LIVE SCENES FROM NEW YORK

Running for more than 3 hours, this massive recording features the entire performance of Scenes From A Memory, in one take, followed by a lengthy best-of performance from the last few years. The '90s gave us the rise of Dream Theater as a band and they definitely made sure of making the best possible live compilation that would fuse together all the great moments that the they had accumulated during that time. If you think that you've heard everything on the studio recording of Scenes From A Memory then I would like you to reconsider this though by giving this live take a shot. Not only does this performance give us the most passionate version of the band's masterpiece but the sound quality of the live recording expands the dimension of the epic by giving John Myung's bass a well defined layer of its own plus many other great improvements all around.

After Scenes From A Memory we get a short introduction to Liquid Tension Experiment with Acid Rain, awesome version of A Change Of Seasons, that actually sound better than the EP-recording, and the entire take of A Mind Beside Itself-suite, to name a few! The only real problem I see with the recording is that 3 hours of music has never been easy for me to consume outside of the actual Dream Theater live performances. I honestly can't remember a single time where I didn't switch off the album after hearing the performance of Scenes From A Memory in order to take a break. I can imagine that the hardcore fans shouldn't have a problem to consume this much music in one take, but I never applied for that position in the Dream Theater community. Instead, I'm trying to see this issue from a much more general point of view. Let's not forget that lengthy jams lead to a lot of unnecessary soloing and there are quite a few of those moments featured here.

If you're new to Dream Theater or just never bothered with this release then I highly recommend to give Live Scenes From New York a go as soon as possible. Not only does this live performance improve on many of the previous studio takes but you'll also be able to experience/revisit the passion that each Dream Theater live performance incorporates!

***** star songs: Overture 1928 (3:32) Strange Déjà Vu (5:03) Fatal Tragedy (6:22) Home (13:21) The Dance Of Eternity (6:25) One Last Time (4:12) Finally Free (10:59) Acid Rain (2:35) Voices (9:45) A Change Of Seasons (24:33)

**** star songs: Regression (2:46) Through My Words (1:42) Beyond This Live (11:17) Through Her Eyes (6:17) The Spirit Carries On (7:40) Metropolis Part 1 (10:37) The Mirror (8:15) Another Day (5:13) Eurotomania (7:22) The Silent Man (5:09) Learning To Live (14:02)

*** star songs: John & Theresa Solo Spot (3:17) Just Let Me Breathe (4:03) Caught In A New Millennium (6:22) Jordan Rudess Keyboard Solo (6:40)

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