Seventh Wonder - The Testament...

[introclaus]

This is - unfortunately - a huge let down for me. I don’t really know why, because “Tiara” wasn’t a very good disc at all, and of the two singles released for this new one, only “Warriors” appealed to my tastes. I guess I should have expected this one to be along those lines as well.

I’ve been through entire album 4 times so far, so perhaps my opinion will change later on, but so far I hear perhaps one or two songs besides “Warriors” that’s any good. The rest are bland at best, and boring at most.

Obviously the playing skills are great, but the songwriting seems extremely repetitive of what they’ve done in the past, but with less quality, less energy and more focus on the cheesy aspects. And by golly that keyboard sound is finally getting to me … so annoyingly 90s sounding. The keyboards are a huge part of what ruins the experience for me (and I do like keyboards normally).

Oh well, I bought the album since I’m a “fan boy” of the band and their previous albums, but so far this is their lowest ranking album with Tommy at the mic, and only a tad better than the debut.

Larry, this album is for you - it’s bland prog metal lite - enjoy

I'm surprised you feel this way.... I'm finding lots of catchy melodies and vocal runs and insane musicianship than ever before and even some times I find it reminding me a bit of Mercy Falls without sounding like Mercy Falls.........Everytime I go through this it gets better and better. It's not surprising that it's getting such favorable reviews from the metal media............Plus, I'm hearing more SONGS and not a bunch of prog metal wankery, aka Dream Theater.....
But key claus, I totally respect your different opinion, just a bit shocked by what you are hearing.... Isn't it fascinating how 2 different sets of ears can hear two different things?

Yeah I kind of wished I liked it more than I do, because I love (!!!) the 3 first albums they did with Tommy fronting (as you might know I was their manager from when they brought Tommy on board and the next couple of years from then on). I just don’t feel any excitement from the music, it’s very run-of-the-mill and I don’t hear anything I haven’t heard from them before., and what we do hear here is performed with less enthusiasm and energy than previously. Just bland to my ears.

At least there were two other brilliant records released yesterday, so I’m happy enough with that

[prog_powermetal99]

This is - unfortunately - a huge let down for me. I don’t really know why, because “Tiara” wasn’t a very good disc at all, and of the two singles released for this new one, only “Warriors” appealed to my tastes. I guess I should have expected this one to be along those lines as well.

I’ve been through entire album 4 times so far, so perhaps my opinion will change later on, but so far I hear perhaps one or two songs besides “Warriors” that’s any good. The rest are bland at best, and boring at most.

Obviously the playing skills are great, but the songwriting seems extremely repetitive of what they’ve done in the past, but with less quality, less energy and more focus on the cheesy aspects. And by golly that keyboard sound is finally getting to me … so annoyingly 90s sounding. The keyboards are a huge part of what ruins the experience for me (and I do like keyboards normally).

Oh well, I bought the album since I’m a “fan boy” of the band and their previous albums, but so far this is their lowest ranking album with Tommy at the mic, and only a tad better than the debut.

Larry, this album is for you - it’s bland prog metal lite - enjoy

I'm surprised you feel this way.... I'm finding lots of catchy melodies and vocal runs and insane musicianship than ever before and even some times I find it reminding me a bit of Mercy Falls without sounding like Mercy Falls.........Everytime I go through this it gets better and better. It's not surprising that it's getting such favorable reviews from the metal media............Plus, I'm hearing more SONGS and not a bunch of prog metal wankery, aka Dream Theater.....
But key claus, I totally respect your different opinion, just a bit shocked by what you are hearing.... Isn't it fascinating how 2 different sets of ears can hear two different things?

Yeah I kind of wished I liked it more than I do, because I love (!!!) the 3 first albums they did with Tommy fronting (as you might know I was their manager from when they brought Tommy on board and the next couple of years from then on). I just don’t feel any excitement from the music, it’s very run-of-the-mill and I don’t hear anything I haven’t heard from them before., and what we do hear here is performed with less enthusiasm and energy than previously. Just bland to my ears.

At least there were two other brilliant records released yesterday, so I’m happy enough with that

On a side note, I saw almost a 2 hour interview on the Charismatic Voice(vocal coach) and Tommy seems like such an incredibly nice chill guy. Just the kind of a guy that you'd love to have as a friend....Did you find him that way when working with the band? It's funny but in the interview he says that he doesn't really care for his voice, but talks about how demanding he is of himself in the studio and how' he's often a perfectionist and he says he can be hard to work with because of that, but he seems like such a total class act! Your thoughts on this?

[introclaus]

I'm surprised you feel this way.... I'm finding lots of catchy melodies and vocal runs and insane musicianship than ever before and even some times I find it reminding me a bit of Mercy Falls without sounding like Mercy Falls.........Everytime I go through this it gets better and better. It's not surprising that it's getting such favorable reviews from the metal media............Plus, I'm hearing more SONGS and not a bunch of prog metal wankery, aka Dream Theater.....
But key claus, I totally respect your different opinion, just a bit shocked by what you are hearing.... Isn't it fascinating how 2 different sets of ears can hear two different things?

Yeah I kind of wished I liked it more than I do, because I love (!!!) the 3 first albums they did with Tommy fronting (as you might know I was their manager from when they brought Tommy on board and the next couple of years from then on). I just don’t feel any excitement from the music, it’s very run-of-the-mill and I don’t hear anything I haven’t heard from them before., and what we do hear here is performed with less enthusiasm and energy than previously. Just bland to my ears.

At least there were two other brilliant records released yesterday, so I’m happy enough with that

On a side note, I saw almost a 2 hour interview on the Charismatic Voice(vocal coach) and Tommy seems like such an incredibly nice chill guy. Just the kind of a guy that you'd love to have as a friend....Did you find him that way when working with the band? It's funny but in the interview he says that he doesn't really care for his voice, but talks about how demanding he is of himself in the studio and how' he's often a perfectionist and he says he can be hard to work with because of that, but he seems like such a total class act! Your thoughts on this?

He was super nice yes. I mostly remember his as being very timid though and before the first real festival show they did outside of Sweden (it was in holland, either ProgPower or Headway … I can’t remember to be honest) he was VERY nervous all day long. Like big time nervous. I guess these days that’s not a problem for him anymore haha.

That said, 90% of my dealings with the band was through Andreas (bass) and Johan (guitar), and occasionally Johnny (the old drummer), so my interaction with Tommy was only at shows.

[gazinwales]

This is - unfortunately - a huge let down for me. I don’t really know why, because “Tiara” wasn’t a very good disc at all, and of the two singles released for this new one, only “Warriors” appealed to my tastes. I guess I should have expected this one to be along those lines as well.

I’ve been through entire album 4 times so far, so perhaps my opinion will change later on, but so far I hear perhaps one or two songs besides “Warriors” that’s any good. The rest are bland at best, and boring at most.

Obviously the playing skills are great, but the songwriting seems extremely repetitive of what they’ve done in the past, but with less quality, less energy and more focus on the cheesy aspects. And by golly that keyboard sound is finally getting to me … so annoyingly 90s sounding. The keyboards are a huge part of what ruins the experience for me (and I do like keyboards normally).

Oh well, I bought the album since I’m a “fan boy” of the band and their previous albums, but so far this is their lowest ranking album with Tommy at the mic, and only a tad better than the debut.

Larry, this album is for you - it’s bland prog metal lite - enjoy

I'm surprised you feel this way.... I'm finding lots of catchy melodies and vocal runs and insane musicianship than ever before and even some times I find it reminding me a bit of Mercy Falls without sounding like Mercy Falls.........Everytime I go through this it gets better and better. It's not surprising that it's getting such favorable reviews from the metal media............Plus, I'm hearing more SONGS and not a bunch of prog metal wankery, aka Dream Theater.....
But key claus, I totally respect your different opinion, just a bit shocked by what you are hearing.... Isn't it fascinating how 2 different sets of ears can hear two different things?

Yeah I kind of wished I liked it more than I do, because I love (!!!) the 3 first albums they did with Tommy fronting (as you might know I was their manager from when they brought Tommy on board and the next couple of years from then on). I just don’t feel any excitement from the music, it’s very run-of-the-mill and I don’t hear anything I haven’t heard from them before., and what we do hear here is performed with less enthusiasm and energy than previously. Just bland to my ears.

At least there were two other brilliant records released yesterday, so I’m happy enough with that

What are they? I miss your posts in the 'new stuff Friday' thread

[introclaus]

I'm surprised you feel this way.... I'm finding lots of catchy melodies and vocal runs and insane musicianship than ever before and even some times I find it reminding me a bit of Mercy Falls without sounding like Mercy Falls.........Everytime I go through this it gets better and better. It's not surprising that it's getting such favorable reviews from the metal media............Plus, I'm hearing more SONGS and not a bunch of prog metal wankery, aka Dream Theater.....
But key claus, I totally respect your different opinion, just a bit shocked by what you are hearing.... Isn't it fascinating how 2 different sets of ears can hear two different things?

Yeah I kind of wished I liked it more than I do, because I love (!!!) the 3 first albums they did with Tommy fronting (as you might know I was their manager from when they brought Tommy on board and the next couple of years from then on). I just don’t feel any excitement from the music, it’s very run-of-the-mill and I don’t hear anything I haven’t heard from them before., and what we do hear here is performed with less enthusiasm and energy than previously. Just bland to my ears.

At least there were two other brilliant records released yesterday, so I’m happy enough with that

What are they? I miss your posts in the 'new stuff Friday' thread

Thanks - it felt like I more or less was talking to myself so I stopped posting. But I can keep it going if you want me to? The two were Kreator and Kardashev.

[gazinwales]

Please keep going

[Mardoch]

Thanks - it felt like I more or less was talking to myself so I stopped posting. But I can keep it going if you want me to? The two were Kreator and Kardashev.

Hey I was also in there with you! Also I'm glad that Kardashev is good. I follow their singer on YT and he's a great dude. It's in my queue to listen to, but I've had an ear infection for 2 weeks that disabled my right ear. I got a tube put in that fucker yesterday so hopefully things are normalish soon and I can enjoy music again.

[introclaus]

Thanks - it felt like I more or less was talking to myself so I stopped posting. But I can keep it going if you want me to? The two were Kreator and Kardashev.

Hey I was also in there with you! Also I'm glad that Kardashev is good. I follow their singer on YT and he's a great dude. It's in my queue to listen to, but I've had an ear infection for 2 weeks that disabled my right ear. I got a tube put in that fucker yesterday so hopefully things are normalish soon and I can enjoy music again.

Haha true - we were a few in there. Just felt like it was a lot of me posting a list each week and not a lot of interest. I’ll try to get back to it.

Yes, Kardashev is beyond good - amazing album.

Sorry about the ear infection. I’ve been struggling with one myself for a month or two now that’s causing vertigo; have another ENT appointment lined up for next week. Nasty stuff for sure.

[prog_powermetal99]

Thanks - it felt like I more or less was talking to myself so I stopped posting. But I can keep it going if you want me to? The two were Kreator and Kardashev.

Hey I was also in there with you! Also I'm glad that Kardashev is good. I follow their singer on YT and he's a great dude. It's in my queue to listen to, but I've had an ear infection for 2 weeks that disabled my right ear. I got a tube put in that fucker yesterday so hopefully things are normalish soon and I can enjoy music again.

Haha true - we were a few in there. Just felt like it was a lot of me posting a list each week and not a lot of interest. I’ll try to get back to it.

Yes, Kardashev is beyond good - amazing album.

Sorry about the ear infection. I’ve been struggling with one myself for a month or two now that’s causing vertigo; have another ENT appointment lined up for next week. Nasty stuff for sure.

I remember when I had ongoing ear infections over a 3 year period with horrible ear pain and eventually even a bleeding eardrum.... Eventually they had to put this vaccum thing inside my ear and sucked out a clump of wax that was about the size of a pencil eraser. It was the last ear infection I ever had and my hearing was much better was well.....

[LarryD]

This is totally excellent - from start to finish ....... any doubts that were in place after hearing the first couple of songs were put completely to rest after hearing this a few times ...... Tommy sounds absolutely incredible here and the rest of the guys are on fire as well .............. I was less than wowed after the past couple of discs, but this one slays me from front to back .......... excellent job !!!!!!

[prog_powermetal99]

This is totally excellent - from start to finish ....... any doubts that were in place after hearing the first couple of songs were put completely to rest after hearing this a few times ...... Tommy sounds absolutely incredible here and the rest of the guys are on fire as well .............. I was less than wowed after the past couple of discs, but this one slays me from front to back .......... excellent job !!!!!!

I feel the same way you do Larry. I think it's awesome!! The songs just seem to flow better than Tiara. Hey Larry, what's your opinion of the song "The Great Escape"? I still think that song is a masterpiece.....

[Kez]

This is totally excellent - from start to finish ....... any doubts that were in place after hearing the first couple of songs were put completely to rest after hearing this a few times ...... Tommy sounds absolutely incredible here and the rest of the guys are on fire as well .............. I was less than wowed after the past couple of discs, but this one slays me from front to back .......... excellent job !!!!!!

I feel the same way you do Larry. I think it's awesome!! The songs just seem to flow better than Tiara. Hey Larry, what's your opinion of the song "The Great Escape"? I still think that song is a masterpiece.....

You didn't ask me, but it is absolutely a masterpiece. I really like the whole disc, but that song is magnificent.

Also agree on The Testament. I just love hearing new "Seventh Wonder Tommy" vs. "Kamelot (Youngblood programmed) Tommy". And Andreas seems to be on point once again. I thought he virtually disappeared on Tiara. Two thumbs up from me.

[LarryD]

This is totally excellent - from start to finish ....... any doubts that were in place after hearing the first couple of songs were put completely to rest after hearing this a few times ...... Tommy sounds absolutely incredible here and the rest of the guys are on fire as well .............. I was less than wowed after the past couple of discs, but this one slays me from front to back .......... excellent job !!!!!!

I feel the same way you do Larry. I think it's awesome!! The songs just seem to flow better than Tiara. Hey Larry, what's your opinion of the song "The Great Escape"? I still think that song is a masterpiece.....

****I love The Great Escape ...... this song and Alley Cat (which I don't like) are the two I remember the most from that disc ........ it was hit or miss for me. I wish they would write more songs like this, but it seems like those days are over ?