Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.

The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
Miles Beyond
Title
Miles Beyond
Type
LP/EP
Company
Independent
YOR
2004
Style
Traditional
2/27/2005 - Review by: Frank Hill
Miles Beyond - S\T - 2004 - Rock Revolution Records

Track Listing
Out of Control
Tales of Old
Miles Beyond
Take Me Back Home
Vlad the Impaler
Still Strong
The Spaniard
Hail To The King
Rock Revolution
Stowaway
Crazy Horse
A Call To Odin
I have to say that this CD may have the worst cover I've ever seen. I have no idea what it is or even how to describe it. It looks like a pen drawing of a depressed Lovecraft beast done on some dudes High School notebook with the empty spaces filled in with odd patterns. It's damn schizophenic, anyway. You really have know idea what to expect from the music within looking at it. Thankfully, the music inside is more recognizable.

Miles Beyond has the classic/traditional metal sound with cutting, treble-high guitars, lead melodies and a sound that is closer to Maiden than about any other band from the era. Tim Moody's voice is is strong and solid mid-range with the right intensity for this style.

"Out of Control" and "Take Me Back Home" kicks the CD in high gear covering the more commercialized Maiden sound ala 'Wasted Years' and "A Call To Odin" smokes. The second number with its ascending/decending riffs is predictable and the title track was just too self-referencing to get me going. Maybe at a show it would work, but on record it's as corney as Manowar's worst. Besides those, it's basically hit and miss with some sophomoric songwriting ("Your head is pounding and your ears bleed/We see we've planted our Metal seed"), generic melodies and way too many 'historical figure' songs.

In its early days, Maiden was pretty inventive with their song structures, but when MB branches out in sound they lose me. When kept to the basics--they cook.

A torch is carried by runners all across the world burning until it reaches the undying Olympic flame. For only being together for a couple of years Miles Beyond is too derivative of the older stuff to stand out and lead the pack, but they are great band to join in that relay of U.S. bands like Overlorde, Catch 22, Attacker, Skullview, October 31, Gods Of Fire and Aftershok that keep the traditional pyre of classic metal hot and feuled.

Score: 6.5 of 10


BAND:
Tim Moody - Guitars & Vocals
Paul O. - Guitars
Larry Moody - Bass
Tod Fisher - Drums

http://www.milesbeyond.net
  • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
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ALL REVIEWS FOR: MILES BEYOND
TITLE
DOR
COMPANY
REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
Miles Beyond
2004
Independent
Frank Hill2/27/2005
-

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