If Dream Theater hadn't have come back so hard with Scenes From A Memory, Balance Of Power would be nipping at their heals. And, with Queensryche signing to Sanctuary Records and attempting to make a comeback, this will be their other fiercest competitor. Sure, the cynic has a good case for dismissing these guys as copycats, but the fan has a wonderful, dare I say "balance" that the band has found in between their two peers. The real test for a copycat band would be, "OK, if this were the latest release by either of these two other bands, would it be a ho-hum affair, or a good one?" This would be a good release by any of these three bands. So, if you get past the copycat nature, you've got some beautiful melodies to hear. This is high quality prog-metal. Take a spin: Instead of putting their best foot forward with the first track, "BOP" kind of sticks its big ole, crooked, squirrely-looking noodly nose out front, going for a super jamming prog-rock song. But the beautiful hook-laden "Shelter Me" comes roaring out next with grandiose beauty. The next tune, "Fire Dance," locks into a groove of hook. Hooks and melody reign supreme here. This is good.
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Dan SingletonThis British band sounds so much like early Dream Theater (I mean even more than Vanden Plas does), I don't know if I should give them massive bonus points for being able to so successfully emulate as proficient a band as Dream Theater or negative points simply for mimicking another band. High, screaming vocals peak on choruses, bass and drums deliver a pronounced, punctuated beat (usually…Art for the Ears 2001Reviewed by Marco PovervestHere's the fourth album from the American/English melodic metalband Balance Of Power. The music seems to take a progressive metal approach with vocal harmonies in the choruses. The songs are often lengthy and most of them are midtempo. One Voice is one of the songs with speedy power metal elements yet the chorus is very catchy/poppy. The vocals are most of the time high pitched. Keyboard are used…Similar sounding releases
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