CAUGHT IN A WEB

'Caught In A Web' - Dream Theater (Single)

While I was never a big fan of the 'Awake' record, I have to say; this was one of my least favourite tracks from that album. While Dream Theater made it clear they wanted 'Awake' to be a very heavy piece of work, the overbearing heaviness really does not work for this track. Despite having a memorable chorus and sound structure, an unfitting abrasiveness about it and a subpar vocal performance from James LaBrie makes this a Dream Theater song that as a fan; I prefer to overlook.

While Dream Theater has never been a band to conform to anyone's expectations, I certainly liked the sonic palette they used on both prior and future releases. Instead of relying on beautifully technical guitar work to push the song along, power chords are the norm here, backed up by some keyboards to give extra depth to the sound. In any case, the obviously 'dark' nature of the song does not fit well with a lighter-sounding synth section, which puts me off from much sense of atmosphere.

While James LaBrie ranks as being one of my favourite vocalists and a singer with a whole lot of potential, he is not always consistent in the quality of his performance. This is evident here with 'Caught In A Web;' while he often makes the high notes really ring beautifully, he sounds like he is trying too hard to be 'heavy' to go with the overall nature of the track.

While 'Awake' would be blessed with some phenomenal tracks and some people might find this song more enjoyable than I, it does not fit my tastes at all. To date, 'Caught In A Web' ranks as being one of my least enjoyed songs that Dream Theater has produced; certainly not a great choice of single to introduce new potential fans to.

I was never a huge fan of this song until I realised it was easy enough and fun enough for me to drum along to, provided I didn't conform to Portnoy's incessant double bass pedalling. However, just like the tarantula image on the single cover, this song is quite an ugly one. Throughout the song there seems to be too much going on: too many bass pedals, too many chugging riffs; there's just no simplicity. The only place this works is in the instrumental, which is actually quite a good one, as it incorporates some sporadic time signature changes. If I ever got to meet the men of Dream Theater, I'd use this song as an example, and ask just why they felt the need to have an extra crotchet in those particular bars. The best part of the song is the musical breakdown at 3:33. Occasionally, Portnoy would use this breakdown to have a drum solo during live shows. This isn't a particularly memorable Dream Theater track, but it's one that I'm grateful for.