LAST EPIC

First impressions.........very accomplished musicians playing challenging progressive fusion, but I had some problems with it. Allow me to explain. Each song seemed very much the same, both in style and structure. The guitar lines tended to favor the clipped, staccato styling that, while technically challenging, and great if used sparingly or in a larger, more varied context, formed too much of the foundation of the melody. It became the focal point of the lead, the melody that leads you through the song, and in short order, just becomes tiresome to the listener. Now to the vocals. the overly dramatic, Queen-esque, vox-enhanced theatrics were at times actually embarrassing. Sometimes embarrassing passages in music, if experienced alone, become a guilty pleasure but in this case just made me want to press the "next" button. These issues combined with the overall "sameness" of each song left me feeling weary of it all after just a few songs. Judging by some of the other reviews here, I am in the minority. It is very imaginitively conceived music that is performed by accomplished musicians but it just feels like it goes over the top a little bit.