666

The System - alright as a intro, short enough not to annoy. Babylon - brillant high energy song, catchy as hell with some bang up vocals. Addicting track: you'll find yourself listening to this randomly when you have some empty minutes. Loud, Loud, Loud - your setting up the concept, I get that, but does the narration have to be so dull and uninspired. The Four Horsemen - collosal track, the song that first attracts most people to this band and rightfully so. Everything about this song is well done. Addicting track: you'll find yourself listening to this randomly when you have some empty minutes. The Lamb - a fantastic mix up of music. Addicting track: you'll find yourself listening to this randomly when you have some empty minutes. The Seventh Seal - much more interesting narration. Being a two disc album with 24 songs, with 10 being at or under the 2 minute mark, there is a lot of filler right here, in the middle of the album (forget that isn't split). This is not to say there isn't a lot of fine music on these smaller filler tracks but it does seem like they are dragging out and breaking aparat what could be a much more compact album. Crunching some of the tracks from The Wakening Beast through Ofis together would make this album more effective in my opinion. The Beast is an exception as it is solid enough to stand on its own. Seven Trumpets - spoken intro to the second disc. Altamont - another dynamic and musically creative song, both with instrumentals and vocals, that sets up the more somber tone of this second disc. The Wedding Of The Lamb and The Capture Of The Beast - while the instrumental play here is still well done these two tracks always disappointed me because instead of working out lyrics or even narrations a voice simply breaks in to tell you the song titles of each track. This is, for lack of a better word, lame. Infinity - a stripped down track featuring mostly percussion along with the wild, hyperventilating vocals that are able to hold onto your interest despite the repetition. Hic Et Nunc - are cheery little diddy that ties back into the first disc. All The Seats Were Occupied - the albums 19+ minute epic starts off slowly, bringing more and more elements in as it goes, along with bits of previous tracks (parts of The Four Horsemen are brought back notably well). The whole track acts, more or less, as a summary track of the entire album bringing together all the different elements and moods exquisitely. I find it impressive how well this song is able to take bits from what has come before and melt them into it without becoming the least bit choppy. It is perfectly paced and nothing is out of place. Break - lovely uplifting song to say goodbye. This album should be in everyones symphonic prog collection but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. Your judgement of this album will depend on how you view of its short filler, or I suppose on a concept album you could call them bridge (or something like that), tracks. How did you like The Wall? Anyway, for its brilliant tracks, some addicting, and consistently exceptional instrumentals on this album give it a 4 star rating.