METROPOLIS PART 2 - SCENES FROM A MEMORY

The bad:

This is more or less the genesis of almost every Petrucci solo being nothing more than shredding

Occasionally clunky lyrics, notably in Beyond This Life

The good:

Literally everything else.

Without any question at all, this is my favourite Dream Theater album by a mile, and one of my favourite concept albums full stop. This marked the shift in the band's sound that would stick with them for the rest of their career with Portnoy, a much darker, more brooding and heavy band with greater focus on the metal aspect of their sound. What this album does differently is add a theatrical edge to everything, all the way down to the song titles containing a scene number, all the grandiose melodies making everything more fun and epic, while the dark storyline about a murder suicide causes the music to have points in which there is a sense of urgency or discomfort, providing a lot of complexity to the album.

From the first track, interest is already piqued, with a mysterious voice talking about hyponotherapy to the main character, before the vocals kick in and already make the listener ask questions about what is happening. The opener is just quite nice in general, but it's from Overture 1928 that things really get going, borrowing a lot of musical inspiration from Metropolis Part 1, with a few additions throughout, making it a great guitar led instrumental track. This transitions into Strange Deja Vu, with an awesome, heavy riff that as the song goes on, drags out certain notes for longer, which slowly darkens the atmosphere, all before it lightens up and brings forth a soaring melody, with vocal harmonies that seem to represent Victoria, hence the much higher register they're sung in. The song ebbs and flows between majesty and music that complements headbanging extremely well, all before completely dying down into the next scene. Through Her Words is a pleasant little piano ballad that continues into one of my favourite songs on the album (although honestly, a lot of these could be considered my favourites), Fatal Tragedy, which builds into a truly foreboding section, with intense, but not over the top vocals combined with a slow creeping riff, staccato piano chords in the background, which builds into more standard prog metal before upping the intensity considerably with a hint of sadness mixed in for good measure, fitting considering the topic of murder. After this, the song then shifts into its second half, which is nothing more than a completely insane, fast paced instrumental section, with duelling solos between John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess, while Mike Portnoy smashes away at hit drums. It continues building further and further, essentially being a constant explosion, with so much latent energy that even when it cuts to just the piano, it still segues perfectly into Beyond This Life, one of the fastest songs on the album, with sections where the drumming could quite easily be considered blast beats. This is definitely the most energetic, urgent songs on the album, sounding as if it simply cannot stop with the intensity, with the main verses, despite being relatively quiet, maintain this intense pace, the only moments of respite being the chorus, which has a psychedelic feel to it, with extremely spacey sounding vocal effects on it. I also really like the part where an isolated riff begins jumping between the left and right ears on headphones, which then transitions into the downright groovy second half of the song, using it to somewhat control the energy present in order to then transition into Through Her Eyes, another absolutely beautiful ballad, with some nice female vocals added. Not too much to say about this particular song, it's just really nice all around.

The second act of the album begins with what I consider to be one of DT's greatest songs of all time, up there with the likes of Space Dye Vest, Octavarium, and In The Name of God. The songs starts off with a mysterious, exotic intro that build so perfectly, maintaining the style it has even once the amazingly heavy guitar comes in, in a similar fashion to Iron Maiden's Powerslave. Each riff introduced is nothing short of incredible. I also adore how the song switches perspectives between various characters, each with their own issues perfectly fitting in with the general lyrical theme, and definitely fitting in with the dark, desperate nature of it, with an incredibly passionate vocal performance. What follows after this is easily the most ridiculous song the band has ever made, The Dance Of Eternity. The amount of time signature changes in this is absolutely absurd, pompous, excessive, yet unlike an extended solo from a band like ELP, this song manages to continue shifting gears throughout, making the angular nature of the rhythm work really well with some really groovy sections. Looking at this from a technical stadpoint, this song is insane, and looking at it from an enjoyment standpoint, it's still really fun all around, and I've never found it to be dull at all. One Last Time is a powerful, lovely softer song that I find really sticks with me for some reason, which then leads into The Spirit Carries On. Up to this point, there have been multiple instances of reprise, being parts of Metropolis Part 1 making appearances in both Overture 1928 and Dance of Eternity, Overture 1928 having sections found in both Strange Deja Vu and Dance of Eternity, and now this, reprising the opener to the album, but expanding it into a full fledged song complete with a gospel choir and an incredibly happy, optimistic tone to it. Finally Free makes for a perfect finale, with the first half showing each characters' perspective, each now feeling fulfilled, each repeating the same chorus, which if you've followed along with the story, will feel off if oyu've followed the story. The song progresses into a single riff repeated ad nauseum, with a clear focus on mood and atmosphere, before completely cutting out and then ending in a somewhat shocking way, which I won't disclose here, mostly due to the long winded explanation it would warrant to properly convey.

Overall, this is definitely one of my favourite albums, and even though I barely listen to Dream Theater at all these days, this album will still make it onto my rotation fairly regularly. Each song is excellent, but also importantly, the songs work together perfectly as a whole, leading to a listening experience that I feel never falters. I understand that this review is quite excessive, but I judt adore this album too much to make it any shorter. I seriously recommend that if you haven't listened to this album, and enjoy prog metal to any extent whatsoever, that you listen to this album, as I honestly believe that it is close to perfection as long as you can get behind some excess and pompousness.

Best songs: All of them, but especially Fatal Tragedy, Beyond This Life, Home and Dance of Eternity

Weakest songs: none

Verdict: My absolute favourite pure prog metal album, with everything not only being consistently great, but amazing me extremely frequently. This is definitely a good starting point into the band, and more importantly, a must listen album if you can get behind some pretentious moments.

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