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Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence CD (album) cover

SIX DEGREES OF INNER TURBULENCE

Dream Theater

 

Progressive Metal

4.16 | 2175 ratings

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topofsm
5 stars What a great album. This one impressed me, after I had been burnt out on Systematic Chaos. The first disc is filled with plenty of great tracks, some of them quite different by even Dream Theater standards.

The Glass Prison is my idea of a perfect metal song. Normally metal gets old after a while, but even after continuously listening to the CD, you'll be putting it in again and again just to blast this track. It's such a heavy song for Dream Theater to create.

The next song, Blind Faith is very interesting. It opens up with an almost atmospheric intro. The verses are great. Then it goes into a bridge section similar in mood to Under a Glass Moon. It also has a great piano bit for a few measures with a couple changing measures of 5/4 and then a 4/4. Very good.

Misunderstood is awesome. The buildup is quite possibly one of the best I can think of. The beginning is very meditative, and it gathers heaviness until the distorted guitar drops a pinch in and starts riffing it up. Possibly the only bad part of this album is the weak outro on this song, but even that goes into the next track quite well.

The Great Debate is quite interesting. The keyboards give a nice background atmosphere of what many call a very Tool-like song. Although it doesn't sound like a good Tool song, it sounds like a good Dream Theater song. It doesn't ever get boring, and the lyrics are thought provoking.

Dissapear is one of those gems of Dream Theater ballads. It's very emotional and fully illustrates the pains of losing someone through death. I love the different array of instruments that are layered through this track like the harp (and is that a didgeridoo?).

The second CD is absolutely fantastic as well. Many consider Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence all one song. Although all the tracks flow into each other and share themes, I don't consider it all one song. I consider it a suite. And a very good suite at that one.

The Overture section is exceptionally good. I would love to play this in my symphony that I play in somehow, though it may be too complex for me or the other players. It illustrates all the major themes found in the rest of the CD.

About to Crash is great. It's a great rocking song, and although they use a lot of odd rhythms, this is one of the few songs where the rhythms seem to compliment the music almost perfectly. I give DT props for this one.

War inside my head Instantly reminds me of a lot of Megadeth tracks, except with a symphony backing it up. It's short, so there's not much to say about it.

The Test that Stumped them all is another one of those killer tracks that Dream Theater makes. Great time signature alternations of 7/8 and 6/8. Possibly the heaviest track in the 2nd CD of SDOIT.

After all the chaos drops out of Test it goes into Goodnight Kiss. This is a very relaxing track. And the guitar solo is fantastic. It is a very restrained solo, and part of it includes the main theme for Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. After that, it gets a bit heavy, and there's a steady bass drum pound, as the music gets more uncomfortable, then the pounding continues into the next track.

The next track is Solitary Shell The moog-ish synthesizers for this track are great. I absolutely love singing along to this song, even though James Labrie's range is far superior to mine. After the vocals leave, it turns more symphonic, and as the theme continues, it quickly changes into an almost latin guitar solo/piano solo. The symphonics pick up again, and then drop out.

That leads into the reprise of About to Crash. This definetely sounds like a classic rock and roll song with modern production. Like the first one, the instrumental section goes quickly from upbeat and happy to depressing or fearful. This compliments the subject matter of the song, Bipolar Disorder.

Finally, it wraps up with Losing time. This is a rather simple part of the suite. I love the singing on this one. After this, it goes into Grand Finale, which again contains a variation of the overall theme heard in the Overture section. It finally builds and builds until everything holds the final note, giving the listener a nice patient closing.

This is an essential prog CD. All the pieces of music here are interesting. I would definetely reccomend it to a person getting into Dream Theater, and any general prog fan, even those who don't like metal, because a lot of the CD falls into the rock category. This is all some great stuff.

topofsm | 5/5 |

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