Regarding the ballads on the last few albums...
I agree that Paradise Lost doesn't really go anywhere. The verses with the 7/8 turnaround are really interesting and emotive, but the chorus is musically (and vocally) uninteresting - it's just kind of "there." The bridge buildup back to the quiet acoustic guitar was great, and the closest thing the song has to a climax, but overall this song just never takes me anywhere.
The Sacrifice is a ballad that's actually grown on me quite a bit. It has a lot of neoclassical influence, and if you can get past the cheesy "singing about love" lyrics, the music is really dark and interesting. The ending with Romeo shredding away on the acoustic is amazing.
WAIL is another song that aside from a few sections I really can't get into. I love the first verse when the band kicks in and the middle instrumental bit where the piano plays the same riff as the guitar but a measure behind it. The latter is an example of the musical brilliance we haven't really heard from this band since The Odyssey, and sadly, we don't really hear anything like it on Underworld. However, the song's biggest downfall is the abysmal lyrics, which really stand out in a quieter song. Songs like Domination, Dehumanized, and Kiss of Fire may have some downright awful lyrics, but they fit the aggression and heaviness being displayed there. In a ballad, I tend to hold the lyrics up to a higher standard than I would in a heavier song. All in all, I get the impression that the band decided they needed a ballad for this album and threw a bunch of stuff Pinnella had written together without any real cohesive direction. The sad thing is that aside from the brief quiet bit in the middle of Reign in Madness, this is the ONLY break we get from the futuristic robot assault on the ENTIRE ALBUM. It should have been one of the strongest songs on the album due to the dynamic shift, but I'd rank it as only average in comparison.
With Underworld, I think the band finally nailed what they were going for on the previous two albums with Swan Song. Yes, the vocals are rushed in too soon in the beginning, but other than that, I really have little to complain about. The chorus is a bit too long and perhaps could've used some more variation on the repeats, but everything else in this song is beautiful. Lyrically, it's Sacrifice all over again, but this song is darker and contains some more interesting keyboard work. Throw in easily the best guitar solo on the album and you have an enjoyable ballad that may not compare to classics like Candlelight Fantasia, but is equally interesting when compared to the rest of the album.
Conversely, Without You may be my least listened to track on the album (save for Overture). Underworld and Kiss of Fire are two of the album's highlights for me, and as soon as Underworld starts fading out (a trend which was far overused on Paradise Lost and Iconoclast and thankfully only used once on this album), I just want to jump straight into Kiss of Fire. I understand the placing, but the song is too straightforward for me to really enjoy it. I like the middle instrumental section the most, although I don't hear any similarities to DWOT other than an acoustic guitar playing. In fact, people have gone on and on about how this part or that part from Paradise Lost and Iconoclast remind them of the quiet part of DWOT, but the only time I've ever heard any similarities is the obvious ending to Revelation.
I think that album would have been excellent if they dropped Bastards, Heretic, Prometheus and Lords of Chaos.
Interesting viewpoint. I think Heretic is probably the best written and most seamless song on the album, save for the switch back to half-time after the solo. Sure, it's extra aggressive, but in this song it actually works. Prometheus is another one of my favorites, due to the "mad science" lyrics and polymetric verses. Bastards is a fun Dio-like song but definitely is nowhere near the band's top tier, and Lords of Chaos leaves little to be desired (although I still prefer it to Light up the Night).
I really want to like Children as a song, but it sounds too much like Serpent's Kiss, and the chorus melody is very, VERY cheesy.
I think the song is musically very interesting, especially some of the polymetric stuff happening in the main riff and other sections. But yes - I find the chorus to be a weak point. I actually feel the same about Electric Messiah's chorus - too simple of a progression and melody. I just don't think it fits with Symphony X. Serpent's Kiss is superior to me, with its "not-chorus."
It seemed they finally nailed being able to write catchy but also musically interesting choruses on Underworld, as there aren't any I dislike. IMDH's chorus is probably the cheesiest and most Iconoclast-like, but it's far catchier than any chorus from that album.
