Review by Daniel for Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory (1999)

I was a very big Dream Theater fan when this album was released back in 1999. Albums like "Images & Words" & "Awake" had made a big impact on me in the early 1990s & after being a bit underwhelmed by 1997s "Falling Into Infinity" I was ready for something really special. And I got it to an extent although it has taken many years for me to truly realise it.  

I always considered this album to be a step down from the elite Dream Theater albums for some reason. I think a lot of that has to do with my feelings on concept albums. I've never been a fan of them. I always find that they contain filler tracks whose primary reason for existing is to make the storyline flow nicely. Personally the storylines have never mattered that much to me so I resented having to sit through the filler. And on first impressions "Metropolis Pt. 2" seems like it includes a bit of that filler. Particularly at the back end of the album. But once you give it time you find that those tracks start to make more sense & grab you musically. Listening back to them now I actually really like most of them. I think I also needed to give the album some distance from the earlier DT albums in order to be able to judge it on its own right instead of comparing it all the time. Once I was able to forget my expectations & really listen to what's going on with this album I found that there was some very catchy song-writing mixed with a tonne of complexity which is just what you want from a Dream Theater album. Sure it has it's cheesier moments (as there are on all Dream Theater albums) but "Metropolis Pt. 2" seems to have aged very well in comparison to the older albums.  

John Petrucci is in amazing form here. He's probably my favourite lead guitarist & I generally find that each album has one truly mind-blowing guitar solo & the solo section on "Fatal Tragedy" fits the bill beautifully. He & Mike Portnoy must've put in a staggering amount of work producing this record. The result is an amazingly professional package that deserves to sit alongside "Images & Words" & "Awake" as the bands essential releases in my opinion.