Review by MartinDavey87 for Dream Theater - Official Bootleg: Studio Series: The Making of Scenes From a Memory (2003)

1999’s ‘Scenes From a Memory’ is not only one of Dream Theater’s most beloved and pivotal albums, but also prog’s in general. A monumental success for the band and often cited as one of the best concept albums of all time... that doesn’t change the fact that you’d have to be the most nerdy virgin possible to actually “like” this album.

I mean, it’s mostly snippets of the album is production. Sound interesting? It’s really not. Even for die-hard fans, this is the kind of thing you’d listen to once just for the sake of hearing a documented “making of” release, only to keep it in your collection for collector’s sake.

The second disc features an alternate mix of the entire album, which is mostly why this release gets two-stars. The music is fantastic, but why wouldn’t you just listen to the actual, final studio product instead of remixes and snippets and demos.

The only real notable thing here is John Petrucci’s vocal demo for ‘The Spirit Carries On’, which is hilariously entertaining.