MASTER OF PUPPETS

First off, let me make it clear that I am not a great fan of Metallica although in some of rock events in my country I always heard the songs by this band were played quite frequently. So, I am familiar with some of them plus the fact that I own some CDs of Metallica although I rarely spun the CD. But I have to admit that I like "Enter Sandman" from Metallica later album, the black one, I believe. I do not own "Master of Puppets" album but I have a chance to enjoy this Dream Theater version. The whole intent of this review is not to give my words about how good Dream Theater to play Metallica songs because I am not familiar with the original version of this album. The one that I listen to is this version. So what's the point of comparing if I do not have the base case to use as reference?

I remember vividly in one of interviews in DVD of Dream Theater "Live at Budokan" there was Mike Portnoy's statement that in Japan some of DT fans love the band due to the heavier side of DT music instead of overall music DT has produced so far. And talking about this, it's very obvious that the heavier side of DT has been influenced by bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin etc. While on the other side DT has also covered Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon".

This tribute is quite interesting for me personally because the stream of music delivered through this tribute album seem in the same vein as Dream Theater "Train of Thought" which at the end confirms my understanding that now I understand why my friends keep telling me that Train of Thought is basically Metallica. From the opening track "Battery" it sounds very clear that the Metallica music has inspired Dream Theater a lot, well at least on the basic structure. The only difference is that Dream Theater has made a series of heavy segments into one song that makes each song like curved line because it contains segments with different melody.

The second track "Master of Puppets" reconfirms me about how Dream Theater has adored Metallica as main influence of their music. In fact, the structure of this song is somewhat not straight forward because there is break (after listeners were pondered by heavy and raw riffs) where guitar provides its powerful solo. The music then returns back to its heavy style. This is my favorite from this live album.

Next track "The Thing That Should Not Be" continues the heavy side of the music. It is interesting to notice that there are great keyboard solo by Jordan Rudess in this track and also previous ones. I cannot imagine the original version because as far as I know, Metallica has no keyboard player. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" starts with guitar fills in bluesy style followed with stunning guitar solo. In fact this is an enjoyable track because the song moves steadily from mellow part and moving to faster tempo in the middle of the track. "Disposable Heroes" is a fast tempo track with great drum works and guitar riffs / solos. It seems Mike Portnoy really enjoy himself playing drums in this live tribute album. The band plays the rest of the songs "Lepper Messiah", "Orion" and "Damage, Inc." excellently.

Overall, this is a very good live performance by Dream Theater playing the music of the band that has inspired them. For those of you who like Metallica should own this album, or those who like the heavy side of Dream Theater. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

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