DREAM THEATER

Although I'm a fan of Dream Theater -- having bought most of their albums and being lucky enough to see them perform five times throughout the years -- I'm probably not the best candidate to review a new album from the Long Island-formed Berklee-educated prog metal founding fathers.

Over time I've tired of their "riff for riffing's sake" formulaic, predictable approach; though I have to admit that even on the worst albums there's always some decent material to sink my prog teeth into (I'm thinking the Portnoy overhyped Systematic Chaos here as the most extreme example of high cheese factor with decent progressive moments).

I don't have an emotional attachment to the band like I do Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson (who daringly recently reinvented his sound with the proggressive jazz fusion-oriented The Raven That Refused to Sing), Opeth and Riverside; all bands and artists (to name just a few on the international prog scene) inciting emotions and imaginations while also being at the top of their game musically (in a technial sense). I've even been coming back lately to Iron Maiden's excellent sci-fi tour-de-force, Final Frontier as an excellent example of an established multi-decade metal act's ability to reignite the listener's passion.

Dream Theater? Not so much; these days the boys are a one-stop, by-the-numbers, an-album-and-tour-cycle-every-two-years rehashed force to be (or not to be) reckoned with. Who can blame them? They all have families, cash-flow needs and responsibilities; nevertheless, ambition and personal needs don't make for good album inspiration.

Review

As I streamed their self-titled 12th album the first time, my first impression was technical -- the master is too loud. With the first listen-throughs the cranked-up loudness frankly drowned everything out. I thought Dream Theater hadn't succumbed to the so-called "Loudness Wars" that have plagued modern albums such as Iron Maiden's 2000 and on Bruce Dickinson/Adrian Smith reunion discograhpy, and even more extreme, Rush's nearly-unlistenable Vapor Trails, Death Magnetic from Metallica, et al.

Beyond the loudness, their seems to be a lack of cohesiveness throughout. Almost every sound, turn, melody and idea here has been presented before by the band. Nothing fresh, exhilarating, groundbreaking, new or exciting. Not helping the case, the drums sound robotic, mechanical and "off" to me; a situation which is also not helped by the excessive loudness (the powermetal-esque beats (note the "Enemy Inside" for this) and guitar drown painfully out subtlety and nuance on many of the songs).

Across the album -- and jarringly juxtaposed to "A Dramatic Turn of Events" that retained a classic "Images and Words"-esque uniformity -- things meander without cohesion, failing to offer intrigue, hooks or generally something for the listener (new or old) to come back for. There are exceptions, here, however: "Enigma Machine" is a pretty good instrumental; check out 5:00 where you'll find Mangini definitely has the speed down, hence the "fastest drummer in the world." "Behind the Veil" starts out strong but loses my interest and so forth. "The Bigger Picture" is a capable if not predictable ballad. I also find "Surrender to Reason" is decent - very Rush-inspired. Ditto with "The Looking Glass." The "Illumation Theory" has some pretty good moments too (it better, given its length).

Without a more in-depth track-by-track detailed review I'll close things here and leave you with a thought as you explore this new outing from the band: will Dream Theater's massive audience come back their self-titled Dream Theater album as a defining classic for this band 1, 2, 5, 10 years down the road? Or will it just be a tired exercise in stale, beleaguered ideas from a band 10 years past its Scenes from a Memory prime?

Either way - prog on!