METROPOLIS PART 2 - SCENES FROM A MEMORY

Stunning concept album. The tale of a modern day man haunted by memories of a girl from the past. It follows on from characters established in Metropolis Part 1, from their earlier album Images & Words. The characters are Senator Edward Baines (The Miracle), Julian Baines (The Sleeper), Victoria and Christopher. The story is told in two acts and this allows for easier listening. In my opinion, the second act works better and contains some of their best work. Home, The Spirit Carries On and Finally Free being the highlights.

The Pettrucci and Portnoy performances are up to the usual standard, the guitarist's blitzkrieg solo at the end of Fatal Tragedy in particular is truly awesome. His solo at the end of The Spirit Carries On is more restrained but packs plenty of emotional punch and there is a killer riff on Finally Free. New boy Jordan Rudess contributes well also, the keyboard work being the best since Images and Words.

All in all a bit of a Tour de Force, but it is let down being full on intense right from the start. A bit more shading would have made this a modern day classic and worthy of five stars. Its not perfect so can't give 5 stars, 4.5 stars really.