[edit] Dream Theater: Images & Words

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Released: 1992. (Dream Theater's second studio album).

At the dawn of the 90s, the general quality of popular music took a huge hit. Nirvana and other grunge acts invaded the mainstream, killing any sort of chance any glam metal, thrash metal, speed metal, or any other metal act had of reaching a broad audience in the US. Still, that didn't stop the American prog-metal act Dream Theater from putting out top quality 80s metal styled progressive rock. They aren't the most popular band here, and yet they have a MASSIVE following, similar to the way Metallica was in the mid 80s.

Images & Words is the first Dream Theater album to employ flawless production, superb musicianship, and excellent songwriting. While the first album When Dream & Day Unite (1989) was good, it's not until I&W when they really started coming together. Joining in is the vocalist James LaBrie, who sounds like a cross between Queensryche's Geoff Tate and Europe's Joey Tempest. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your preference of how vocalists should sound like. Personally, I think he sounds great on all the tracks and he infuses so much passion into the music in a special way that would otherwise be impossible for other vocalists to do. John Petrucci does an excellent job with both guitar soloing and rhythm guitar playing. Kevin Moore employs the keyboards creatively, whether it be a background atmospheric texture or one of his cool 80s styled keyboard solos. The lyrics are very fitting for this type of music. They usually pertain to human emotion, not the typical topic of love which almost every band beats to death.

When I first listened to this album, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. My favorite aspect about the band besides the tight musicianship is that these guys know exactly how to write very long songs in the correct way. Most songs on this disc average in around 7-8 minutes, but the key thing is that the songwriting is so impecable that the songs never seem to drag on. The tracks seem like they're shorter than they really are and when they are done, you feel satisfied for having listened to them. Their style falls somewhere between Whitesnake's guitar riffing and Rush's songwriting style.

1) Pull Me Under- A slow and melodic rocker clocking in at 7 1/2 minutes. Very engaging and of all the long tracks, the least progressive. Has a steady pace throughout. Keyboards certainly add a nice touch.

2) Another Day- A four minute ballad type song with a Kenny G type saxaphone solo towards the end (again, a good or bad thing depending on your preference). Pretty good, and LaBrie's vocals shine well.

3) Take The Time- This juggernaut progressive song alternates from a heavy rocker into different lighter sections, all the while being an entertaining rollercoaster-ride of a song.

4) Surrounded- Starts out and ends very lightly, and inbetween is a melidic rocker similar to something Misplaced Childhood-era Marillion would do.

5) Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle And The Sleeper- This 10 minute monster track takes the listener all over the place, with most of the vocals done at the beginning while the rest of the song consists of inventive sections of multiple time-change signatures. If you're first listening to Dream Theater, this track might seem overwhelming, but it also showcases the band in their creative prime. If you want to see what DT is all about, just hear this song.

6) Under The Glass Moon- Probably the heaviest track, but also one of the most melodic as well. On the first listen, this was my favorite song, though now I appreciate the others as well. The keyboards give this song an "out of this world" quality.

7) Wait For Sleep- Contrary to all the other tracks, this ballad is just barely over 2 minutes long.

8) Learning To Live- Closing this masterpiece album is the longest track which combines some of the styles used in the other tracks. This track was written by the bassist John Myung and he proves to be a talent in songwriting who was unfortunately overlooked in later albums. The combination of guitars and keyboards is arguably at its best here.

Without a doubt, I&W is a masterpiece progressive metal album that belongs in any serious rock music collection. The band continues to make some outstanding albums throughout the 90s such as Awake(1994) and Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From A Memory(1999), but to me I&W is their absolute peak in songwriting ability.

[edit] Dream Theater: Images & Words

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