|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 the best cd you've never heard Jan 25, 2009
I picked this cd up on an impulse, never heard them, the description on the case made it sound interesting....interesting hardly does it justice. Don't think, buy this disk!
 a surprise package Oct 30, 2008
I stumbled upon 3 when I was checking out the bands that were playing for Prog Nation '08. To be touring with Opeth and BTBAM, one would expect 3 to have quite a heavy sound with heavy riffs and the like. To my surprise, 3 turned out to be exceptionally clean but still refreshing and exciting. It is living proof that technicality does not have to come accompanied with 10,000 beats/minute tracks and "dirrrrty" riffs.
The album opener "The World is Born of Flames" starts with a spacy Eric Clapton-esque acoustic guitar picking before getting mildly heavier, building up to "The End Is Begun" which features the heavier aspects of prog music, with plenty of double bass pedaling, coupled with an awesome addictive bass line. Grimsland really shows no mercy on this track and is simply candy to the ears. This is even more audible in "Battle Cry".
Unfortunately the album flattens out after "Battle Cry" and becomes almost flat by the time "Live Entertainment" starts playing. Here, it would not have been impossible to mistake this band for a regular indie-sounding pop band like Cobra Starship.
I must admit however, that there were still quite a number of exciting riffs towards the end of the cd that was yet another display of Grimsland's genius. The album wraps itself up with guitar showpiece "These Iron Boots", which is bound to find itself in some guitar hero/ rock star-like console game.
Lyrically, there is little to differentiate 3 from other prog bands- their lyrics were a piece of art, and will appeal a good deal to people who actually bother to process and digest the lyrics being fed to them.
The End is Begun is definitely worth a listen if you are into prog. 3 also the album accessible with tracks such as "Live Entertainment" and "Diamond in the Rush" definitely making it to mainstream radio. People who have not checked out prog music but are reading this review for some strange reason will also find this a much easier listen when you compare it to other prog bands such as Opeth.
Surprisingly fantastic! Jun 19, 2008
I heard these guys play live at an Opeth/Dream Theatre show, and was impressed with their showing on stage, so I picked up this CD.
Gotta tell ya -- it's great stuff. A real treat on the instrumentals, and the vocalist (though he's a little high pitched for my tastes) shows a great range and clarity with his vocals.
Overall, if you're into progressive metal, you could do far worse. :)
Top 5 for 2007! Jun 16, 2008
Another band that is difficult to describe, but again they meet my primary conditions of what I like : originality, harmony, melody, good rock, interesting lyrics, tells a story, makes you feel something, and makes you move. Of course, a really good band goes beyond that and makes you smile just because you are amazed how good their music is. This album does all that. Yes, there are valid comparisons and links to Coheed & Cambria, and possibly to Porcupine Tree, maybe to emo (although I think that does a disservice to 3), and even to mainstream prog like Dream Theater, Rush or Tiles (another band you should check out) and even reminded of Queen (just because they don't fit a label), but these guys are unique, and none of those comparisons do justice. Joey Eppard is a unique vocalist and an amazing guitarist with a unique flamenco style. All the members are extremely talented, but mainly they meld together to form this somewhat complex melodic rock. Their previous album, Wake Pig, is also superb. Get them both.
Three - All That Remains........ May 13, 2008
When I first picked up "The End Has Begun" I did not like it nearly as much as their previous effort "Wake Pig", but over repeated listens this album has grown on me by leaps and bounds. The songs are generally shorter and more concise, but Joey Eppard's songwriting continues to improve and there are some truly great tunes on this album. Highlights include the opening sequence of "The World Is Born Of Flame" and the title track "The End Has Begun". The single "All That Remains" actually got some airplay on MTV2 (I saw it on headbangers ball one night), and given a chance should have been all over rock radio. "Been To The Future", "Live Entertainment", and "The Last Day" are all great ones too. I think this band's hidden weapon is percussionist / keyboardist Joe Stote. The duel drumming on many of these tracks really works well, and although the keyboards are used minimally, when they are there they add the perfect amount of background weirdness to compliment the tracks. My one criticism of this album is that I wish they would have fleshed out a few of the songs more. Being a fan of progressive rock I find that some of these songs just seem to get started on something interesting and then they end. This band is very good instrumentally and I would like to see them stretch their legs a bit more on some of these tracks like they did on the 15 minute "Amazedisgrace" from the last album. Three signed to metal blade records for this release and they really don't sound like anyone else on the label. I was privileged enough to host the band on the "End" tour at ProgDay 2007. They put on a great show with the songs coming across even better live. These guys are worth checking out if you are not already familiar with them.
|
| |
|
![Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51V%2Beipy8-L._SL75_.jpg "Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray]")
![Across the Universe [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51T24FuHPEL._SL75_.jpg "Across the Universe [Blu-ray]")
![Underworld Trilogy (Underworld / Underworld: Evolution / Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F27VzUl%2BL._SL75_.jpg "Underworld Trilogy (Underworld / Underworld: Evolution / Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) [Blu-ray]")
![Shakira: Oral Fixation Tour [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RQUEopdlL._SL75_.jpg "Shakira: Oral Fixation Tour [Blu-ray]")
