Falling Into Infinity

[ResultsMayVary]

Everyone is going to hate on this...

I think Falling Into Infinity should have been a double album, where they included ALL their music they wrote in that time period, except for the Metropolis, Pt. 2 demo which they never finished in the FII-era anyway. I would have loved to see songs like Raise The Knife, Where Are You Now?, and Speak To Me included in the album, officially.

[JediKnight1969]

Everyone is going to hate on this...

I think Falling Into Infinity should have been a double album, where they included ALL their music they wrote in that time period, except for the Metropolis, Pt. 2 demo which they never finished in the FII-era anyway. I would have loved to see songs like Raise The Knife, Where Are You Now?, and Speak To Me included in the album, officially.

Hopefully, one day maybe for an anniversary or something, they relaunch the album in a special 2 cd version with all the material originally recorded, remastered & remixed the way the band originally wanted to. That would be epic and totally deserved.

Not me.

[ricky]

Derek was a great keyboardist for DT.  He wasn't Kevin Moore, but it was good that he wasn't trying to be.

i know, right? derek isn't really talked about much, but he is an awesome keyboardist that performed really well with DT.

[ResultsMayVary]

Everyone is going to hate on this...

I think Falling Into Infinity should have been a double album, where they included ALL their music they wrote in that time period, except for the Metropolis, Pt. 2 demo which they never finished in the FII-era anyway. I would have loved to see songs like Raise The Knife, Where Are You Now?, and Speak To Me included in the album, officially.

Hopefully, one day maybe for an anniversary or something, they relaunch the album in a special 2 cd version with all the material originally recorded, remastered & remixed the way the band originally wanted to. That would be epic and totally deserved.

Not me.

My apologies. I did not read the thread before I posted. At least there are two of us. I support your idea!

[BRGM]

This album is very underrated IMO, it has so many golden moments, tunes like New Millennium, Peruvian skies and Just let me breathe are some great songs aren't being talked about too much

[ResultsMayVary]

This album is very underrated IMO, it has so many golden moments, tunes like New Millennium, Peruvian skies and Just let me breathe are some great songs aren't being talked about too much

Exactly. I really love New Millennium as an opener on the CD and Just Let Me Breathe is a really cool heavy track, which makes it a rariety on FII.

[JediKnight1969]

Everyone is going to hate on this...

I think Falling Into Infinity should have been a double album, where they included ALL their music they wrote in that time period, except for the Metropolis, Pt. 2 demo which they never finished in the FII-era anyway. I would have loved to see songs like Raise The Knife, Where Are You Now?, and Speak To Me included in the album, officially.

Hopefully, one day maybe for an anniversary or something, they relaunch the album in a special 2 cd version with all the material originally recorded, remastered & remixed the way the band originally wanted to. That would be epic and totally deserved.

Not me.

My apologies. I did not read the thread before I posted. At least there are two of us. I support your idea!

No need to apologize. Let's just keep the optimism. Who Knows? Maybe one day...

[CrimsonE]

To be honest, Awake pretty much turned me away from DT for a while, as I thought then (and today) that it was a poor follow up to I&W.  I didn't even get back into DT until Scenes from a Memory, although I had gotten Once in a LiveTime where the best material was from FII. 

Since then, I've listened to FII, and it's a pretty solid album most of the way around.  There are a few flat songs, but the best ranks among the best in the band's catalog (Trail of Tears, Peruvian Skies, Lines in the Sand, Just Let Me Breathe).  I'd easily rank it in the top half of DT albums, and on a good day, as high as #3 (only I&W and ToT would be higher, with possibly SFaM beating it out). 

[hefdaddy42]

People felt that after the fact.  I don't remember anybody thinking that the band was pigeonholes on FII until they read what the band said about the record company.

I was WORRIED that they would be pigeonholed after FII.  I'm with DeanTheater, when it came out, it was so different from I&W and Awake that it was very disappointing.  I was so happy when SFAM was released.

[KevShmev]

I actually FII a lot when it first came out.  I wasn't disappointed by it at all.  Sure, I knew it wasn't as good as the previous two, but I didn't care.  

Funny story, too, is that I used to pimp them like crazy to my buddy Vince back in the 90s when we worked together, so he was like, "Okay, bring me in a CD, and I'll check it out,"  Instead of being smart and bringing in I&W (which would be the most likable of the first four to a newbie), I brought him FII.  Oops.  I say, "Oops," because he didn't know what to make of "New Millennium," he thought "You Not Me" was dreadful, he thought "Peruvian Skies" was too much of a Metallica rip-off song, and "Hollow Years" was too wimpy for him.  So, they never stood a chance.  I don't know if he even listened to the rest of the CD because he never said anything about it.  I think I eventually did bring him I&W to listen to, but I don't think he was ever able to get past that really bad first impression.  My bad.

[WildeSilas]

Funny you should say that. I used FII to get my decidedly prog-ignorant brother into them precisely because of its more commercial sound. SFAM and I&W would have overwhelmed him. SDOIT was too all over the place, and ToT was too heavy (he's not really into metal that much). But FII was just the right ticket because of the accessibility, but there was LITS and Trail of Tears to ease him into the idea of longer songs. Now he enjoys I&W and Awake, though he doesn't care for the recent stuff.

[lucky7]

Hell's Kitchen is a highlight...I think FII is a great album...I can't remember my ranking of the album, that was on the other thread but apart from I think track 2 I love it 

[King Postwhore]

People felt that after the fact.  I don't remember anybody thinking that the band was pigeonholes on FII until they read what the band said about the record company.

I was WORRIED that they would be pigeonholed after FII.  I'm with DeanTheater, when it came out, it was so different from I&W and Awake that it was very disappointing.  I was so happy when SFAM was released.

Oh I agree about SFAM.  I wanted them to go that route.  I was sure that after listening to the I & W thru FII that I would expect not to see DT stay in that same format.  That is at least what I got out of the first 3 disks.

[mrjazzguitar]

Here's my opinion of FII song by song.

New Millennium: Great song all the way through. Really like the odd sound that it has compared to other DT songs. Mike Portnoy has good drum parts, Chapman Stick is cool, and JP brings the funk.

You Not Me. HAHA.

Peruvian Skies: Not my favorite, but I like it overall. I feel the instrumental riffs go on maybe a little too long.

Hollow Years: A great ballad. Maybe a little cheesy, but really melodic and the song builds well.

Burning My Soul: Horrible song.

Lines in the Sand. Fantastic song.I really like how the keyboards in the intro are referenced in the guitar solo. Or vice versa, who knows. Having said that, The intro could have been chopped off and I would like it more. Don't like the whole call and response thing during the verse, and vocals can be too shrill at points. Lovely lyrics though, and top 10 guitar solo easily.

Hell's Kitchen: Great instrumental song, I just don't ever feel like I'm in the mood to listen to it though. I really love it the times I've heard it. Listened to it MAYBE 5 times since I got into DT (2000).

Take Away My Pain. I really like the lyrics. I can't remember exactly what the demo sounds like, but I remember liking the vibe of it more than the studio version. Great song IMO.

Just Let Me Breathe. Something about this song bothers me, I think it's the lyrics. Complaining in songs is childish as far as I'm concerned, and it makes the band look less professional. Cool unison part.

Anna Lee: Killer song. Really unique solo as far as JP's solos are concerned. I think the lyrics are great, the vocal delivery is at times not to my liking. I only know the words to the last verse when I look them up, because I don't understand them. Again, I can't remember the demo exactly, but I'm thinking maybe there was another verse that they cut out that I liked a lot.

Trial of Tears: Great song from start to finish. Love the interplay between guitars and vocals, and JP's tone is amazing throughout. Derek's solo is maybe the ONLY keyboard lead solo that I have liked on any DT song.

All in all, a hit and miss album. The misses are near and the hits are home runs. Thumbs up. I had at one point a mix of the album without YnM, BmS, HK and JlmB. I put on Cover my Eyes and Speak to Me. Listened to it a lot. Liked it a lot. Life was magical.

agreed on the Trial of Tears keyboard solo.

[dongringo]

Ok, so this thread inspired me to revisit this album. I started listening to DT when SC came out and FII was one of their last albums I got. I remember being extremely underwhelmed with it. I tried a handful of times to like it, but was still discovering their other albums, all which I really felt at the time. Well, I haven't listened to any DT for a couple weeks now, so thought this would be a good chance to sit back and really listen to FII on it's own merits and give it one more chance. Wow! I really enjoyed it this time. I'm quite surprised actually by how good most of these songs are. From Peruvian Skies on I've been engrossed into this album. It has a flow and mood all its own. I can't yet rate it, but it will be getting more spins I'll say that. Much better than I originally thought.

[tgstk2]

i like FII a lot, it has got some killer tunes and some disasters....

new millenium is great it's an awesome song and i hope to see it on there setlist again!! (the metal riff half way trough is awesome!)
tiral of tears, awesome song strat to finish everything in that song makes you love DT.
hell's kitchen, great song, JP's really "talks" with his guitar on this track...awesome
pervuian skies, aswesome, live even better
you not me,,, ok that one sucks, i dont like the chorus at all...
burning my soul is awesome, great chunks, love the metalish vibe of it.
take away my pain...great song, but i am not into acoustic stuff so i always skip it.
lines in the sand awesome
hollow years great song, live even better (the extened JP solo versions...WOW!!!).

i love Dereks tone on this album, this was the last album DT had a real keyboard player. with acutal keyboard solos. He had the most rockstar attitude of all in DT. and it suits/fits him well, i like his solo albums!
I like JR's stuff, but sometimes it's really overkill. with all the slides and wah's and stuff on the sounds.... sometimes i would just love to hear a normal tone and a sol