Dream Theater - Images and Words (Album Review)

Okay, so, where do I even begin with this album? Some people call it the very first Progressive Metal album ever made (something I don't agree with), others call it the greatest Progressive Metal album ever and the greatest album DT has ever and will ever made. Yes I'm talking about the mythical and groundbreaking Images and Words.



Ok, so first of all, this album has this messianic complex that we all love. This album was made during a really tough moment for Dream Theater. Their debut album "When A Dream And Day Unite" was a complete commercial failure but this wasn't really DT's fault, there were serious problems with the record label when it came to the management and distribution that WDADU had.

DT was basically ripped-off by its first label company which offered them a tour, a single and even a music video and we all know that at the end of the day they didn't get a thing. It was also in this moment when DT realized that Charles Dominici wasn't the right singer for them and they decided to "let him go". I love that phrase, "let him go" ,come on dudes, it sounds pretty but you fired him, say it like that.

That's something that I have always thought was kinda cruel, especially when you watch Charles Dominici's early basement interviews with DT and you can see that he has the DT logo tattooed on his arm, OH DAAAAMMMNN, that must have hurted; It's like tattooing the name of your ex-girlfriend... but a little bit cooler.

Miraculously they managed to find a new label and a new singer, the infamous James Labrie. Now, they were ready for their second album but I'm pretty sure  this was their last chance; I don't think that DT would have survived another failure.

New unknown label, new unknown singer, only one bullet left and... this thing came out

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300"] There was no time for pain, no energy for anger[/caption]

You know... just..one of the greatest albums of all time... it happens... it happens.

A lot of people call Images and Words the greatest album that DT has ever and will ever release, and I know that because I'm one of them.

Yes, for me, Images & Words is the greatest DT album ever, this album is just perfect in every way. There's nothing I have to complain about it, nothing! Every single second of music is perfect: poetical lyrics, beautiful melodies, technical compositions that are not from this world including a great number of the greatest guitar solos that you'll probably ever hear and an overwhelming emotional atmosphere ( we must to thank Kevin Moore for that, honestly).

There's only one other album that sometimes manages to battle my I&W preference, but it all depends in what kind of mood I am, but generally I&W is the one.

Every song of this album is a famous classic: Pull Me Under is probably the most famous progressive song ever, Under A Glass Moon is one of the greatest guitar composed songs of all time. The lyrics of the songs have also been memorable and analyzed through the years. Whether or not Metropolis is about Romulus and Remus, whether or not Wait For Sleep and Learning to Live are about HIV or about the struggle of fighting a mortal disease, whether or not Pull Me Under is really about Hamlet. There are a lot of interpretation of these songs that have risen over the years and that's because they wrote those lyrics in an amazing metaphorical but also literal aesthetical way.

I also think that this album has the greatest lyrics of any other DT album... well maybe except Awake. When it comes to lyrics I&W and Awake are in a complete tie for me. Awake lyrics are a little bit more literal but full of emotions and strong feelings.

Metropolis is my favourite DT song. Pull Me Under's guitar riff that starts at 4:03 is my second favourite guitar riff ever, only top by one of the final riffs that you can hear almost at the end of The Ivory Gate of Dreams by Fates Warning.

For me this album just represents the real and honest Dream Theater, this is not DT trying to copy or imitate other style, they started imitating bands like Iron Maiden and Rush but they soon evolve and here you can see a truly form style completely developed by them, a style that changed this whole genre and inspire many musicians to come. For me this is the real Dream Theater, every time that someone mentions DT; this! is the first album I think about and every time someone asks me about them I just say: Go and listen to I&W first! Because for me, that album is who they are, or well, who they really were.

I could talk about this album just on and on but I'm afraid all that I have left to say has already been said. Images & Words is just simply one of the greatest albums of all time (talking in general not only inside the genre), the greatest Dream Theater album, and a perfect candidate for the greatest Progressive Metal album of all time.

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Flying Colors (Album Review)

So, what do we have here, a project that just by the look of the cover seems interesting. Well let me tell you more about it, Flying Colors is a new superband created by Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy (geee these two working together?), the formation seems interesting and if you throw them together in a studio this is what you get.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="420"] I really loved the cover[/caption]

The Band consist in Steve Morse (guitarist and founder of Dixie Dregs), Neal Morse (who needs no introduction), Mike Portnoy (who we all know and sometimes love), David LaRue (also from Dixie Dregs, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci and another shit load of projects) and the new comer Casey McPherson, (who I didn't knew shit about).

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="142"] Nice, nice[/caption]

So yeah the cover is awesome, the line-up seems really interesting, but how is the actual album?

Well let's get into the real stuff.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="341"] How can I say this?[/caption]

For this I will give a little introduction about my experience listening to Neal Morse's music, and that is that: I don't like Neal Morse's music, I only like Transatlantic, and that's the only project of him that I really loved, Testimony, Testimony 2 and all of his other projects and solo albums I... just... don't... like...them. I don't know why, I don't like them , I don't hate his music but I just don't like it, I just don't think that his music is that good. And no, it's not because he makes Christian music, I think it's because his music is just too happy, cheerful ,mellow and one-dimensional for me, and I'm sorry but his lyrics are really REALLY cliché. His instrumental pieces are really good (for example in Sola Scriptura, if that album was only instrumental progressive music, it would be a masterpiece!) but I don't know, when he starts to sing, everything falls apart for me. And on top off that, I really don't like Neo-Progressive Rock, why? I honestly cannot answer you that, besides Marillion I don't like any Neo-Prog bands.

So with that little confession I just made, you're probably wondering that I completely hated this album and this project.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="299"] And the answer is: No[/caption]

I got to say that I like the album, is really interesting. A lot of styles, a lot of genres and a lot of good songs in just one album.

Now that I'm going to actually start the review of the album, there's another thing that I have to say: This is not a Progressive Rock album, if you're expecting good old Progressive Rock you are not going to find it here, the first song and the last song are the only ones that you could call them Progressive Rock, the rest of them are... let's call them Mixed Rock. It's interesting because the premise of this band was: "Neal Morse and a bunch of Progressive Rock masterminds with a Pop singer"  and I thought that was really interesting because I always thought that Neal Morse's music was kinda Pop-ish. So, in a way you can call this album Pop Rock, if you think that's too offensive you can call it Mixed Rock. I call it a Mixed Rock album because every song almost belongs to a different genre and that was the thing that I really like about the album.

Now let's get into the album.

1.- Blue Ocean: Classic Neal Morse prog song, happy, cheerful, mellow, with a high and catchy chorus and lyrics that are just Ok.

2.- Shoulda Coulda Woulda: Nice Hard Rock song, simple, with one strong solid riff and a good guitar  solo, and that's pretty much it.

3.- Kayla: This one starts with a little folk passage and then it becomes a happy rock ballad, the song is meeeh, the chorus is just too simple it could have been a great chorus but something was missing there.

4.- The Storm: This one is a great song, really effectively emotional, the chorus is really powerful and the singing is amazing, it would make a really good radio hit.

5.- Forever In a Daze: This one is really cool, good old Funk Rock, not a masterpiece but really cool thought.

6.- Love Is What I'm Waiting For: The first time that I hear this one, I was like, what the hell?, is this a Beatles cover?,  yeah, the first half is really Beatles-inspire, the second half is more pop rock oriented, with a really good guitar solo.

7.- Everything Changes: What the hell? a Coldplay cover? jejeje, no, but you can definitively hear the resemblance, later, the song sounds like a Dream Theater ballad, and for a moment as a classic Neal Morse ballad. It's a really good song.

8.- Better Than Walking Away: Again you can hear the heavy Coldplay resemblance here and the chorus is really Disney-Aladdin-Oriented.

9.- All Falls Down: We are getting into the Progressive Metal realm here, it sounds like mixture of Ayreon and Rhapsody of Fire.

10.- Fool In My Heart: Now we finally have it, Portnoy singing a song almost in it's entirely, why this doesn't surprise me at all. Overall it's a good blues mellow karaoke song.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="354"] There, there Portnoy, let it all out[/caption]

11.- Infinite Fire: And after all those genres, and after all those styles and mixtures  you have finally reached to: Progressive Rock. Amazing song. Powerful at the beginning, then it falls down a little bit for me in the chorus and in the first two verses but the bass is amazing here. And then in 4:40 we finally get into the real stuff, here you have Progressive Rock in flesh and blood, this passage is amazing, you can hear Genesis and can hear Yes all throw together, powerful, technical, emotional, perfect.  And finally a last ballad-Morse moment before the big eclectic finale.

And that's the album.

Overall a nice, decent, fun, solid Rock album, it's not a masterpiece and it's not going to completely blow your mind. But you're definitely going to enjoy it, it's a good listen from time to time.

I remember that someone was asking which was the best album for getting into Progressive Rock, and I have to say that this one is a good option, because technically is not Progressive Rock but it gives you a nice introduction to the genre.

These are a couple of song from the album.

The Storm



Forever In A Daze



Thanks for reading.

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Dream Theater: Mike Mangini and Thoughts for the New Album

So Mangini is the new drummer of DT, and honestly I think is easily the best choice, Mangini writes and develops his music in a very similar way than DT does,  so is going to be interesting hearing them with this new member. Of course Portnoy will be miss, and I'm pretty sure that is going to be a little weird at the beginning to listen to Dream Theater without Portnoy, but, hey, he made his choice, so what can you do about it, huh?.

[caption id="attachment_79" align="alignnone" width="300" caption=""The Mikes""][/caption]

And a part of myself feels that they really needed this change, I mean, let's face it, DT was completely stuck in this last few albums, Systematic Chaos, I personally didn't like it, I mean it was OK, but just OK, and c'mon this is Dream Theater you expect more than just another OK album. The follow-up was Black Clouds & Silver Linings, the first time that I listen to it, I thought it was really Great, but then, I listen to it a few more times, and I realize that ... it was just another OK album xD.

I mean, "A Nightmare To Remember", was OK, especially the slow harmonic part, but my GOD, why does Portnoy have to sing?, his singing really didn't bother me before, but in this song, is completely horrible "Day after day and Night after night..." WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SHIT?,

so yea, in conclusion, it is just another OK DT song.

"A Rite Of Passage" didn't like it, the lyrics are horrible, and Petrucci's guitar is surprisingly forgettable. "Wither" Great Song. "The Best Of Times" cool song, a little repetitive, but cool after all. "The Shattered Fortress"... I really don't know what to think about this song, is just all the other AA Suite Songs putted together and that's it. "The Count Of Tuscany" really cool epic,  especially the beginning and the end, but I really didn't like the middle part or the lyrics, but the instrumental section is really cool.

So yea... an OK album.

At that moment, I was really convinced that, DT was never going to release another huge masterpiece like I&W or Scenes, and then I finally realize: "They don't need to make a new masterpiece, they are already at the top of the world, they no longer need to prove anything to anyone so, I guess, they are going to continue making some cool solid music (OK albums), until they retire... I mean that's OK... why not?"

But then Portnoy left, DT was completely upside down, so many people died, and they had to start from the beginning all over again. Dream Theater "The Gods Of Progressive Metal" were in a real crisis.

But they have found a new cool drummer, and already finishing the new album (I hope, I mean is already May and they have not made any kind of anouncement). And I don't know, I have a really good feeling about this album, I think is really possible, that they're going to realize that "huge masterpiece" that I thought it was never gonna happen. You maybe think that I'm exaggerating, but if I have learned something from DT, is that they work at its maximum potential when they are going trough a crisis.

Just look at what they did after they let Dominici go, and after their first album wasn't so succesful



And just look at what they did after they let Derek go, and after having so much trouble with their old producers and record labels, and after releasing their worst album and after having suffer so many shitty years performing in clubs.



So yeah two of the greatest progressive rock/metal albums of all time, EAT THAT SCKEPTICS.

So let's hope history repeats itself.

It's funny because I never thought that Portnoy was ever going to leave DT EVER, if I had to number which members I thought were going to leave DT in the future, would have been:

1) First Labrie,

2) Then Myung,

3) Then Rudess,

4) Then Petrucci,

5) And at last Portnoy

But just look at that, the future is a complete mystery.

So that's all, thanks for reading, and post your list of " Chronologically: Who members would you have thought were going to leave DT in the future"

Be Seeing You

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