Score- An Epic Journey

The Phantom Agony Asian exclusive release of 2003 debut album for goth-metal act featuring ex-After Forever guitarist Mark Jansen. Includes the bonus track 'Triumph Of Defeat'. Seoul Record.	Divine Conspiracy	We Will Take You With Us Agony and beauty fuse together into a musical experience which saturates all of the listener’s senses”, the reviews raved about the titillating debut album. While this CD was contrived with the aid of the German top producer Sascha Paeth (well-known for ...	The Road to Paradiso	Dark Passion Play Nightwish returns with an ambitious epic metal opus that begins promisingly enough but quickly devolves into another formulaic power rock affair. The band's at its most powerful and convincing on the opening "The Poet and the Pendulum" (all 14 minutes of it), the dynamic "Bye Bye...
Mother Earth 2003 reissue of 2001 album includes four bonus tracks, 'Restless', 'The Dance' (Live at Utrecht 1998), 'Enter' (live at Utrecht 1998) & 'Bittersweet'. A landmark release that set new standards for creativity, musicianship, & taste. BMG.	Enter The goth-rock act's 1997 debut album features eight tracks. Rough Trade.	We Will Take You With Us	Quietus (Silent Reverie) 2-track single backed with the previously unreleased track 'Linger'. 2005.	The Silent Force 2004 album from the popular Dutch melodic/goth metal outfit. Picture CD with no cover artwork. 13 tracks. * Please note there are no liner notes included on this release, as intended by the label!

This is incredible.
Yes, it is very different from Epica's other songs, and I would have liked a little more vocals in this, but overall, it's absolutely fantastic and incredibly powerful, worthy of the classics.

The Music is great - Copy Protection is Annoying!!
This CD is a little different from other albums that Epica has put out, but it is a good listen in its own right. I actually quite enjoy this CD, and I would have rated it much higher EXCEPT I found after purchasing that it is Copy Controlled and cannot be ripped onto the computer (which I use as my stereo) and you cannot make a copy of this CD (I like to copy my music to protect the original CD from my own clumsiness). I always prefer to purchase an album for my CD library, and that way I have the lovely artwork and the nice jewel case. Burning a spare copy is important, however, as I like to protect my purchases and ensure that the item I buy stays as new as possible for as long as possible, especially when it's a relatively expensive import CD. I would have thought twice about purchasing this CD if I had known that it is "Copy Controlled", and I just wanted to warn other potential buyers out there of this irksome little feature. Music = thumbs up Copy Protection = thumbs waaaay down

Art has no limits
If you listen to classical compositions like Wagner's "Der Fliegende Holländer", Stravinski's "Firebird Suite", or Tchaikowsky's "1812", you'll find great orchestations with an epic feeling, and there was no movies or video games as we know them by then. they are just what they are, the vision of an artist expressed with sounds. And that's exactly what this disc is all about: The vision of Mark Jansen and his fellow musicians, expressed in a new, different way. This work is something completely different from their previous works, and as such, it can't be watched with the same glasses. This is more in the lines of Midnight Syndicate's Dungeons & Dragons RPG Soundtrack, with synthesized orchestrations and an epic, adventurous feeling in it. As the disc title says, it's an epic journey through the vast empire of the imagination, with the score as your guide. Pieces like "Unholy Trinity" and "The Valley" bring to your mind images of inmense battlefields an heroic acts of brave warriors, while others like "Empty Gaze" and "The Alleged Paradigm" take you to the deepest of the heroes' hearts, feeling their fear, their sorrows, and their desire to put an end to it. Yes, it's true, it's completely different from "The Phantom Agony" or "Consign to Oblivion", but that doesn't mean it's bad, does it? Each artist has a need to express his feelings and ideas, and it's up to him to choose his means to do that. A piece of advice for everyone: When writing a review, about anything, judge it by itself, not by comparing apples with oranges.

Good Stuff
I would give it about 3 and a half stars but wouldn't let me. This album is completely different from anything else Epica has done. There is no metal in it. It is completely classical/film music. It is really boring to listen to by itself for this reason. It sounds like something you would have in the background of a video game or a film. For that reason alone (that it is very boring to listen to by itself) it will probably not be well enjoyed by the public exept for a few. Having said that, given the genre of music they are doing it is pretty well composed. I would only suggest to buy this album if you are interested in using music for a film or video game or else if you are a fan of classical music or some sort of background music.

What happen with this ever wonderful?
I have all previous disc of Epica, all perfects, all the best... Until NOW!... this disc, have no more the perfect balance between voice and music.. Consign of Oblivion is the best of all, but this new "The Score", some thing is missing... Expect soon correct this "error" and let us enjoy more of the Epica... and the perfect armony of the voices with in... The best of this album: Quietus and Trois Vierges, is best the version original, but this is a good version.