Wednesday, October 26, 2011

On the Backs of Angels

What a hell of a weekend.  What seems to be some of the absolute longest hours at work conceivable, it all ends up being worth it.  This past Sunday, one of the Five Bands I Wanna See in Concert Before I Die made their way to Hard Rock.  And Dream Theater didn't come alone.  Trivium opened up for one of my favorite bands of all time.  Opening with "In Waves," Trivium set Hard Rock Live into a frenzy I had not seen in quite some time.  Now, I'll admit, before this past Sunday, I was not entirely familiar with Trivium's work.  Sure, I had heard "Down From the Sky" from the soundtrack to WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010, but that was just about it.  But after the amazing performance they had put on, they had definitely made a fan out of me.  These crazy bastards are even Florida natives (Altamonte Springs, to be exact), and I'm proud of these guys for being the locals that made it big.  I'm looking forward to discovering the rest of their material.







Now on to Dream Theater.  These guys did NOT disappoint in the least! As soon as I had heard the opening riff to "Bridges in the Sky," I knew that shit was about to get real.  Hard Rock was another stop on their "A Dramatic Turn of Events" tour (GREAT album, by the way) and they just tore the house DOWN!!  My girlfriend Heather was even in awe of the show.  From Jordan Rudess's rotating keyboard to new drummer Mike Mangini's drumkit AND mid-show solo, her jaw dropped to the floor just as quickly as mine did.  They played a lot of my favorites, and half of their setlist was comprised of music from the new album.  From "On the Backs of Angels" to "Breaking All Illusions," Dream Theater hadn't missed a beat since the departure of original drummer Mike Portnoy.  They even played some of the older favorites as well, such as the "Ytse Jam" and "These Walls."  And when they played "Forsaken," I exploded, singing along with James LaBrie word for word.  It was one of the best nights of my life, and it quite possibly surpassed my experience seeing Van Halen in Tokyo during their "Balance" tour.  I have no one in the world to thank for my experience but Heather.  And babe, I appreciate every second, and I love you for being there with me.  You definitely are a keeper lol.





2nd Chance CD of the Week
Within Temptation
The Unforgiving (2011)

Setlist
Why Not Me
Shot in the Dark
In the Middle of the Night
Faster
Fire and Ice
Iron
Where is the Edge
Sinead
Lost 
Murder
A Demon's Fate
Stairway to the Skies

 
What can I say?  I'm a sucker for concept albums.  But this is a concept album that Dutch rockers Within Temptation take a step or two further.  Sure there were singles released for the album.  Sure there were music videos made for said singles.  Sure there is a pretty compelling story behind the album itself.  But there was even a comic book created based on the album, written by Stephen O'Connell.  The story of the album (and book) circles around a character known only as Mother Maiden, who seek out people who have died due to poor decisions made in their lives, and brings them back to life in an effort to give them a chance to make things right.  In essence, the album revolves around redemption, which I can relate to in a few ways.  While still metal in many ways, it seems that lead singer Sharon den Adel and company have softened up a little bit.  As evidenced in the single "Sinead" which sounds like you could easily hear it in a dance club somewhere.  The aforementioned song tells the story of one of the album's main protagonists of the same name.  The song doesn't suck, as it's still metal enough to be granted a free pass from me.  The album opens with Mother Maiden explaining her actions, and that leads into the first song, "Shot in the Dark," which I canNOT get out of my head for the life of me.  It's catchy, it's powerful, and it grabs your attention almost immediately.  Another favorite, "Fire and Ice," grabs your heart and holds it in a death grip until its end.  It is quite possibly my favorite Within Temptation song of all time, right up there with "The Cross.  The album was originally intended to be the soundtrack of a movie, but when the band couldn't agree on a film suitable enough for the album, they went the direction of filming the music videos and a series of mini movies to accompany them, as well as the comic book being written.  I've read bits and pieces of it online and I have to say I'm pretty impressed.  But then again, I've always been a comic book guy, so what do I know lol.  But seriously, this is by far, the most ambitious work that Within Temptation had ever done, and it quite possibly is their best.  I have to recommend it, 100%.

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