SECOND LIFE SYNDROME

An album of nearly perfect production: There are not many albums out there whose sound clarity, engineering, and mixing can compete with the quality of this one. Simply breathtaking! While neither heavy prog nor prog metal are my favorite sub-genres, this was one of my first acquisitions during the 'prog listening renaissance' I've undergone since 2006. I immediately appreciated the sound, musicianship, and production; it has taken me quite a while longer to decide whether I appreciate and/or like the music. The answer is: Mostly. I immediately loved "Conceiving you" and "Second Life Syndrome" and now love "I Turned You Down," "Reality Dream III," and "Before." "After" and "Dance with the Shadow" are both excellent songs, while "Volte-Face" and "Artificial Smile" are just not my style. I have no doubt that this album should rank among the best of this 21st Century as it is so powerful, so well constructed, performed, recorded, and produced. A 4.5 star album which is down-graded by me only because the album as a whole does not yearn for regular listening by me--though the song "Second Life Syndrome" is among my favorites of all-time.

January 29, 2025 edit: I've long referred to this album as "one of the 21st Century's shining beacons" and, accordingly, used it as a reference in many reviews when upholding the highest standards of the Heavy Prog and Prog Metal genres, and I do find myself drawn to listen to parts of the album (especially the title song) more often than I ever thought I would, so I have decided that this album deserves the bump up to masterpiece status. Again, I feel intuitively that Second Life Syndrome stands in a small class atop the mountaintop that represent the absolute best progressive rock produced in the 21st Century (which now incorporates 25 years!!!)

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