DEADWING

I know this band well and have all of their albums except for the various compilations that seemed to be popping up every month for awhile there. I first heard "Signify" and was so struck by it that I quickly bought all of their back catalog and then of course bought everything afterward. Before I made up my mind about this new album I wanted to be sure I gave it time for my initial reactions to settle down. I've listened to this new album "Deadwing" now off and on every day or so for about 3 weeks which for me is sufficient time for gathering my thoughts about it and I have made a decision: This is, for me, their BEST album since "The Sky Moves Sideways" and I like it even more than that one.

This is where all their past has been leading to. This was the only album of theirs to genuinely make me shed a tear or two not with just emotion but an overwhelming sense of magic. These songs are a cohesive whole and tell a story that I don't understand yet but feel like somehow I'm linked to. And the music! Somehow this band has sewn together a perfect combination of metal, pop, and prog.

My absolute favorites on this are "Deadwing", which I believe to be their most perfect song in their history, "Shallow", "Halo", and "Mellotron Scratch", but I have found that this album works best when listened to in its entirety from start to finish. I have tried listening to individual songs and while they work, they work so much better as a whole. That's a uniqe craft nowadays, to be able to compose an ALBUM of music and not just singles with a bunch of filler.

Well, that's probably enough gushing, but this album has hit me like nothing else.

I'm holding back to 4 stars because a masterpiece rating of 5 stars can only be accomplished after years of an album's existence, in my opinion. This album has all the earmarks of being a masterpiece, however. Only time will tell.