As they are apt to do, Zao tinkered with the formula again for the final full length release of new material for Solid State, "Parade of Chaos". "Parade" had a nu-metal feel, and even featured some singing (as did the self-titled album, however, that was during the non-hardcore parts, so it was less unexpected). Also shocking was the two techno instrumentals, one coming right at the end of the second track, and one track devoted completely to it. In general the album was a lot more listenable than the self-titled, however, still lacked the songwriting and passion to put it up there with "Blood and Fire" and "Liberate". For the most part, the songs are listenable and enjoyable. There are even a few great songs, namely "Free the Three".

Since then Zao, again, re-recorded "All Else Failed", only using their current line-up, and thus using their new sound. None of those songs made it onto the best-of, probably because the album was more of an afterthought while they were in the studio. I personally enjoy the re-recorded version better than the origional, however, most fans felt like they raped a classic and view it as being the move of money whores.

The untold story in that brief discography is the number of times Zao has officially broken up, break their fans hearts, only to rejoin a few months later (which is nice the first few times, then it becomes a drag. How many times can you beat a dead horse?). That, coupled with the inconsistancy of their past few releases, has made past fans wary. How many times will Zao break up this year? What will the new record hold? Should I even bother with the new album?

"That is all fine and dandy," you say, "However, how does this best-of do at stacking all of their best songs on one cd?"

"Legendary" doesn't do a bad job. There are only two big glaring omissions. First of all there is only one song representing "The Splinter Shards The Birth of Separation", which is a crime considering the wide influence in the Christian hardcore scene that album had. Many Zao fans still consider that Zao at their best. But to pour salt on injury, the song they pick from the album is one of the most boring hardcore songs ever. They definately could have picked a better song.

The second problem has to do with the picks from "Blood and Fire". While their masterpiece is represented by three songs, they somehow managed to ignore the best song on the album, "To Think Of You Is To Treasure An Absent Memory", which has one of the greatest builds in a hardcore song that I've experienced. I would have gladly traded "A Fall Farewell" for it. At least they included "Ravage Ritual", the second best track on the album.

Other than that, a minor qualm is including three songs from each "{Self-Titled}" and "Parade of Chaos". Especially when my previous two complaints are taken into consideration. I don't think anyone would have been disapointed if "The Race of Standing Still" had not been included. You can even leave off "Angel Without Wings", despite it being well known, just because it's the cheesiest hardcore song ever writen.