MANIFESTO FOR FUTURISM

So you need to hear an intelligent, but essential hard driving meaty prog rock album ! Why not turn on DALI'S DILEMMA ? Somewhere out in the "LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT / RUSH / DREAM THEATER' school of thought comes this great act who make no mistake on their hard rock tendencies. Highly strung / energetic rock with wild guitar, heavy drumming , broad keyboards and great vocals and not sounding like many of the horrid "Prog-Metal" groups. Musical chaos is constructed through a wonderful mix of varied themes... from high tempo to soft and slow movements! Songs are well conceived and offer many tempo and sonic changes holding your attention from the get go. A blinding fast, but good progressive rock album.

This debut album by American DALI'S DILEMMA created controversy to me. The rave reviews about this album had made me curios on what sort of progressive metal music the guys in the band made. The fact when I spun the CD at the first time and did not create any "WOW!" experience had pushed me to a self question: "what's wrong with me?". So, I forced myself to have some more spins. My appreciation towards this album grew after more than five spins. I think their music is in a way too technical and heavily influenced by Dream Theater. DALI's DILEMMA's music is a bit rough to my ears. I know, it's probably the production and mixing issue. But it goes beyond that because in most transitions I feel that they are like being "forced" and as a result they end up with a collection of some disjointed parts. So, it's composition issue. On musicianship, I think the boys in the band have delivered at their fullest, except on vocal department. I would say that this album is an excellent technical progressive metal album with some areas of improvement in sound production / mixing and composition.

Within A Stare (5:50) kicks off the album with industrial music loop featuring keyboard sounds. I thought it's a space music and I was listening to something like Ozric Tentacles or Hawkwind. But when the manual drums enter the part with full music and dynamic bass lines it clearly indicates metal vein. Keyboard and some guitar riffs color the music, combined with inventive and attractive (at least to my ears!) bass lines. The mediocre (sorry ..) voice line enters the music in melodic way. Out of many tracks that are featured in this album, I think this track is truly a perfect one. It has a very catchy melody especially during choruses and when multiple voice lines play together. Guitars, keyboard, drums and bass guitar play their part wonderfully. I fully agree with what Dicky Dimensi has put in previous review about this album. For me personally, this track is a true adrenalin exploder. It's my favorite, really! The feeling I experience when enjoying this track is a mixture of happiness and darkness. Confusing, isn't it? But it's very nice though! [*****]

Miracles In Yesteryear (7:11) indicates how strong the Dream Theater factor in its music. This is a purely technical track with all musicians contribute their flawless delivery of their individual skills. I love the bass guitar solo in the middle of this track. Composition-wise, you might refer this song with DT's "Images and Words" album. Even, I found that some riffs similar with the riffs in IaW album of DT. It's an excellent track. [****]

Despite The Waves (5:52) opens with a dynamic drum play on top of thin guitar work at background followed with guitar work. Keyboard plays at background. When voice line enters, the guitar turns to produce riffs. Oh well, even I mentioned that this band is a bit lacking in vocal department, but I also find that this become the strengths as well as when Matthew Bradley voice is combined with music produces unique music. The interlude that features guitar solo is bit being forced as it does not produce a smooth transition. [***]

Whispers (2:06) represents the band's exploration to classical outfit with melodic piano and keyboard works. It's totally an instrumental piece with a relaxing mode - to ease the listeners as the first three tracks have full blasts of progressive metal music. It's a nice track. [*** ½ ].

Ashen Days (5:30) brings the music back into a kind of heavy riffs music with relatively medium-fast tempo with a good combination of keyboard at the back. Drumming, as also the case with other tracks, indicates some variations that span across the song. Guitar solo in the middle of the track is truly stunning, backed with bass lines. It continues with keyboard solo in alternate. It may remind you on the duets between Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci in Dream Theater. [*** ]

Andromeda Sunrise (2:00) a wonderfully crafted "unplugged" outfit featuring simple acoustic guitar work as rhythm section, while electric guitar performs its melody in long sustain notes. The electric guitar sometimes produces howling sounds that enrich the texture of this short instrumental piece. Good composition. [*** ½ ]

This Time Around (4:51) - uhm . title-wise it sounds like Deep Purple's tune from "Come Taste The Band" album - but it's totally different kind of music. It's a straight forward progressive metal song combining the sounds of guitars, keyboards and piano with some heavy riffs (good ones!!!). When I observe the composition in great details, I can find how dynamic the drums are played in this track with some staccato insertions. Inventive keyboards have enriched the song. In this track, the guitar solo is performed differently than other tracks - it's like a guitar solo in hard rock song. It has great ending. [****]

Hills Of Memory (4:51) opens with a simple electric guitar fills followed with voice line and drums played as percussive - no hard hat or cymbal sound. The tempo is relatively medium with guitar fills as main rhythm section and relatively with no heavy riffs; only some soft ones during choruses. It does not sound like any prog met tune. [***]

Can't You See (5:17) brings the music into a faster tempo style with heavy riffs at the opening combined with staccato style. When the voice line enters, the music turns lighter with some soft riffs and nice melody. The music flows as a straight forward hard rock music, combined with riffs during transitions. The keyboard solo at the ending part is stunning; especially combined with prog met music at the background and dynamic drumming. [*** ½ ]

Living In Fear (7:42) opens with a dynamic combination between drums and guitar work that brings the music into heavy riffs augmented with improvised piano sounds (very nice!). I enjoy this track especially with the staccato riffs and voice line. Well, I know that the voice quality of the lead singer is mediocre BUT I enjoy when he sings with this composition. In some transitions, piano work inserts the music nicely, continued with the riffs. Keyboards also play thinly at the background. It's an excellent composition! [****]

SUMMARY

This debut album shows the band's potential in progressive metal arena. With some limitations on vocal range, when it's blend together with the music, I can enjoy the harmony produced throughout the album. I can hear some "forced" transitions between disjointed parts even though it grew after couple of spins. However, the band should work on its transition pieces as to ensure the next musical segment is not like a disjointed part. I don't quite really know about the follow-up after this album as it has now entered year 6 after their debut in 1999. Overall rating is 3.5 out of 5 stars. Fans of prog met would favor this album. Keep on proGGin' .!

Progressively yours, GW

From the beggining a might say is a prog bomb. First the voice, and second instrumental is very, very good and technical. The man behind the keybords is a master. A wonderful album of the 90' and in prog music . Try it, you won't be dissapointed.

Dali's Dilemma is a one album prog-metal band with symphonic and neo-prog tendencies. That pretty much sums them up right there. They aren't original at all, but they are very talented and capable musicians.

Top notch musicianship and fine songwriting grace us from the start. The first two tracks, "Within a Stare" and "Miracles in Yesteryear," are the two highlights of the album. Unfortunately, from this point on, it goes downhill. Not that the upcoming songs are bad, but they don't exactly keep up with the first two. In actuality, the reason is probably just because the music is a little too typical and the further in you get, the less interested you become. I think if I started from the end of the album, I would give the last track more credit. "Living in Fear" is the other keeper off this album, but you won't get much out of it after enduring the first nine tracks.

The guys play their music well. The vocals are mediocre: not much of a range (sometimes it sounds like he's straining to get the higher notes out), and a fitting, but sometimes irritating tone. It's not bad by any means, but with a couple exceptions, it's a hardly memorable release. Maybe if they put out a second album they could have gone somewhere, but that didn't happen. The three mentioned tracks are still worth checking out.

2 1/2 stars

Keyboardist Matt Guillory is probably the most well known member of this band in the Prog world. He played on ZERO HOUR's debut, as well on EXPLORER CLUB's debut, and on the MULLMUZZLER project. By the way vocalist Matthew Bradley also sang on that EXPLORER CLUB album. Brothers Patrick and Steve Reyes play lead guitar and bass respectivly. What freaked me out a little was how much the lead guitarist sounded like Jasun Tipton from ZERO HOUR at times. He has that trade mark guitar sound of Jasuns' down perfectly on several occasions. I really like that the bass is prominant on this album. Each one of these guys play very impressively. By the way Matt thanks among others Jasun and Troy Tipton, Kevin Moore, John Pertucci, Doug Ott and ENCHANT, and Jim Matheos and FATES WARNING.

"Within A Stare" opens with the volume turned down as we can hear synths and drums. It kicks in heavily before a minute. The bass is fantastic and so is the drumming. Vocals arrive after a minute,synths are in the background. That bass / drum show is back before 2 1/2 minutes. There's that Tipton-like guitar 4 minutes in and heavy riffs follow then a guitar solo. Nice. That bass / drum show returns 5 minutes in. Tipton-like guitar ends it. "Miracles In Yesteryears" opens with this amazing drum / guitar section. It calms down as reserved vocals arrive. It picks back up to a solid soundscape. The guitar sounds cool with background synths and vocals. An excellent bass / synth interlude 3 minutes in. Heaviness follows. Some amazing complex guitar work in this one around 4 minutes. Tipton-like guitar 5 minutes in. "Despite The Waves" hits the ground running with high pitched guitar and some more incredible drumming. Synths are in the background as vocals arrive. A nice heavy sound comes and goes. Tipton-like guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. Take away the heaviness and i'm thinking ENCHANT.

"Whispers" is a short instrumental of piano and synths throughout. "Ashen Days" is heavy with synths to begin with as vocals come in. Nice bass as the guitar comes grinding in. Guitar solo 2 1/2 minutes in with a calm a minute later. The intro section is back 4 minutes in as themes are repeated. "Andromeda Sunrise" opens with acoustic guitar with electric guitar coming in and playing lazy melodies over top. This sounds really good. "This Time Around" is an accessible and melodic tune. Drumming stands out early. The chorus sounds terrific. Nice heavy guitar sounds during the verses. Good tune. "Hills Of Memory" is a mid paced, straight forward track. Reserved vocals, acoustic guitar and synths start things off. The highlight is the bass after 4 minutes. "Can't You See" is better.Heavy with powerful drums as the guitar starts to make some noise. Vocals are reserved at first, then riffs come in. I love the guitar 3 minutes in and then after 3 1/2 minutes. Nice. "Living In Fear" blows me away with that intro. The complex drumming and guitar are killer. Then the synths sounds come in and they're are off the charts ! The bass is huge. This is unreal ! Vocals come in as the song levels out unfortunately. A RUSH moment 4 minutes in and after 7 minutes. Complex guitar 4 1/2 minutes in and 6 minutes in and to end it.

I can see why some aren't too thrilled with this album, but I also see why there are so many raving reviews on the internet about this recording. The playing is beyond outstanding but the vocals are average. 3.5 stars.

Looking back at my collector's priorities during the early 90s (and part of the later), I cannot forget how prioritized was the prog metal element in my pursuit for knowledge about the then currents state of affairs in the prog genre - and that always led to enthusiastic purchases. Bands like Shadow Gallery, Altura, Lemur Voice, Enchant, Magellan and Dali's Dilemma soon appealed to me as favorites from the pack of records released by Magna Carta that graced my ever-growing collection. I have reviewed many albums from the aforementioned bands throughout all these years as a PA reviewer: why didn't I review this lovely album by Dali's Dilemma until now? Well, questions aside, now I have some spare time to use for a good deed, which is to praise an album that I haven't listened to for 2 or 3 years, and now I find myself loving it as dearly as I did back then. "Manifesto For Futurism" is one of those gems from the golden era of Magna Carta that should be kept from oblivion. The band's sound forged a sound very much influenced by 89-94 Dream Theater, and collaterally, generating some family airs with Benignuns-era Enchant and Shadow Gallery, only keeping a less epic approach to the compositional framework. The opener 'Within A Stare' kicks off the repertoire as a straightforward statement of what the band is all about: dynamically melodic prog metal that provides a reasonable dose of power and a sensitive use of the instrumental scheme, plus emotional singing by the effective lead vocalist. Regarding the effective style and tone delivered by, he sounds to me like a mixture of Bono and Lou Gramm with an added level of rocking power. As I said earlier, the Dream Theater reference is the most recurrent, and indeed, it will remain so for most part of the album: guitar and keyboard inputs are mostly related to the "Images" era, while the rhythm duo is more inspired by the "Awake" era. The sophomore piece 'Memories Of Yesteryear' is the album's highlight, IMHO: in its 7+ minute span, it comprises an attractive melodic development and polished performances by all parties involved, and it also features the most interesting set of diverse instrumental passages during the interlude. 'Despite The Waves' brings a lighter flair and an optimistic aura, which is convenient after two tracks that bore some shades of reflective nostalgia underneath the muscular sonic framework. 'Whispers' is a lovely, romantic keyboard solo: with only piano and string orchestrated backing, this piece conveys sheer melancholy in a most powerful manner. Track 6 'Andromeda Sunrise' is also a solo piece, only this time performed as a duet of acoustic and electric guitars: the melancholic vibe is similar but a bit more intense, something like a soft acoustic Hackett interlude contaminated by Vai's calculated soloing. Between these two solo pieces is 'Ashen Days', a track that bears a similar rhythmic structure to that of 'Despite The Waves', but its metallic punch and colorfulness are definitely more related to tracks 1-2. At this point, the listener must be quite aware of what one can expect from a Dali's Dilemma song, so they can enjoy the dynamics and well-crafted melodic developments of tracks such as 'This Time Around', 'Can't You See' and 'Living In Fear'. 'Hills Of Memory', on the other hand, departs from the standard and ventures into U2-related realms: they do a great job at it, really. As for the other three aforementioned tracks, 'Can't You See' delivers a fluid alternation of aggressive and constrained passages (the rhythm duo works on the top of its skills), while 'Living In Fear' reshapes the bombastic brilliance that we found in the first two tracks, even straying a bit afar from the DT pattern and getting a bit closer to the FW influence ("Pleasant SDhade"- era). All in all, "Manifesto For Futurism" is an excellent addition to any good prog collection with metal-prog sensibilities: Dali's Dilemma should not be forgotten.

The Missing 90's Dream Theater Album

The Prog Metal genre is known for having plenty of bands that just assimilate the sound 'created' by Dream Theater rather than adventuring themselves through this fairly new genre like Opeth, Devin Townsend, Cynic and others(I'm no metal expert nor serious fan) have done; Dali's Dilemma is pretty much one of those Dream Theater so-called ''clones''.

You can swear that John Petrucci, Kevin Moore, John Myung and Mike Portnoy joined together once again in 1999 and tried a new singer out. The result is obviously technically great from the instrumental side of things. The compositions while far from being bad per se, they totally resemble the style of compositions made by Dream Theater back in the good ol' days of Kevin Moore.

You've got the blasting shred solos, the great atmospheric keyboards, the diverse but powerful drumming and a not very audible bass, but when audible it's superb. The only aspect from Dali's Dilemma that make an easy distinguishment from both bands is clearly the vocals by Matthew Bradley who is far from being the high-pitched vocalist that James LaBrie was back then in the 90's.

To end this short, but hopefully clear review, I'll just add that this is actually my first encounter with these "Dream Theater clones". I for one, enjoy this album because it's as strong as most of Dream Theater's material done back in the 90's, so anybody who misses the ol' Dream Theater like I do, this band right here might comfort you. However, if you have already heard a dozen of these "clones" and are about to burn your speakers the next time you hear another one, you should better avoid this.

3 stars: if it had been released by Dream Theater it would probably have been 4 stars, however the lack of originality takes off a star.

The 90s was a wonderful time for alternative everything and progressive rock revival but in addition to bands rekindling the 70s golden age prog embers was also some highly innovative bands that took the prog of the 70s in a more energetic direction by fusing it with the metal of the 80s. A whole new hybrid that started way back in the 80s with Watchtower had finally caught on and when Dream Theater released their lauded "Images And Words." The world would never be the same. Of course when such a phenomenon occurs it means the floodgates have been opened and a gazillion imitators will follow. Not that it's a bad thing mind you as DT influenced bands such as Symphony X, Circus Maximus, Haken, Shadow Gallery, Seventh Wonder, Threshold (and i could go on all day really) were actually quite innovative despite being first descendants from DT's 90s day in the sun.

But then there are the band's that attempted to follow in the footsteps of the great Dream Theater and fell short. DALI'S DILEMMA formed in San Jose, CA and existed from 1994-2000 but only managed to release one album titled MANIFESTO FOR FUTURISM in 1999 before they instantly got smacked down with the dreaded "Dream Theater clone" tag which after prog metal really got rolling was something like the kiss of death for bands with thin skin. While there is certainly some truth to those claims, DALI'S DILEMMA wasn't just a clone by any means but were in fact a very talented group of musicians that showed great promise. I mean if you dig back far enough Fates Warning was basically an Iron Maiden clone on its first album before stepping it up and becoming one of the best and most interesting prog metal bands of the 90s so you know, sometimes it takes a while to get your own groove goin' on. Unfortunately DALI'S DILEMMA didn't.

Oh well. Despite it all this album of just over 51 minutes certainly does bow at the alter of Dream Theater without a doubt however this prog powerhouse of Matthew Bradley (vocals), Patrick Reyes (guitar), Steve Reyes (bass), Matt Guillory (keyboards) band Jeremy Colson (drums) did a fairly decent job of mixing in the early years of Dream Theater (think "Images And Words" compositions with more of an "Awake" energetic level) with other classic sounds that ranged from Rush, Deep Purple, Fates Warning and even thrash metal bands like Metallica. This is one of those technically demanding prog metal releases where the musicians excel at detouring from time signature norms and craft catchy melodic hooks as well as keeping things interesting with various motifs that allow the music to proceed without stagnating. In that regard, MANIFESTO FOR FUTURISM is an outstanding album which clearly owes its primary inspiration to Dream Theater's 90s output but by no means sounds like just another DT release.

Unfortunately for my ears at least, the weakest link in this otherwise stellar performance are the rather undistinguished vocal range of Matthew Bradley who pretty much breaks this album's enjoyment level for me. Like many prog metal vocalists, he was trying to copy Steve Walsh from Kansas. While i'm forgiving with vocal abilities at times, when it comes to prog metal that focuses on an extremely technically demanding dynamic then i'm sorry but a vocalist with a multi-octave range is essential! There's a reason Bob Dylan wasn't asked to sing on a Queensryche or Fates Warning album, cuz he ain't got the goods! Now Bradley certainly is gifted in a certain way but his vocals just don't sound right here. Add to that the album is lopsided with lots of filler that is just plain yawn material. "Hills Of Memory" is particularly gag worthy. In general the album starts out fairly decent but then descends into snooze-ville. Add to that the over dependence of DT-isms and you end up with a decent yet unremarkable album. It's too bad DALI'S DILEMMA didn't stick it out but i guess they decided that the best way to solve this DILEMMA was to end this project and scatter.