METROPOLIS PART 2 - SCENES FROM A MEMORY

Dream Theater to me has always been a frustrating band that I could never grasp the euphoria that their diehard fans seem to understand. SCENES FROM A MEMORY is considered one of their best albums, so I thought it would revitalise my interest in Dream Theater. That album was my fourth Dream Theater album, and I have not picked up another one of their albums ever since.

There's no denying how skilled instrumentally and vocally the members of Dream Theater are. The underlying problem is that it's compositionally stiff. Every song is either way too simple when there are vocals on top or way too instrument skill focused elsewhere. Particularly, ''The Dance of Eternity'' is just a slab of solos that really don't go anywhere or do anything. I give leeway to ''Beyond This Life'' and ''Fatal Tragedy'' for having a couple of interesting sections, but there really isn't a song as a whole that makes me want to put the album on repeat.

That's when the story and lyrics rear their ugly heads. A vast majority of the lyrics sound cringeworthy, especially when the music supporting them sounds unimaginative e.g. ''Strange Deja Vu''. It sounds as if Dream Theater really wanted that ''mandatory'' concept album that all good prog bands do at some point in their career, but unfortunately that idea overshadows everything else on SCENES FROM A MEMORY. In my mind, this album is a novelty that wears out faster than socks on a concrete floor.