Opinions on these Prog-Rock/Metal bands?

[dlemond]

I am not too familiar with these modern prog-rock/metal bands that are now out there (some for over a decade).

Can you offer your opinions on these and which are your favorites and favorite albums?

Dream Theater
Fates Warning
Porcupine Tree
Pain of Salvation
Spock's Beard
Symphony X

and any others you'd like to add.

[Husker Fanatic]

Well, I'm not that familiar with Porcupine Tree, Pain of Salvatio or Spock's Beard, but the other three are very good.

For Dream Theater, Images & Words, Falling Into Infinity, Scenes From a Memory and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence are all very good. I like them all, but those are my favorites.

Their latest album is a little different. Much more darker and angrier, but there are still some good songs. Honor Thy Father and In the Name of God are both great. If you don't have any of their other albums, I'd get one of their earlier ones first.

If you aren't opposed to downloading music, they have some really good live covers of the entire Number of the Beast album, as well as the Master of Puppets album.

You might also check out some of the band member's side projects as well. OSI, Transatlantic and Liquid Tension Experiment are the main ones.


Symphony X is one of my favorite bands from any genere. Their album album V is amazing. It's based on the myths of Atlantis. The songs Evolution, Fallen, Absence of Light and Egypt are my favorites.

Their latest album Odyssey is also really good. The title track is 24 minutes long and is very epic. It's based on Homer's Odyssey.
King of Terrors and Wicked are also some of my favorites. Their albums Twilight in Olympus and Divine Wings of Tragedy are also must haves.

They aren't really considered progressive, but the band Kamelot has a lot of prog elements in them. Especially their last 3, The Fourth Legacy, Karma and Epica. Some songs you might want to check out are Fourth Legacy, Alexandria, Nights of Arabia, Silent Goddess, Spell, Temples of Gold, Karma, and Across the Highlands.

Epica is possibly my favorite album. All of it is good, but the best songs on it are Farewell, A Feast for the Vain, Wander, The Mourning After and III Ways to Epica.

[Rickenbacker]

Seeing that suggestion list, do you also like Sonata Arctica?

[Husker Fanatic]

What I have heard I like. The only full album that I've heard is Winterheart's Guild and that was good. My favorite song would be The Power of One though.

[Rickenbacker]

I was just introduced to them this past summer & was impressed. I'd like to hear more.

But 1st I've been dying to hear Blind Guardian. Since I'm a big ol' closet Dungeons & Dragons geek, the album artwork & titles appealed to me! :D
From advice I'd gotten, I'll be looking for the Tales from the Twilight World,
Imaginations from the Other Side &
Nightfall on Middle Earth cds.

[Husker Fanatic]

I have all of those as well. They are all very good. Tales From the Twilight World is a bit different though. It's one of their earlier releases and the sound is totally different than what it is now. It's more speed metal. It's probably my least favorite album from them, but Welcome to Dying, Lord of the Rings, Lost in the Twilight Hall and The Last Candle are all good.

Also get Somewhere Far Beyond. It's kind of a transition from their past speed metal sound into their current symphonic power metal sound (I hate these drawn out sub generes especially since I think they have morphed into their own genere.). Anyway, Theatre of Pain is my favorite on there. The Quest for Tanelorn, Time What is Time, The Bard's Song: In the forest (One of their most popular) and The Bard's Song: The Hobbit are all very good too. They even have the cover of Queen's Spread Your Wings.

Imaginations From the Other Side would probably be my second favorite from them. It's also their most aggressive album with. Oddly enough, my favorite is A Past and Future Secret, which is a nice ballad about King Arthur. It has a very nice Irish sound to it.

Personally, I don't think that there is a weak song on this album at all, so it's hard to pick which is my favorites. You still see some of the speed metal with I'm alive, very fast and powerful. But you also hear more of the choir-like vocals with Born in a Mourning Hall, The Script for My Requiem and And the Story Ends. Bright Eyes is also another good fast one as is Mordred's Song about King Arthur's son.

I'm going to take back what I said about Epica possibly being my favorite album because it is Nightfall In Middle Earth. It actually has nothing to do with the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It's about the Silmarilion, which is about the creation of Middle Earth and the early events of the world. I haven't read the book yet, so that's about as much as I can give you.

Again it's very difficult for me to pick a favorite and I don't think that there is a weak song on there. Here, you get even more into choral vocals. The regular songs are also broken down into mini songs sort of. Some people don't like them, but I do and I think that they fit well with the story. Nightfall, The Curse of Feanor, Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill) Mirror Mirror and Thron are amazing. Everything else is great as well. I took this album to work with me and put it into one of the car stereos since I'm good friends with the guy who stocks the automotive department (We work overnights so we can get away with a lot more). He was sick of all of the commercialized music that gets played and he was completely amazed by it.


And finally, their latest album is call A Night at the Opera. It's also good, but not as good as the mddle 3 albums. It would rank behind NIME, IFTOS and SFB, but ahead of TFTTW, Follow the Blind and Battalions of Fear. The choral vocals are into full effect here. The best songs on this one are Battlefield, Under the Ice, The Soulforged, Punishment Divine and And then there was Silence. And then there was silence is my favorite on here. It's a big 14 minute song about the Trojan War and the visions that Cassandra had warning of the destruction of Troy.

[Rickenbacker]

Man, you know your BG, eh?! Like me & Rush or the Beatles. Well, I'd like to hear em all eventually. I did hear clips of one album sometime back. The style was very reminiscent of 80s metal. (the real stuff, not MTV hair metal) The vocal style was operatic, so I guess I'm not surprised they cover Queen. I'd love to hear that!

[ABlairican Pie]

I have Dream Theater's Awake on cassette but I need to buy the CD. I really like DT, I like Images and Words, and they are playing the new song "As I Am" on the radio. Maybe this would be the thing to put the progressive element back into metal.

[pandora_spocks]

The only album I have by Dream Theater is A Change of Seasons, but I like it. I think it's pretty good.

[Husker Fanatic]

Yeah, BG is my favorite band next to Iron Maiden. I didn't mention their first 2 albums since I haven't heard them that much and if you wanted to get them you would have to import them, meaning you have to pay quite a bit more. But if you look for them anywhere, they're called Battalions of Fear and Follow the Blind.

They also recently released a live album that is really good. The background vocals are a little weak at thime, but it's still worth the price. The Soulforged, Valhalla, Mordred's Song, Punishment Divine and Mirror Mirror are all really good on there. Got anymore questions, just let me know. Chances are I can answer them. *L*