Symphony X - Symphony X (1994)

I like the name of American band Symphony X, which was one reason why I'm trying them, another reason being they've got quite a few fans out there.
This debut is not held in very high regard by many, but I think it's quite good, particularly on the first half.  Such songs as "The Raging Seasons", "Premonition" and "Absinthe And Rue" fly with their haunting choruses sung with Queen-like vocal arrangements at times and, while vocalist Rod Tyler (who was ditched after this), while being a bit weak, doesn't do a bad job. The sound is a trifle thin, and the concluding, twelve minute "A Lesson Before Dying" doesn't really work, but there's enough here (the record was particularly popular in Japan) to offer promise of better to come.

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