Saxy S's Reviews

I have begun to fall on hard times when it comes to talking about Dream Theater. Of course, Dream Theater was one of the first groups that introduced me to progressive metal during the early 2000s with Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. But every subsequent album I found myself falling further away from them. And I think a part of that has to do with this group being the quintessential progressive metal band, the one that most people instantly think of when the genre is brought up. And while that does deserve a lot of respect, it means that the band hasn’t really innovated that much throughout their career.

On one hand, you have the band that has an incredible ability to make these intricate, thorough albums on a semi annual basis, which I completely respect. On the other hand, you have a group that, for a while, were able to do that by doing a paint by numbers approach to progressive metal. Honestly, by the time Mike Portnoy had left the group, I figured I was all but done with Dream Theater.

But then they brought me back in with their self titled record in 2013. An album that bucked the trend, going for lighter tones, but still melodically heavy and technicality as far as the eye could see. But they quickly turned me against them in 2016 with The Astonishing, an album that tried to recapture the charm of Metropolis Pt. 2, but fell flat. Imagine if Ayreon made Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns and you would have gotten The Astonishing.

Now in 2019 with Distance Over Time, Dream Theater look to be going back to their roots from the 1990s. And given the album cover being oddly reminiscent of a certain Hamlet scene, I was almost certain in my assumption. Was I right?

Well now, I’ve given this album multiple listens and I can honestly say that this album is the return to form that I was hoping for, only with a modern Dream Theater twist. One that combines songwriting elements from the early days, with some heavier tones previously heard on their 2000s output. And it’s a pretty solid record.

And the first thing we need to discuss is the albums structure. Because this isn’t a concept record. Gone are the numerous “noise interludes” that broke up any sort of flow that The Astonishing had. Instead, we just have nine tracks, picking and choosing from the pile of progressive tropes and specific Dream Theater techniques to make nine, seemingly unrelated tracks.

And the themes on these tracks are a mixed bag of topics, ranging from the pursuit of inner happiness on “Fall into the Light”, the major problems that we as humanity face and need to solve on “S2N”, and the equally strong closer “Pale Blue Dot”, which asks the question who out in the universe is watching out for us here on earth? Then there are the tracks that deal with relationships, such as the subservient partner on “Paralyzed” or the difficulties of re/building a relationship with a woman who has previously dealt with abuse, and “Out of Reach”, which shows someone who has fallen in love, but cannot show this affection for fear of anxiety. “Room 137”, which could have its own review specifically dissecting the track, but the short story is that of a physicist who was obsessed by that number. It’s a really interesting track, plus it’s the first DT song to be written by Mike Mangini, which to me, makes it feel more like a geek out moment for him, as well as a fan service moment to the fans.

If there is one track that feels out of place here, it’s easily “Barstool Warrior”, which takes two people in two unrelated scenarios and tells how they managed to find themselves in their unfavourable situations. The lyrics don’t say anything about these two people trying to get out, nor do they interact with each other. It just felt like the band had two similar ideas, put them together into one song, but never bothered to connect the two ideas together.

But now we get into the production and songwriting. And as I mentioned before, this album uses a lot of different ideas from Dream Theater’s past to make this album. And some of these sound really good. I like the heavier tendencies on “Untethered Angel” and “S2N”. “Fall into the Light” starts off with a heavy guitar/drum riff, before transforming into a sweet sounding piano interlude with a soulful solo from Petrucci. And the slower track “Out of Reach” is one of my favourites on the entire album, it starts off with just piano before bass and a guitar solo are added, followed by the percussion all leading up to the final chorus which sounds great.

Now one thing that I was not really a fan of were the djent influences on this album. Specifically on the final track “Pale Blue Dot”. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the almost Breaking Benjamin inspired “Paralyzed”. Also on “S2N” there is a brief moment where the band plays an Owen Wilson “wow” during the bridge. Fortunately it only happens once, and it doesn’t take away too much from the track itself, but it is definitely a cringe worthy moment.

So in conclusion, I know that Dream Theater may never be able to capture the magnificence of albums such as Images and Words, Metropolis Pt. 2, or Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, but this album is at least serviceable enough to long time Dream Theater fans like myself. It might not be the most groundbreaking Dream Theater project, but it does at least separate itself from much of the 2000s output, as well as The Astonishing. This album seems like a decent jumping on point for anyone who is interested in checking out progressive metal, so if you know anyone like that, this isn't a bad place to start.

When people think of progressive metal, one of the first names that most people think of is Dream Theater. And that should come as no surprise. During the 1990s when prog metal was becoming prominent, Dream Theater were at the front of the revolution. Countless numbers of imitators have tried to copy Dream Theater's sound over the years; most of which failed. And it also doesn't help matters that Dream Theater are still around today, making very similar music as well.

I mentioned previously in my review for the bands most recent album, Distance Over Time that I have had a very difficult relationship with this group. This is lead by the fact that, being the prototypical progressive metal band, it's very difficult to find any originality from them in the modern day. Certainly a respectable band, but hardly memorable.

So going back and listening to Images and Words gives me the opportunity to see where Dream Theater began and what's changed since their humble beginnings. And not much has changed since 1992; part of the reason why my relationship with Dream Theater has been so convoluted. 

That being said, I can still appreciate what this album was able to accomplish. It truly is a trend setter of the most obvious variety. And it would only set the benchmark for what would become the bands superior albums later on in the decade. This album paints its "images through words" and does a wonderful job of connecting these images from one track into the next. Whether that be the use of similar harmonic themes in the ensemble all throughout "Learning to Live" such as the opening riff from "Pull Me Under", the percussion patterns from "Metropolis - Part 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper", to outright copying the main theme from "Wait For Sleep" and using it as a coda on "Learning To Live". Or perhaps cross referencing other lyrics from previous tracks later on in the albums runtime.

The production on this album has aged like a fine wine. How the band is able to have each instrumental passage sound so crisp and precise; how each instrument is an important member of the collective whole. Even during Petrucci ridiculous solo passages, John Myung's bass lines never become swamped underneath the keyboard harmonies, or Mike Portnoy's percussion.

My least favourite part of the album comes from James LaBrie. I think he is a fantastic singer and one of the best pure vocalists in metal, period. But on this album, he sounds like he is just trying to get his feet wet. As a result, there are a couple of questionable passages where LaBrie's vocals are given a swath of pitch correction. These happen primarily during the extended highs on songs like "Take the Time" and "Learning to Live". The band would eventually iron out these issues on later records, but it was a stylistic decision made by the band at the time, so I do have to point it out.

By today's standards, Dream Theater's Images and Words is, by enlarge, an unoriginal progressive metal album that lacks any unique qualities compared to... everyone else in the genre! But for a time, it was game changing. The fact that you can still hear its influence in progressive metal today is a testament to its longevity. But what I like about this album the most is the planting of the seed. This album could have been good enough if it hadn't included "The Miracle and the Sleeper" with its long form composition and performance. But they did include it. And it formed the basis for what I consider to be Dream Theater's superior records, Scenes From A Memory and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. Images and Words is the lesser of the three grand Dream Theater albums, but one still worth revisiting to see where Dream Theater, and progressive metal in general, got their start.