Search - After Forever :: Mea Culpa

Warning!

John P. Kelley | San Diego, CA United States | 12/19/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Since I found no evidence of this by reading the description here on Amazon, let me warn you. This 2-disc set is protected by one of Sony's "Copy Protection Schemes." Now some of you may not care, but I want to be able to listen to the damn thing at work, home, or in my truck without needing anyone's permission to do so, and in a format of my choosing. This truly sets me off, because even if I was willing to overlook the issue of not being able to rip the thing into an mp3 format for my mp3 player, my truck stereo won't even read the damn disc!!!



Understand this, every song on here may be awesome, but I couldn't tell you since I can't listen to the damn thing! (I refuse to let Sony install their crap on my computers, and after the stunt they pulled earlier this year, do you blame me?) I'm hoping my home stereo can read it.



Yes, the software will let you copy it to an iPod, but only to the iPod itself, not to iTunes. (So if you don't bring your iPod or the CDs themselves with you, no listening for you! Gotta love the digital age.) And yes, it will copy a DRM version of the files (in .wma format only) onto your hard drive, but not unless you install Sony's software. (Which it doesn't ever mention to you, by the way.) Bogus.



Yes, these are all things that can be dealt with, but they are things I shouldn't have to deal with at $30+ I paid for the set. (Considering I could have pirated it for free, and gotten it exactly how I wanted it.)"

Great product

Julia S. | Los Angeles, CA | 11/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not sure what kind of problems the other reviewers had with this product, but I had no problem ripping it on my PC and then uploading it on my Zune. Everything works and plays great."

My Fault

rocksnstars | Tolland, CT United States | 03/27/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My fault is the translation of mea culpa, which is why it is sometimes used in the context of "I'm sorry." Normally I would not review a "best of" CD, and especially this one based on the reasoning of the review by Mr. Kelly; however, I have decided that there are a few things I want to say about it, so, mea culpa.



I wanted a sample of all of After Forever's works, and I ordered this item without noticing the single review which gave it one star, for a good reason, but a reason that has nothing to do with the music itself. Luckily, I had no problem using the CD for my purposes, which are limited to listening to it on my Walkman or car player. Therefore, my review is in regard to the music only.



The rating is an average of 5 stars (I'd give it more if I could) for Disk 1 and 3 stars for Disk 2. The insert states that Disk 1 covers the time that Mark Jansen was part of the group. I don't know if Mark's influence is the reason, but I like the songs of Disk 1 much better. Included are five songs each from Prison of Desire (which I have subsequently purchased) and from Decipher (which I previously owned), plus four other tracks from non-album sources. Not all of the album tracks are the same as the original - for instance Mea Culpa is beautifully done a cappella - but all are excellent, as are the non-album ones, especially the last, Who Wants to Live Forever. Of all the CD's I have, this Disk 1 is my favorite, but since it is a compilation of music from various sources, it cannot be fairly compared to stand alone works and is therefore not in my top five list.



All I'm going to say about Disk 2 is that it is OK. I have some suspicion that the difference in sound is due to Mark Jansen leaving, because his current group, Epica, has the sound of the first two After Forever albums. I'm hoping their (After Forever's new album, due out soon, sounds more like the good old days. I'm sure there are some of you who will disagree, maybe many (maybe all?), but that is the good thing about music: there is something for everyone! (Please see my profile for a brief discussion of my rating philosophy.)



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