ALBUM:LEGACY
ARTIST:SHADOW GALLERY
YEAR OF RELEASE:2001
RATING:**

There are few back to back albums I can think of displaying a greater lapse in quality than the one between Shadow Gallery's last epic and this current snoozer. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the band has opted to go in a more Dream Theater direction, giving up song quality in effort to be more technical and "progressive". Gone are the powerful, emotionally intense songs of Tyranny such as Believe and New World Order, and in they're place are things such as the 34+ minute sleeper, "First Light" which sounds like a band just throwing random ideas together and not knowing where to stop. That is the biggest problem I have with the disc. I don't mind long songs(hell, I usually LIKE long songs), IF they flow. However, Legacy features 6 songs adding up to 72+ minutes, yet it doesn't flow at all. Rather than sounding like 6 good, long songs, it sounds like 14 different songs, just not seperated by a break between them. Also, the band features far too much wankery, treating us to 5+ minute solos at a time, unfortunately keeping Mike Baker's vocal talents to a minimum. The music is also softer, lacking the power of Tyranny, and also lacking a story, furthering lessening it's impact. Overall, I find the CD just boring. No flow, no power, no interesting story, nothing to draw my attention in any good way. For fans of Dream Theater style meanderings, this might be for you, but for me, I'll stick with Tyranny. If I had to pick highlights, I guess I'd go with "Cliffhanger Part 2"(which should still be ~6 minutes shorter), "Society of the Mind", and "Legacy"(These last 2 more because they at least sound like single songs, and don't pack 4+ other songs worth of material in them instead of any real higher quality)

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