocal stuff. I think compiling a good vocal list would be both hard and interesting.

@Danie: I know what your intention was, but I think the question is hard enough that sectioning it off first and then comparing would be an efficient way of answering.

 

[_Gentleman of_the Snow_]

Here you go, OP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQZO5-OHfEs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPH87Fm8kMw

 

[anonym115]

Wasn't he asking about SX?

 

[ToastedOveries]

Yea, never been a big Suspyre, Vang, or Adagio guy. I LOVE some of Adagio's music, but then the singer comes in a screams it all away

Maybe we should get some kind of organization going for this thread if the OP wants a real answer. Organize first my most prowess on each instrument, then pick a song overall for the band.

My picks for guitar:

Damnation Game
Savage Curtain
Out of the Ashes
Iconoclast
Light up the Night
The Odyssey
Masquerade (instrumental sections)
Seven
Smoke and Mirrors
In the Dragon's Den
Nevermore

Haven't tried anything on UW, but Nevermore is most assuredly one of the most blistering songs for guitar in the entire discography. I'm sure there are more, but I'd have to try and add them later once I've given them a shot.

Also, Detective I'm not hearing any 19/8 in Electric Messiah. The guitar sounds also in 4/4.

I love the grooving riff in Savage Curtain, I hate how he swaps it out for a straight forward picking part on the second verse.

Working on Dragons den right now, and man, it's a bastard

 

[anonym115]

That stupid post solo arpeggio bit gave me so much trouble as I recall. I'm not sure I ever learned it at full speed. I think I regret putting the Odyssey and Iconoclast on there. Odyssey is a cheat answer, and Iconoclast really just has the beginning section.

 

[Alien Mantis]

Speaking of singers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLx5JK4XPaI

:Shedevil: