FALLING INTO INFINITY

When I first heard this album, I went in expecting an album, that while good, was strongly hampered by the fact that it was changed and cut due to record label pressure. What I got was an excellent work, although definitely more commercial in some respects, manages to retain a very heavy prog sound throughout and sounds more like prog rock than prog metal. After the darker and heavy album that was Awake, this album brings in a much more softer sound with moments of metal. Let's get into it.

The album kicks off with a keyboard driven introduction, and proggy song New Millenium. This is an alright song, but I feel like it's one of the weaker tracks here, but works ok as an opener. It's not the proggiest song here though, that will come in later with the tracks Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears. Lines in the Sand has a nice jazz feel to it, and flows so well. JP has an insane solo, while rather basic, sounds so nice. Vocals here are strong, and every member contributes well. This song comes right after Hell's Kitchen, a instrumental piece which was suppose to be in LITS but was made it's own song presumably due to record label pressure once again. An insane instrumental with lots to like, it leads into Lines great. Trial of Tears starts with a nice ambient introduction and gets into a more rock sound slightly later. In the middle of this song, we have great instrumental unison that shows how good each member here is. The lyrics are written by John Myung, and are very cool to say the very least. A great ending to the album. The other proggy tracks here are Peruvian Skies, which uses a rift off of Pink Floyds Have a Cigar, and is a very quiet song which transforms into a hard rock-fast paced jam. Great lyrics about a girl facing lots of abuse.

Going into some of the less progressive stuff we have Take Away My Pain, a sad song about JP's father dying, and how he needs to get on with his life and not dwell on it. Burning My Soul is a rock track, but there's not much to say. Meh lyrics, and lame structure makes this one forgettable. Beautiful sonng however is Anna Lee, a song James LaBrie wrote about an article he read about sexual abuse of children. A sad song, but a very good ballady one. DS has good keyboard work here, and makes the song. Just Let Me Breathe is another rock song, and probably the weakest one here. Lame lyrics, bad buildup, not much here. Hollow Years is the softest song here, with very little progressive stuff but a great flow and good lyrics. Finally, You Not Me is a decent rock song, but was edited quiet a lot by getting a second writer from the label. An early version can be heard on the demo disc, but with that said it's still a nice song. The ending is sick, with lots of cool moments from JP and DS here.

Overall, this isn't as bad as an album as most people say. I recommend it for anyone going through Dream Theater's discography or anyone looking for softer work by them. Great album with only a few bad moments. Solid four out of five.