IMAGES AND WORDS

One of the essential releases from this band, the first album with vocalist James Labrie, who in my opinion is a really good singer. Along with guitarist John Petrucci, drummer Mike Portnoy, bassist John Myung and (former) keyboardist Kevin Moore make up Dream Theater. I can't remember exactly why I bought this album, or who recommended me but I love this album t's not as heavy as their later releases and the cover art is very usual of this era's prog the child in her room with the floating heart its a nice cover if I do say so myself.

The album opens with PULL ME UNDER, the most famous Dream Theater song (apparently played on the radio when it was first out) Its a pretty good opener though not as strong as the later songs I guess it could be considered quite commercial sounding. ANOTHER DAY is roughly half the length of the previous song and is added quite strangely by a nice saxophone, its doesn't sound like the usual Dream Theater style song.

TAKE THE TIME is up next with a great riff from Petrucci and some tasty bass from Myung. Kevin Moore even gets his own solo, which is pretty good. SURROUNDED is quite mellow thanks to the soft vocals of Labrie. The brilliant keyboards adds a key sound coupled with the wonderful bass.

METROPOLIS PART 1 is without a doubt my favorite Dream Theater song, its epic and doesn't get much better than this, the middle section is especially impressive. All of the musicians blend together perfectly in a wonderous performance. And even has Labrie's singing at the very top of his range.

UNDER A GLASS MOON is the heaviest song on this album, and is in my top ten songs by this artist. Labrie's vocals are similar to the last song, Starts off with a pounding on the drums from Portnoy until masterful Myung comes in with his tasty bass. There's also a fantastic solo from Petrucci

WAIT FOR SLEEP, its the shortest song on the album and a very good song with Moore's great keyboards and the soft tones of Labrie. It serves as a sort of intro to...LEARNING TO LIVE is a brilliant way to end the album on a definite high, again the playing on this song is just almost pure perfection, it even has an acoustic solo from Petrucci (The song WAIT FOR SLEEP is played during an interlude by Moore but faster)

A highly recommended album, 5 stars.