Twilight in Olympus...and others

[ItsOjMang]

I've recently put in Twilight in Olympus and am just loving it. I'm a 'newer' SX fan, heard Iconoclast first. But after seein them live, I've grown more fond of them and have gotten their earlier works. They're all great (the first two not so much, but I'll give them time). I don't see TWIO mentioned much on this forum though..at least the album as a whole. I dig this whole album and wish it would get more attention. Church of the Machine is so damn melodic and proggy. And Lady of the Snow...awesome. It'd be great if more people got into this album because they would appreciate these guys for their awesomeness even more.

Apparently there was an epic that was supposed to be the album's title track, but the band ran out of time to finish it. Instead, what they had completed so far was used in bits in pieces on V.....hows that for ya V diehards? :Spin: Myself included.

 

[CantoX]

I recently put this album into my car and have been listening to it for the last two weeks. I was like you when I first heard the album a couple years ago and thought that all the songs rocked so much, but now after putting in again after a couple years...

Church of the Machine, Through the Looking Glass, and Orion are cool songs, but the other songs I feel are forgettable. I usually find myself skipping to just those three songs I mentioned. I just feel there is something missing in this album. The production is not that great, the lyrics are quite cheesy and silly, and the drumming is just weird (remember that its not Rullo drumming on this album).

It's still a cool album and I know all the songs to heart, but I feel their other albums are much stronger.

 

[Liampie]

Smoke and Mirrors: great
Church: great
Sonata: nothing
Dragon's Den: okay
Looking Glass: GREAT.
The Relic: good enough.
Orion: great
Lady: great

However the album is like 15 minutes shorter than a normal Symphony X album and while listening to this album it's obvious that there's a big, dynamic song missing. Through the Looking Glass is big and dynamic, but not like DWoT or The Odyssey. It's like Kate Upton with obly one boob. Very good, but incomplete.

 

[TerminusDeus]

Smoke and Mirrors: great
Church: great
Sonata: nothing
Dragon's Den: okay
Looking Glass: GREAT.
The Relic: good enough.
Orion: great
Lady: great

However the album is like 15 minutes shorter than a normal Symphony X album and while listening to this album it's obvious that there's a big, dynamic song missing. Through the Looking Glass is big and dynamic, but not like DWoT or The Odyssey. It's like Kate Upton with obly one boob. Very good, but incomplete.

I agree with this for the most part, though I personally like Lady more and Smoke and Mirrors less.

However, I think a lot of the shortcomings of the album can be attributed to the short production time (1 year). A lot of ideas were either left on the floor or sprinkled into V and the overall sound quality definitely could have been better.

One has to wonder how Twilight would have turned if given an extra year to produce it the way it was intended; possibly at the level many people hold DWoT and V to.

In any case, I still enjoy the album for what it is, and Looking Glass is probably my favorite song they've done live. They just seem to have the most fun and freedom with it.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

I think a lot of the shortcomings of the album can be attributed to the short production time (1 year). A lot of ideas were either left on the floor or sprinkled into V and the overall sound quality definitely could have been better.

One has to wonder how Twilight would have turned if given an extra year to produce it the way it was intended; possibly at the level many people hold DWoT and V to.

In any case, I still enjoy the album for what it is, and Looking Glass is probably my favorite song they've done live. They just seem to have the most fun and freedom with it.

I agree with this. It can be tough to compare this album to greats like Divine Wings and V, but if you take it for what it is, it's a great album. Also, TTLG is amazing on the album and even more incredible live. As much as I love Egypt, I was so happy when they played TTLG at the show I went to on the '08 PL tour (they were alternating those songs each night). It was even better than the LOTEOF version.

Anyway, as far as TIO goes, I pretty much love half of the album. Church of the Machine is such an underrated song, as is Orion (although it gets a little DT-ish in the solo section). The Relic is a good, fun, power metal cheese song that I think is better than most of their other songs of this type (the groove in the middle is nice).

Through the Looking Glass is a special song to me. I'm not sure why, but ever since the first listen I've loved every pretty much minute of it. But like a lot of the songs on this album, the solo section feels rushed and somewhat last-minute; with more time it could have been excellent.

The rest of the songs on the album aren't as high quality to me. Smoke and Mirrors may be one of the most overplayed songs in their catalog, and I've never understood why. Symphony X sure does love to play the first song on every album the most, don't they? Sonata is literally filler (you can tell it was so last-minute), and Dragon's Den is like The Relic but not as good (although the solos are nice). Finally, Lady of the Snow has never clicked with me. Even on cold winter nights where it would seem like the perfect song to listen to, it doesn't do anything for me. And it has nothing on Candlelight Fantasia.

At least nothing on this album is as filler as The Witching Hour, though.

 

[Wander]

To put into a few words: The best moments of TIO are among the best in all of Symphony X's catalog.

 

[LavagesOfTime]

My 2 cents: I think this albums (and this one only) has a bunch of songs that, to put it in a nutshell, got older. Of course, the plain strait-forward power metal ones. My wife says Romeo reminds her of Malmsteen A LOT and probably it happened when I played this album (she wouldn't say it with any song off the last three). Despite I don't agree that Romeo is a copy of Malmsteen, of that album he peaks the amount of neoclassicity and that's how some songs lost the appeal they had when the album was just released.

 

[Postulate]

Church of the Machine and Through the Looking Glass are probably in my top 10 SX songs.

 

[CantoX]

There are two things about this album that are noticeable.

1. The bass is loud, crisp, and clear. A bunch of the solos in the albums don't have any backing rythm guitar, so the bass shines pretty well. The mix on the bass is also very well done. I wish Symphony X would have less rhythm guitars during solos and just let the bass be the backing.

2. GUITAR AND KEYBOARD BATTLES FTW!!! Every song has a guitar solo followed by a keyboard solo (vice versa) in a battling kind of way. Romeo/Lepond replicate each others lines during the battles (would be nice to know if this is planned and noted out or its just done by ear) and its pretty epic. Shredders would love this album.

 

[donKyle]

I love The Relic! I always thought it was underrated. I can never get into Lady of the Snow

 

[_Gentleman of_the Snow_]

Orion is an underrated gem. I've always loved Lady.

 

[donKyle]

Yeah Orion is great as well. Oddly enough, I usually skip it, and I don't know why.

 

[Isaac_de_Moorea]

The whole intro with the choir, the frequent modulations during the whole song, the use of exotic instruments by the keyboard (Koto and Shakuhachi, I think), the chilling verses and chorus, the continue use of the main motif, the theme around the song, Allen´s voice...

Lady of the Snow it´s definitely a rare and beautiful song on SX´s catalog.

 

[Marwen]

^sure is. It's one of a kind.

 

[AsoTamaki]

Fantastic album. Just doesn't get as much attention because it's neither quite as good as Divine Wings, V and The Odyssey nor is it one of their worst efforts. Kind of gets lost in the shuffle. The Relic is the only song I dislike. I think that's definitely one of the bottom 5 songs they've ever composed. On the other hand, Church, TTLG, Orion and Lady are some of their greatest works.

 

[donKyle]

I wonder what we'd get if SX rushed their next album?

 

[EyeballKid]

To put into a few words: The best moments of TIO are among the best in all of Symphony X's catalog.

Absolutely.

 

[Lagtastic]

Fantastic album, part of the best 4 album stretch in all of metal. Romeo's tone changes a bit here, it is a bit less compressed. The change in tone gives the album a different feel for me. A few of his solos on this album are just brutal.

 

[ItsOjMang]

I got into Dream Theater before SX and I just gotta throw out there...does the first few minutes of 'Through the Looking Glass' dish out a DT-like style to anyone else? Particularly the beginning...If anything, it sounds like Images and Words. 3:20 in though, it is all SX's style. Amazing song, btw...

 

[SymX_AUS]

To put into a few words: The best moments of TIO are among the best in all of Symphony X's catalog.

This is the absolute truth.