02-03-2016, 04:21 AM
(02-02-2016, 11:38 PM)James1 Wrote: It leaves a lot to be desired. We all knew a stand alone album was eventually coming. Hopefully seeing feedback from fans they stick to the status quo and continue to make rock operas. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
The problem here was not a standalone album at all though. Even though Night Castle has a story to it, I've largely ignored it and really feel like the album has a standalone feel to it just like Letters. The problem is that Letters is really lazy. I mean it is so lazy it's ridiculous. Paul O'Neill claims to write and write and write and that's why it takes him so long to get the Orchestra's new material out. But two of the songs on Letters were written years ago, "Who I Am" in 2011 and "Stay" by Savatage in 1997. And also, the two "different" versions of "Forget About the Blame". If they were at least two different arrangements it would've been nice. Like one electric and the other strictly acoustic. But instead they are both EXACTLY the same. You've just got Robin Borneman on one end and Lzzy Hale on the other.
If you guys really want my opinion, I think "Letters" was a distraction for the most part. A way to get the fans to shut up. I doubt Letters was much of a "dream" venture for O'Neill or Oliva so they just put something out that was more on the expendable side so they could have more time to work on the ones that are taking longer like Gutter Ballet or Romanov. Apparently Romanov they've been working on since right after The Lost Christmas Eve.