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Letters from the Labyrinth Reviews
#33
(11-14-2015, 05:57 AM)danfromnj Wrote: I have been reading reviews on Facebook and elsewhere and opinions vary on this album.  The common thread I am seeing from most folks is "underwhelmed" or "disappointed".

This was the first review I have seen from a news source (Omaha World-Herald), and what I think is a pretty fair review:

from http://www.omaha.com/go/review-trans-sib...667df.html

Rating: two stars (out of four)

* * *

For years, Trans-Siberian Orchestra has launched its tour right here.

The prog-rock band rehearse Christmas favorites for weeks at the Mid-America Center and then kick off their tour there, as they will Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. (Tickets available through Ticketmaster.)

But for the first time in years, the band has a new album. Though “Letters From the Labyrinth” is another prog-rock record, this one isn’t quite like the others.

It’s not a Christmas album, and it doesn’t have a unifying story that ties the entire album together. Instead, it’s a collection of disparate songs about banking, humanity, bullying and the Berlin Wall.

It’s a smattering of ideas that don’t really stick, but we came here for the orchestral heavy metal: complicated melodies, guitar solos and intertwining string arrangements.

It’s amazing and technical playing that’s sure to impress any fan of precise progressive rock. But it’s also a little tedious. All those ever-present solos and precise melodies kind of blend together song after song.

And I question why studio recordings would have so many synthesizers replicating strings and grand pianos when surely, with this band as successful as it is, they could have used real musicians. According to the liner notes, they did, but it’s hard to pick out the real players from the synthesized sections.

I’m most entertained by “Mountain Labyrinth,” which seems like perfect music to play during an action movie battle or as the background during a Dungeons & Dragons session.

“What the Night Conceives” at least has some aggressive playing, and vocalist Kayla Reeves delivers a solid performance.

The best performance on the record comes from Halestorm lead singer Lzzy Hale, who sings on a version of “Forget About the Blame.” Unfortunately, her talents are wasted on an extremely repetitive metal ballad.

Your enjoyment of this album will probably depend on your overall enjoyment of the band in general. If you dig their rock opera style and hair metal music, you’ll be into this. But don’t buy this looking for another Christmas favorite.



What say you?
Synthesized instruments instead of real musicians another reason to question then why it took six years to put out Letters.
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Messages In This Thread
Letters from the Labyrinth Reviews - by danfromnj - 11-14-2015, 05:57 AM
RE: Letters from the Labyrinth Reviews - by TSOd - 01-12-2017, 10:14 AM
RE: Letters from the Labyrinth Reviews - by TSOd - 01-12-2017, 10:11 AM
RE: Letters from the Labyrinth Reviews - by admin - 02-03-2016, 08:28 AM
RE: Letters from the Labyrinth Reviews - by TSOd - 01-06-2017, 02:21 AM
RE: Letters from the Labyrinth Reviews - by TSOd - 01-11-2017, 02:59 AM
RE: Letters from the Labyrinth Reviews - by TSOd - 01-11-2017, 02:54 AM
RE: Letters from the Labyrinth Reviews - by TSOd - 01-12-2017, 09:54 AM
RE: Letters from the Labyrinth Reviews - by TSOd - 01-12-2017, 10:06 AM

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