Album Rating: 3.5

wait...they have their merch dude singing on that track?? didn't know that. i own the album, but i've never looked at the liner notes. always thought it was just tommy gettin weird wit it

Nope, it's their merch guy.

THE RUSTY CAAAAYGE, THAAYT NEEEHVER SEEMS 2 OPPEEEN

Album Rating: 4.0

soo good

Sonic, you should give this a few more tries, it seems to be up your alley!

Album Rating: 4.0

how the hell is this up sonic's alley

lol ^

I'm really digging this

Keep trying, Sonic! There's SO MUCH Rush influence on this album!

Album Rating: 3.5

anyone know anything about the story? i'm surprised at the lack of discussion

Album Rating: 4.0

@Omaha: You make really good points and even though I like TGM way more than I used to(i didn't care for it much at all when it came out) I still think Colors' songs have better composition and are better overall.

Album Rating: 4.5

what do you think of this album wack?

Album Rating: 4.0

it's really good for a btbam record, i like it alot more than TGM. Just looking forward to reading the lyrics so i can see what the storyline is like.

Album Rating: 2.0

Yeah, Emyay's right on the money. The Great Misdirect took the whole idea of Colors, and revisioned it entirely. Think about the structural similarities, for starters; both album intros are soothing, but descend into heaviness after a couple minutes. However, "Mirrors" grabbed me so much more than "The Backtrack" ever did. I mean, I'm sometimes on the verge of tears when I listen to "Mirrors," just because of how beautiful the instrumentation is. When it goes into "Obfuscation," it does feel a little formulaic I suppose, like the group were adhering to the Colors structure, but on the second try everything fell into place so much more cohesively. "Obfuscation" remains my favorite song from these guys, and even "Fossil Genera," a song destined to be inconsistent (I mean, dat intro lol) some-the-fuck-how ends up being surprisingly logically structured. Whereas in Colors, around that part you'd have "Ants of the Sky" maybe, which is fantastic but still lacked that stellar compositional quality - its heavier moments killed the momentum created by the progressive moments.



The comparisons continue even further. "Desert of Song" takes place where "Viridian" was on Colors, except it's much more fleshed out this time around. It's a veritable oasis between mammoth tracks (sound familiar?) and is just as soothing as its predecessor was, and maybe even more fulfilling. Although "Viridian" was fantastic. "Disease, Injury, Madness" is also a prime example of the heaviness the group strives for in the first third of their album, carrying out the task when "Obfuscation" passes the torch. And it's a little sloppy in the heavier parts, but it's got great breakdowns, an incredibly tightly-knit soft section (improvement over "Sun of Nothing" in that regard,) and a great change of pace in the last half with the blues influence.



And yeah, the group aims to please its audience a little too much with the last track on each album. "White Walls," while impressive, lacks the organization necessary to make a profound statement, and "Swim to the Moon" is even less sensibly arranged. I mean, they kick the song off with, like, a 30-second transition? Then the first vocals are from the mediocre MERCH DUDE? Doesn't make much sense in retrospect, does it?



But overall, I left this absurdly long comment just to highlight the (MANY) comparisons between Colors and The Great Misdirect. Judging from all of this, it's never made an ounce of sense to me while somebody would dislike TGM more than Colors, since it's essentially a continuation of the same style but without the sometimes shoddy metalcore moments on Colors.

Album Rating: 4.0

Mono Cane and Tomahawk sound like Mr. Bungle. Also Mike Patton is the best there ever was.



So, let me see if I understand correctly. The main arguments against post-Alaska BtBaM is that the songs are leik too long, too much metalcore, Tommy apparently can't sing, and the rifsssss are sooooo buring!



Is that it? Or is there more to it? Idk, guys and gals, I feel like these complaints are just reasons to try to force them into a Dream Theater/Pink Floyd-esque idea of what prog "should be". It kind runs counter to the idea of being proggy, but maybe that is just me.



Also I am going to commit the ultimate sin of heresy of proclaiming that TSC is overrated as fuck. And Alaska. Both albums are decent, but its hard to listen to either anymore because the vocalwork is really painful. He sounds like someone is ramming a drill up his ass on Lost Perfection. If that is your thing, more power to ya, but for me is pretty much unbearable.

this is his review

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Alaska will always be their best. Anyone agree? Or is it just a unanimous COLOURS IS THE BEST?

Album Rating: 4.5

nope alaska is number 1 for me too, were part of the few my friend.

Not really. Alaska is their best. Colors drags on too much at times.

Album Rating: 4.0

I respect your opinions, but I feel Colors flows the best and TGM has the best track in their catalogue, "Fossil Genera".



Listening to Parallax II now, on "Bloom". I know first impressions can be deceiving, but I am pretty certain I am not going wind up liking this as much as Colors and TGM. The metalcore parts at least had groove and reason on those albums. On this one, it feels arbitrary (to me) again like their earlier work and a lot of the melodic sections feel forced as they just happen and it goes back to the same metalcore thought before the passage. And I am not finding some of the melodies themselves all that compelling.



I am going to have to agree with Omaha on "Bloom". I had to listen to it twice to make sure, but it is just meh.

Album Rating: 4.5

this gets better every listen so give it a few more tries.