FALLING INTO INFINITY

This album has always raised a huge quantity of discussions about its coherency to Prog definition. We should consider the pressures that the music industry put upon the band, Portnoy himself recalls that moment as one of the most frustrating periods ever in DT history. It's surely more radio friendly than its predecessors "Images and Words" and "Awake", and this fact has never been hidden to the audience: they needed to make it like that, they needed to give to the label facts, in other words, selling copies. Anyway apart from these facts the songs are not bad at all: "Peruvian Skies" with a great guitar solo, "Hollow Years" is a great track, slightly reminding of "The Silent Man", "Take away my pain" is also good, not to mention "Anna Lee" inspired by Elton John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", and the splendid "Trial of tears": Dream Theater in the first two movements of the suite and in the awesome third section they meet Pink Floyd (III - The Wasteland). The instrumental "Hell's Kitchen" after all this time I own the record, still leaves me a bit cold, it really just doesn't give me any particular feelings. I think that the weakest part of Falling Into Infinity are: "Lines in the sand" and "You Not Me" a metal track which lacks of originality.

A very good album, anyway nothing compared to DT's followin' one : "Metropolis pt.2 Scenes From A Memory".

The final rating is 3.5 stars