IMAGES AND WORDS

Albums that I like fall into one of two categories: listenable at any time, or listenable only when I'm in a certain mood. While albums in the former category get more spins, albums in the latter category are typically more rewarding. Dream Theater's Images and Words, the band's most influential and commercially successful output to date, falls into the latter category, and is one of the most purely entertaining releases in the band's catalog.

I cannot listen to Images and Words at simply any time because of the record's flamboyance and technicality. Moreso than any other Dream Theater album, Images and Words is filled to the brink with long instrumental breaks and guitar-keyboard duels. Three-minute instrumental sections are not uncommon here, with songs like "Metropolis" and "Under a Glass Moon" halting at their mid-sections so that each Dream Theater member may showcase his considerable skill.

What makes these barrages of self-indulgence bearable is the thought that goes into each note of each solo. There is no experimentation or overwrought shredding to be found on the album; instead, all instrumental segments are used to make their respective songs better, as opposed to making their respective songs more 'prog'.

It is funny that this, the band's craziest record, also happens to be their most popular. The album struck gold with its opening track "Pull Me Under", which became a hit song and propelled Dream Theater into a realm of borderline mainstream acceptance. The appeal of "Pull Me Under" and its addictive melodies put the band at the top of the progressive rock world in 1992 and established Dream Theater as the progressive metal band of the decade.

In truth, the rest of Images and Words doesn't get much better than its opener. Only two songs on the album surpass the mastery of "Pull Me Under", those being "Take the Time" and "Learning to Live".

"Take the Time" is a rare example of metal being driven by keyboards, and the song is all the better for it. Kevin Moore glides above John Petrucci's frantic riffage to create perhaps the band's best pure rocker while then-new vocalist James LaBrie enhances the song with his operatic voice, and Mike Portnoy takes things to otherworldly levels with his greatest performance ever. Don't forget about John Myung, folks; he's just as prominent a force here as any of his bandmates.

"Learning to Live", which follows Kevin Moore's beautiful companion piece "Wait for Sleep", is the best song on the album. It traverses across all genres and climaxes towards its conclusion with the best instrumental break on the record. LaBrie shines here, showcasing range, power, and emotion that is only rivaled elsewhere on the CD by the fantastic "Surrounded".

Much has been made of the album's '80s-ish production and Mike Portnoy's triggered snare. While the record does indeed sound like a product of its time, it is a wonderful sounding record with each instrument organized into dutiful layers. In fact, it's a shame that more CDs today aren't produced like Images and Words. The drum sound on the album is strange, but in no way does it detract from the quality of the work as a whole, and it is often forgotten about over the course of the album's (perfect) running length.

Images and Words is Dream Theater's quintessential release. It features every ingredient that has made the band a success, from their mild cheesiness to their fluctuations in subtlety to their great vocal melodies to their infectious individual abilities. Days that call for Images and Words, as rare as they may be for me, are always great days because IAW is a great, great album. It is perhaps the greatest progressive metal record ever made, and is certainly a force to be reckoned with in the genre's history.

NOTE: 4.5/5 rounded up

©Kevin Martell (TheOutlawXanadu)