MANIFESTO FOR FUTURISM

Dali's Dilemma is a one album prog-metal band with symphonic and neo-prog tendencies. That pretty much sums them up right there. They aren't original at all, but they are very talented and capable musicians.

Top notch musicianship and fine songwriting grace us from the start. The first two tracks, "Within a Stare" and "Miracles in Yesteryear," are the two highlights of the album. Unfortunately, from this point on, it goes downhill. Not that the upcoming songs are bad, but they don't exactly keep up with the first two. In actuality, the reason is probably just because the music is a little too typical and the further in you get, the less interested you become. I think if I started from the end of the album, I would give the last track more credit. "Living in Fear" is the other keeper off this album, but you won't get much out of it after enduring the first nine tracks.

The guys play their music well. The vocals are mediocre: not much of a range (sometimes it sounds like he's straining to get the higher notes out), and a fitting, but sometimes irritating tone. It's not bad by any means, but with a couple exceptions, it's a hardly memorable release. Maybe if they put out a second album they could have gone somewhere, but that didn't happen. The three mentioned tracks are still worth checking out.

2 1/2 stars