DREAM THEATER - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
1. The Glass Prison
2. Blind Faith
3. Misunderstood
4. The Great Debate
5. Disappear
Disc 2 - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
6. pt.1 - Overture
7. pt. 2 - About To Crash
8. pt.3 - War Inside My Head
9. pt.4 - The Test That Stumped Them All
10. pt.5 - Goodnight Kiss
11. pt.6 - Solitary Shell
12. pt.7 - About to Crash (Reprise)
13. pt.8 - Losing Time/Grand Finale
Label: Elektra/WEA
Release date: 2002
Artist site: http://www.dreamtheater.net/
GRADE:
9/10
Totaling almost 100 minutes, Dream Theaters 2 cd set, Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence, is an ambitious accomplishment, both musically and lyrically. Produced by Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, mixed by Kevin Shirley, this opus of epic proportions brings it all to the table, and sees Dream Theater really at the top of their game again.
Album opener The Glass Prison showcases the band in heavy mode, Jordan Rudess finger work on the keys absolutely stunning, particularly during the first part Reflection. In fact, the album as a whole seems to find the band in a heavier frame of mind, with more emphasis on the guitars, foundation grooves and extremely involved drumming, hence the term lead drums used by Portnoy.
Misunderstood starts with a melody that is very reminiscent of Led Zeppelins Ten Years Gone, and leads into a very powerful song, strong chorus, excellent lyrics by Petrucci. And the backward soloing sounds wicked!
Getting back to Petruccis lyrics for a moment, they really impressed me on this release. One of my favorites would be The Great Debate, dealing with the politics of cloning and stem cell research. The sound bites found throughout the song are really interesting as well, and the aforementioned heavy factor is definitely prevalent on this one. I guess you could say that this track would be my favorite, great vocals, guitars, song structure, its all here.
The title track, which is presented on disc two, is an eight part epic totaling forty two minutes and four seconds, which can be listened to on a track by track basis (I love when bands do that!!). The Overture brings to mind Savatage, Symphony X, classic old school Dream Theater and whatnot, a very classically inspired, moving piece. About To Crash has some really nice piano bits and more excellent vocals from Labrie. Part 3: War Inside My Head, is another great example of the heavy side of the Theater, dark keyboards, killer guitar riffs. One of my personal highlights of the title track is Part 5: Goodnight Kiss, very Pink Floyd like, dreamy, providing a looser moment within the insanity. It also has probably my favorite guitar solo on the entire 2 cd set, leading into the very Yes inspired intro of Solitary Shell, another standout track alone or within the context of the entire title track. Bringing us around to the grand finale, and what a journey it has been!
PJ
1. The Glass Prison
2. Blind Faith
3. Misunderstood
4. The Great Debate
5. Disappear
Disc 2 - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
6. pt.1 - Overture
7. pt. 2 - About To Crash
8. pt.3 - War Inside My Head
9. pt.4 - The Test That Stumped Them All
10. pt.5 - Goodnight Kiss
11. pt.6 - Solitary Shell
12. pt.7 - About to Crash (Reprise)
13. pt.8 - Losing Time/Grand Finale
Label: Elektra/WEA
Release date: 2002
Artist site: http://www.dreamtheater.net/
GRADE:
9/10
Totaling almost 100 minutes, Dream Theaters 2 cd set, Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence, is an ambitious accomplishment, both musically and lyrically. Produced by Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, mixed by Kevin Shirley, this opus of epic proportions brings it all to the table, and sees Dream Theater really at the top of their game again.
Album opener The Glass Prison showcases the band in heavy mode, Jordan Rudess finger work on the keys absolutely stunning, particularly during the first part Reflection. In fact, the album as a whole seems to find the band in a heavier frame of mind, with more emphasis on the guitars, foundation grooves and extremely involved drumming, hence the term lead drums used by Portnoy.
Misunderstood starts with a melody that is very reminiscent of Led Zeppelins Ten Years Gone, and leads into a very powerful song, strong chorus, excellent lyrics by Petrucci. And the backward soloing sounds wicked!
Getting back to Petruccis lyrics for a moment, they really impressed me on this release. One of my favorites would be The Great Debate, dealing with the politics of cloning and stem cell research. The sound bites found throughout the song are really interesting as well, and the aforementioned heavy factor is definitely prevalent on this one. I guess you could say that this track would be my favorite, great vocals, guitars, song structure, its all here.
The title track, which is presented on disc two, is an eight part epic totaling forty two minutes and four seconds, which can be listened to on a track by track basis (I love when bands do that!!). The Overture brings to mind Savatage, Symphony X, classic old school Dream Theater and whatnot, a very classically inspired, moving piece. About To Crash has some really nice piano bits and more excellent vocals from Labrie. Part 3: War Inside My Head, is another great example of the heavy side of the Theater, dark keyboards, killer guitar riffs. One of my personal highlights of the title track is Part 5: Goodnight Kiss, very Pink Floyd like, dreamy, providing a looser moment within the insanity. It also has probably my favorite guitar solo on the entire 2 cd set, leading into the very Yes inspired intro of Solitary Shell, another standout track alone or within the context of the entire title track. Bringing us around to the grand finale, and what a journey it has been!
PJ
