BE

I have ROM and Mimi both and while those two albums are more in the vein of all out melody fests and striving for beauty, this one is a little more rough hewn. I give ROM 4 and Mimi 5 stars. Be is one you have to give repeated listens but it will reward and show some of the same beauty as the other two. But there are also heavy songs like Symposium, The Great Stereopticon, Children of the Dust and Apollyon that allow them to stretch out the guitar heavy part of their songwriting. Some reviewers have marked this one down, maybe because it kind of jumps around with its ideas as opposed to being flowing like ROM and Mimi. But there are songs and passages that will stay with you and is a worthy addition if you like the band or want to try them out. One other note is that the track listing on the CD and here on PA is wrong. It was reworked late in the process but had already gone to print. Go to the web site under "Random Ruminations" for the correct listing.