GOOD APOLLO, I'M BURNING STAR IV, VOLUME ONE - FROM FEAR THROUGH THE EYES OF MADNESS

The beginning of this album is extremely well done. I first listened to it before I knew anything about the band. It starts out with a classical piece which is much more musically significant than the intros to the 2 previous albums. It then launches to the soft and lullabye-like Always & Never, which disarms the listener right before the twist at the end when the vocalist vows to 'kill all of you." Then the adrenalizing Welcome Home begins, and the pace continues with the equally well written songs Ten Speed, Crossing, and Apollo I.

At this point, I felt like this promised to be one of the best albums I've heard in a LONG time. However, it looses steam at Once Upon Your Dead Body, and never seems to regain it's momentum until it gets to Apollo II. The Suffering has grown on me, although it's unfortunate that this is how most people know of C&C, and I still can't really tolerate Wake Up. The latter songs are well performed, but they just don't strike me as all that well-written (Apollo II being an exception). The Final Cut comes across to me as a weak ending (I think Apollo II would've been better to end with based on flow), but I understand sometimes theatrics and storyline trump a pleasing flow. This album does have a lot more intricate timing and such than their previous 2, and I guess makes it their most progressive to date, but I would prefer better songs with less prog stylings over more overt progressive stylings on songs that don't seem as listenable (or should I say hook deprived). Barring storyline, there are a few tracks that could've been left on the cutting room floor IMO. The first 6 tracks are superb both individually and as a whole, therefore I still consider this a good album, but would recommend In Keeping Secrets (which would be an excellent addition to any collection) over this album. 3.5 stars.