V Appreciation Thread

[SymphonyXV]

I'm very surprised almost everyone on this board agrees with me that Divine and V tie as the best. It's so rare when I agree with the majority \m/

 

[Ryan M.]

I'm very surprised almost everyone on this board agrees with me that Divine and V tie as the best. It's so rare when I agree with the majority m/

Are you forgetting this entire forum is the minority? We aren't the normal people. Symphony X has a cult following... or should I say "Church of the machine". lol

 

[Prismatic Sphere]

I'm very surprised almost everyone on this board agrees with me that Divine and V tie as the best. It's so rare when I agree with the majority m/

Not me. The quality of songwriting is somewhat thinner on V than it is on Divine Wings. DWOT sees them really come together as a band for the first time and probably has their most ambitious songwriting to date. You can really hear how hungry they were. But I do definitely think that V stands alone and apart from the other works. But it definitely isn't the best(except maybe production wise).

 

[Thudd]

V is one of those albums I can put on, turn the lights off, sit in my sweet spot and listen to the whole album from go to whoa.

In fact, this is almost the only way I listen to it (except in the car) because if I put it on as background I tend to stop what I'm doing and just listen.

 

[Xiphos68]

I was talking to my friend one day and I asked him what his favorite SX album was?
He said "V: Mythology Suite." I was like hmm... I've never heard this album before.

So I found a track on youtube and then I was like O_O

Seriously?! That riff is just so gnarly, that Chorus is Just EPIC in every sense of the word.
Quite possibly the best Symphony X song I'd ever heard.

Evolution (The Grand Design) it was the first track I heard of this album.

Now I have the album, but I can't really listen to it because some of the MP3's file were corrupt when I bought it or something?
The tracks end early then there suppose to well only two do actually.

 

[Isaac_de_Moorea]

Ah... what an awesome thread is this!

Reading it so many time after it was created is just so nostalgic...

And I´m preety sure for many people the feeling towards V still the same. I can understand why.

 

[_Gentleman of_the Snow_]

ROFL

I also feel that it wouldn't be a great idea to create VIII: The Not So New Mythology Suite

Hmmm... now that I've heard Iconoclast, I kind of take this back. lol.

 

[Marwen]

^ doesn't seem like such a bad idea now does it?

Now I have the album, but I can't really listen to it because some of the MP3's file were corrupt when I bought it or something?
The tracks end early then there suppose to well only two do actually.

aw just buy the CD or something. If you loved Evolution you are in for a treat.

I wish I could erase V from my memory whenever I wanted so I can listen to it over and over again.

 

[_Gentleman of_the Snow_]

^ doesn't seem like such a bad idea now does it?



aw just buy the CD or something. If you loved Evolution you are in for a treat.

I wish I could erase V from my memory whenever I wanted so I can listen to it over and over again.

Hahaha... V, Perfect Element, Milliontown, Ghost Reveries, and so many more...

 

[Volapük]

SX will never ever come up with magic like "V" again... Sad, but true..

Sx has changed and not necessarily for the worse, but they have changed.

When I listen to any other album they`ve made, I don`t go into this "mode" were nothing is real. With "V" they just didn`t make a fantastic record, they made some sort of new world! When I put the record on, it`s normally when I`m home alone, or together with some of my best friends. This record demands your fullest attention to enjoy it. It is an unbeliavable complex record, musically and lyricwise. If anything disturbs me while listening to it I get mad. This is by far they`re best performance and not just they`re best record, I consider it as one of the most important metalrecords ever made. There will never be another "V", and because of that, it is so important.

But I think if there is going to be another "V", they can not continue the themes and stories, they are already there. They`d be better of change the theme, but to something like Norrøn Mythology or something like that.

When I die, Rediscovery is to be played loud in church so the floor shakes, so they physically can feel the story and images that appear in front of them.

 

[BlackTron]

When I became a SX fan, The Odyssey hadn't been out very long. The title track of that CD was the first SX song I heard, followed by Accolade II, and then Accolade I...I was spellbound by all that shit. I got to V just about last...and Communion and the Oracle...just holy fuck son.

I waited five years, with intensely baited breath, for them to release their next album; it would not be inaccurate to say that I expected Jesus to descend upon the earth the day of its release. But when I heard Paradise Lost, I realized that my belief system and way of life were folly and mistaken; I gathered some meager belongings and became a wandering Ronin, seeking the next chapter of my life.

I carried but one album with me, V - The New Mythology Suite. When I at last discover the key to the sacred rite that will allow me to sacrifice myself so that Symphony X might produce a comparable album, my worldly form may be gone, but the CD will remain where I stood, basked in golden glory, a solemn reminder of what we must do to maintain balance.

 

[manticore999]

Nice. Sadly, albums with the depth and magic of V seem to be far behind them. Now they're going after the younger crowd, and who can blame them? They're the ones spending money on albums and going to concerts. Nevermind that the music needs to be dumbed down to appeal to that crowd. That's where the money is. It's a business, after all, and they need to support their families. I say God Bless 'em. Keep making junk that sells. I'll spend my money elsewhere.

 

[_Gentleman of_the Snow_]

Integrity is a thing of the past

 

[Sauna]

Yes, because integrity means sticking to the same thing you started with, even if you want to try something different for a change, right? And if record sales go up even slightly as a result of anything, it must be a matter of selling out. Also that crowd that likes Iconoclast are all idiots and you guys are so cool.

To get back on topic, V is badass.

 

[Marwen]

And if record sales go up even slightly as a result of anything, it must be a matter of selling out. Also that crowd that likes Iconoclast are all idiots and you guys are so cool.

I like Iconoclast. I don't consider it a sell out point in their career. But it (as is PL) is far from the level of albums like V and Odyssey. It's just not as musically interesting, and I'm not just talking about progginess/heaviness/technique (to me, proggy/heavy/technical is no prerequisite for interesting) . You just don't feel the magic, the journey, the thematic episodes, etc. anymore, at least not as much. That good stuff Symphony X is great at is not as present as before and the songs overall do lack depth and dynamics (in Symphony X standards, that is) and sound more flat and more like each other.

Now it's okay if you don't get that or consider it unimportant. But this is indeed the way I feel and I consider it to be constructive criticism, plus I'm not the only one with this opinion. So I would highly recommend you deal with it.

 

[Prismatic Sphere]

^No, you're not the only one who's noticed the recent lack of melody by Symphony X. I just wouldn't have been able to be as nice about it.

 

[Postulate]

Yes, because integrity means sticking to the same thing you started with, even if you want to try something different for a change, right? And if record sales go up even slightly as a result of anything, it must be a matter of selling out. Also that crowd that likes Iconoclast are all idiots and you guys are so cool.

To get back on topic, V is badass.

Mm, straw.

 

[Sauna]

I like Iconoclast. I don't consider it a sell out point in their career. But it (as is PL) is far from the level of albums like V and Odyssey. It's just not as musically interesting, and I'm not just talking about progginess/heaviness/technique (to me, proggy/heavy/technical is no prerequisite for interesting) . You just don't feel the magic, the journey, the thematic episodes, etc. anymore, at least not as much. That good stuff Symphony X is great at is not as present as before and the songs overall do lack depth and dynamics (in Symphony X standards, that is) and sound more flat and more like each other.

I totally see where this is coming from and can agree with some of the points made. I don't have a problem with people not liking Iconoclast.

I get annoyed when people act like they're better than the people who like Iconoclast (an imaginary group that doesn't even exist as an entity separate of SX fans generally) because the like the old stuff better. I get annoyed when people jump on the hipsterish bandwagon of automatically hating on the new stuff because liking older, supposedly less-known material is cool (obviously a phenomenon outside fans of SX as well). I get annoyed when people act like they somehow know that Romeo is either selling out or has been enslaved by Allen's preference for more straightforward material because they can't possibly accept that their hero is most likely writing exactly what he wants to write.

Preferrences aside, letting things not related to the actual music infuence your attitude towards said music is retarded. And I'll be damned if this isn't something that happens even on this very forum to some extent.

 

[metalxmetalx]

I totally see where this is coming from and can agree with some of the points made. I don't have a problem with people not liking Iconoclast.

I get annoyed when people act like they're better than the people who like Iconoclast (an imaginary group that doesn't even exist as an entity separate of SX fans generally) because the like the old stuff better. I get annoyed when people jump on the hipsterish bandwagon of automatically hating on the new stuff because liking older, supposedly less-known material is cool (obviously a phenomenon outside fans of SX as well). I get annoyed when people act like they somehow know that Romeo is either selling out or has been enslaved by Allen's preference for more straightforward material because they can't possibly accept that their hero is most likely writing exactly what he wants to write.

Preferrences aside, letting things not related to the actual music infuence your attitude towards said music is retarded. And I'll be damned if this isn't something that happens even on this very forum to some extent.

Very well put!

In a recent interview Romeo himself stated:

Symphony X is one of the more well-known neo-classical metal bands out there. When you founded the band in 1994, did you foresee the progression and evolution of the genre reaching its mainstream popularity today?

You always kind of hope that more people will embrace what you do, but honestly, I never really thought too much about that. It was always just about doing what we like to do. That’s really all it was in the beginning, but it’s good to see where it’s at today.

http://jacobzinn.wordpress.com/symphony-x-and-iced-earth-share-stage-in-vancouver/

 

[EyeballKid]

^
Good interview. Here's a cool tidbit that might set the boards a twitter:

Do you perform those marathon songs live often, and if so, how have crowds responded to them?

There’s been times in the past where we’ve done “Divine Wings”, and “The Odyssey” we’ve done a pretty good amount. We were in Greece for the first time a couple months back and we just thought that would be the right place, if we were going to play “The Odyssey”, to do it in Greece. We actually pulled that out that night. We were even talking about the next album what we could do and maybe this time we’ll bring back a long, epic kind of thing.