WHEN DREAM AND DAY UNITE

The powerful beginning of the masters of prog metal.

Although millions of fans say that Dream Theater actually started with his masterpiece Images and Words, I must say that I join the minority enjoying his infamous debut, When Dream and Day Unite. Initially I did not see this album with good eyes, as to consider it the weakest of the band's discography. But time is wise and right now I have an affection for this neglected masterpiece.

Yes, the sound is very 80-like, but who cares? The true is I always loved the 80's, and I have made this clear in other reviews (the truth is that if I could turn back time I would come back for that decade). This is just the beginning of Dream Theater, in fact, the musicianship here is slightly different from what they were to perform in the years following, but remember that Images and Words also features a 80-like sound. Perhaps the weak points here would be poor production (whose only advantage was to demonstrate the Myung´s bass, always overshadowed in the overall sound of the band) and the voice of Charlie Dominici, but I must say that lately I have come to enjoy more of his voice (although James Labrie surpasses easily).

Now, the eight songs on this album are breathtaking. The only bad thing is that there is none that exceeds 10 minutes, WDaDU the only album where this happens. However there is already epic here, as the fantastic The Killing Hand, divided into five acts. But my favorite tracks here are instrumental Ytse Jam (an anagram with Majesty, the first band's name), the wonderful Light Fuse and Get Away (featuring one of the best keyboard solos of Kevin Moore) and terminated Only a Matter of Time (which was even better in your version of Live at Budokan show, in my opinion).

5 stars!

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