The Gathering - Sleepy Buildings

I have been a fan of Lacuna Coil for a few years so I was aware of The Gathering. People on the LC mailing list, Amazon.com, etc. were recommending The Gathering if you liked LC. I gave them a listen but I wasn't impressed so I didn't pursue them. Fast forward to a few months ago and an MP3 from their (then) upcoming live album is posted on the web. I give them another try and this time I am interested. That album, Sleepy Buildings, is released, I pick it up, and now I am very interested. This recording really grabs me so the question is: what happened when I listened to them before? Well, I've gone back and listened to those samples again and the answer is: I'm not sure. Maybe I was so intent on comparing them to Lacuna Coil that I couldn't hear them on their own terms. Maybe the style of this album (it's sub-titled "A Semi Acoustic Evening") suits them better than the previous albums. Maybe the poor-quality samples at Amazon messed with my ears. Who knows? I'll keep trying them out but in the meantime we have this very good album. Listen to Saturnine and Locked Away to hear for yourself.