ELEMENTS OF PERSUASION

Why is this a three-star album? Because it's not really prog. On its own merits, Elements of Persuasion is a solid four star effor. It should only be downgraded if you're so fanatical about being a fan of prog rock that you won't stomach anything that doesn't fit into that narrow band of the spectrum.

But this is a prog site, and by the star rating prompts, "good, but non-essential" sums this one up form a prog perspective.

LaBrie absolutely kicks ass as a vocalist, particularly as a studio vocalist, and EoP features his abilities well. There's a lot less emphasis on instrumental virtuosity than in Dream Theater, naturally, but there's still a lot of meat there still. It's consistently heavy, yes, but for the love of crap, people, anything heavy done by a member of DT != Train of Thought!

Just get the album, dammit.