METROPOLIS PART 2 - SCENES FROM A MEMORY

After being constantly pestered by fans, Dream Theater decided to finally continue "Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle And The Sleeper" off of the Images and Words album. This resulted in one of the greatest albums in the history of progressive metal. I personally cannot recommend this enough to anyone who is a fan of progressive metal or even prog in general.

A description of the music:

Act 1: We start with an amazing opening with "Regression" that starts with the hypnotherapist speaking and then some acoustic work and great vocals from LaBrie. "Overture 1928" is an effective display of many of the themes throughout the album. "Strange Deja Vu" continues the Overture and is a great track that features LaBrie doing some actual acting with his singing. Reminds me of Peter Gabriel! "Through My Words" is a short piano track meant to act as an opening for "Fatal Tragedy," a track that starts out quiet and eventually turns into a chaotic track with a very exciting instrumental section at the end. "Beyond This Life" is one of the heaviest tracks here and features a very long instrumental section. "Through Her Eyes" is a beautiful piano ballad with some female vocals that closes Act 1 brilliantly.

Act 2: "Home" works as a great opener for Act 2 and is the heaviest track on the album. It has a very Middle Eastern feel to it in many places such as the sitar sections, the first verse, and the chorus. "The Dance Of Eternity" can only be truly described with one word: chaos. It features over 100 time signature changes in this average length song and works as a sort of climax in this album. "One Last Time" is a short and emotional track with some nice piano work from Rudess. "The Spirit Carries On" features vocals in the style of Roger Watters in the intro, a Gilmour like guitar solo, and some female vocals. Needless to say it is a very Floydian track. It is also a very nice track to sing along to. "Finally Free" wraps everything up very effectively and features some great drumming and very effective voice sections. It ends with the hypnotherapist creepily saying "Open your eyes, Nicholas!" and Nicholas letting out a frightened scream and then radio static. What an ending...

PROS:

Storytelling: If you're going to make a concept album, the story telling has to be at least decent. Otherwise the concept will be ignored and it will be thought of as just another album. The storytelling on this album is magnificent and it sort of leaves you to wonder at many points.

Musicianship: As said many times before, the musicanship in this album is astounding. This album is Rudess' studio debut with the band and he performs quite well. Petrucci's solos also range from the emotional "The Spirit Carries On" and "Through Her Eyes" to the fast paced "Beyond This Life," "Home," and "Fatal Tragedy." John Myung actually has some time to shine in "The Dance Of Eternity" where he shows off his true skill in a lighting-fast bass solo.

The flow: This album just flows brilliantly through the tracks which really sort of adds to the story. Each mood is effectively represented and seems to be there just when needed.

Acting: As mentioned before, LaBrie sings as though he is an actor playing these characters. He even uses falsetto in most of Victoria's parts and he also sings with great sorrow and some anger when needed. In "Home," the lines "I'll make her my wife" are sang in such a sinister way, you can sort of picture LaBrie sneering as he sings them.

Opening and closing: This album is opened and closed so brilliantly, as a concept album must be. "Regression" serves as the perfect mood for entering into Nicholas' mind, and the end "Finally Free" (if you can realize what actually happened like I could) is a very effective closer that will take you by surprise and just leave you speechless.

CONS:

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts: Self-explanitory. You cannot experience this albums greatness by just listening to parts of it. You must listen to the whole to really take in the experience.

Song ratings: Regression: 10/10 Overture 1928: 10/10 Strange Deja Vu: 10/10 Through My Words: 9/10 Fatal Tragedy: 9.5/10 Beyond This Life: 8/10 Through Her Eyes: 8.5/10 Home: 10/10 The Dance Of Eternity: 10/10 One Last Time: 7/10 The Spirit Carries On: 10/10 Finally Free: 10/10

Recommended for: Anybody looking to get into progressive metal. Anyone who likes progressive metal.

My rating: 5 stars. This album may take a while to get into, but once you take in the whole thing and experience it for what it truly is, there is nothing like it.

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