Author Topic: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen  (Read 35894 times)

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Offline Dublagent66

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #105 on: June 08, 2017, 09:04:41 AM »
You not me and take away my pain just ruin this album for me.

A New Millenium and Lines In The Sand do for me.

Mind boggling.
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Offline t-bone2112

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #106 on: June 12, 2017, 10:21:28 AM »
Whew......I'm glad I'm not the only one who loves this album.  Thanks to all of your positive responses!

Offline Samsara

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #107 on: June 14, 2017, 01:03:11 PM »
Whew......I'm glad I'm not the only one who loves this album.  Thanks to all of your positive responses!

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Offline w_marano

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #108 on: July 07, 2017, 07:41:44 AM »
Interesting..I absolutely LOVE the snare sound on this album.

I love the drums sound and production on this record.
When the album was released, I was hoping for more technical songs, but loved to hear its melodic stuff. Songs like Hollow Years and Hell's Kitchen are still personal favorites.
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Offline Phoenix87x

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #109 on: July 07, 2017, 04:54:05 PM »
I love FII

There is no other DT album that sounds like it and I think the songs sound great and are really well written. Different style, but maintaining quality.

With songs like Hell's kitchen, lines in the sand and trial of tears, this album is very cool.

Offline ChuckSteak

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #110 on: July 08, 2017, 12:08:36 PM »
I think FII has the best production of any DT album.

Offline Orbert

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #111 on: July 08, 2017, 09:23:58 PM »
It does.  Still one of my favorite DT albums, and part of that is because it just sounds so good.

Offline Samsara

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #112 on: July 10, 2017, 09:09:12 AM »
It does.  Still one of my favorite DT albums, and part of that is because it just sounds so good.

Agreed completely. Kevin Shirley handled production and mixing, didn't he? A perfect choice.
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Offline Orbert

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #113 on: July 10, 2017, 11:47:41 AM »
Yep.  Kevin Shirley.

Online DragonAttack

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #114 on: July 10, 2017, 06:25:40 PM »
Began following the band in '03, but did not purchase this until a couple weeks after seeing DT in '07 during the CiM tour (yup....I thought they were doing 'Xanada' as the first encore....).  It was like a breath of fresh air after the dark and heavy SC.  I listen to my edited version quite often for the simple reason that I like it, whether I'm driving the freeways or sitting at the computer.

Burning My Soul (makes for a much better album opener, baby) / Peruvian Skies / Hollow Years / Hell's Kitchen / Lines In The Sand / Take Away My Pain / Just Let Me Breathe / Trial of Tears


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Offline theanalogkid7

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #115 on: July 10, 2017, 10:07:58 PM »
Man, I've had Take Away My Pain stuck in my head for a few days now.  I had to revisit FII because of that, and man, I really do love this album.  I need to check out the demos that everyone has mentioned.  Looks like it's not available anymore on Ytsejam Records, though, which is a bummer.
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Offline lucky7

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #116 on: August 25, 2017, 03:09:30 AM »
I love this album, especially Hell's Kitchen .. I hope to God they play it for the Melbourne concert.
This probably gets a rotation in the car once a month.

Offline The Silent Cody

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #117 on: August 25, 2017, 04:21:48 AM »
FII is very solid DT album, and underrated IMO by everyone who doesn't like DT. It sounds very good, probably the best DT sounding album. Sherinian work is incredible out there. But, to be honest I prefer You Not Me demos version than album one ;)

Offline the_silent_man

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #118 on: August 25, 2017, 09:26:10 AM »
When I first became a fan, around 2007, this was one of the weaker albums for me. As the years have gone by, I've come to appreciate it more and more. Yes, its less technical and less heavy, but it maintains the atmosphere they had in their old days and has some excellent, deep lyrics. Bar one or two songs, this album still has a lot of the "magic" and intrigue that is sadly missing from 90% of their post six degrees material, Imo (though I still enjoy them, of course). I would say its a better album that octavarium, sc, black clouds, s/t and astonishing.

I would probably place it 6th or 7th behind images, awake, scenes, six degrees, tot and adtoe. And while that seems low its just because of how brilliant those aforementioned albums are.

Offline The Walrus

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #119 on: August 25, 2017, 10:08:09 AM »
I like FII more than SFAM.
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Offline JediKnight1969

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #120 on: August 25, 2017, 12:57:47 PM »
My playlist:

01 - Trial of tears
02 - Hollow years
03 - You not me
04 - Take away my pain
05 - Just let me breathe
06 - New millennium
07 - Peruvian skies
08 - Burning my soul
09 - Hell's kitchen
10 - Lines in the sand
11 - Anna Lee
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Offline DougMasters

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #121 on: August 25, 2017, 01:06:20 PM »
I like FII more than SFAM.

I find myself listening to FII more than Scenes, but if I were to be objective, I still have to say that Scenes is just a better album.

Maybe not by a country mile but more consistent, better recorded.... James doesn't sound like he is singing through a twin reverb in his bathroom....

Offline Orbert

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #122 on: August 25, 2017, 01:56:07 PM »
Scenes is a more challenging listen, but more rewarding.  I don't listen to it as often, simply because I kinda feel like I "have to" listen to it all in one sitting, for obvious reasons.

At this point, Falling Into Infinity is probably my third or even second favorite Dream Theater album.

Offline DougMasters

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #123 on: August 25, 2017, 02:15:21 PM »
Yeah, depending on what day of the week it may be my second or third favorite to.

I'll second that.

for all it's inconsistency there is a spontaneity to it that I just love.

Offline Herrick

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #124 on: August 25, 2017, 09:17:56 PM »
I didn't like this album when I first heard it in 2001 which is when I first got into Dream Theater. I was so into the band that I bought Live Scenes and I rarely buy live albums. I wanted moar and moar of the band so I bought any album I could find without even hearing any songs beforehand.

To steal the comparison someone else made in this thread years ago, Falling Into Infinity was like Metallica's Load: shockingly different. Every few years I'd give FII a half-hearted listen and never got into it. However a few months ago I listened to it and actually enjoyed it. I was very drunk at the time so I'll have to give it another listen while sober.

What's interesting in my case is that I can give a somewhat objective comparison between the official album and the demos since I don't have any emotional investment in either. I'm not very familiar with the studio version because I've only listened to it a handfull of times since 2001. I no longer strongly dislike the studio version and I've never heard the demo version in its entirety. So since I am off for a month I am going to listen to both versions a few times and see which one I like better. Should be a decent experiment.
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Offline darkshade

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #125 on: August 28, 2017, 08:54:55 PM »
I have to say, FII is no longer my least or second or third least favorite DT album. Those would be DT12 and The Astonishing (WDaDU is my least favorite due to lack of JLB and poor sound quality, but not because of the music itself.)

Offline MirrorMask

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #126 on: September 23, 2017, 02:15:36 AM »
Happy birthday to Falling Into Infinity!  :tup

20 exact years ago, 23th September 1997, this album was released.
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Offline Orbert

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #127 on: September 23, 2017, 07:42:04 AM »
Yay!  Good excuse to re-listen to this one.

Offline ytserush

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #128 on: September 23, 2017, 07:41:44 PM »
Oddly enough, I started thinking around now would be a perfect time to listen to this album.

Still remember the first time I listened to it after I walked into this out of the way independent record store I knew about (long since gone) and picked up a few promo copies I thought they were going to have about a week or so before the street date (back when you could do that stuff.)

I remember first reactions overall were pretty harsh. Sonically, it did sound good, but it was certainly not the Dream Theater I was expecting. Listened to it a lot that fall hoping things would change. Even the live show was compromised.

Not a fun time at all and Derek, possibly unfairly, was but one reason for that. Early reviews were less than stellar and the band reacted by going into damage control. Of course now we know most of that story.

I've since softened quite a bit on it except for Anna Lee. At no time did I ever think that was a good idea. Not against ballads though as I thought Hollow Years was absolutely killer, even then.

Should probably revisit it soon.  Can't believe its been 20 years.

Offline MirrorMask

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #129 on: September 24, 2017, 03:15:46 AM »
Can't believe its been 20 years.

Indeed, I still remember the embryonic phase in which I was aware of DT but I was not yet a fan, and as a favor transcribing the lyrics from the booklet for a schoolmate... I don't know for sure the first DT song I ever heard but it may have been Hollow Years or Anna Lee - soft, simple pieces to not "scare me off too much" that my cousin, already a fan, would put at the end of cassette tapes (of the actual band I wanted to listen to) to finish up the space.
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Offline Evai

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #130 on: September 24, 2017, 04:11:09 AM »
I don't like the title of this thread. It should either be 'Giving Falling Into Infinity a Re-listen' or 'Falling Into Infinity: A Re-listen'. I think the second one was what it was intended to sound like
Jordan took Moore's boring, pedestrian parts and elevated them considerably to take them from barely palatable to stellar.

Offline MirrorMask

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #131 on: September 24, 2017, 04:25:53 AM »
I don't like the title of this thread. It should either be 'Giving Falling Into Infinity a Re-listen' or 'Falling Into Infinity: A Re-listen'. I think the second one was what it was intended to sound like

The grammar is strong with this one  :hat
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Offline npiazza91

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #132 on: October 16, 2017, 09:20:44 PM »
This album is weird for me.  While I can see why it gets as much hate as it does, at the same time the praise it does get isn't why I like it.  I look at this album as the "pop" album for the band...and the "pop" songs they do have on here are really good in a "shut off your brain" type of way.  It's a nice change from their other material.  Hollow Years, Take Away My Pain, and Anna Lee are fantastic little songs that are catchy, emotional and just give you that great feeling that you get when you listen to Dream Theater.  However, Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears...they never did anything for me.  Well...ToT is ok, but LitS I never liked, even to this day.  This album shines from it's smaller tracks.  The ones I mentioned plus Burning My Soul being an awesome "classic style" heavy metal track, New Millenium being a very quirky, very underrated track, and You Not Be being a guilty pleasure song...it's really not a bad album at all.  Dream Theater have certainly done worse.  I just wish I could appreciate the two epics more. 

Offline CrimsonSunrise

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #133 on: October 18, 2017, 04:20:37 PM »
I LOVE FII!!  Always have!  I seem to be in the severe minority also due to the fact that I thoroughly enjoy You Not Me, and don't care for Anna Lee.  For me the album would be perfect minus Anna Lee and Burning my Soul, and add Raise the Knife.

Offline ytserush

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #134 on: October 18, 2017, 04:53:48 PM »
I LOVE FII!!  Always have!  I seem to be in the severe minority also due to the fact that I thoroughly enjoy You Not Me, and don't care for Anna Lee.  For me the album would be perfect minus Anna Lee and Burning my Soul, and add Raise the Knife.

Was never a fan of Anna Lee. Strangely enough, I like You Not Me despite Desmond Child being involved. Glad it was just a one-off.

Offline Samsara

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #135 on: October 19, 2017, 02:26:30 PM »
Just to be contrary, I love Anna Lee. I really do. It is very different from most of DT's stuff, and I find it to be in my top-five from FII.

For the life of me, I am not sure why Derek doesn't like it. I thought he wrote it. I could have sworn he said that in a couple interviews. A shame. I simply love it.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #136 on: October 21, 2017, 07:09:19 AM »
Despite the obvious hiccups on this record, it still gave us some of the best songs ever (Peruvian Skies, Hell's Kitchen, Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears), and while they have better mellow songs/ballads, all three on this record are really good.  People can ejaculate to the live version of Hollow Years all they want, but I've always loved the original.

Offline Orbert

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #137 on: October 21, 2017, 08:45:11 AM »
I've never liked the live versions of Hollow Years.  To me, the song is introspective and contemplative, but somehow when they play it live it becomes this huge triumphant thing.  It just doesn't feel right to me, given the song itself.

Offline Evai

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #138 on: October 21, 2017, 09:15:23 AM »
What is the purpose of an end-chorus key change if not to be triumphant
Jordan took Moore's boring, pedestrian parts and elevated them considerably to take them from barely palatable to stellar.

Offline Orbert

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Re: Falling Into Infinity a re-listen
« Reply #139 on: October 21, 2017, 01:24:44 PM »
I know.  It's supposed to show how he's overcome it all, and the feeling becomes very positive.  And in the live setting, it just keeps going and going, and that's cool and all, but for whatever reason, it just doesn't work for me.  Maybe it's not set up properly.  The build-up feels a little formulaic, and it doesn't feel like we've "earned" such a big ending like that.  I think I might also like the mood that the verses had set up, all somber and stuff, more than the "triumphant" coda section that goes on and on.  It's all well done, sounds really nice; I can see why people like it.  I'm just not one of them.