Top 5 Symphony X Songs with Michael Romeo - The Prog Report

"Paradise Lost" Paradise Lost" (2007)
"The Walls of Babylon" Paradise Lost (2007)
"Children of a Faceless God" Iconoclast (2011)
"Dehumanized" Iconoclast (2011)
"To Hell and Back" Underworld (2015)
"Run With the Devil" Underworld (2015)

I couldn't pick just five songs, nor could I ever begin to rank them, but these six songs from the last three Symphony X albums are all among my favorites. And, ironically, the band only performed one -- ""Run With the Devil" -- at the show I saw last week in Mesa, Arizona. Sigh! But the show still was mind-blowing!

Michael is so cool, one of my favorite guitarists for sure, great video!

Just saw Symphony X in Baltimore the other day and happened to meet Michael outside the venue, he was very cool and down to earth. Accolade II is the perfect Symphony X song in my opinion.

Dude looks healthy!

Interesting Mike says Iconoclast is his favorite SX album. I was a huge fan starting around the time V came out and I loved everything from Damnation Game through Paradise Lost, but Iconoclast was the album where they lost me — I didn’t hate it but I couldn’t get excited about it. Then Underworld kinda underwhelmed me as well. Maybe I’ll go back and give Iconoclast another chance

My favourite 5 tracks of Symphony X:
1) The Accolade
2) The Divine Wings of Tragedy
3) Rediscovery, part II
4) Communion and the Oracle
5) Through the Looking Glass

A new instructional video would be nice!

MJR: it's extra slow right now because of covid...

Releases WotW 1 and 2 in 2 years.

I can not express how much I love this band! They are absolutely awesome!

The Odyssey is just unbelievable. When it starts it sounds like you started watching an epic Disney animation movie. Then you get the whole story of Odysseus and different emotions come so strongly through in different parts and you can't stay unamazed with what all it has coming, and the build up to homecoming which is so glorious that it makes you shiver. And I just love the theme, the song was what got me to finally read the book, I was already fascinated by greek mythology before that, but it really hit home. I think it's not that common to hear orchestrated parts in metal music that truly sound like they belong there, or were there even before the rock band was. The Odyssey sounds like it was born from the orchestra and the band just carried its magic. It's the only song that long that I can be excited from start to finish and it feels like you're constantly carried on a continuous story. Like the only other +20 minute song that comes to my head is Opeth's Black Rose Immortal, which I love, but that sounds more like at least 3 different themes and songs put together. Which is quite common with very long songs that aren't extremely slow and repeating the same thing over and over again. The Odyssey is the only one I know of that length that feels like one whole piece from start to finish, always moving and it doesn't have a part that I'd like to skip

And I always found Through the Looking Glass has similar vibes in miniature form. Sick riffs but also piano and different emotions throughout the song. And the guitar solos were very rock style, very catchy and had nice and strong melodical theme to them. They weren't really in a hurry to anywhere, they just delivered the message at the pace the song and the message required. That's what Romeo's good at with his solo works in some master pieces, not going overboard and serving the song instead.

Then there's Underworld, I had just been thinking about Poe and how I don't own or hadn't read Nevermore and I realized I missed Underworld, and it has Nevermore and it's a kickass song. Immediately read the original. And for years I've been looking for republication for translation of Dante's Divine Comedy, and there was To Hell and Back and the general theme of the album. I just love that someone bothers to theme their art, because it's not just individual clips like you might treat modern listening habits from spotify for example, it's a piece of art, it's a story, it has meaning.

And then there's Eve of Seduction. I just couldn't get enough of that solo when I first heard it. And still to this day I listen to the solo occasionally just because it tingles some special place in my brain, it's so clever and different from what I've heard, but it also has these very classic rock style things all over it. Without You also has a bit of that vibe, when the solo starts my hair stands up and shivers go down the spine. But I always wondered if Run with the Devil was a nod towards Van Halen. Even the actual musical vibe in it makes me think it could be. Set the World Afire from Paradise Lost was probably the first on that album that caught me, because I loved the Megadeth song by the same name, so it caught my eye, but this was a completely different song, yet it still had some of that feel. Maybe it's the name Set the World Afire that requires a certain musical tonality to it. It's a fun record, just like Underworld. This much more modern thing in heaviness, but still being very much Symphony X. Like moving to more modern age of metal without being similar in content, which is what I enjoy about it.

But the mad thing in all albums is, be it the song Odyssey or Through the Looking Glass or To Hell and Back or whatever, in my opinion the Symphony X thing, is that there's all these crazy rhythms and time signatures are unorthodox, or let's say not traditional 4/4, yet the riffs just groove and you wouldn't necessarily think about the time signature. There's been cases where I've started learning the riff and only then realized it's not your 4/4 (or that Romeo does some wild quirk every other cycle and has extra or less beats). That's always been the magic that captivated me, something different but groovy, something that catches you off guard without being wrong or annoying. And like Through the Looking Glass has so many key changes you can't count them, and they flow so well that you only think about how so many riffs are in different keys the second time when you start learning it.

I like how Romeo goes towards newer production towards the end and also puts the new production to the top basically. Of course natural for artists, but fans might not always get that their first loves are in the past, the artist is growing and evolving and there needs to be new ideas, new things to be said. And appreciating your latest record the most means you did something right and moved forward instead of making a mistake and wanting to go back to safe and already known past good times.

Romeo is a gem

What a GREAT interview with Mr Romeo. Really enjoyed this! 👍👍

“It’s very long but very approachable…that’s what she said” 😂 I got it 👍😂

Here’s my top 5:
1. Edge of Forever
2. Through the Looking Glass
3. The Odyssey
4. Iconoclast
5. Eyes of Medusa

intro song please ?

The Accolade
The Divine Wings of Tragedy
Communion and the Oracle
Revelation
The Odyssey

My top 5
1 The Divine wings of tragédy
2 The odyssey
3 awekenigs
4 The accolade
5 accolade 2

The Accolade II is an amazing song, probably the best song of all times.

its so funny that he has 10 of the same guitar

Mike is the most effortless player I've ever seen.

Covid was a great experience in time for art. So much great, new art came into existence and is now flourishing.

It was an inspiring time for a lot of new comers.

The Odyssey is Symphony X's Heavy Metal album, that is, until, you finally hit the titular track of, not just the album, but in the career of the band.

It's a movie as a song

V - The New Mythology Suite is easily my favorite album by Symph-X. It's challenging and rewarding.

Paradise and Divine fight for the second place depending on my mood.

Naming my top 3 songs by them is really hard to define for me. I want to jump to another band that does music like Symph-X, because it would be easier.

Adagio, Cloudscape and Angra come to mind lol.

Charon and Nevermore are my favorite songs on Underworld. Satisfying tracks.

I'm disappointed by the lack of love for The Walls Of Babylon.

That's Symphony X does God Of War!

I'm glad Mike thinks Iconoclast is his favorite record. I remember moving to a brand new state and going to the FYE at the mall the same day that album dropped. The clerks were literally price tagging the albums when I went in there. That album got me through some lonely times while I acclimated to my new situation.

My top 5:

1. Accolade
2. Communion and the Oracle
3. Through the looking glass
4. Accolade II
5. Sea of Lies.

Of sins and shadows was the first song I heard of them and I fell in love immediately. Love many of their songs but sins stays my fave to this day

My top 5 (in chronological order):

1. Dressed to Kill
2. Of Sins and Shadows
3. Evolution
4. Fallen
5. Inferno

It was too hard. Maybe it changes next week...

What I'd give for a new version of the The Odyssey with modern orchestral plugins and overall production. The piece is incredible, but it does sound its age.

Every time I leave a bar I play the Odyssey a few times…

Liked this video for the mention of Awakenings. It wouldn't quite crack my top 5, but it's awesome.

5. The Turning
4. Paradise Lost
3. The Divine Wings of Tragedy
2. Egypt
1. The Odyssey

PLEASE RELEASE A 4K BLURAY CONCERT - Been wanting some great video content for years

My top 5:
1. Oddyssey
2. Walls of Babylon
3. Divine Wings of Tragedy
4. A Winter's Dream
5. Awakenings

Yo no podría decir cuales serían mis 5 canciones favoritas, pienso que si las digo le estaría quirando el crédito a otras que me gustan demasiado. Por Symphony X conocí el amor a primera impresión; si recuerdo que la primera canción que escuché de SX fue "Of sin and shadows" y era exactamente lo que estaba buscando en ese preciso momento. Había visto un ranking de las mejores bandas de metal de todos los tiempos, y SX estaba en el puesto 27 o 28, no recuerdo bien y pensé que algún dia la iba a escuchar, y cuando la escuché por primera vez, supe que la vida de ahora en adelante tenía sentido. Los budistas y filósofos han estado buscando el sentido de la vida y ahora yo les digo, el sentido de la vida es escucha a SX. saludos

i cant pick any as the best song ... Symphony X its a tremendous music, its unbelievable, Rusell its the best singer in rock/metal music, Romeo its indescribable, Pinella its indescribable too, Lepond and Rullo are fucking machines... the composing skill of Romeo are far from mortals, i definetly not understand why they aren't more famous and apreciated.

The outro of Set the World on Fire is the most metal fucking riff ever.

He is a modern day Bach and Mozart along with Luca Turilli Alex Staropoli Stephen Forte. And the late great Phil Garadana

This interview kicked ass!!

New drinking game: Take a shot every time Mike says "thing"

If I had to name 5 favs, I'd go for:
- The Oddyssey
- Paradise Lost
- Divine Wings of Tragedy
- The Fallen
- Sacrifice

Truth be told it's immensely hard to single out just a few of them. There are so many fantastic pieces. I'm both happy that I've discovered their music and sad that they're not as nearly as popular as they should be.

Someone gave me Mike’s email back when ToO dropped, he was super cool and responded to me. DWoT was mind blowing, very special to me, ordered it from Japan in 1997 (along with his vhs, solo album and the other Symphony X albums).

In no order:
Through the looking glass
Candlelight Fantasia
The Odyssey
Communion and the Oracle.
Paradise Lost

people here forgetting how powerful and awesome the song SMOKE & MIRRORS is

Top 5
Divine Wings
The Accolade
Walls of Babylon
The Relic
Pharoah

runner up
Fallen

My top 5 :
1 - The oddysey
2 - Through the looking glass part I,II,II
3 - Sea of lies
4 - inccantattions of the apprentice
5 - In the dragon´s den

Divine Wings
Communion and the Oracle
Egypt
Rediscovery
The Accolade

Symphony x is such a huge part of my life. I can't believe the last album they've put out was 10 years ago.