Letters from the Labyrinth
{{Infobox album
| name = Letters from the Labyrinth
| type = studio
| artist = Trans-Siberian Orchestra
| cover = Letters From the Labyrinth.jpg
| alt =
| released = November 13, 2015
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = {{flat list|
}}
| length = 52:08
| label = Republic Records
| producer = {{flat list|
- Paul O'Neill
- Dave Wittman
}}
| prev_title = Tales of Winter: Selections from the TSO Rock Operas
| prev_year = 2013
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
Letters from the Labyrinth is the sixth studio album by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It was released on November 13, 2015. The album is a collection of songs and stories. The stories being a nod to their previous full album Night Castle, using the stories written by the protagonist. The album reached #7 on the Billboard 200 album chart and #1 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart.{{cite web | url = http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6776982/trans-siberian-orchestra-jeff-lynnes-elo-top-rock-albums | title = Trans-Siberian Orchestra & Jeff Lynne's ELO Debut on Top Rock Albums Chart | last = Rutherford | first = Kevin | date = 24 November 2015 | website = Billboard | access-date = 29 November 2015 | archive-date = 28 November 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151128003920/http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6776982/trans-siberian-orchestra-jeff-lynnes-elo-top-rock-albums | url-status = live }} This album was the last for TSO members Paul O'Neill, David Zablidowsky, and Vitalij Kuprij before their deaths. O’Neill and Zablidowsky died in 2017, and Kuprij died in 2024.
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = CCM Magazine
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |first=Andy |last=Argyrakis |title=Trans-Siberian Orchestra – ‘Letters From The Labyrinth’ album review |url=http://www.ccmmagazine.com/reviews/trans-siberian-orchestra-letters-from-the-labyrinth-album-review/ |journal=CCM Magazine |accessdate=December 17, 2015 |date=December 16, 2015}}
| rev2 = Omaha World-Herald
| rev2Score = {{Rating|2|4}}{{cite web |first=Kevin |last=Coffey |title=Review: Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 'Letters From the Labyrinth' |url=http://www.omaha.com/go/review-trans-siberian-orchestra-s-letters-from-the-labyrinth/article_091a8b15-96fa-5682-a235-00a6e63667df.html |journal=Omaha World-Herald |accessdate=December 18, 2015 |date=November 12, 2015}}
| rev3 = Grande Rock
}}
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." 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." 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
{{track listing
| total_length = 56:20
| extra_column = Vocals
| title1 = Time and Distance (The Dash)
| length1 = 3:44
| writer1 = Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva
| title2 = Madness of Men
| note2 = instrumental
| length2 = 4:10
| writer2 = Ludwig van Beethoven, Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva
| title3 = Prometheus
| extra3 = Jeff Scott Soto
| length3 = 3:39
| writer3 = Ludwig van Beethoven, Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva
| title4 = Mountain Labyrinth
| note4 = instrumental
| length4 = 3:15
| writer4 = Modest Mussorgsky, Paul O'Neill
| title5 = King Rurik
| note5 = instrumental
| length5 = 3:11
| writer5 = Paul O'Neill, Vitalij Kuprij
| title6 = Prince Igor
| note6 = instrumental
| length6 = 3:04
| writer6 = Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin, Alexander Glazunov, Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva
| title7 = The Night Conceives
| extra7 = Kayla Reeves
| length7 = 3:38
| writer7 = Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva
| title8 = Forget About the Blame (Sun Version)
| note8 = Johnny Green remake
| extra8 = Robin Borneman
| length8 = 4:15
| writer8 = Johnny Green
| title9 = Not Dead Yet
| extra9 = Russell Allen
| length9 = 3:28
| writer9 = Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva
| title10 = Past Tomorrow
| extra10 = Jennifer Cella
| length10 = 3:20
| writer10 = Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva
| title11 = Stay
| note11 = Savatage remake
| extra11 = Adrienne Warren
| length11 = 2:57
| writer11 = Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva
| title12 = Not the Same
| extra12 = Kayla Reeves
| length12 = 3:41
| writer12 = Paul O'Neill, Ireland O'Neill
| title13 = Who I Am
| length13 = 2:49
| writer13 = Paul O'Neill
| title14 = Lullaby Night
| length14 = 2:44
| note14 = instrumental
| writer14 = Johann Sebastian Bach, Paul O'Neill
| title15 = Forget About the Blame" (Moon Version)
| note15 = Johnny Green remake
| extra15 = Lzzy Hale
| length15 = 4:16
| writer15 = Johnny Green
| title16 = A Mad Russian's Christmas (Live)
| note16 = Amazon Bonus Track
| length16 = 3:58
| writer16 = Paul O'Neill
}}
Personnel
- Paul O'Neill - producer
- Dave Wittman - co-producer, recording & mix engineer
- BJ Ramone - assistant engineer
- Jon Tucker - additional assistant engineer
- A&R - Jason Flom, Ryan Silva
= Performers =
==Band==
- Paul O'Neill - guitars
- Jon Oliva - keyboards, guitars, bass
- Al Pitrelli - lead/rhythm guitars
- Luci Butler - keyboards
- Chris Caffery - guitars
- Roddy Chong - violin
- Angus Clark - guitars
- Mee Eun Kim - keyboards
- Vitalij Kuprij - keyboards
- Jane Mangini - keyboards
- Derek Weiland - keyboards
- Asha Mevlana - violin
- Johnny Lee Middleton - bass
- John O. Reilly - drums
- Jeff Plate - drums
- David Zablidowsky - bass
- Dave Wittman - additional guitar, bass, drums
==Background vocals==
- "Forget About the Blame" - Lucille Jacobs, Minnie W. Leonard, Keith Jacobs
- "Who I Am" - Danielle Sample, Erika Jerry, Chloe Lowery, Dari Mahnic, Bart Shatto, Andrew Ross, John Brink, Natalya Piette, Jodi Katz, James Lewis, Georgia Napolitano, Tim Hockenberry
- "Time and Distance (The Dash)" - Danielle Sample, Chloe Lowery, Ava Davis, Kayla Reeves, Adrienne Warren, Andrew Ross, Chris Pinnella, Rob Evan, Parker Sipes, Phillip Brandon, Dustin Brayley, April Berry, Autumn Guzzardi
==Strings==
- Roddy Chong
- Asha Mevlana
- Lowell Adams
- Nancy Chang
- Lei Liu
==Horns==
- Jon Tucker (leader)
- Kenneth Brantley
- Jay Coble
- Ashby Wilkins
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (2015)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| {{album chart|BillboardCanada|15|artist=Trans-Siberian Orchestra|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 24, 2015}} |
| {{album chart|Billboard200|7|artist=Trans-Siberian Orchestra|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 24, 2015}} |
| {{album chart|BillboardRock|1|artist=Trans-Siberian Orchestra|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 29, 2020}} |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (2016)
! scope="col"| Position |
|---|
| scope="row"| US Billboard 200{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2016/top-billboard-200-albums|title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2016|work=Billboard|accessdate=August 29, 2020|archive-date=December 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211152832/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2016/top-billboard-200-albums|url-status=live}}
| 196 |
| scope="row"| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard){{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2016/top-rock-albums|title=Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2016|work=Billboard|accessdate=August 29, 2020|archive-date=April 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411210853/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2016/top-rock-albums|url-status=live}}
| 17 |
{{col-end}}
References
External links
- [http://www.trans-siberian.com/ Official Site]
- [http://www.newmoses.org/clement-kuehn.html Latin Mentor for Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Dr. Clement Kuehn]
{{Trans-Siberian Orchestra}}
{{Authority control}}