METROPOLIS PART 2 - SCENES FROM A MEMORY

4.5 stars.This is DREAM THEATER's fifth studio album, and in my opinion the best out of the previous five. Enter Jordan Rudess who had been playing with Portnoy and Pertucci in the band LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT. Good to see Terry Brown involved in co-producing and recording the vocals. I'll leave it up to you to read from the other reviews to understand what the concept of this album is. I'm not sure which is more complex, the concept of this album or the music that the band plays on it. I do feel that the music is sacrificed a little towards the end of this album for the sake of the concept. If it had ended after "One Last Time" this would be a masterpiece no questions about it. It's not that the last two songs are bad or anything, but this is such a long album with those two songs added on. And they don't wow me enough to warrant being there,other than they have to be for the sake of the concept. Still this is better than "Images And Words" as far as i'm concerned.

"Regression" opens with a monologue before reserved vocals and strummed guitar come in. "Overture 1928" opens with some bombastic drums that build before we are treated to some amazing and tasteful guitar work from Pertucci. The synths are great as are the heavy passages in this song. "Strange Deja Vu" continues with the same melody as the previous song and it picks up in tempo after 2 minutes. What a fantastic song ! "Through My Words" features slowly played piano with reserved vocals."Fatal Tragedy" has a heavy intro and I am reminded at different times of QUEEN during this song. I love the drums and guitar 4 minutes in as Pertucci follows this up with some blistering solos. "Beyond This Life" is my second favourite song. The drums are relentless and the guitar is heavy. It settles down as vocals come in, but not for long. Haha. "Through Her Eyes" opens with a female vocal melody with synths as piano comes in with James singing meaningful lyrics. Light drums and soaring guitar all add to the emotion of this song.

"Home" is my favourite tune on this record. It has an Eastern sound to it. It gets very heavy before 2 minutes.The drumming is incredible and check out Pertucci ! We're head banging now. This sounds so good ! "The Dance Of Eternity" is where Rudess really shines. It still gets heavy though. 5 minutes in the sound is amazing ! Then the drums and guitars slow down which is even more amazing ! "One Last Time" is a beautiful song with piano, drums and guitar. "The Spirit Carries On" reminds me of Roger Waters. Some uplifting guitar in this one. "Finally Free" opens with monologue like the first song. Piano melodies and vocals arrive before both Portnoy and Pertucci shine.The ending with the samples of someone walking and starting up the car really remind me of the ending of "A Fine Day To Exit" from ANATHEMA.

I can definitely hear why so many rate this as a masterpiece.To rate this less than four stars is difficult to understand though.