Love is the Dance of Eternity (Images And Words - Dream Theater)

Name: Frankingsteins

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	Images And Words - Dream Theater
Date:	28/08/04 (692 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Complex and melodic, Some more accessible tracks, Longer epics and shorter ballads and anthems

Disadvantages: Not too diverse, Not for every mood or taste

The sophisticated and enchanting music of New York’s Dream Theater hangs on the precipice of my patience when it comes to music meeting art: the band’s self-styled progressive metal sound has been in constant evolution since this 1992 debut, but for all the bombastic overblown intricacies and contrasting simplicity of some of their later albums, ‘Images and Words’ remains their most popular and enjoyable offering, with the perfect balance of song styles acting as an excellent introduction to a very interesting and worthwhile band.


STYLE


Dream Theater was:

James LaBrie – vocals
John Petrucci – guitars
John Myung – bass
Mike Portnoy – drums
Kevin Moore – keyboards

Dream Theater’s influences from progressive rock bands of the seventies and eighties are equalled by their obvious inspiration from more traditional metal bands and classical composers, although in many ways this album sounds like a more refined sequel to Queensryche’s 1988 classic ‘Operation: Mindcrime.’ James LaBrie’s operatically-trained vocals may take some to get used to, but his high notes suit the excellently crafted music perfectly and express all the emotions necessary in the softer songs. He is a talented and exceptional vocalist who really adds to the experience, and has sadly departed the band since.

The music is difficult to describe or relate, but this is essentially quite complex and layered music following traditional structures. Each song contains verses, rousing choruses and instrumental sections that won’t alienate any casual listeners, but some of the deeper, experimental tracks may do just that. There is still plenty of guitar noodling and riffing for those who like their heavy metal more straight. At first I found the use of horn sections and orchestration a little distracting, but now these only add to the musical experience of the album.


TRACKS


1. Pull Me Under
2. Another Day
3. Take the Time
4. Surrounded
5. Metropolis part 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper
6. Under a Glass Moon
7. Wait for Sleep
8. Learning to Live


The eight tracks listed on this album indicate its progressive nature quite well; they certainly like to indulge in lengthier offerings, but some tracks have been kept at ‘radio length’ for more easy listening. Some songs are more memorable than others, but this is an album that can only really become familiar after a large number of listens. None of the songs are particularly fast, and there is a general relaxed and melancholy feel to the whole thing.

PULL ME UNDER is a strong opener, although I find the chorus a little repetitive. There is nothing too grand about this track to alienate listeners, and it features some excellent guitar parts. TAKE THE TIME follows a similar style but is more lengthy and keyboard-based, but both of these tracks could easily be contenders for metal anthem collections.

The other accessible songs on the album are those based on acoustics, in the form of ANOTHER DAY and SURROUNDED. Occurring in the first half of the album before it becomes more involving and technical, these are both tracks that can be enjoyed by a wide variety of rock fans: Another Day’s high vocals are enchanting, while the funky drum and keyboard sections of Surrounded make it, surprisingly, one of the highlights for me. There is certainly no filler on this album, and LaBrie’s vocals are at their very best here.

The full, grandiose title of METROPOLIS PART 1 makes it an obvious contender for prog epic of the album, and once it has been listened to sufficiently it can be appreciated as something of a musical masterpiece. Not a song to listen to on any occasion though, although the record company refused the band permission to make it an instrumental for fear of alienating even more listeners. This is basically Dream Theater Plus, utilising every song style, instrument and innovation of the album and recreating it as an exhausting but satisfying nine minute song with a great chorus and some fantastic guitars and keyboards throughout. Maybe one of my favourites, but it’s quite hard to say.

UNDER A GLASS MOON and WAIT FOR SLEEP are less impressive after the fun and complex songs but are still valid tracks, even if they do sound less original. There is a great guitar solo on Glass Moon, but aside from that the vocals and riffs sound similar to what’s come before. Wait for Sleep is another good ballad song, with great piano work, but again isn’t up to the standard of the more emotional tracks two and four, not that this really matters. This is also essentially a short filler before the final epic track, LEARNING TO LIVE. Very long, very complex and very enjoyable, this nevertheless feels a little similar to Metropolis, and is overshadowed by the band’s later epic to end all epics, ‘A Change of Seasons.’


VERDICT


Not a band for everyone, but Images and Words provide a melodic and engrossing listen that can be enjoyed many times. The band’s later albums all follow slightly different styles and have been quite disappointing in recent years, but Images and Words has an excellent early nineties rock sound with some impressive ballads to boot. Some fans see the production quality of this album as a little disappointing, but I love the way the instruments and vocals sound on here; this is a modern rock classic. The lyrics are all meaningful and often a little strange, which is nice.

Dream Theater are pretty unique, but the progressive metal genre that they spearheaded has produced some equally interesting bands. New Jersey’s Symphony X have a heavier and more classically influenced sound, while pretty much every European power metal band shows traces of ‘Theatre and Queensryche. Fans of earlier progressive rock won’t necessarily like Dream Theater, but Yes fans might as well give it a try.

Summary: