Symphony X Song Tournament: Vote for the Best

1. The Turning: KoT has been may be the only song of SX´s 1994-2002 (besides the "all-time infamous" SoG) that I really don´t like. Heavy and everything you said but, in SX, suddenly, all interesting keyboards were gone (like the anticipation of something, bad actually... Come on, there is some church organ but, what else...). That was my feeling in that time and it hasn´t changed too much... definitely "The Turning" has a most interesting interlude.
2. Church of The Machine: "The Damnation Game" has a little magic, but CoTM is just amazing...
3. Rapture or Pain: I remember the first time I heard that guitar at "Inferno"´s intro. It wasn´t SX for me, I was so confused. The rest of the song didn´t save that evening (Awakenings did :) )
4. Through the Looking Glass: No fuckin´ contest!
 
Isaac_de_Moorea said:
1. The Turning: KoT has been may be the only song of SX´s 1994-2002 (besides the "all-time infamous" SoG) that I really don´t like. Heavy and everything you said but, in SX, suddenly, all interesting keyboards were gone (like the anticipation of something, bad actually... Come on, there is some church organ but, what else...). That was my feeling in that time and it hasn´t changed too much... definitely "The Turning" has a most interesting interlude.
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949
 
1. King of Terrors. The toughest choice of this round. I considered The Turning as a filler a long time, but lately it have grown on me. The verse and pre-chorus are quite decent, and the interlude is cool.

King has a nice melody line over the groovy riffing in the beginning, a decent verse pre-chorus and a better chorus than The Turning. The interlude is good as well; gotta love the piano at 3:47 and the fast keyboard (and guitar?)-lick at 4:20. Overall King edges it.


2. Church of the Machine. No contest. Damnation Game is an OK song from a decent album; Church is one of their best songs, both overall and on Twilight (Looking Glass just edges it). It has one of their best choruses, a great verse, a fantastic main melody line, awesome soloing…and I’ve always loved the part after the first chorus (at 3:07, the “pyramids in the sky” part). They really should play this live more often.

3. Inferno. A good song, not spectacular, but still very solid. Groovy riffing, good chorus, nice vocals after the chorus,battling keys and guitar solos; it’s kind a like the “Sins” of The Odyssey.

4. Through the Looking Glass. Oh dear, this have to be one of the easiest of them all. Looking Glass is in my top 5, just an incredible masterpiece, right from that bright descending 5/4 Dsus4 arpeggio. The verses are beautiful, the chorus is epic (though it gets repeated quite a lot in the end), there’s a lot of great solo work from Romeo and Pinnella, and I absolutely LOVE the “run Alice,run..”- part around 5 minutes into the song. Again a Sus-chord is at the core of the matter, this time a Bsus2 arpeggio with alternating bass. Such a dreamy soundscape…a true proof of that NOTHING in this world beats Symphony X at it’s best.

That’s all there is to say really. Seven is one of the weakest tracks on one of their weakest albums. Though I have to say the interlude is not too bad; the tapping part at 3:40 is rather epic, and we all know they never can do wrong a Mr. Lepond bass orgasm, found in songs like Egypt and at 4:28.
 
The Turning - I just wasn't feeling King of Terrors as much right now
Church of the Machine - Church is one of their best songs
Inferno - I always liked Inferno. Fun drum stuff.
Through the Looking Glass - No way for Seven to compete.
 
Islandstone said:
How anyone can rate Seven over Looking Glass is beyond me.
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I can understand why. I don't agree with it, but I do see the reasoning to an extent.

I really don't get why many people don't like Seven. Perhaps it's because it's pretty power-metal esque? (I happen to be a PM fan, so that's not a problem.) It's fast as hell, punchy, it's got that awesome neo-classical sound we all love about early SX, some sweet bass work, and it even includes a reference back to the Divine Wings album ("It's shadows and sin..."). I actually thought it was one of the standout songs my first time listening to PL (still do), and I'd gladly take it over the majority of stuff on IC and Twilight, and maybe half the stuff on the Odyssey.
 
UnholyCrusada said:
I really don't get why many people don't like Seven. Perhaps it's because it's pretty power-metal esque? (I happen to be a PM fan, so that's not a problem.) It's fast as hell, punchy, it's got that awesome neo-classical sound we all love about early SX, some sweet bass work, and it even includes a reference back to the Divine Wings album ("It's shadows and sin..."). I actually thought it was one of the standout songs my first time listening to PL (still do), and I'd gladly take it over the majority of stuff on IC and Twilight, and maybe half the stuff on the Odyssey.
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I've never cared for power metal or thrashy stuff, so it's hard for me to get into Seven. The slower off-time groovy riff in the intro and after the first chorus is awesome, as is the interlude (bass and guitar solos), but the rest of it just drags on. It's too drawn out, in my opinion -- I never saw a need for it to launch back into another verse and chorus after the solos. It would have been more effective if it didn't have a traditional song structure.

The increased presence of keyboard in the song (when compared to most of the rest of PL) is welcome, though.
 
And the last results of Round 1 are in.

King of Terrors beats The Turning 10-6
Church of the Machine beats The Damnation Game 13-3
Inferno beats Rapture or Pain 14-2
Through the Looking Glass beats Seven 15-1

Well, this was a fairly solid round. King of Terrors had the closest (and most gif-filled) matchup, while Through the Looking Glass wins almost unanimously (seriously, Baroque?) The other two went pretty much as expected.

And now for:

ROUND 2


Vs.



Vs.



Vs.

Vs.


My votes:

Candlelight Fantasia- One of SX's most beautiful, emotional ballads against one of their most commercial, straight-ahead power metal songs? I'll go with the former, thank you very much.

A Fool's Paradise- Though Wicked is one of their better "groove metal" songs (especially with the vocal break) it just can't beat the Verdi and Bach-quoting story of the fall of Atlantis.

Sea of Lies- This has one of Romeo's best solos, and Prelude, despite sounding excellent throughout, just isn't much. A pretty easy decision.

The Odyssey- Oh, please. Dragon's Den is good and all, but nowhere near good enough to pose a threat to SX's wonderfully epic, Homeric, orchestral masterpiece. No contest, Odyssey annihilates this one.
 
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irt Seven - I'm not a fan of most of Twilight in Olympus in general, that album just never stuck with me. Paradise Lost is one of my favorite SX albums after V and Odyssey. Looking Glass is pretty boring in a lot of parts, whereas Seven keeps me entertained. I like fast thrashy stuff, I like bands like Havok, Vektor, Obliveon, Kreator as well as SX. And I like the chorus and guitar work on Seven.
 
Candlelight Fantasia- Only tough one for me, Set The World On Fire is enjoyable but I played it out. Candlelight is beautiful.
A Fool's Paradise
Sea of Lies
The Odyssey - wins it all in my book.
 
Candlelight Fantasia - Beats anything from Paradise Lost.
A Fool's Paradise - Even one of the weakest songs (but still damn good) from V easily wins over Wicked.
Prelude - Sea of Lies should win -- it has pretty cool bass play and it's an actual full-length song... buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut although the playing is good, I don't like the sound of the bass (dry and shitty). I also don't like the bridge and how the chorus cuts away. 'Prelude' was (technically) the first I ever heard of SX, and I would rather listen to Prelude on repeat for 60 minutes than listen to Sea of Lies for 60 minutes. Any other song but this one and Of Sins and Shadows (from Divine Wings, that is) would win over Prelude.
The Odyssey - In the Dragon's Den is one of the finer moments of Twilight but only one or two songs could go up against The Odyssey.
 
Candlelight Fantasia- simply great

A Fool's Paradise- I just don't care too much for Wicked. I know some of you other guys do, but it just isn't my thing.

Sea of Lies- I didn't like this song at first, because I was annoyed with the "liiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssss" thing that was sung, but once I heard the live version, I really started to appreciate this song.

Odyssey- This should be unanimous. But you never know
 
1. Candlelight Fantasia (I do like Set the World on Fire, but I still remember my first time listening, and how by the time it got to the bridge following the second chorus I was already bored. Candlelight doesn't have that problem.)

2. A Fool's Paradise (One of the more underrated cuts from V going up against one of the more underrated from the Odyssey. Fools Paradise wins for the awesome guitar work, the sweet Bach key-guitar duel, and the perfect outro leading into Rediscovery.)

3. Sea of Lies (By this point, I'm hoping we'll be able to root out all the intros/interludes.)

4. The Odyssey (I'll seriously laugh if someone votes for Dragon's Den over this.)
 
I'll just vote for The Dragon's Den, cause this round is all too clear on every match up to take seriously.
 
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