Review by Daniel for Dream Theater - Live at the Marquee (1993)
By the time I finally got to Dream Theater's first live release "Live at the Marquee" some time around 1997/98, the Boston progressive metallers had become one of my very favourite metal bands. I'd been blown to pieces by their classic second & third albums (1992's "Images & Words" & 1994's "Awake") which had seen me further indulging in their 1989 debut album "When Dream & Day Unite" & 1995 "A Change of Season" E.P. & my urge to seek out more of this wonderfully complex yet inherently catchy metal music seemed to hold no boundaries. Of course, it would only be a matter of time until I'd pick up a CD copy of 1993's "Live at the Marquee" E.P. which was recorded in London on 23rd April 1993 as a part of their European tour. The tracklisting includes a selection of material taken from Dream Theater's first two albums as well as an instrumental jam piece called "Bombay Vindaloo" which they only performed on a handful of occasions & was never recorded. It also contains as a short intro track called "Another Hand" that was written specifically for the tour & was intended to be a smooth segway from "Another Day" into "The Killing Hand". At 47 minutes in length, this certainly looked like an attractive prospect for me at the time & it didn't disappoint either as I'd soon find that Dream Theater were a remarkable band in a live environment too, an experience that I've since partaken in first-hand on a number of occasions.
The lineup for "Live at the Marquee" is the same one that recorded the "Images & Words" album with new front man James LaBrie having been with the group for a couple of years by that stage. Keyboardist Kevin Moore (Fates Warning/OSI) was still onboard & would remain a part of the band for another year or so until after the "Awake" album. This was arguably my favourite Dream Theater lineup given that it would produce two of my three favourite albums from the band so it was hard to imagine that this E.P. could produce anything other than a series of diamonds as long as the production job was up to scratch. I wouldn't say that it's perfect but I don't think there's much to complain about in that regard either with all of the instrumentalists being easily identified & nicely separated & LaBrie being given ample room to soar over the top.
It's easy to simply assume that a Dream Theater live release would produce a series of dazzling technical feats & let it wash over you but I don't honestly think that's giving them enough credit because they are truly a remarkable talent & one that I'm not sure has been matched in the decades since. Each member is a highlight in themselves & it really depends on which are your instruments of choice as to who you'll froth over the most. For me personally, it's guitarist John Petrucci (Liquid Tension Experiment) who I regard as the greatest axe-man ever to pick up the instrument. As an old shred-head myself, that's really saying something too because I was raised on a smorgasbord of the most talented virtuosos the 1980's & early 1990's had to offer but this guy simply takes his phrasing & understanding of melody & note choice to its ultimate extreme &, in doing so, never fails to leave my jaw on the ground. LaBrie's performance is also worthy of special attention as he would appear to have been right in his sweet spot at this point in his career with no sign of a dud note or a wavering, uncertain vocal. His tone is as pure as we'd heard from him too & he brings another element to the two tracks taken from "When Dream & Day Unite" which was recorded with underrated original singer Charlie Dominici. The rest of the band kinda works in small teams with Petrucci & Moore laying down a series of intertwined yet incredibly intricate runs & celebrated bassist John Myung (The Jelly Jam/Platypus) & metronomic drum legend Mike Portnoy (Flying Colors/John Arch/Liquid Tension Experiment/Metal Allegiance/Neal Morse Band/The Winery Dogs/Transatlantic/Yellow Matter Custard/Adrenaline Mob/OSI/Sons of Apollo/Twisted Sister) effortlessly reproducing some of the most rhythmically demanding & complex metal music ever written.
The tracklisting is impeccable & had me salivating before I'd even pressed play on my first listen. Opening any progressive rock/metal release with the unbelievably complex "Metropolis (Part 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper)" would surely a devastating effect on any fan of this style of music & the execution is so meticulous that it's almost hard to believe that we are listening to humans & not some sort of higher beings from outer space. The two tracks that are taken from "When Dream & Day Unite" have never sounded better & are buoyed by the fresh production job & LaBrie's added layer of accessibility & class. The prog rock fueled ballad "Surrounded" is probably the least significant inclusion but it's still performed with heart & finesse while their can be no denying the emphatic statement that is closer "Pull Me Under" which is arguably one of the pinnacles of the entire progressive metal movement & will likely be labelled as the highlight of any set it's a part of for all eternity. Interestingly though, it's the improvised jam piece "Bombay Vindaloo" that's left me most enamored with "Live at the Marquee" as it contains one of the greatest examples of guitar playing I've ever heard in my life. When I think of what the instrument is capable of after all these years, I often think of this track as it encompasses everything that I aspired to be in the late 1990's & this single track makes the entire release worthy of my hard-earned cash, even if the rest of the E.P. had been found to be nothing more than filler. Thankfully though, that's anything but the case.
Wow! This revisit has really thrown a cat amongst the pigeons for me as I've rarely held "Live at the Marquee" up as highly as I'm about to. I regard both the "When Dream & Day Unite" & "Images & Words" albums as genuine progressive metal classics but I'm gonna take the bold step of claiming that this E.P. is even better than anything Dream Theater had produced before. Hell, five of the six songs are classics in their own right & "Surrounded" is pretty fucking solid too so it's really hard to see any chinks in the band's armour off the back of this muscle-flexing outing. Dream Theater have produced a series of wonderful live releases over the years but I can't see how any of them could be too much better than this one & it's hard to imagine why "Live at the Marquee" hasn't received more kudos over the years as it's rare to see it claimed as one of the prog metal master's more essential releases. I'm gonna have to assume that it's the E.P. format that's responsible for that as that's the only conclusion I can come to. There's not a doubt in my mind that "Live at the Marquee" should be essential listening for every member of The Infinite though.
For fans of Symphony X, Rush & Liquid Tension Experiment.