Letters From the Labyrinth

Letters From the Labyrinth
Studio album by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Released November 13, 2015
Genre Symphonic metal, progressive metal, neoclassical metal
Length 52:08
Label Republic Records
Producer Paul O'Neill, Dave Wittman
Trans-Siberian Orchestra chronology
Tales of Winter: Selections from the TSO Rock Operas
(2013)		 Letters From the Labyrinth
(2015)

Letters From the Labyrinth is the sixth album by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It was released on November 13, 2015. It is the band's first album since Night Castle in 2009. Unlike TSO's previous albums, Letters from the Labyrinth is not a rock opera, but rather a collection of songs on various subjects including bullying, banking, and the Berlin Wall.[1] The album reached #7 on the Billboard 200 album chart and #1 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart.[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
CCM Magazine[3]
Omaha World-Herald[4]
Grande Rock[5]


Awarding the album four stars at CCM Magazine, Matt Conner states, "Indeed, it’s a tall order to educate, enlighten and entertain all at the same time, but TSO effortlessly passes the test, and in the process, turns in one of its most ambitious and gratifying works to date."[3] Kevin Coffey, giving the album two stars out of four from Omaha World-Herald, writes, "It’s amazing and technical playing that’s sure to impress any fan of precise progressive rock. But it’s also a little tedious. All those ever-present solos and precise melodies kind of blend together song after song. And I question why studio recordings would have so many synthesizers replicating strings and grand pianos when surely, with this band as successful as it is, they could have used real musicians. According to the liner notes, they did, but it’s hard to pick out the real players from the synthesized sections. The best performance on the record comes from Halestorm lead singer Lzzy Hale, who sings on a version of “Forget About the Blame.” Unfortunately, her talents are wasted on an extremely repetitive metal ballad. Your enjoyment of this album will probably depend on your overall enjoyment of the band in general...If you dig their rock opera style and hair metal music, you’ll be into this...But don’t buy this looking for another Christmas favorite."[4] Rockavlon awarded the album 4.5 stars out of 10 from Grande-Rock.com, writes, "A half-baked attempt at music theater by stitching together a lot of classical pieces and writing some rather uneventful in between parts to create a semblance of a plot… I’d rather listen to the original classics."

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Vocals Length
1. "Time and Distance (The Dash)"  Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva  3:44
2. "Madness of Men" (instrumental)Ludwig van Beethoven, Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva  4:10
3. "Prometheus"  Ludwig van Beethoven, Paul O'Neill, Jon OlivaJeff Scott Soto 3:39
4. "Mountain Labyrinth" (instrumental)Modest Mussorgsky, Paul O'Neill  3:15
5. "King Rurik" (instrumental)Paul O'Neill, Vitalij Kuprij  3:31
6. "Prince Igor" (instrumental)Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin, Alexander Glazunov, Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva  3:04
7. "The Night Conceives"  Paul O'Neill, Jon OlivaKayla Reeves 3:38
8. "Forget About the Blame (Sun Version)" (Johnny Green remake)Johnny GreenRobin Borneman 4:15
9. "Not Dead Yet"  Paul O'Neill, Jon OlivaRussell Allen 3:28
10. "Past Tomorrow"  Paul O'Neill, Jon OlivaJennifer Cella 3:22
11. "Stay" (Savatage remake)Paul O'Neill, Jon OlivaAdrienne Warren 2:58
12. "Not The Same"  Paul O'Neill, Ireland O'NeillKayla Reeves 3:41
13. "Who I Am"  Paul O'Neill  2:49
14. "Lullaby Night" (instrumental)Johann Sebastian Bach, Paul O'Neill  2:44
15. "Forget About the Blame" (Moon Version)" (Johnny Green remake)Johnny GreenLzzy Hale 4:15
16. "A Mad Russian's Christmas (Live)" (Amazon Bonus Track)Paul O'Neill  3:58
Total length:
 56:20

Personnel

Performers

Band

Background Vocals

Strings

Horns

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[6] 15
US Billboard 200[7] 7

References

[8] [9]

  1. ↑ Graff, Gary (30 October 2015). "Trans-Siberian Orchestra Teams With Lzzy Hale on the Hard-Driving Song 'Forget About the Blame'". Billboard. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Rutherford, Kevin (24 November 2015). "Trans-Siberian Orchestra & Jeff Lynne's ELO Debut on Top Rock Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 Argyrakis, Andy (December 16, 2015). "Trans-Siberian Orchestra – ‘Letters From The Labyrinth’ album review". CCM Magazine. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Coffey, Kevin (November 12, 2015). "Review: Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 'Letters From the Labyrinth'". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  5. ↑ Rockavlon (November 24, 2015). "Review: Trans-Siberian Orchestra 'Letters From the Labyrinth'". Grande-Rock.com. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  8. ↑ Trans-Siberian Orchestra. "Letters From The Labyrinth". Amazon.
  9. ↑ Trans-Siberian Orchestra. "Night Castle". Retrieved 11 October 2015.

External links

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