New Symphony X is badass!

[max]

Mike Romeo is very influenced by Yngwie, as well as Michael Angelo, Mercyful Fate, lots of old-school stuff. I grew up in the same town as him, I took lessons from him around '87, '88.

Sorry, I dont get it. Do you mean Romeo is influenced by Malmsteen and Michael Angelo, or Romeo and Angelo are both influenced by Malmsteen?
And you took lessons from Michael Romeo, not Michael Angelo, right?

Anyway, Michael Romeo is great and Russell Allens performance on "The Odyssey" is absolutely outstanding. He he just seems to get better and better with every album. The lyrics are good, too. So I guess Malmsteen didnt influence that aspect of Symphony X ("Theres a hole in the sky, but dont ask me why, cause I do-ho-ho-hon't kno-ho-how!").

[blindmuddy]

Here's some samples:

http://www.spv.de/scripts/ktrack_e.a...er=79252&label=

Thanks for posting, those clips sound really good. The stuff I've heard of theirs in the past (and it wasn't very much so I'm kinda ignorant) Just sounded like recycled Yngwie with a different guitar sound. This stuff sounds WAY better than the stuff I've heard.

Any soggestions for some of their older stuff to check out??

[toejam]

Sorry, I dont get it. Do you mean Romeo is influenced by Malmsteen and Michael Angelo, or Romeo and Angelo are both influenced by Malmsteen?
And you took lessons from Michael Romeo, not Michael Angelo, right?

Romeo gave me lessons, and he was influenced by both Malmsteen and Angelo. I remember him showing me a video of Michael Angelo playing, and he was so in awe of him, he wouldn't shut up about how amazing his double-axe guitar and playing was!

[emperor_black]

the new album sounded allright. Which is their best album to date? let me start with that.

[thetroy]

It depends on who you ask. Personally I would just go for the live album Live On The Edge Of Forever. It containts material from the 3 albums before Odyssey.

[emperor_black]

I love live albums. I liked Slayer's Decade of aggression the best. Iced Earth's Blessed and the Dammed was awesome too. Let me check this one out! Any other recommendations?

[thetroy]

I'm kind of biased but my favorite track is The Divine Wings of Tragedy from the album of the same name. It's basically a cover of Gustav Holst's "Mars: Bringer of War" form the Planets suite. Romeo is a good composer himself but Mars is a classic masterpiece and it sounds especially badass played by a metal band.

Beyond that perhaps check out The Odyssey as nothing from there is represented on the live album. The opening riff to the album is quite badass and the whole album is slightly heavier than their previous work. It seems like they're continuing that trend with the newest album as well

[Cleveland Metal]

whatever amp Romeo is using had a failure (guessing a modeler based on the sample tone I heard, and how long it took to get a replacement and get it fixed)...

He was using a Vetta....

[Wayniac]

I know he had one in the past (on the last tour) but I thought he had changed amps when he changed to Caparison as well...

[emperor_black]

Wow! Check out Michael Romeo...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1WDqduTnj34

[toejam]

I love live albums. I liked Slayer's Decade of aggression the best. Iced Earth's Blessed and the Dammed was awesome too. Let me check this one out! Any other recommendations?

Symphony X's Live on the Edge of Forever is an awesome live album.

Other awesome live albums:

Ozzy - Speak of the Devil
Iced Earth - Alive in Athens (find the 3 cd version instead of 2)
Halford - Live Insurrection
The Haunted - Live Rounds in Tokyo

[Cleveland Metal]

Man... Just listened to the Serpents Kiss tune... Mike is playing very well as usually, quite the monster.

But, his tone is pretty weak. He's never really kicked my ass with good tone and he sounds about the same this time around. His MESA's were somewhat better, but he has always been sorta mediocre tonewise.

Watching him is worth the price of admission alone, and they're here July 20th... Haven't missed a show yet.

[gemini8026]

I agree with Metal, the tone is just, i dunno, lacking to my ears. His playing is world class, and if you've seen his instructional videos, his technique is pretty much PERFECT. Effortless playing *and he doesnt have vai like fingers* but I'd love to hear his playing with a more biting tone, ala Lynch!

[khabibissell]

Watching him is worth the price of admission alone, and they're here July 20th... Haven't missed a show yet.

They'll be here the next night (21st). Schenker is supposed to play at the same venue on the 6th of July. I can't wait...

[shadowcat]

I can't wait for this album to come out... been a fan for years since I bought "The Divine Wings of Tragedy" on impulse.
And I loved "V" even more. The Odyssey was a downer in my book, mainly because of the production. But from what I've heard of the new one, this will be no issue.

I never really liked his rhythm tone, but the leads sound awesome. I guess it's his fingers, because he always sounds like that no matter what he plays.

I saw them live once when they opened for Stratovarius... and I don't even like Stratovarius, but the half hour of Symphony X was worth the price alone!