Siam - Prayer

Year of Release: 1996
Label: A2Z Records/Milestone Music
Catalog Number: A2Z 85009
Format: CD
Total Time: 62:33:00

It only stands to reason that some discs are going to take some time in getting to my CD player when I am getting in scorchers like Dreamscape, The Quiet Room and Eternity-X among others ... It's almost unfair when I just put a disc aside in order to get the goodies, but it's so refreshing to be able to go back to discs only to find that I've been missing something all along by not giving a disc equal time in the player ... Siam's Prayer is one of many discs that have found its way back to my player ... and I am happy that it did ... here's why:

THE BAND:

Twin guitars, bass, drums, separate vocalist ...

THE STYLE:

Very sweet, although sometimes straight ahead melodic metal, utilizing a twin guitar sound, but also incorporating acoustic guitars when they can without making the songs sound too soft .......... fans of melodic metal are going to have a field day with this one, it's heavy enough to satisfy the metallist in you, but it's sweet and pretty enough to be proud that there are bands out there that can put out material like this in the late 90s and still be appreciated ...

THE PRODUCTION:

Immaculate ... this sounds soooooooo sweet and smooth on my player, I can hear every single word being sung, and every little sound effect they use for nuance on almost each song ... every instrument stands out clearly on every track, and it's easy to pick out what each instrument is doing without having to strain your ear and put it near the speaker to hear the bass or the vocal lines... Superbly recorded ...

THE SINGER:

I have to admit that I buy discs with singers in mind ahead of the music, and it's a treat to be able to get discs in like this that have a singer of this caliber ...... I would go ahead and say that singers of this caliber sometimes outshine the rest of the band, but in this case, he is so good and fits in so well with the beauty of this music, it's one of the better complements of members I've come across ...

The man is Tony Mills, and simply put, he is the Siamese twin of Geoff Tate ... I have listed him in the top 3 all time Geoff Tate sound-alikes, and after repeated plays of this disc, its almost hard not to put him at the top of that list...

I am biased when it comes to singers, so hearing this guy sing is a treat.... I believe he could make any music sound good ... A pleasure to listen to, and a treat to have another Geoff Tate singer in my collection ...

THE COMMENTS:

Quite frankly, I believe that Queensryche would have fared better with us if they had put out a gem like this instead of their choice of direction ... they may not have gotten that radio play they were looking for, but they certainly wouldn't have lost a lot of their main base of fans the way they did ... at least with a disc like this, they would maintained some of their credibility as song writers, and we wouldn't have felt betrayed by the loss of progression in the sound because Siam's Prayer really has some of the qualities that Queensryche has ... Melodic metal fans will rave over this one ... it has that sweeeet, smoooth sound we all love from bands like this ... it's too bad that we have to wane through tons of stinkers before we get to the creamy stuff like this one ...

If you like it melodic, if you love EXCELLENT vocalists the way I do, this one will be right up your alley ...

This one was, at one time, was hard to find .... I am not sure if for some reason it has been re-issued, but whatever the case, don't let a gem like this get by just because the heavy hitters are hitting hard as of late ... this is a welcome bonus to any collection and lover of melodic metal ...

[Looks to have been reissued in 2001 -ed]

Tracklisting:
A Passage To God (:40) / Sacrifice Divine (4:38) / Interaction (6:12) / Sleepwaves (6:01) / Liberty (4:50) / Queen Of Swords (8:54) / New Age Warning (4:19) / Transcendence (2:20) / Animus (6:45) / Christian (5:43) / Raison D'Etre (5:31) / Bonus Track The Language Of Menace (Acoustic Version) (6:40)

Musicians:
Tony Mills - vocals
Marcus D. Thurston - lead, rhythm, and acoustic guitars
Ian Richardson - lead, rhythm, and acoustic guitars
Pano Moullaris - drums, percussion
Andy Faulkner - electric and acoustic bass

Discography:
The Language Of Menace (1994)
Prayer (1996)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin UK

Added: June 11th 2000
Reviewer: Larry "LarryD" Daglieri

Hits: 2315
Language: english