| The
Review |
I suppose I am full of total cheese,
but I love Shadow Gallery. They are unfairly compared to Dream
Theater when in actuality, they sound nothing alike. Shadow
Gallery is equally talented, but has more of a tendency to
bring out the concept-album-loving dork in all of us and tends
to focus more on vocal harmonies. This album is a continuation
of Tyranny, which was widely regarded as the band's best effort
(and still is, in my opinion). ****
The story is a little bizarre,
but basically, our main hero from Tyranny (used to build nukes,
realized this was not good, found an internet lover who was
also a revolutionary, wreaks havoc on the government to impress
her, then escapes the government's evil clutches and meets
up with her for Christmas in North Dakota) is back again for
more fun. The story begins with him and his wife/girlfriend
from Tyranny in blissful romantic state. Turns out she used
to work on nasty viruses and came up with a strain called
"Andromeda". Well, she is killed for it and their child is
abducted due to her blood type (this part gets fuzzy) and
then our hero attempts a rescue. There is more to it than
that but I don't want to give it all away. ****
Musically - this is incredible.
Just what you expect - shredding and melodic solos, great
drum work, wonderful piano and keys. At 75 minutes - it is
a lot to take in. Great moods here and the typical Shadow
Gallery choruses we have come to love. Mike Baker's vocals
have never sounded better. Shadow Gallery has always had a
bit of the "stuck in the 80's" vibe - and they do not shed
it entirely here, but it seems the most distant of all their
output. Problems? I guess I keep comparing this album to Tyranny
and it comes up a little short. It is hard to put my finger
on exactly why, but I suppose it is the melodies - they just
don't have the creative feeling of Tyranny. Tyranny had songs
with 7 different parts, twists and turns - and the wonderful
segues that started on Carved in Stone, the band's second
release. This album seems more song-oriented and lacks the
complexity of Tyranny. Still - it is a great release and better,
in my opinion, than Dream Theater's last 2 albums. Definitely
worth picking up for the prog metal fan and packed full of
good music with no weak tracks.
Rating: A solid 4 stars
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