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Symphony X - Symphony X



6.6 | 278 votes |
Release date: 1994
Style: Symphonic power metal, Progressive metal

Owners:

333 have it
19 want it


01. Into The Dementia
02. The Raging Season
03. Premonition
04. Masquerade
05. Absinthe And Rue
06. Shades Of Grey
07. Taunting The Notorious
08. Rapture Or Pain
09. Thorns Of Sorrow
10. A Lesson Before Dying
11. Enhanced Element (features Screensaver and Band Interview Part I) [special edition bonus]

Additional info
Special edition released in 2004.

Staff review by
Dream Taster
Rating:
5.0
The first album of that amazing band is for sure the worst album I have ever heard in that kind of music. Even if the bases are almost here, musically, the vocals are awful and all the choruses sound like Queen gone bad. You easily understand why they have fired that singer! We all have to start somewhere but here Symphony X was on the wrong track.

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published 22.09.2003 | Comments (22)

Guest review by
IanYeara
Rating:
2.0
Back to the humble roots of one of the greatest progressive metal bands of all time with their self titled debut. I would love to say that they started off with a bang and a great album, but they did not, not by a long shot. To put this mildly, it's bad; listening to this whole album enough times to write a review was not a fun experience. The instrumentation is actually pretty good; Romeo plays really well (though not as well as he would in the next couple of years), the drumming is complex with some fresh and different beats, the keyboards are fine, and everything is tight. Why did I say this was bad, you ask? Well, there are two reasons: the singer and the production. They are just awful, plus the songs and songwriting aren't that great. The production sounds really muted and just generally awful; it really affects the drums because it makes them sound really hollow and they deliver no punch at all. The singer sounds like he has some nasal problems; I have no idea what made Romeo think this guy could sing when this band started, but he really cannot (his name is Rod Tyler for anyone that cares). He is off key so many times and he just sounds bad; he is the main reason this album is basically unlistenable, though I think this album could have some potential if they re-recorded it now. Also, the songs are also pretty boring for the most part, the "heavy and intense" opener "The Raging Seasons" is just not enjoyable at all and the epic is boring and longer than necessary.

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published 01.04.2013 | Comments (10)

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Comments

Comments: 16   Visited by: 537 users
28.01.2011 - 22:29
Rating: 6
Mountain King
K i K o
Not that bad at all, it's just the production and some songs are not very good...
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28.01.2011 - 22:40
Rating: 7
Angelic Storm
Melodious
The two real weak points of this album are the production, and the vocals. Although they do remind me a bit of Ripper Owens! lol

When "Masquerade" was re-recorded with Russell Allen on vocals, it sounded like a totally classic Symphony X song. I think this album could do with re-recording actually...
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28.01.2011 - 22:59
Xtopher

I dont know why you people dont like this album. you cant really blame the production cause if that were the case you wouldnt like any black or death metal album from the early 90s. i dig this album, its obviously not their best, but i think there are some great songs like taunting the notorious, masquerade, absinthe and rue and the final long one that kicks ass. this album remade with russel's voice would kick most of this year's albums from certain big bands out there in the ass!
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28.01.2011 - 23:04
Rating: 7
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Written by Xtopher on 28.01.2011 at 22:59

I dont know why you people dont like this album. you cant really blame the production cause if that were the case you wouldnt like any black or death metal album from the early 90s. i dig this album, its obviously not their best, but i think there are some great songs like taunting the notorious, masquerade, absinthe and rue and the final long one that kicks ass. this album remade with russel's voice would kick most of this year's albums from certain big bands out there in the ass!


I don't know where you got the idea that I don't like the album from what I said. I said it had weak points, but that doesn't mean I think its bad. lol

The songs themselves, are mostly very good, and I think if it was remade with Russell, it would sound awesome! The demo track "Danse Macabre" which never made it onto the debut is also an amazing song, and Id really love to hear Russell doing this one. xD
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01.02.2011 - 00:23
Xtopher

Written by Angelic Storm on 28.01.2011 at 23:04

Written by Xtopher on 28.01.2011 at 22:59

I dont know why you people dont like this album. you cant really blame the production cause if that were the case you wouldnt like any black or death metal album from the early 90s. i dig this album, its obviously not their best, but i think there are some great songs like taunting the notorious, masquerade, absinthe and rue and the final long one that kicks ass. this album remade with russel's voice would kick most of this year's albums from certain big bands out there in the ass!


I don't know where you got the idea that I don't like the album from what I said. I said it had weak points, but that doesn't mean I think its bad. lol

The songs themselves, are mostly very good, and I think if it was remade with Russell, it would sound awesome! The demo track "Danse Macabre" which never made it onto the debut is also an amazing song, and Id really love to hear Russell doing this one. xD


yep, you are right about that, my bad. i should have said "i dont know why some people dont like...."
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23.02.2011 - 00:44
Rating: 8
strade

Extremely underrated; one of their best.
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14.03.2011 - 20:44
Rating: 10
TemplarLS

Written by strade on 23.02.2011 at 00:44

Extremely underrated; one of their best.

Hell yeah!!!
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02.08.2011 - 09:04
PowerThrash

I don't understand the hate for this album.
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24.10.2011 - 11:31
Rating: 6
Sleeping Dragon

Easily their worst album, but honestly, the vocals aren't that bad...
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24.10.2011 - 12:23
Rating: 7
R'Vannith
ghedengi
Definitely not that bad an album but I wouldn't get carried away, it's their worst for me.
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05.03.2017 - 01:21
Rating: 7
qlacs
"The Quaker"
Music-wise it's close to the quality of their later records! I think they definitely should do a re-recording.
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24.10.2018 - 15:56
Rating: 7
majormalfunction

Production is weak and the singer, while not bad, is not good enough for this kind of music. The music on the other hand is pretty good, you can definitely see the beginning to what's about to come on the following albums. It's very neo-classic and classic prog metal-ish, which is a good thing. Nearly all songs here are above average and there's many songs that would be nice to see rerecorded since they are actually pretty damn nice. It's a shame that the band seems to neglect their two first albums when playing live, many of these songs would crack heads in a live setting.
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07.03.2024 - 11:28
Rating: 7
nonZero

I agree with the 6.6/10 rating, I would give it around 6.5-7.0, The production doesn't bother me too much (I listened to the special edition), but the vocals definitely do drag it down. With a better vocalist, this might have been 7.5-8.0 in my books as the music is quite good.
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07.03.2024 - 11:34
Rating: 7
JoHn Doe

Written by nonZero on 07.03.2024 at 11:28

the vocals definitely do drag it down. With a better vocalist, this might have been 7.5-8.0 in my books as the music is quite good.


They should play the album live with Russel on vocals or do a re-recording of it with Russel (Dream Theater played the debut album live with LaBrie, not that that was an improvement , but I bet it was fun for the audience, also not a bad live album - https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=10649 )

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07.03.2024 - 11:36
Rating: 7
nonZero

Written by JoHn Doe on 07.03.2024 at 11:34

Written by nonZero on 07.03.2024 at 11:28

the vocals definitely do drag it down. With a better vocalist, this might have been 7.5-8.0 in my books as the music is quite good.


They should play the album live with Russel on vocals or do a re-recording of it with Russel (Dream Theater played the debut album live with LaBrie, not that that was an improvement , but I bet it was fun for the audience, also not a bad live album - https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=10649 )



Given that it's been 9 years since their last album they've clearly run out of inspiration so they should definitely do this! Maybe it would respark their passion for the type of music they used to make...
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07.03.2024 - 14:25
Rating: 7
JoHn Doe

Written by nonZero on 07.03.2024 at 11:36

Given that it's been 9 years since their last album they've clearly run out of inspiration so they should definitely do this! Maybe it would respark their passion for the type of music they used to make...


I don't think it's lack of inspiration is the problem, considering how good the two Michael Romeo albums were recently. Weren't they supposed to go on tour recently? Maybe a new album will come soon after. It usually does.
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