Superior came around at a time when prog metal was gaining momentum. The genre wasn't flooded yet with copycats, and originality was still something to strive for. You basically had three schools of this blend going at the time: Fates Warning with its more gritty Iron Maiden styled approach; Dream Theater with its ultra technical yet slick displays of talent; and technical thrash as first introduced by Watchtower. It was this latter bunch that was all the rage in the late 80s and early 90s, which in retrospect is very surprising. But Dream Theater styled, not so much at the time.
Behind is a solid mix of tunes, with fat riffs and - dare I say - a superior vocalist. Keyboards are usually the simple piano with occasional synth. Not much in the way of showoffy instrumental work, the album is more about atmosphere and heaviness. And it's very catchy too. As the album went on, I was reminded more of Savatage on Hall of the Mountain King. Savatage is a borderline prog group, more being the pioneers of US power metal. But that's your storyline behind Superior.
Had this album come out in the last 25 years, I'd probably be less impressed, but as one of the originators it brings back memories for me of an exciting time of music progression.
Ownership: CD: 1995 private. Jewel case release with lyrics and recording details. This was another surprise for me. When I started adding my collection to Discogs in 2016, this CD wasn't in there. In fact, it was listed as from 1996 and the primary was on T&T. I purchased this from Dream Disc real time in '95 (and the disc face shows a 95 date). I've been lazy in not adding photos of it. I didn't realize at the time that Superior had self-financed their way originally.
1995; 10/16/14; 3/19/24 (new entry)
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