METROPOLIS PART 2 - SCENES FROM A MEMORY

'Prog metal':- an anachronism if ever there was one! On one hand 'Prog' - pompous,symphonic,technical music played by 'musos' while: 'Metal' -thrashy straight forward down the line 'no nonsense' (and ultimately dull IMO) stuff.You put the two together and you get ..... a marriage made in hell perhapsl??? Well there are bands that do it and undoubtedly the greatest exponent is Dream Theater.Cynics will say it is really just metal with a keyboard player tagged on and they may have a point.But here DT manage to create music that is aesthetically pleasing and challenging as well as managing to avoid writing lyrics about booze and sex in the process.Mike Portnoy is a giant of this sort of thing and Jordan Rudess can certainly match any keyboard player you care to name.I can't say I'm that keen on the kind of vocals that come with this music but I'll live with it for the instrumental qualities and decent songs on offer.If you want to dip your toes in the stream of 'prog metal' then this is as good a place to start as any.