I have spent the better part of a day and a half at work listening to this album, and trying to work out how I feel about it. As it turns out, my first impressions were pretty accurate, but it is important to check these things out.
I’ve had this album for a while, but have rarely put it on to listen to since I first got it. So I wanted to make sure I gave this a fair go when I was sitting down to rate and review it.
Is this the forgotten Dream Theater album because it is really average? There is very little of what I feel makes Dream Theater a good band on this – few sizzling Petrucci solo blazes, little Portnoy drum thumping mania, almost no register of the Myung bass flicks. Most of the songs sit on the edge of ballads, or are precisely that.
I don’t know the story of the recording of this album, or the theories that the band had in place for it. But it is missing an awful lot of what makes Dream Theater good, and it is quite obvious all the way through.
Was this a hiccup? Certainly they redeem themselves in future releases, but what was the reason for this massive change in quality? One could only ask the band members themselves I guess. I am unable to fathom it. But the boredom I feel from repeated listenings over the past couple of days has not abated, and that’s not a good sign for any album in my collection.
Best for me include “Lines In The Sand”, “New Millenium” and “You Not Me”.
Rating: There are not a whole lot of redeeming features here for me. 2/5.
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