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Symphony X - Symphony X review



Reviewer:
5.0

278 users:
6.63
Band: Symphony X
Album: Symphony X
Release date: 1994


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]

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.

Of course, if you are a fan, you must have this eponymous album but...
1. be sure that you will never love it
2. don't ever try to listen to it with hope
3. when you buy it, be aware that it's absolutely shit
4. maybe you just need the box, in fact!

As a brief conclusion, avoid this album and get something else from Symphony X, all albums except this one! What? You're still here? Stop reading this review! Get out of this cursed album review...


Rating breakdown
Performance: 7
Songwriting: 5
Originality: 5
Production: 3





Written on 22.09.2003 by Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as:

"A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?"

I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math.

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)


Comments

Comments: 22   Visited by: 177 users
02.03.2007 - 17:31
iaberis
Advice Troll
Haha! Shortest review ever!
Indeed it sounds like Queen went bad! That was my first reaction when I heard it! But the music is OK, closer to the usual, but not the sound we love today. The production is also very very bad and if I find this album remastered, I'll might take it... I've heard worst bands...
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Bitch! Please
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02.03.2007 - 17:50
marillionfan
Account deleted
I find the reviewer's point of view rather exaggerated; the debut album of Symphony X is definitely not that great, but I consider it a good album that i enjoy listening to once in a while. I think your rating is way too low.
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04.03.2007 - 02:47
Bitch Boy

It would have been better if there had been a deeper argument about why this album is that bad. I actually don't like it but rating is too low, maybe a 5 would be fair. I agree that the production is really low, but the performance isn't that bad.
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15.07.2007 - 00:16
Rating: 8
BlankFile

This Review is unfair. Musically the basis of SX were there clearly. This album is quite good actually, despite the awful vocals. The only bad thing of this album Imo. This album deserves at least a 7,5.
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27.12.2007 - 02:44
Rating: 8
selken
Irreligious
Written by BlankFile on 15.07.2007 at 00:16

This Review in unfair. Musically the basis of SX were there clearly. this album is quite good actually, despite the awful vocals. The only bad thing of this album Imo.
this album deserves at least a 7,5.

I second that, this review goes against the open mindess of a listener of such a genre, I enjoyed the album a lot, I strongly dissagree with the review, this is not like a review from staff.
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27.12.2007 - 02:47
Rating: 3
Warman
Erotic Stains
This album really is horrible! One of the worst Metal CD:s out there!
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27.12.2007 - 11:52
BloodTears
ANA-thema
Actually I listened to this album once and I thought it wasnt a very good album. I wouldnt give a 4 though. There were a lot of basis there, even if it was just intention wise.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29

Like you could kiss my ass.


My Instagram
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31.12.2007 - 03:51
Rating: 6
Raziel X

This album is good as for the music, but the vocals render this album not listenable for me... I think SX should re-record this album with Russell Allen on vocals, and all would be ok. Just take the song Masquerade as the shining example, that song being one of the best SX ever made, but only in its '98 version with Russell Allen m/
Wonder what would Russell's vocals do with the other songs...
As for Rod Tyler, I would hide in the deepest corners of the earth because of the shame of singing like that
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27.08.2008 - 23:52
Rating: 8
BlankFile

Raziel X about the re-recording of this album i absolutely agree.
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27.08.2008 - 23:57
Rating: 3
Warman
Erotic Stains
Haha, how I laughed the first time I heard the vocalist.
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28.08.2008 - 00:24
Rating: 7
ylside

I do agree about the vocals being.. un-vocalish
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25.04.2009 - 05:06
Rating: 8
BlankFile

The worst vocalist ive heard in this kind of Metal.
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05.04.2010 - 16:53
Rating: 5
-Mayhem-

Ok the vocalist is terrible but it doesn't mean that originality should be 5!
This may have been written in quite angry state of mind but still...
Yet it really tells the most important: the album ain't any good.
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07.05.2010 - 17:39
Rating: 6
Zhao
The Arkaholic
Lol, I went against common sense and got the album, despite the warnings and not being a Symphony X fan. And all I can say is that the singer equals Kamelots Mark Vanderbilt in annoying voice.
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24.06.2010 - 06:14
MétalNoir
Fils du Lys
Lol funniest review ever! Short. Sweet. In your face. It has it all! I listened to some of this shitty album's tracks out of curiosity and I don't think it's THAT worse than the average power metal album, though...
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Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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01.08.2010 - 06:36
Sephiros

I think it's a prog metal tradition to have a mediocre or "not that great" first album. Look at Dream Theater with that other dude singing, that was pretty bad, the musicianship was still pretty amazing though which made up for it thankfully...Or how about Coheed and Cambria's first cd? Yowch...
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01.08.2010 - 07:16
Introspekrieg
Totemic Lust
Written by Sephiros on 01.08.2010 at 06:36

I think it's a prog metal tradition to have a mediocre or "not that great" first album. Look at Dream Theater with that other dude singing, that was pretty bad, the musicianship was still pretty amazing though which made up for it thankfully...Or how about Coheed and Cambria's first cd? Yowch...


I guess I must be crazy but I like Charlie Dominici... sure it didn't work out or it wasn't the sound they were looking for, but WDADU is still an amazing album. Light Fuse And Get Away is still my favorite DT song... there is just something about that song that gives me goosebumps.

As for Symphony X's first, I have listened to the album in rotation once and learned all I needed to know about it, anytime a song from this album comes up on shuffle I am again reminded. But I refuse to delete it because it makes their later albums seem that much more miraculous.
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22.08.2010 - 19:31
opeth771

Masquerade is an awesome song, too bad the vocals were awful at that time. Thank god Russel Allen came later!
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20.02.2011 - 11:57
Rating: 6
Milena
gloom cookie
Ummm, am I the only one who kinda enjoyed it?
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7.0 means the album is good
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25.04.2011 - 17:52
Rating: 7
qlacs
"The Quaker"
It really isn't that bad as the review says. The vocals for me are okay, more like a heavy metal-like vocals singing high and sometimes too high, but apart from this they are just different from what everybody got used to. The production could have been better although.
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07.02.2012 - 20:51
Rating: 7
ChampionOfPower

Written by Zhao on 07.05.2010 at 17:39

Lol, I went against common sense and got the album, despite the warnings and not being a Symphony X fan. And all I can say is that the singer equals Kamelots Mark Vanderbilt in annoying voice.



Just bought this to finish off my SX collection. I was just thining along the lines of Kamelot's first two albums, but at least SX only had one with Tyler at the lead. I wouldn't give it a 5, but I if you're like me and first started with albums like V and PL, then I could see how this would be such a drastically poor comparison.
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05.03.2017 - 01:28
Rating: 7
qlacs
"The Quaker"
So much hate for this record... YES the vocals are mostly unfit for their musical style, but the songs are actually well put together, I'd go as far as some of them were better than the ones on The Damnation Game.

I read in an interview that Rod Tyler is more of a blues-favoring singer and he himself left SX soon after the recording, and it was him who introduced Russell Allen to the band. Considering it all happened very short time (MR had his own solo record released in '94 which led to creating SX and also recording entirely new songs...) this could've turned out much worse.
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