IMAGES AND WORDS

in retrospect, reviewing Images And Words almost 20 years after its release is not quite a good idea. but i saved it for the last to see how reviewing the rest of their catalogue would relfect on my opinion of their "break-through"album...

my first taste of DT was actually the follow-up to Images And Words, the phenomenal piece of music that is Awake. many years, many albums and a (just the one) live concert later, Awake holds on strongly at the top of my list of DT favourites, threatened only by the amazing Scenes From A Memory...

so, what does Images And Words hold for me still? lets see:

Pull Me Under: the "greatest hit" and DT's claim to fame is a really interesting song showcasing what DT were capable of. innovative intro, heavy riffs and 8 minutes of gripping music...

Another Day/ Surrounded: i see these as a 2-part medley split by Take The Time. similar moods but with different melodies and different messages, both of these tell us that DT are more than you average prog-metal band (a saxophone solo?)

Take The Time/ Under A Glass Moon: i prefer the latter to its single-minded hard hitting riffs and the awesome guitar intro but they are otherwise quite "straightforward"

Metropolis Pt.1 interesting only as a technical showpiece and a prelude to Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory - almost everything on that entire album is better, in my opinion.

Wait For Sleep: one of DT's best piano+vocal ballads, they keep trying but never quite manage to make something as beautiful...

Learning To Live: one of the best closers ever...enough said!

in summary, i'm only going to give this 3 stars - a trifle unfair but we know now that there is much better to come...