The Edge

I often read reviews on the web about various progressive metal bands and albums proclaiming that "such-and-such band/album is similar to Dream Theater and Fates Warning" or "so-and-so sounds like a cross between Kansas and Savatage" or whatever. It's easy to get your hopes up about a band and then, after listening to a sound clip or two, be just as easily letdown. Many times, the band that is supposed to sound like Dream Theater and Fates Warning does...but they aren't nearly as good and sometimes they can be quite bad. This has happened to me quite a bit and it is rare that I encounter a band that impresses the socks off me. Fortunately, after months of searching, I found Eternity X. I still haven't found my socks.

To say that I am impressed with Eternity X is an understatement of titanic proportions. They are truly a unique band and their 1997 album entitled The Edge is one of my all-time favorite albums. Sure, you can hear the Dream Theater and Queensryche influences throughout the album but they've taken those influences and turned them into a style all their own. In fact, some parts of the album remind me of DT's Images & Words and When Dreams & Day Unite. Along with the similarities The Edge has to Queensryche and Dream Theater, there is also a definite Styx and RUSH feel to the music as well and even a touch of Queen here and there. And the guitar is as heavy as Hell throughout much of the album, a lot like Dream Theater's John Petrucci on Awake or Judas Priest.

And then there's the story. The album has a common theme throughout: what would it be like to go insane? To approach the precipice of madness? To approach the edge? And the result is that the album feels like Operation: Mindcrime, a dark saga of pain and hopelessness and madness. It's a fascinating journey into the mind of a madman...

1."The Edge...(Introduction" - As you might guess from the title of the first track, this song introduces us to the album and it sets the stage for the rest of the songs. Great up tempo tune, sounds very similar to a lot of the stuff Dream Theater did on Images & Words. It also has a RUSH-type sound to it, which might have a lot to do with Keith Sudano's vocals.

2. "Fly Away" - This song starts with one of those long Dream Theater-type intros, ominous and heavy on the guitar. And then the song shifts gears and the piano becomes more prominent, followed by Keith Sudano's vocals which soar to vocal heights on this song. This is one Hell of a song with powerful emotional content. And then the guitar solo...oh, man! This is an awesome song!

3. "The Confession" - This song will give you chills. It's about a man who goes around murdering priests in confessionals because a priest raped and killed his daughter. The song sounds like it could be a lost track from Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime. It's an extremely dark and brooding song, similar to "The Mission" off of the aforementioned Queensryche album.

4. "The Edge Part 2...(The Looking Glass)" - The guitar really shreds on this one, and the keyboards produce a haunting organ-type sound in the background. This song is one of the best on the album and it is quite frightening in tone and feel. Keith Sudano's vocals sound very lonely, very depressing and very desperate. Here we have another song that has an Operation: Mindcrime feel to it.

5. "A Day In Verse" - This song opens up with a brilliant piano solo, reminiscent of Styx. In fact, this song reminds me of Styx's "Come Sail Away", this may be the saddest song on the album. Excellent piece of music.

6. "Imaginarium" - It's another lost track from Operation: Mindcrime! Not really, but it could be, "Imaginarium" actually brings "Roads To Madness" (from The Warning by Queensryche) to mind, with maybe a touch of "Suite Sister Mary" (Operation: Mindcrime). Like "Roads To Madness" and "Suite Sister Mary", this is a powerful, epic song, it's over 10 minutes long! Great tune!

7. "The Edge Part 3...(Existence Chapter 1, 000, 009)" - In the opening of this song, the keyboards, bass and guitar trade off on the lead part exhibiting topnotch interplay among the musicians. Again, Keith Sudano's voice is very emotional and haunting and this may be the best song on the album, though it is difficult to choose.

8. "The Edge of Madness" - This is a fantastically weird song. Keith Sudano sounds like he is going mad and he uses several different voices in this song. At one point in the song, he starts yelling at the listener and swearing at the band members! And the guitar is at it's heaviest, this is a scary but excellent song.

9. "Rejection" - On an album where the average song lasts over 7 minutes, "Rejection" only lasts just over 3 minutes. This is a very up-tempo song and Keith Sudano sounds pissed! According to Sudano, this song was aimed at Alanis Morrisette and all the garbage her and musicians like her put out. Good, furious fast-paced song.

10. "Baptized by Fire" - If The Edge is Eternity X's Operation: Mindcrime, "Baptized by Fire" is Eternity X's "Bohemian Rhapsody", yes, it's that good. The song starts with a rather sad and mellow piano and then picks up and becomes an up-tempo tune, heavy on the guitar, but throughout the song, the music returns to the mellow piano part. And back and forth it goes, almost as if there are two songs intertwined into one here. You get the feeling that Keith Sudano (or whomever he is portraying) is struggling with his sanity. This is an unbelievably good song.

11. "The Edge...Legacy/Reprise" - This is the finale, it starts out with a classical-sounding guitar and Sudano's vocals sounding very weary and hopeless. Then the song explodes in a fury of heavy guitar and angry, desperate vocals. The lyrics tell us that this individual has indeed lost his sanity...and then the song shifts back to the opening song, closing out what is one of the best albums I've ever heard.