Ty Tabor, who produced this album, handles lead vocals and takes center stage with what's being said. Starting off with a prayer to music, "Oh God" pleads for resolution to a struggle. This situation sets a tone for the lyrics much like a blues album that relishes in "da blooz." It's quite an honest look into a human life amidst pain. The listener can't help but sense the sadness and real emotion behind every word. The emotion here is so urgent and blatantly poured out that it pulls the listener in. I can almost picture the words written on a page with blood and tears instead of ink. Save for the 10-minute instrumental that closes the album ("Partial To The Bean"), the music is predominantly melodic and complimentary to the lyrics. If this album were a letter to someone, I cannot imagine the reader not weeping over every song.
"I can't help how I'm feeling / A little help would go a real long way with me / Oh God...living confusion / Oh God, give me relief . . . Oh God, how did it ever get this way / my own contentment, I took for granted only yesterday / a tough situation has put an angle on my view / I'd take care of it all myself, but I know that there is not much I can do." ("Oh God")
"An absent thought becomes a comment / etched in all eternity / my friend, confusion, walks with me up to the door / but he won't leave / some things are just better left unsaid . . . darkened field of bloody armor / a rope is hanging from a tree / a soldier clinging to his last breath / a ladder sits within his reach / my tongue can be a two-edged sword / and you can be the enemy . . . I hope you read into my eyes all of the time I wish I could repay / I'm starting over every second, every minute, every day." ("Better Left Unsaid")
"Last night I said out loud a little prayer / And I don't believe it died out in the air / It maybe seems impossible today / but I will keep believing anyway, everyday, all the way." ("The Tower")
"I'm floating aimlessly, but staying for the ride / my hull has finally sprung a leak / I scoop the water, but I'm starting to get weak / something has changed / something is wrong / something is gone . . . More waves than I have ever seen / and each one gets bigger as I'm breaking at the seams / the storm that just won't ever die / I'm in the ocean and there's nowhere left to hide." ("Gone")
While I know this is a group effort (super group, in fact, with Dream Theater's John Myung, Dixie Dregs drummer Rod Morganstein, and Planet X / Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian joining Ty) and I mean no disrespect to Ty's solo work, I enjoy this album much more than any of his work outside King's X. For those fans who picked up When Pus Comes To Shove, me thinks this album is more cohesive, less technical, and more listenable than its predecessor.
Similar sounding releases
2001YogiAny Raw Flesh?
2005Steve VaiReal Illusions: Reflections
1995Fourth EstateSee What I See
2003GasHeadLandSpeedRecordSeraphDemo
1997Fates WarningA Pleasant Shade of Gray
