BUY THESE DISCOUNTED RELEASES

Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. II: Scenes From a Memory

 

	RELEASED: October 26 1999 PRODUCER:John Petrucci & Mike Portnoy LABEL:Elektra Records BAND:James LaBrie Jordan Rudess John Myung John Petrucci Mike Portnoy
+ Fantastic composition, Peerless musicianship, Jordan Rudess on board - Must listen as a whole album for it to make sense, Somewhat hard to get into on the 1st listen	TRACKS: 1.Scene One: Regression 2.Scene Two: I. Overture 1928 3.Scene Two: II. Strange Deja Vu Scene 4.Three: I. Through My Words Scene 5.Three: II. Fatal Tragedy 6.Scene Four: Beyond This Life 7.Scene Five: Through Her Eye 8.Scene Six: Home 9.Scene Seven: I. The Dance of Eternity 10.Scene Seven: II. One Last Time 11.Scene Eight: The Spirit Carries On 12.Scene Nine: Finally Free

 

OVERVIEW

Talk about a rock opera. I still don’t get the plot on this one. I can tell you that there’s murder, betrayal, some weird spirits-and-souls-inhabiting-other-people’s-bodies-in-different-times gobbledygook, and…oh yeah, a hypnotist. In other words, all the ingredients for a rollickingly demented good time in concept-album heaven.
            All joking aside, this is one of those albums you need to listen to beginning to end to truly understand how dense it is. Some of the songs stand well on their own, but it’s like listening to one song from Phantom of the Opera.  Is it good?  Sure.  But is it as good as it would be in the context it was originally in?  Will it mean as much?  Of course not.
            Petrucci and the gang are also writing some of their most compositionally complex music they’d written to date, and what invariably steals the spotlight on this record is new kid on the block Jordan Rudess. Now Kevin Moore was an excellent keyboard player. But there’s a reason he got replaced; Rudess simply annihilates any and all competition on the keyboards. There’s a reason Petrucci and Co. tried for years to steal this dude from the Dixie Dregs. Like always, the rest of the band puts on a spectacular exhibition of talent while simultaneously spinning a tale that takes multiple listens to really unpack, and even then, you probably still won’t get some of it.

SONGS

Going song by song on this album is a little weird because all the tracks are supposed to flow together into a story, but here goes. “Regression” is where Nicholas begins his hypnotic trance, and his memories begin flooding back through “Overture 1928” and “Strange Déjà vu”.  After the short keyboard interlude of “Through My Words”, the schizophrenic “Fatal Tragedy” kicks in with some of DT’s more out-there composition and one of the sickest guitar-keyboard battles I’ve ever heard.  That alone is worth the price of this CD.  Seriously.
            “Beyond This Life” is the band’s first foray into 10-minute plus territory on this record, but if anyone can write a long song, it’s Dream Theater, and the 5/4 romp at the beginning eventually gives way to quite a few details on the murder in question.  “Through Her Eyes” is a fantastic slow piano/synth ballad that almost seems made for radio, but I hesitate to say that because it’s so much better than just about all of the crap on the radio these days.  But I digress.  “Home” takes the title for longest track on the record at 12:53, but, like most Dream Theater, holds its own throughout the entire song and is probably one of the best-composed songs on the record, which says quite a lot.  “The Dance of Eternity” is another instrumental and one that will certainly give you rhythm junkies headaches for days.  “One Last Time” is basically the signal that the epic journey is coming to a close, but not before “The Spirit Carries On” provides some closure and finds Nicholas somewhat assured that he knows what’s going on and accepts it.  The story concludes with the 12-minute “Finally Free”, which finds him snapping out of his trance, only to have the events of the hypnotist’s session swirling in his head in a sort of memory soup.  What we’re supposed to get out of that, I’m not exactly sure, but it’s one of the most effective endings I’ve heard on CD.

CONCLUSION

Ok, so you’ll probably come away from this CD more confused than when you started as far as the plot line goes.  But isn’t that what great concept albums are supposed to do?  This is definitely not a casual listen, but if you’re looking for musical virtuosity, composition that’s equal to none these days, and a storyline that will keep you engrossed time after time, you can’t lose with this album.

Review by Matt Rewinski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All images, logos, and pictures are trademarks or registered trademarks of Saviours Of Rock or their respective owners, and are protected by copyright laws in the USA, Australia and other countries.  Except as required for normal use by a viewer of this web-site, nothing pertaining to this web-site or  its contents may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or  by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written consent of Saviours Of Rock or its respective owner.

Copyright ©2006 Saviours Of Rock TM. All Rights Reserved.