LEGACY

As usual, Shadow Gallery has always produced good progressive metal album, so is the case with "Legacy" which was released 2001. From musicality point of view, the band's music is mature already with this album. From personal preference point of view, I'd rather listen to "Tyranny" than this album even though "Legacy" is not a bad album at all. I don't know I feel that something is missing with this album. It's probably due to the existence of ballad pop song that does not attract me at all. No doubt, "Cliffhanger" (13:05) is an excellent epic as it casts the soul of Shadow Gallery's music. The song contains melodic segments with technically skilled guitar work through excellent riffs and stunning solo, solid bass lines, machine-gun drum work, nice music harmony and great vocals. Structurally, this is the track that any progressive metal fan would like to enjoy as it combines various styles with high and low points. The keyboard work is really excellent with some segments remind me to Keith Emerson's work. Hah? Yeah man . you may be surprised that Keith Emerson is now playing progressive metal music. The combination of keyboard punches ang guitar solo is truly powerful.

"Destination Unknown" (7:01) starts mellow with piano and vocal; it's accessible to many ears because it's melodic and slow in tempo. Vocals are excellent. The song moves into higher points with excellent and speedy guitar solo. "Colors" (7:02) is a ballad pop song that I can't believe Shadow Gallery composed this poppy song. I don't like it at all. One star for this song; poorly composed and very loose - many bands can make this kind of stuff. "Society Of The Mind" (5:23) is a rocker with heavy riffs and high register notes voice line. Good track. "Legacy" (5:04) starts off with heavy riffs like typical power metal band augmented with keyboard work. Unique singing style. It's an interesting track to enjoy.The album concludes with an excellent epic "First Light" which consumes 23 minutes of music plus UNNECESSARY silent for approx 10 minutes concludes the album. The epic itself is excellent as it combines various styles and instruments including acoustic guitar. The unnecessary silent portion at the end of the track is annoying, meaningless and useless.

It's a good album that deserves three stars maximum. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW