FALLING INTO INFINITY: DEMOS 1996-1997 [OFFICIAL BOOTLEG]

'Falling Into Infinity Demos 1996-1997' is the fifth instalment of Dream Theater's demo series line of official bootlegs. There're two important factors here that make this arguably one of the better releases of demo albums. Firstly, the wealth of material on hand, including five unreleased tracks that never made it onto the album, as well as a 20-minute instrumental demo that features plenty of moments that would be expanded upon, and eventually become the bands next and most highly revered album, 'Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory'.

The second important factor, and certainly an interesting one, is that 'Falling Into Infinity' was an album plagued by record label interference, and while the finished product isn't quite what the band would have desired, this gives fans a chance to hear the songs how they were originally intended to sound.

Of course, by now, I've grown accustomed to the 'Falling Into Infinity' album (I, for one, really enjoy it), so listening to the demos is cool for a die-hard fan such as myself, but I'm still happy to listen to the finished product instead. The unreleased tracks are all pretty decent, especially 'Raise the Knife' and 'Speak to Me', but they all sound unfinished. No doubt they'd have been polished up had they made the final cut, but I guess these will have to do.

Overall however, this isn't something I'd feel inclined to listen to. I'd much rather stick with the original studio album. There're plenty of differences and nuances to pick up upon though, and it's intriguing to see how many changes were made to these tracks over time. But that's about it. Perhaps sometimes record label interference isn't such a bad thing afterall?