What do you think about Iconoclast?

[Isaac_de_Moorea]

... I patiently await an old style SX album.

You´re not alone

 

[donKyle]

I thought they had only been working on it for the past year and a half or two years or so. Surely they couldn't have started right after PL came out!

 

[Platinum Maze]

I wouldn't even consider myself a "lurker" of this message board anymore, but to me, this album is FLAWLESS. It is already becoming one of my favorite albums of all time.

Thank you, Symphony X. I am already scared to hear how good the next album will be!!

 

[PurpleDink]

] The title track would have been so much better
without the "We are strong" chant. I patiently await an old style SX album.

The chorus to that song is actually my favorite part. I too want a progier style for their next album but i dont want another DW. Hell i dont even want another V.

 

[The Dark Chapter]

Iconoclast is a great album really. My favourites from it are the title track, When All Is Lost, Heretic and Reign In Madness

The vocals are particularly performed well in my opinion

 

[donKyle]

Remember when Iconoclast was supposed to be a concept album about Odin?

 

[PurpleDink]

No....no i do not.

 

[donKyle]

Back before we learned the new album was going to be called Iconoclast, someone posted a wikipedia link which said it was going to be called Infinite Knowledge, a concept album about Odin. There were even track names and lengths! I don't think anyone really believed it, but it was kinda funny

 

[SyXified]

I think you've hit the nail on the head. If you look at The Odyssey and the albums before it, the other band members had quite a few writing credits, both musically and lyrically. For the last two albums, the show has been run exclusively by MJR and Russ (excluding one song co-written by P, and I'm convinced he only wrote the main piano theme of the track).

Since even deaf people can hear the amazing quality difference between their latest two efforts and the rest of their catalog, I think Lepond, P, and Rullo need to start co-writing more stuff. If the next album comes out (in 2017) and every song is written only by MJR and Russ, I think we'll know what to expect even before listening to it.



It certainly seems that way for the most part. Many of these songs are riff fests, which isn't always bad, except for the fact that several songs clearly lack direction. For example, I had thought that the band had learned what not to do with PL when it came to the full-band fade-outs, but I was clearly wrong. Songs like Dehumanized, Electric Messiah, and Lords of Chaos sound awkward fading out; it's like the band couldn't bother to write a proper ending. I like the live ending in Dehumanized far better. The only fade-out that made sense to me was Prometheus, since it's a mid-tempo groove and it fits the theme of the song. But when a song is full-speed ahead like Electric Messiah, it just doesn't work.



I'd say Iconoclast has a few songs that are very good, but yeah, nothing is truly Odyssey, Accolade, Communion, Divine Wings, Looking Glass-level outstanding.

STWOF and Serpent's Kiss were two of my least favorite tracks from PL, and in my opinion the most generic-sounding (which is probably why they were chosen for videos, haha). However, unlike Iconoclast, PL was a much more consistent album. I may not like the two tracks above as much as the rest of the album, but they are far from filler. Iconoclast has quite a few fillers and a few below average songs.



I'm split on this. For some of the songs I would agree (the synth-style keyboard seems tacked on in End of Innocence, Heretic, Children, and Dehumanized), but other songs (Reign, Bastards, the title track) seem to be built around it.

In regard to Pinnella, Rullo, and Lepond needing to be more active in the song writing process, I'm somewhat torn on that notion and not sure that addresses the root of the issue.

Songwriting credits can be pretty difficult to interpret. Technically speaking a person is supposed to receive writing credits if he added ANYTHING to the (1) lyrics (2) vocal melodies, or (3) chord progressions. That is to say, by those standards, if MJR and Russ come up with the skeleton of a song, Rullo can write all his drum parts, Pinnella can add layers upon layers of synth, and Lepond his bass parts without any of them technically getting writing credits. Additionally, many bands simply come up with agreements between the members to avoid getting into "who did what" battles down the road, and writing credits end up split a bit more by a formula they agreed upon that does not necessary reflect who contributed to what. Once Queen had made enough money to be comfortable they agreed to split all writing credits equally, so who knows who did what. I think there is a good chance some of the older Symphony X albums were written in a slightly more social setting, with the other members dropping in lyric lines or bridge progressions here and there, and that is why you see more band-wide credits on earlier albums.

That said, I do think MJR and Russ are probably doing far more of the song writing these days, and MJR far and away more than Russ, who is probably just around to work on vocal melodies and lyrics as necessary. Perhaps the other guys wanted more time for their own matters, or it could be that MJR seized control. Generally speaking I think MJR is far and away the most accomplished and well-rounded writer of that group, so I am reluctant to assume that adding the others into the mix would help bring back the "old ways." Pinnella of the three is probably the most capable, but his solo release was a complete snooze-fest.

I think you're more likely looking at a matter of desire (e.g. why slave over an album like V which is truly appreciated by probably a dozen people when cranking out some cookie-cutter metal brings in more money and a larger crowd), time (roles as husbands and fathers, side projects, extensive touring schedule), or just that the well has gone dry (how many metal bands can you name that released their finest work after album #5?).

 

[Isaac_de_Moorea]

Back before we learned the new album was going to be called Iconoclast, someone posted a wikipedia link which said it was going to be called Infinite Knowledge, a concept album about Odin. There were even track names and lengths! I don't think anyone really believed it, but it was kinda funny

http://wpedia.goo.ne.jp/enwiki/Infinite_Knowledge_(Symphony_X)

 

[_Gentleman of_the Snow_]

^^

Ummm... Pinnella's solo album is fantastic, and exactly what new SX is missing!

I also find it terribly unfair that writing credits aren't given to members that write their own tracks. It seems a little ridiculous... but whatcha gonna do?

 

[TerminusDeus]

Having listened to Iconoclast for quite a bit since the release, my opinion of the album is mostly unchanged. I still think it's a solid, though somewhat disappointing album given the expectations. I've become more fond of the title track and less so with WAIL, and the other tracks get playtime, but I won't actively seek them out.

I definitely prefer the more progressive side of Symphony X, and it seems that those days are all but gone, but I'll take metal if it's good. It's sad that the album is still fairly new and I'm already waiting for the next album (in 2017 ). I'm hoping that they take some feedback about the past two albums and get the other band members more involved in the composing/songwriting process.

As a side note, it's crazy that Symphony X released 6 albums in less time (8 years) than the time spam for Paradise Lost and Iconoclast (9 years).

 

[ebonshadow]

The album made one stop at my computer, for ripping, before going to my truck, where the two CDs have been taking turns in my vehicle's CD player since the day the album was released. This pretty much sums up my feelings about the album.

 

[Ryan M.]

I found it to be great. When All is Lost is a great song.

 

[donKyle]

When All is Lost is probably one of my least favorite tracks from Iconoclast..... I liked it at first, but then...meh

http://wpedia.goo.ne.jp/enwiki/Infinite_Knowledge_(Symphony_X)

...?

 

[Isaac_de_Moorea]

^

That site still had the fictitious tracklist of "Infinite Knowledge" when I checked it before posting it.

Now it´s gone. Sorry about that

 

[SyXified]

^^

Ummm... Pinnella's solo album is fantastic, and exactly what new SX is missing!

I also find it terribly unfair that writing credits aren't given to members that write their own tracks. It seems a little ridiculous... but whatcha gonna do?

If it's any consolation, everyone who participates in recording the tracks gets the same amount of money from the SR stream.

So MJR probably has to put in a heck of a lot more effort than, say, Lepond, on the recording, but Lepond gets just as much as MJR.

I'll have to give Pinnella's solo album another listen, but I remember being disappointed to the point that I buried it into the "don't bother with this" pile.

 

[ElvenShadow]

Pinella's solo album is good if you arn't in the mood to listen to metal.

 

[PurpleDink]

I used to think WAIL was the best track on there, but the first 2 minutes kills it. The title track is still awesome the whole way through.

 

[Proghead3]

Iconoclast is unremarkable.

"Iconoclast", "Children...", and "Dehumanized" are listenable tunes. The rest of the lot range from mediocre on downward. The songwriting is uninspired, the lyrics are trite, and what happened to the progressive element?

The guitars, while improved from the nail-on-chalkboard sound on PL, sound sterile. The key patches are bland and don't add color to the compositions like on, say, "The Odyssey". The "gruff" vocals are overused to the point where they lose their intended effect.

It's really a sad thing to say this because five years ago, I would have said, without hesitation, "Symphony X is my favorite band." I'm not even sure they're in the top-ten anymore.