TAKE THE TIME (THE WARNER YEARS 1992-2005)

"Take The Time (The Warner Years 1992-2005)" is a compilation album of Dream Theater that was released in 2009. As it name indicates, it comprises tracks when the band was linked to The Warner record label, between 1992 and 2005. Thus, it has tracks that were released on their second album "Images And Words" from 1992, their third album "Awake" from 1994, their fourth album "Falling Into Infinity" from 1997, their fifth album "Metropolis Part 2 ? Scenes From A Memory" from 1999, their sixth album "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" from 2002, their seventh album "Train Of Thought" from 2003 and their eighth album "Octavarium" from 2005. So, "Take The Time (The Warner Years 1992-2005)" has seven tracks from "Images And Words", two tracks from "Awake", six tracks from "Falling Into Infinity", five tracks from "Metropolis Part 2 ? Scenes From A Memory", four tracks from "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence", two tracks from "Train Of Thought" and four tracks from "Octavarium". The tracks were all put in the chronological order.

So, "Take The Time (The Warner Years 1992-2005)" has thirty tracks. "Pull Me Under", "Another Day", "Metropolis Part 1 "The Miracle And The Sleeper", "Take The Time", "Surrounded", "Under A Glass Moon" and "Learning To Live" are all tracks that were released on "Images And Words". Of the eight tracks of "Images And Words" almost all are present. The only exception is its shortest track "Wait For Sleep". "Pull Me Under" is a great track that represents an excellent opener to that album. "Another Day" is a beautiful and melodic song, one of their best in their soft style. "Metropolis Part 1 "The Miracle And The Sleeper" is pretty much recognized as a fan favourite for some many good reasons. "Take The Time" is a catchy but yet a technically complex song, a classic of the band. "Surrounded" despite isn't as catchy as some others, it's not less beautiful and complex. "Under A Glass Moon" is a great track with so many great elements on it. "Learning To Live" is the most progressive song on that album ending it perfectly well. "Scarred" and "Space-Dye Vest" are two tracks that were released on "Awake". "Scarred" is one of the best tracks on that album and it became a classic track of the band. "Space-Dye Vest" is a simple but hunting beautiful piano piece, a perfect closer for that album and a great farewell of Kevin Moore from the band. "New Millenium", "Peruvian Skies", "Hollow Years", "Burning My Soul", "Hell's Kitchen" and "Anna Lee" are all tracks that were released on "Falling Into Infinity". "New Millenium" is an excellent track with a very catchy feel. "Peruvian Skies" is another truly excellent track on that album. "Hollow Years" is a beautiful ballad with a great acoustic sound and a nice vocal work. "Burning My Soul" is a heavy track that sounds somewhat similar to many other band's songs. "Hell's Kitchen" is an instrumental, one of their simplest instrumentals, but it's simply amazing. "Anna Lee" is a piano ballad and definitely it's a very beautiful song. "Fatal Tragedy (Scene Three)", "Home (Scene Six)", "The Dance Of Eternity (Scene Seven)", "One Last Time (Scene Seven)" and "Finally Free (Scene Nine)" are all tracks that were released on "Metropolis Part 2 ? Scenes From A Memory", a conceptual album divided into several scenes. So, I'm not going to talk about these individual parts. So, "Metropolis Part 2 ? Scenes From A Memory" is my favourite Dream Theater's album, a classic prog album that fits among the greatest prog masterpieces ever amde. "Blind Faith", "The Great Debate", "War Inside My Head" and "Solitary Shell" are tracks that were released on "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence". This is another conceptual album, and as happened with "Metropolis Part 2 ? Scenes From A Memory" I'm not going to talk about these individual tracks. So, "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" is another amazing album of Dream Theater that belongs to one of their best works ever. "As I Am" and "This Dying Soul" are two tracks that were released on "Train Of Thought". "As I Am" is great, intense and dark, and it's very heavy. "This Dying Soul" is an amazing track that shares some lyrics and a riff with its predecessor track, of the call "Twelve Step Suite". "The Root Of All Evil", "The Answer Lies Within", "I Walk Beside You" and "Panic Attack" are all tracks that were released on "Octavarium". "The Root Of All Evil" is a cool song with its dark vein, great riffs and nice chorus. "The Answer Lies Within" is warm, full and melodic and I like the use of a string quartet there. "I Walk Beside You" is merely a good and humoured pop song in the style of U2 or Coldplay with nothing to do with Dream Theater. "Panic Attack" is a great track, the heaviest and most truculent track on that album. It represents one of the best moments on that album.

Conclusion: "Take The Time (The Warner Years 1992-2005)" is a nice compilation album of Dream Theater that has some of the best tracks written by the band. It's a good showcase of the band when Dream Theater was linked with the Warner record label. And all of us who are a fan of the band and all who are used to Dream Theater's career know that those years were certainly the best, most creative and probably most prog of them. Those years include some of their best works, "Images And Words", "Awake", "Metropolis Part 2 ? Scenes From A Memory", "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" and "Train Of Thought". Still, despite its quality, this compilation cannot substitute all those great works.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)