Dream Theater 2005.
My son is very graciously slipping me one or two CDs for reviewing every now and then.
A mutually pleasurable experience, as I get to hear the stuff that makes him tick and he gets to read some of my honest feedback on it.
And so we come to Dream Theater.
I wiki-ed this group the other day and discovered they've been around, and pretty darn stable as a group, since 1985!! (AND the founding trio are all ex-Berklee Music school.)
Their style is perhaps easiest described as prog metal - definitely the large-scale structures of prog, and also at times the fast and furious elements of metal.
They do not do short songs - a compilation of theirs was called "Greatest Hit"...and many of their songs, including the title track of this disc, stretch to at least 20 minutes.
Points of comparison therefore with Rush (though I don't know enough about Rush myself), Yes (much more accessible than Yes - straightforward lyrics, and also a bit more continuity of thought throughout the song) and Pink Floyd...in fact Octavarium the song begins with a very Floydy sound, a la Crazy Diamond...
Because the lyrics are direct, the emotional power carries more directly.
And there are some songs to really warm to, in ways that it is difficult to do with Yes (easy to admire, not necessarily to connect with emotionally).
Favourites include I Walk Beside You, Panic Attack and Octavarium.
As to the instrumental playing - wow!
A good one to use as an intro to the Dream Theater catalogue.
10/10.
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