Re: Deadeye Deep Dives: Dream Theater (A View from the Top of the World)

[Jamesman42]

When you choose the opening song for your 40th anniversary tour, you need to make sure it's exactly right. With Metallica, they opened the 40th anniversary gigs with Hit the Lights, their very first song. Rush opened theirs with The Anarchist, opting to go from the most recent material to the start of their career. For Dream Theater, it's Metropolis. And honestly, it really deserved to be. From the mysterious, magical opening to the band-defining instrumental section and the fact that this one song garnered so much attention that the band's second most successful album is a direct sequel to the themes set up in this one song, how could it ever be anything else? Yes, the lyrics are rather vague, but we do get the nod to the lake of fire, to the "I was told there's a new love that's born for each one that has died", and we even name Scenes From a Memory and The Dance of Eternity before the lyrics are done. But man, this song in and of itself is a powerhouse! James' voice is at its peak, the interplay between the band is insanity, the runs that JP and Kev play in perfect unison are just astounding. And that keyboard riff in the breakdown to the guitar solo is honestly one of my favourite tones that will ever be used on a Dream Theater song. And I haven't even mentioned Myung's bass solo where he plays a bass solo! Man, this song just really defines Dream Theater for me. It's all here! Can't believe the "part one" moniker was just a joke to begin with, when it truly did spawn so much more.

great write-up for the greatest song ever. And I wish I could enjoy SFAM like some do, but it falls flat overall for me.

[Xaves]

holed up at BearTracks Studios (right?) in upstate New York. It was a studio owned by Jay Beckenstein from Spyro Gyra(?).

We did the album at Beartracks Studio right, and it was owned by Jay Beckenstein from Spyro Gyra right.
*Confused JP Face*

Enjoyed this reference, also great deep dive Deadeye.

[Shadowmangini]

I enjoyed this reference 

Really enjoying these deep dives, thank you!

What else to say about Images and Words, it's a classic, every song is amazing. My favourite though has to be Learning to Live.

I internally gasped when I realized I knew exactly what those question marks were, I could hear James' inflection and then the commentary track roasting him for it. Which DVD was this on again?

[Xaves]

I think 5 years in a Livetime commentary which included Live in Tokyo 1993.

[Another_Won]

Images and Words - 1992
Tracklisting: 1. Pull Me Under. 2. Another Day. 3. Take the Time. 4. Surrounded. 5. Metropolis - Part I: "The Miracle and the Sleeper". 6. Under a Glass Moon. 7. Wait for Sleep. 8. Learning to Live.

Another great writeup!  These should be official liner notes for the albums and/or put into the Wikipedia entry.

[DTA]

Great write ups! I didn't know PMU was the song that got Don't Look Past Me kicked off. I know the band wanted Metropolis to open the album, so I'm guessing DLPM would've been the opening track to side 2. Was To Live Forever always destined to be a b-side or was that replaced as well (likely by Another Day or Surrounded)?

[Shadowmangini]

I am curious if you would expand on what you find off-putting about Jay B.'s sax solo! I love that part and I love the general power ballad feeling of "Another Day".
Also pretty sure Petrucci wrote the lyrics of UAGM based on what he was seeing out his windshield one night outside the venue iirc, one of those newer videos of him  breaking down I&W had him talk about it

[sneakyblueberry]

Great writing!

I don't know if it's a typo or intentional but; "And I haven't even mentioned Myung's bass solo where he plays a bass solo!" made me chuckle, and pretty much nails my reaction to bass solos in general

[devieira73]

Deadeye, your write-ups are always a pleasure to read, thanks again. Just a minor detail, I believe Take the Time lyrics were written only by Moore/Myung/Petrucci/Portnoy and, you're right, it was the only time it did happen.
And "Myung's bass solo where he plays a bass solo!" is always a cool reference too! (He said it in some interview at the time, right?)
About the now legendary solo on UAGM I guess is the one that JP thinks it was the first that he created something truly in his own style.
That JP's acoustic and "clean" guitar solo section that follows it and all the instrumentation beneath it is one of my top 5 moments in the entire DT catalogue. And I can't say right away the other four.
It was really magical to listen to this album still in 1992.

[sneakyblueberry]

Ah, I should've known the bass solo thing was some obscure reference

[Deadeye21]

Was To Live Forever always destined to be a b-side or was that replaced as well (likely by Another Day or Surrounded)?

I don't know anything about TLF on I&W, sorry to say.

I am curious if you would expand on what you find off-putting about Jay B.'s sax solo! I love that part and I love the general power ballad feeling of "Another Day".

Honestly, I just find it unneeded and a little bit too shrill for my ears. It's well played, it makes the song unique, but I prefer his work on the alternate version of Through Her Eyes.

[Deadeye21]

Hey guys!
For anyone that was hoping for a new chapter today, the Wednesday releases are very much a sometimes thing. We've got one coming up next week as the Falling Into Infinity Demos will be taking centre stage for themselves. The other one I can definitely foresee is The Astonishing, as doing all 34 songs in one hit is gonna be way too much for my hands and your eyes in one hit!

That said, I have elected to add A Change of Seasons to the end of the Awake chapter coming this Friday, rather than it being a dedicated chapter for its own. Reason being, I just don't have enough to say about the cover material from that EP. The Perfect Strangers and Funeral for a Friend covers are cool, The Big Medley is a bit of fun, but there's not enough to get into when songwriting and the like aren't really there for us to get content from. We'll see what happens for BC&SL, but I may skip that as well if I just don't have enough to say.

Here's a question to leave you with. I was watching the Band Trivia video from a few years ago and saw there was a question about ACoS having a mail-away for a bonus CD with an exclusive track. Does anyone know what that track was?

[ZirconBlue]

Honestly, I just find it unneeded and a little bit too shrill for my ears. It's well played, it makes the song unique, but I prefer his work on the alternate version of Through Her Eyes.

While I love "Another Day", I just do not care for the timbre of a soprano saxophone.  I'd enjoy the song even more if they subbed in an alto sax playing the same parts.  

[ZirconBlue]

Take the Time lifts the album right back up though. Opening with an almost ethereal drone into John Myung's SOS bassline and then opening into a furious guitar riff, Take the Time already has you hooked before breaking into the opening lyrics. Take the Time began life as an instrumental called Grab That Feel and was one of the songs played at the Summerfest show in 1990. The lyrics that came would end up being rather unique as they would be the only ones written by all five members of the band at the time. While I can't tell you who wrote which verses, I can be pretty sure that Kevin Moore had the "unbroken spirit, distilled and disquiet" verse.

Mike Portnoy on who wrote the lyrics for Take the Time:

V1=MP, V2=JM, V3=JP, BR=KM, CH=MP & KM

Someone on reddit posted some elaboration:

Verse 1: Mike Portnoy ("Just let me catch my breath....I think it's time for a chaaaaaaaaange!")


Verse 2: John Myung ("There is something that I feel, to be something that is real.................I won't waste another breath!")

Verse 3: John Petrucci ("The unbroken spirit, obscured and disquiet.............Suppression that he feels must turn to hope.")

Bridge: Kevin Moore ("I close my eyes and feel the water rise around me.........I can see much clearer now I'm blind.)

Chorus: Portnoy and Moore.

[Wim Kruithof]

I don't know if it's a typo or intentional but; "And I haven't even mentioned Myung's bass solo where he plays a bass solo!" made me chuckle, and pretty much nails my reaction to bass solos in general

A member here had that Myung-line in his personal profile quoted, I thought it was pg1067, TAC or Kotowboy, IIRC.

Deadeye, much respect to your effort in these deep dives. I enjoy reading it a lot.

[Deadeye21]

Verse 3: John Petrucci ("The unbroken spirit, obscured and disquiet.............Suppression that he feels must turn to hope.")

That surprises me. Verse three and the bridge feel like the writers are the wrong way around.

[Deadeye21]

Awake - 1994
Tracklisting: 1. 6:00. 2. Caught in a Web. 3. Innocence Faded. 4. Erotomania. 5. Voices. 6. The Silent Man. 7. The Mirror. 8. Lie. 9. Lifting Shadows Off a Dream. 10. Scarred. 11. Space-Dye Vest.

Awake on Spotify

Also featuring in this chapter: To Live Forever, Eve and A Change of Seasons.

To Live Forever on Spotify
Eve on YouTube
A Change of Seasons on Spotify



It's safe to say that Images and Words was a pretty big deal, yeah? Pull Me Under was doing very well, airing on MTV five times a day at certain points. But the thing with success is that people in power always want more of it, and your new followers want to get the same rush again. Enter 1994's Awake, the first album that the band ever wrote with expectations weighing on them. The label wanted more hit singles, the fans were now along for the ride. One of the big asks from the label was to make a more "metal-oriented" album, feeling that it would be easier for them to market.

Written and recorded in a mere four months, with only a month break to recover from the Images and Words touring cycle, during which time bands like Pantera, Nirvana and Rage Against the Machine were starting to come into mainstream notoriety, and that influence definitely isn't held back in any way. Recorded at the legendary One on One Studios which saw birth to the biggest metal album of all time a mere 3 years prior, let's dive into Awake, an album currently celebrating it's 30th anniversary.

I can't say I know of too many albums that open with a drum groove but Awake sure does. 6:00 takes it's time to establish the drums and keyboard before being joined by the guitar stabs. Setting the song up with one of the most iconic samples in DT history, we're into 6:00, with lyrics by Kevin Moore about a man being stuck in his situation and unable to get out which Portnoy would later reveal to be a weaker metaphor for his want to leave the band. This is a great opening to the album, greeting us with hard hitting riffs with maybe a slight touch less of the progressive elements that we came to know on Images and Words. The song features a cool extended keyboard solo as its main instrumental feature, but the highlight to me is honestly the bridge. It's the one moment of clean guitar and laid-back synth. It really pulls back into something quite beautiful amidst all the chaos that came before and is to come after. I also feel like 6:00 helps to establish the tone of Awake really well and gets you ready for all that's to come.

Caught in a Web is up next, marking the first appearance of a seven-string! This is more of a groove metal track, and I love it. While being a bit more straight forward, there are some cool little proggy moments like the riff into the first chorus and the whole instrumental section. The lyrics by John Petrucci and James LaBrie talk about a web of deceit that a person can trap themselves in by lying to themselves, but ultimately deciding to accept the truth and embrace who they truly are. I've read some people say this could be about a closeted gay person, and while I personally don't agree, I can see that interpretation could be in there somewhere, especially after the themes of Learning to Live. This is one that's important to highlight before getting into Falling Into Infinity, as this song would end up getting twisted into something quite different in 1996 as Caught in Alice's Nine Inch Tool Garden, which turned the song into more of an industrial metal type of jam. Certain elements of that version would end up appearing in New Millennium. Ultimately, these two songs would end up together as part of a medley on Live Scenes from New York as Caught in a New Millennium, but we can talk about that particular version at another point. Caught in a Web, as it appears on the album, is a banger, though when it comes to ranking the songs on the album, probably winds up in the lower half. That's just how good Awake is to me.

A more upbeat song up next in the form of Innocence Faded, though with somewhat darker lyrics. Innocence Faded is another Petrucci penned lyric, which he has said is "not solely about but definitely inspired by" his deteriorating friendship with Kevin Moore. This song is an absolute powerhouse for everyone involved, I love Kevin's keyboard hook before the choruses, and the drumming is groovy as all hell. James' voice is in absolute peak form here, with the second verse featuring another huge note, much like that of Learning to Live. However, the highlight of the song is definitely that guitar outro. Holy hell, if you're someone who still wasn't onboard with Petrucci after Under a Glass Moon and Another Day, you'll be hooked in by the intro and then absolutely be floored by the last minute and a half of this song. This is so good that it would later be played after Scarred for the first part of the Six Degrees tour. Man, Petrucci really is on fire here!

Up next is an epic suite called A Mind Beside Itself, which is broken up into three songs. The first is an instrumental called Erotomania, which is an absolutely killer track. This is really just a big old structured jam, with the Johns holding down a riff while Kevin holds massive chords over it. After a few rounds of this almost verse/chorus progression, we get a breakdown into a solo and then the song starts changing. While very much being it's own piece, I love that it serves as almost a mini-overture to The Silent Man, with the chorus melody and the acoustic breakdown being used here. The really cool thing to note with Erotomania is that quite a chunk of its back half was originally used in Pull Me Under in its demo form (check that out here:

). The entire segment from 4:32 to about 5:20 was originally placed just after the solo of Pull Me Under, but was cropped down to make the song that we know today. As Erotomania draws to an end, we get something of a clean bridge with a manic flurry of bass notes. The word erotomania is defined as when you think someone is in love with you, but they aren't.

This serenity quickly turns dark as Myung sets up the next riff, leading us into Voices, the biggest section of this suite. Voices speaks of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia. This is a very dark song, there's no way to deny that. The imagery that Petrucci employs to really makes what he's saying pop is bleak to say the least. Voices is a great song though, and another shining example of James' peak vocal prowess, especially in the second verse where he's full on screaming. Lines like "I feel elated, I feel depressed. Sex is Death, Death is sex" really speak to the volatile state of this character's mind. The song starts to blur the lines between religious beliefs, sex and overall insanity. This is also a song that features a guest artist, with the rapper Prix-Mo coming in to record the spoken word section at the song's midpoint, featuring the classic line "Everything is immaterial, 'n' you know that reality is immaterial. This is not reality". Something I've noticed recently is that the keyboard in this section starts to play the riff from Erotomania as the guitar chugging reaches a climax. While I've given the nod to James, I really have to point out that this is another one of John's best solos. Equal parts technical and emotional, it's perfect for the song.

Once again, another clean bridge between the two songs leads us into the acoustic conclusion of the suite, The Silent Man. This was the second single from the album, which I find equal parts confusing and fitting. It's a song that I don't think follows the sound of the album whatsoever, being very much stripped back to just JP and James. There was even a music video for this song, which featured some great imagery from the album's artwork, but which features a strange sight of John Myung holding a guitar! Anyway, The Silent Man is ultimately about communication breakdown and not really being able to get through to someone anymore. Once again continuing with the religious iconography from Voices, the song serves as a rather somber epilogue to the ending of Voices. The chorus line of "Tonight I'm awake" is most likely where the album title stems from, but it could also be from a line in Innocence Faded, "the faithful live awake, the rest remain misled". It's also the shortest song on the album, so there isn't too much to say. The band would usually perform this song in a full band arrangement, as you can hear on the Live Scenes from New York album, which is kinda more fun to listen to, but also doesn't overly suit the song in my mind. Which version do you prefer, I'd like to hear from you!

Let's get into the album's second half with one of the heaviest songs DT has ever made, and the first released song with Portnoy's lyrics! This is The Mirror, a song that these days serves as something of a precursor to everyone's favourite suite, the Twelve Step Suite. The intro to this song was written in rehearsals for the Images and Words tour and was often performed as an intro jam to Take the Time called Puppies On Acid. This song speaks to Portnoy's struggles with alcoholism, which he wouldn't fully address until the end of the Metropolis 2000 tour. There's a lot of anger in James' voice, asking deep, self-reflective questions in the realisation of how far the alcoholism had gone to ruin him. The Mirror curiously features the main riff from Space-Dye Vest, which as we will delve into in that song, helps to sell the sense of isolation, especially going into the song's outro.

However, The Mirror doesn't end in The Mirror. Lie actually serves as somewhat of an interception the ending, turning into another song instead. The two pieces were originally written together, I know, but I digress. This is a Kevin Moore penned lyric, which deals with two different viewpoints on not wanting to give up on someone who is a bit of a lost cause, but ultimately realising it's worthless in the end and walking away. Once again, Kevin's lyrics on this album seem to indicate his detachment from the band at this point and wanting to walk away from it all. Lie was the first and most successful single from the album, which featured a much shorter version, ending with a shortened version of the rapid rhythmic pattern that would instead serve as a bridge back to The Mirror's closing solo. The music video for Lie is interesting, as it features the band as a four-piece, since Kevin had left the band but had not yet been replaced by Derek Sherinian.

After such a heavy piece, it's time for things to slow down a little bit. Lifting Shadows Off a Dream is a ballad based off of a poem by John Myung about two people who are very different and how they compliment each other in a relationship. I have to say, John's lead playing parts of this song really reminds me of U2 with the short notes with a bit of delay style. Legend has it that this song was inspired by a jam that the band had felt was unsuccessful, but came back and decided to rework into a great song. This isn't a common song to hear live, and I'd be somewhat surprised if it returns again after the Along for the Ride tour, where the second half of this album was played in it's entirety. It's not one of my favourites on Awake, but it is a beautifully atmospheric song that gives us a good breather after the chaos of The Mirror and Lie. It's ok to think a song is a little weaker but still ove it for what it is, and the purpose it serves here is pulled off very well.

With the last of Myung's bass harmonics ringing out from the song previous, Mike's ride cymbal begins to chime with a bit of a jazz swing to it. Opening into a killer bassline with Myung tapping chords and a lower riff, Scarred opens with a somewhat laid-back solo. As James start singing, the song stays somewhat tranquil. Then the song opens up into a killer riff that I can't help but headbang to! Scarred is, lyrically, a summation of everything that this album has delved into. While the early verses and choruses drum up a lot of the religion and betrayal themes, I feel like the quieter bridge is a message to Moore from Petrucci asking what's going on as they start to drift further apart. And then we reach the instrumental section which has one Dream Theater's all-time best riffs before the solos kick off. Honestly, this song really offers everything that's been great about this album in one eleven minute package. It's absolutely my favourite song on Awake, and the final lyrics "learning from misery, staring back at dissent, leaving distrust behind, I'm inspired and content" feels like a perfect way to say that "hey, we're only getting stronger, we're learning from the world around us and making it all count".

As the final chord progression fades out, it's safe to say that Scarred is a perfect way to close this al- Hang on, Spotify's just started playing some piano ballad. Can't be right, it's meant to repeat the album, and it just ended perfectly. Sounds like James though...

Ok, yes, there's another song on Awake, which I've already mentioned so I can't really escape from it. Space-Dye Vest is a dark and moody piano ballad, which in my opinion absolutely tanks the ending of this album. This song deals with Kevin Moore's detachment perfectly, considering it was brought into the band as a fully completed piece. As James would later explain, this song is about a model in a magazine that Kevin fell in love with, but started to realise that the only way he could stay in love with her was if she only ever stayed on the page, and if they ever met it would ruin everything. This is a pretty depressing song all up and really leaves the album off with a downer, instead of the great uplifting twist that Scarred would have left off on. For anyone wondering why James sounds quite different here, apparently Kevin actually sang the lead underneath, which wasn't known to the band until it came to the mixing process. This is quite easily my least favourite song on the album, even if it does give the isolation context to the moment in The Mirror.

Awake is a pretty great album, and on the right day I'd probably give it the edge over Images and Words. This is a direct reaction to the musical landscape of the mid-90s and it's done perfectly. The 10 main songs form a damn near perfect album to me, even if I think Lifting Shadows is a bit on the weaker side. Awake has better production in my ears, mainly because of the lack of sample replaced snare drums. It's just a brilliant album, and one that I feel may have been a little overlooked until the 2014 tour brought it back to life. The only problem that holds it back from being a lock for my favourite album is Space-Dye Vest. It's a song I genuinely don't care for, and I'd be a lot happier if it weren't here.

[Deadeye21]

This is a continuation, I exceeded my character limit. Carry on!


Space-Dye Vest was ultimately placed on the album in an attempt to please Kevin Moore's different tastes in music, back when his leaving the band was only in consideration. Portnoy later said that if he had known that it was a done deal that the song would have never made it, naming To Live Forever as the song it would have been replaced by. The song did serve as a B-Side to the Lie single however, and it's a great song that's worth mentioning. To Live Forever is a beautiful, somewhat melancholy ballad. As revealed in the Live in Tokyo commentary, this song came about when the band saw U2's Rattle And Hum movie back in 1988, with the song actually predating the release of When Dream and Day Unite. You can feel a bit of the U2 influence, especially in JP's lead breaks. While the music sounds hopeful, the lyrics paint a much different picture, speaking of distrust, starvation, revenge, and ultimately longing for an end to life rather than dragging on forever. My interpretation of the lyrics is about a man who's ultimately fallen on hard times and has tried to help influence the world around him to no avail. All up, I wish this had made the cut for Awake, it's almost a breath of fresh air that only Innocence Faded even hints at offering.

There was another B-Side with the Silent Man single, which dates back to the Image and Words tour. Eve, an instrumental piece that used to precede Learning to Live in the encore of the 93 tour. It's always hard to say much about instrumentals, as even though I'm a musician myself, it's just difficult to find the right words to speak about instrumental music. With Eve, I once again feel a major sense of melancholy, almost as if revisiting a bit of nostalgia and yearning for that time again. This was certainly furthered in the live versions by the inclusion of a children's story being read in the quieter sections. Petrucci's final lead, the only lines in this song that use distortion, really sing to me, almost in tears. I think if this was going to be on some kind of deluxe version of Awake that reincorporated the two cut songs, this would be perfect between Lifting Shadows and Scarred. Letting that final bit of synth fade out into Portnoy's ride cymbal would have flowed real nicely, and I can feel the last bass harmonic turning into the breathy synth chords that open the song too.

Now, as I said back on Wednesday night, we've reached something of a second main event. Back in 1992, the band had wanted to release Images and Words as a double album in hopes to release one extra song. While the label had ultimately pushed back against it, this song made airings on the Images and Words tour. It was drastically different to what we're about to review. But, when Derek Sherinian joined the band, this was the first song he got to help in the creation of, rewriting the intro and helping to rework the song. This is A Change of Seasons. This is the first time I'm going to be writing about one song in multiple paragraphs, as there's a hell of a lot to talk about with this one.

Opening with the new Sherinian intro, this song feels right at home with the Awake material. The depth of the seven-string and the overall melody is so at home with the darkness of the Awake album. Something I really love is Portnoy's octaban rolls that echo the original intro from the I&W era. There's a riff here that really reminds me of Erotomania as well, with similar organ chords over the top. As the intro jam that is The Crimson Sunrise gives way to Innocence so suddenly, we're into the first studio vocals from James post-vocal rupture. This first section tells us of the young boy observing the world with wonder and innocence, but growing into a man who sees the world as it really is, filled with a sense of existential fear.

As the song calms down into an acoustic passage, we enter the third movement, Carpe Diem. The lyrics here tell us to cherish life, and as part of that the man returns home. His mother is leaving for a flight, and in a brief exchange he says "I love you, goodbye". As we learn through movie samples in the ramp up to the next instrumental segment, The Darkest of Winters, something happened and she was killed. The instrumental that follows is a great example of anger, confusion and almost a sense of denial. This also has to be one of the sickest riffs at 12:18, with the guitar, bass and keyboards all locked in to an intricate and fast riff, modulating the key three times until reaching a plateau with space for three mini-solos. This opens up into Another World, where our character really feels lost, alone and abused. James gives one of his greatest vocal deliveries on the key moment of the song here, being the "I'm sick of all you hypocrites" bridge. This moment just oozes with anger and resolve, and I just love James in that moment.

One final instrumental section, The Inevitable Summer, leads into the closing movement, The Crimson Sunset, which is set years later with the character reminiscing on being older and wiser, having learned that life goes on no matter what. Ultimately the song ends with the character dying, knowing that despite his body being gone, he will live on in the memory of his son. The acoustic intro comes back to finish out the song, ringing out with something of a resolution, but still never quite feeling fully complete. I wonder if it's almost a metaphor for life in some way.

A Change of Seasons is the first song the band released that's over 20 minutes as A Mind Besides Itself sits as more of a suite, even moreso than Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, which we will talk about before too long. It's the first song that Portnoy ever wrote lyrics to, and they hit hard. This is somewhat biographical, dedicated to his own mother who died in a plane crash in 1984. It actually feels like a really awful coincidence that this song is coming up right now, so soon after the loss of his sister. Coupled with a few cover tunes, this EP is actually longer than both When Dream and Day Unite and Images and Words, only being officially titled an EP due to the band not wanting it to be confused for the next album. To me, this song has always felt as a perfect summation of the Kevin Moore era, and it's one of the only songs that would feature elements from two different keyboardists. I got to see A Change of Seasons as the encore to my, so far, only Dream Theater concert in 2017, and I'm so grateful that I did.


Well, that's probably enough from me. We've just done a massive deep dive here through one of my favourite albums, it's B-Sides AND a whole 23 minute epic. I'd better give you a chance to recover before Wednesday's look into a few of the demos form Falling Into Infinity.

[DragonAttack]

First, thanks for your earlier Metallica and Iron Maiden write ups.  Not a fan per se, but those were damn educational.

Back to I&W:  great write up.  I will add to my appreciation of 'Another Day'. The part from
"Better to save the mystery
Than surrender to the secret....woah..."

and the guitar afterwards.....is almost 'spiritual' to me, always gives me goose bumps, even more so after the anniversary tour.

'Awake' and 'A Change Of Seasons'.  All in one write up!!!  Briefly, I didn't know of an 'Erotomania' segment being in 'Pull Me Under' (gave 'Oliver's Twist a listen for the first time this morning).  As to the rest of the album, 'Innocence Faded' has a glorious outro, but the lyrical part is skippable.  I'm not a fan of 'The Mirror' (sacrilege), prefer the single version of 'Lie', have 'To Live Forever' following that, and always ended my album version with 'Scarred'.  The perfect album ender.

Even more sacrilege, I know.  The spoken samples in SDV entirely take me out of the mood the song is trying to create.

[Xaves]

Space-Dye Vest is a dark and moody piano ballad, which in my opinion absolutely tanks the ending of this album.

I agree with you on this one, Space Dye is the worst song on this album and I usually end up stopping this album after Scarred.

Also hot take, Awake is better then Images and Words.

[devieira73]

About Myung playing guitar on TSM video:
https://youtu.be/w8oKj0lADJQ?si=cNJLY7jTnZCM939o
"Like in real life!"

[Dream Team]

Great write-ups, I don't even know where to start. Regarding Scarred, I LOVE the extended intro from Chaos in Motion.

[WilliamMunny]

I LOVE these write-ups...hats off to you, Deadeye21

As for Awake...it was love at first listen (like many), and an album that I still revisit often.

I love how, not unlike FII, it sounds like nothing else in the band's catalog.

In fact, to me, Awake and FII represent the far ends of the spectrum of what DT is capable of, and for my money, it's an amazing one-two punch.

As for "Space Dye Vest," I am probably in the vast minority, but I LOVE the track...more now than perhaps ever before.

In fact, it's easily in my top-3 for the album (and, similar to "Disappear," a direction I wish the band would explore more often).

As someone who really loves Kevin Moore's post-DT stuff, I feel like "Space Dye Vest" informs a lot of where he'd go with Chroma Key and OSI.

Again, minority opinion here, but I consider OSI my favorite DT side project (by a long shot).

I can't wait for the next installments!

[Jamesman42]

That was a super smooth read. I agree with you, some days Awake is better than IaW. I think the album can be underrated at times, but I also know it has a lot of fans.

I wish this was the sort of metal DT did these days. The music has so much flavor and thought behind it. I get that they were young and had more to prove. It's a perfectly encapsulated album of its time, that also contains the end of an era with KM leaving. There are just so many interesting ideas welded into great songs, it really feels like a band that has this monstrous writing talent.

[DTA]

Awake has a sound and vibe that I absolutely adore. I rank it much higher than I&W, and it contains what I believe to be their overall strongest more-concise songwriting. There's no wasted space in these songs, and everything feels like it belongs.

Highlights are Scarred, Voices, and Space Dye Vest. I think ending with SDV was the right move even if the band (or at least MP) doesn't feel that way. I&W ends with Learning To Live and I'm assuming that without SDV, the album would end with Scarred, and those two end in a very similar way with a fadeout of the band playing. I think it's the same reason why the band didn't want to end Systematic Chaos with ITPOE, since it would be very close to 8VM.

[Zydar]

I&W will always be my #1, but Awake has steadily grown on me over the years. It's comfortably in my Top 5 now. While I&W was love at first listen, Awake took its time for me to warm up to. 

[Deadeye21]

I think it's the same reason why the band didn't want to end Systematic Chaos with ITPOE, since it would be very close to 8VM.

What version of Systematic Chaos do you have? In the Presence of Enemies (or at least part 2) is the closer, and was only divided because they felt it was too good of an opener but too good of a closer and so they cut it in half like Shine On Crazy Diamond.

[DTA]

What version of Systematic Chaos do you have? In the Presence of Enemies (or at least part 2) is the closer, and was only divided because they felt it was too good of an opener but too good of a closer and so they cut it in half like Shine On Crazy Diamond.

I have the same version as you. But I remember an interview where they specifically didn't want it (in its full version) to close the album because it would be identical to Octavarium. And they didn't want it (in its full version) to open the album because the album would be way too frontloaded. So cutting it in half like Shine On was the best solution and allowed them to use it as both opener and closer.

[Deadeye21]

I don't hear those songs being even slightly similar to be perfectly honest. But we're NOOT there yet, in fact we've got five albums to cover before we get to Systematic Chaos, so maybe we'll get there by the end of the year.

[DTA]

I don't hear those songs being even slightly similar to be perfectly honest. But we're NOOT there yet, in fact we've got five albums to cover before we get to Systematic Chaos, so maybe we'll get there by the end of the year.

Similar only in terms of length - two albums in a row ending with 20+ minute songs. Which is the point I was making with why I'm glad SDV ended the album rather than Scarred - I&W also ended with an 11 minute song fading out. It just makes each album more distinctive by ending in a completely different way. But I'm enjoying these so far and can't wait to read the next write-ups!

[Wim Kruithof]

Once again a very interesting breakdown, I enjoyed it a lot.

Awake will always belong to my most beloved albums, but I do know one thing for sure,

Awake has by far the best lyrics of their whole discography. Dark, vunerable, sad and much anger involved. Wished they'll get there much more.

[Deadeye21]

Falling Into Infinity Demos - 1996/1997

Featured songs - Raise the Knife, Where Are You Now, The Way It Used to Be, Cover My Eyes, Speak to Me.

Regardless of how you feel about Falling Into Infinity, the album does serve as somewhat of a dark patch in the band's career. Awake had been a moderate success, but neither Lie or The Silent Man proved to be anywhere near as strong of a single as Pull Me Under had been. Along with some internal management changes, this had forced EastWest Records into a very rough spot where they were being treated as a one hit wonder that had already had their five minutes. The band had written enough material for a double album, but the label refused to give them the green light to go ahead with what could have been a very ambitious project. Furthermore, they were insisting "we need radio hits and radio hits only", despite Portnoy's insistence that Dream Theater simply weren't that kind of band.

Many of the songs that did make the cut for the album were subsequently reworked, some for the better, some for the worse. But there were six songs that ultimately found their days ending on the cutting room floor. One of which would have been the epic sequel to Metropolis, which fans had been yearning for ever since the original was given the joke nickname of "part one". Obviously, we know that this was very right to be cut, given that Scenes From a Memory has just celebrated it's 25th anniversary as one of Dream Theater's all-time greats! But, what of the other five cut songs? That's what I'm eager to dive into today.

Starting with the most popular of these tracks, we have Raise the Knife which was made famous through its inclusion on Score. The lyrics to Raise the Knife, written by Portnoy, serve as both a tribute to their former manager, Jim Palutskey, and an absolute diss track to Kevin Moore. Apparently, the story goes that Jim was let go by the band's management, though the band had gone to bat for him to be kept, hence the "once again outnumbered" verse. From the "tortured artist bears his soul" verse onwards, the song takes a stab at Kevin in his final days with the band. This is a great song and would have been brilliant given a full production. That said, I can see why this didn't make the cut while both Trial of Tears and Lines in the Sand did. This is a really angry song, even with the opening verses making for a nice bit of melodic relief, and I don't know that it would have fit the overall mood of Falling Into Infinity if it had stayed, given that the more aggressive songs of Burning My Soul and Just Let Me Breathe would make the cut. The intro and middle instrumental sections were originally performed in June of 1995 under the name Showdown, which served as an instrumental intro to Caught in a Web.

Where Are You Now is a far more straight-forward song to me. Opening with a short drum intro into a beautiful intro, we're treated to a simplistic verse section with one chord serving as the instrumental basis for a lot of it. Petrucci's lyrics paint a picture much like those of The Silent Man, with someone trying to connect with someone who's caught up in their own world but ultimately gets a little lost from the world. I'm a little surprised this one didn't make it to the main album, as it has a very commercial feeling to me. However, given the changing lyrics in Take Away My Pain removing the "say goodbye to Jesus, the world he left will never be the same" lyric, I wonder if the third verse is part of the reason that this song ended up disappearing. All up, this is a great song that would have really fit the vibe of FII if it had joined the final tracklist.

Jumping ahead a little, we get to my favourite of the cut songs, The Way It Used to Be. The opening riff really boasts the U2 influence that To Live Forever only bordered on, while also thundering ahead to feature some really cool standout moments for Myung and Sherinian, plus some killer solos from JP. The lyrics by LaBrie speak of a want to go home and relive the old days, So much about this song is very atypical for Dream Theater, almost to the point that the completely change in sound is what makes it so appealing. Derek's keyboard solo is one of my favourites of his, and the ending jam is just straight ear candy to me. I also have to say that the build up to that final jam really reminds me of Iron Maiden's Revelations. The song was played live a small handful of times on the Falling Into Infinity tour, including the Le Bataclan show that makes up a large portion of the Once In A Livetime album, so I hope that MP will open the vault and give us a good quality live recording of this underrated track someday.

If the goal was to write potential radio hits, why was Cover My Eyes left on the cutting room floor? This short track kicks ass. The only problem is that Petrucci's lyrics don't really hold much meaning. Again, it's not one that really holds much of the regular Dream Theater identity, but one that just rocks. This was also played at a few shows on the Infinity tour but was subsequently brought back for three shows of the early Six Degrees touring cycle, leading straight into Strange Déjà Vu. There's also an acoustic version which you can find on the Five Years in a Livetime home video. I personally prefer the acoustic version, but this electric version is one that I feel could've been at least a minor hit.

Speak to Me is the last song I'm going to dedicate today's deep dive to. This is the song that's had the most live airings of the demos. LaBrie's lyrics tell of a woman who couldn't communicate a deep sorrow. I almost wonder if she's a metaphor for Kevin Moore from James' perspective. This song holds a distinction shared by only one other song as it doesn't feature Mike Portnoy at all and instead features a drum machine. If you want to hear a version with live drums though, you can check out the Five Years in a Livetime acoustic version. This song is moody as hell, probably just a bit less dark than Space-Dye Vest ultimately. This song was brought back for eight shows of the Octavarium tour, which is cool, but this is easily my least favourite of the demos.


We have demos for every other song on Falling Into Infinity, but I feel as though it would be more correct to talk about the changes made to the main tracklist songs either on Friday with the main album, or as a separate comparison discussion next Wednesday.

What do you think? Which is your favourite of the demos? Do you think these songs were rightfully cut, or would you put one of these in the main album, and if so, for what?

[evilasiojr]

Thanks Deadeye!! Great read.

I think I didn't know the amount of lyrical reference there was to the Kevin Moore situation, I guess there was more hurt and resentment than I imagined. And Raise The Knife is an absolute genius song imo.

[DragonAttack]

Around '08, when I finally had caught up with all the studio releases and had my hands on 'Cleaning Out The Closet', I put together a hypothetical old style 'A Change Of Seasons' LP

Side One:  Raise The Knife / The Way It Used To Be / Cover My Eyes
Side Two:  A Change Of Seasons

Listened to it a lot more than I did SC and BC&SL at the time, and still spin it on occasion.

[Zydar]

These are all good-to-great songs, especially Speak To Me and Raise The Knife. I'd gladly replace Just Let Me Breathe with any of these songs on the finished FII tracklist, and it would be a stronger album.