Falling into Infinity is amazing

[Kotowboy]

New Millennium makes me think of a futuristic city hovering above an ocean.

It has really nice pristine production which sounds really futuristic.

[Scorpion]

Meh. I could never really get into New Millenium, tbh. It's pretty great in some parts, but I absolutely despise the chorus.

[phantom]

That is all.

Exactly. 

[FlyingBIZKIT]

New Millennium is fucking amazing. IMO, some of LaBrie's best vocals.

[Ħ]

It's not amazing, but it's pretty good.

[FlyingBIZKIT]

It's not amazing, but it's pretty good.

Fair enough. 

[Lucidity]

Peruvian Skies and Hell's Kitchen are phenomenal. New Millennium, Anna Lee, and Lines in the Sand are pretty good. Most of the rest of the album is very regrettable overall, as well as there being a few songs that I don't like one bit or don't sound like DT. I do think it is underrated just for Peruvian Skies and Hell's Kitchen, they make the album, but there's definitely a reason people don't like it too much. Still a must have for any fan.

[54_diplomats]

Pretty good album that is weighed down by a few songs. I used to like New Millennium a lot more, but still a decent song. You Not Me is not as bad as people made it out to be but it's still not a good song.  Peruvian Skies, Hollow Years, Hells Kitchen, Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears are fantastic songs. Burning my Soul, and Anna Lee are okay, though I don't listen to them that often. I don't listen to Take Away My Pain or Just let me Breathe much, I don't particularly like those songs.

[Pols Voice]

I like every song except for Burning My Soul. Yeah, I even like You Not Me.

[Lucidity]

On a somewhat related note, am I the only one that can't listen to the intro to New Millennium without hearing Vicarious by Tool, or vice versa? o.O

[emblempride]

Aside from the obvious BMS and YNM, I love it. Anna Lee is the only ok song on it in my opinion. There's something about the vocals on Hollow Years though that has made me like every live version ever better. I really can't put my finger on it, sounds like a major copout but I just don't know what it is. It's just off to me, don't know if anybody else feels that way.

[OsMosis2259]

Yeah there are some weaker tracks like You Not Me, Burning My Soul, Just Let Me Breathe, but damn this is the most diverse DT album as far as production. Everything just sounds crisp clear.

[MarkFitDT]

Peruvian Skies, Hollow Years, Hells Kitchen, Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears are amazing songs for me. The rest are songs that are not bad (by DT standards) but I wouldnt go out of my way to listen to now. Love Derek's keys on the album.

[Sycsa]

Dat necro. Despite being a bit commercial, I think FII is the biggest grower of all the DT albums. I didn't like any of it the first time I heard it (except Lines in the Sand) and now it's way up there.

[son_ov_hades]

Top 5 album for me. I'm totally in love with Lines In the Sand, Hollow Years, Trial Of Tears, New Millennium, Peruvian Skies, and Hell's Kitchen. The rest of the songs are all great too, even Burning My Soul is cool. 

[JiM-Xtreme]

For about 8 years, I considered this to be the worst DT album by far.

Then, about 6 months ago, the weirdest thing happened. I found myself revisiting it randomly... and enjoying certain songs A LOT.

Now I think it's one of my favourite albums of theirs. Funny how things change over time.

[Dream Team]

For about 8 years, I considered this to be the worst DT album by far.

Then, about 6 months ago, the weirdest thing happened. I found myself revisiting it randomly... and enjoying certain songs A LOT.

Now I think it's one of my favourite albums of theirs. Funny how things change over time.

I'm still at this stage.

[bl5150]

I remember when I first heard FII (on release) and it was a huge letdown/WTF moment for me after the 1, 2 punch of I&W and Awake.......

Over time though (aside from the first couple of tracks which I still think are shite) it's grown on me to the point where I rate it higher than most of what followed .

[Destiny Of Chaos]

My least favorite Dream Theater album..... but it's still great. I hold this band in the highest of regards.

[Sacul]

Sometimes I prefer FFI over I&W. Is too amazing.

[Edan the Man]

So who else really likes Just Let Me Breathe? I feel like this is such an under appreciated song

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I enjoy it as well.

[bl5150]

So who else really likes Just Let Me Breathe? I feel like this is such an under appreciated song

I rate everything on it bar New Millennium and You Not Me............so if JLMB is not rated highly by most then I agree with you.   If I had to pick a few faves though it would be Peruvian Skies, Lines In The Sand and Hell's Kitchen

[BlobVanDam]

So who else really likes Just Let Me Breathe? I feel like this is such an under appreciated song

This was the first song I liked off FII, and the song that got me into the album. Still a very rockin' track, and I agree it's under appreciated.

[Daso]

FII would definitely rank on the better half of the DT albums for me, and it's probably the album that would get the most songs on my Top 10 or Top 5, those being Trial of Tears and Lines in the Sand. I love New Millennium and think it is exaggeratedly underrated. I think it would've worked better as an instrumental. Nothing against the lyrics or JLB, it's just the instrumental (the whole instrumental part of the song, that is) is really, really good. Hell's Kitchen is my favorite DT instrumental, Peruvian Skies is great (the version from High Voltage must be one of the best DT live performances I've seen) and TAMP is a beautiful song.

As for the other songs, they're all very solid for me and would listen to them over many other good songs from other bands, to call it some way. Very solid album with a great production. It's a shame its been brought down so many times, even by DT members themselves, because I know for a fact it leads to bias.

[WDADU]

In third place for me.

Awake
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Falling into Infinity

Very underrated record. "Lines in the Sand" is one of my favourite songs--ever. And Mike had a real in-the-pocket feel on this record. Probably second-favourite record drumming-wise.

[Outcrier]

It has some of DT best songs (LITS, TO ) but it has so many fillers 

[adastra]

My favourite! 
Drums and guitar sound amazing! 
The songwriting is solid!

[JediKnight1969]

Someday people will worship this work more than DT12. I do already.

[?]

Someday people will worship this work more than DT12. I do already.

For me they're about equal: FII has higher highs (TOT, HK, LITS), but also lower lows (NM, YNM).

[The Curious Orange]

Can't say I like everything on FII, but it is a great album, and it flows well. I didn't like it at first, but it's grown on me every year, mainly because it sounds like DT while not sounding too like DT. I'd love to see them do more like this, ie: let the songs breathe a little.

[puppyonacid]

track by track:

New Millennium - I think this is a great album opener. I love the synthy sound and I think this might be as close as DT gets to ever sounding like an 80's euro synth pop band. The instrumental section is just awesome! I do not get the hate for this song.
You Not Me - I like this song. I like the lyrics. I like the moody guitar. I do not get the hate for this song.
Peruvian Skies - Well rounded decent song that I rarely listen to. Find it a bit boring to be honest. Personal preference and I can see why people really love it.
Hollow Years - On a par with Another Day as a contender for DT's worst ever song. I think the Budokan version is very saccharin and JP's guitar solo there is hugely over rated IMO. I do not get the love for this song.
Burning My Soul - Not great but not dreadful. Some nice crunchy, bouncy riffs. Redeemed by what follows....
Hell's Kitchen - I think DT's most sublime instrumental. It's atmospheric, melodic, powerful and is not all about chops. I wish they'd do more instrumental stuff like this. The Segue in to the next song is really cool
Lines In the Sand - One of DT's strongest songs of all time. It rocks, great guitar solo, nice proggy moments, funky riffing, cool lyrics. Everything I love about DT is right here in this song.
Take Away My Pain - I like this and I think it is far superior to the demo version. I have stated that before. It's tighter and flows better.
Just Let me Breathe - Perhaps not DT's best rocker but still a good song with a nice scathing message. Nice riffing. The vocal line sounds a bit forced at times but the solo section is really cool. I also do not understand the hate for this song.
Anna Lee - I like this song. Something really different from DS and shows that DT can pitch up nice sentimental poppy songs with the best of them. I love the transition to the bridge and the slide solo. Nice and understated performance from DT
Trial of Tears - The 3rd Longish DT epic on the album. I like how the album pans out with NM at the start, LITS in the middle and they go out with a bang on this one. Somebody pointed out that this is a different sort of DT song. There's no fast unison stuff; but it is quite fusiony in places for sure. It has a lot of atmosphere and rounds the album off nicely. I love the opening riff and how the drums and bass come in. That's some real punch and I wish they'd mix their songs like this more. Punchy with room to breathe.

FII is a solid album and I think has more strong songs on than it is given credit for. With all its supposed lack of focus I actually think it's one of DTs most complete and stylistically diverse albums. It's more like the DT that I grew up with if you like. I love it and I think it's a really good, solid album.

[OsMosis2259]

Someday people will worship this work more than DT12. I do already.

Imagine if DT12 had FII's production 

[BlobVanDam]

Someday people will worship this work more than DT12. I do already.

Imagine if DT12 had FII's production 

I don't think it would really fit, although I wish every DT album had production as good as FII's.

[Joshin U]

Shoot, that looks like fun, puppyonacid.

New Millennium - It's got a groovy feel to it, which I can appreciate, but otherwise the melodies of this song leave a bad taste in my mouth, especially during the chorus.  I don't listen to it much.

You Not Me - I hate it. I hate how JLB sounds like he's trying to seduce me, I hate the chorus by Mr.-Bon-Jovi-hook-writer, I hate the awkwardly confident groove throughout it.
 
Peruvian Skies - Where the album picks up. I love Peruvian Skies, and probably put it in my top 20.  It has a very "One"esque structure, but done better.  The ending is absolutely rocking!

Hollow Years - I went through DT's discography to make sure, and this song is officially my least-listened to DT song.  I find it incredibly boring and almost a chore to listen to.  Doubtless, it'll probably strike me one day as something I've been missing out on but for now, I never listen to it.

Burning My Soul - I don't hate it the way I resent You Not Me, but it is without a doubt the must unintentionally comical song in DT's catalogue.  I crack up every time the infamous line comes on: "But I don't give a shit, NOOOO". And I can't stand the chorus or MP's backing vocals  to it.

Hell's Kitchen - What a perfect instrumental.  Seriously, it's concise yet grand, proficient yet subdued.  And the drumming in this song is some of my favorite in DT's catalogue.  Simple, yet unexpectedly complex. Love the way he implements the cymbal work during the song's finale, and the "slow" fill shortly before the crescendo. Love love love.

Lines In the Sand - I with all my heart wish I liked this song more than I do.  I love everything about it besides the chorus, which I cannot stomach for the life of me.  The guitar solo is groovy and wonderful, the verses are great, and the vocal section with "we fabricate our demons" is chill-inducing.  But the chorus... agh.  I don't like ANYTHING about it.  Maybe one day.

Take Away My Pain - Nope.

Just Let me Breathe - Double nope.

Seriously though, I feel similarly to these two as I do toward BMS, just without the comical lyrics.  TAMPon sounds so insincere lyrically (obviously debatable based on ones connection to the content) and boring sonically, with very little driving it.  JLMB is a rockin' song, but if you don't like the groove of it, it has nothing else to offer.

Anna Lee - It's a nice song, but it has a low re-listening capacity.  I find myself enjoying it reasonably whenever it comes on.

Trial of Tears - The perfect closer.  When I read people's descriptions of it before listening, I expecting to have a "meh" attitude towards it, but this is one of the few songs that didn't even need to grow on me in order for me to appreciate it.  Probably a top 10 song me.  The misheard lyrics has somewhat marred the enjoyability of the pre-instrumental section, though 

Overall, FII has the most clunkers of any DT album (for my ears, of course), but given its highs, I don't know if I could call it my least favorite.  The crisp production is my favorite for any DT album as well, and Derek's keyboard contribution provides a unique flavor to the album.  A solid album overall!