Falling Into Infinity a re-listen

[Chino]

I could never understand all the hate for FII. I rather enjoy the album.

[Samsara]

FII is a pretty good album, IMO, and I've listened to it SEVERAL ways... of course, there's the album itself, as released with all 11 tracks. And of course there's the FII Demos, which include all the songs as the band had originally written them (I particularly enjoy "Take Away My Pain" and "Anna Lee" here, as well as "Lines In The Sand").

I have also created a 2-CD set of the album using the officially released tracks, some of the FII demos, and other versions of the songs:
1. Raise The Knife (Cleaning Out The Closet)
2. Where Are You Now? (COTC)
3. Take Away My Pain (FII, or FII Demos - I've used both versions)
4. You Or Me (Hollow Years single)
5. Hollow Years (Falling Into Infinity album)
6. Burning My Soul (FII)
7. Hell's Kitchen (FII)
8. Lines In The Sand (FII)

1. New Millennium (FII)
2. Cover My Eyes (COTC)
3. Peruvian Skies (FII)
4. Speak To Me (COTC)
5. Just Let Me Breathe (FII)
6. The Way It Used To Be (COTC)
7. Anna Lee (FII)
8. Trial Of Tears (FII)

I keep hoping for a day when the band plays all their FII-era material for a special concert... maybe next year for it's 15th anniversary? 

-Marc.

Marc - I'd love for them to do that, but heh, I highly doubt it'll ever happen. 

[tri.ad]

I agree with Samsära. DT have only played - apart from SFAM and TOT - their first and their breakthrough album in their entirety. They already skipped Awake, so I really don't think that playing FII is something we can look forward to.

[ZKX-2099]

DT had abandoned their their trademark logo.

The Majesty symbol is still on the cover...  

[tri.ad]

DT had abandoned their their trademark logo.

The Majesty symbol is still on the cover...  

I think he's talking about the lettering of the band name.

[cyberdrummer]

I agree with Samsära. DT have only played - apart from SFAM and TOT - their first and their breakthrough album in their entirety. They already skipped Awake, so I really don't think that playing FII is something we can look forward to.

And 8V.

But I agree, I can't see FII being played in full.

[contest_sanity]

I agree with Samsära. DT have only played - apart from SFAM and TOT - their first and their breakthrough album in their entirety. They already skipped Awake, so I really don't think that playing FII is something we can look forward to.

And 8V.

But I agree, I can't see FII being played in full.

Well, and they'd also have to fly in Desmond Child to perform on YNM, Derek for the whole album, Doug Pinnock for LITS, and Kevin Moore for the encore: a dramatic interpretation of 'Raise The Knife' where MP chases him around the stage with a blade.

[bosk1]

I agree with Samsära. DT have only played - apart from SFAM and TOT - their first and their breakthrough album in their entirety. They already skipped Awake, so I really don't think that playing FII is something we can look forward to.

And 8V.

But I agree, I can't see FII being played in full.

So, in other words...they've played 5 of their 10 albums, in their entirety.  Yeah, they'er definitely not inclined to play full albums.  What are people thinking? 

[Mebert78]

DT had abandoned their their trademark logo.

The Majesty symbol is still on the cover...  

I think he's talking about the lettering of the band name.

Yeah, i meant the lettering.  But it was the not just the lettering, it was the cover artwork.  The first two DT albums that had achieved such great success had that fantasy-type dream artwork accompanied by the majestic DT font.  But FII had abandoned that winning formula.  The guys with binoculars on the cover are actual guys that sat on pedestals, according to "Lifting Shadows."  It's a cool concept, but the artwork and font was such a departure from the two previous albums that it kinda gave me thr impression the band had changed their ways somehow before I even listened to a note.  It was a turn off.  And since it was around the time that Metallica released Load and did the same kinda thing with their artwork and font, my friends and I at the time were putting DT and Metallica in the same boat.  Looking back, FII is a good album to me.  But I'm just recalling what I felt at the time.

[BlobVanDam]

The change in font I can definitely understand. The artwork not so much. Sticking to the exact same style of album artwork for three albums running would be wearing very thin (although Maiden and Megadeth made it work).
The font however is a consistent part of a band's identity, and is associated with the biggest change in Metallica's career, so that one would have thrown me off big time too. It always bugs me that it's the one DT album (excluding WDADU of course) that doesn't feature it. It deserved it!

[TAC]

The change in font I can definitely understand. The artwork not so much. Sticking to the exact same style of album artwork for three albums running would be wearing very thin (although Maiden and Megadeth made it work).
The font however is a consistent part of a band's identity, and is associated with the biggest change in Metallica's career, so that one would have thrown me off big time too. It always bugs me that it's the one DT album (excluding WDADU of course) that doesn't feature it. It deserved it!

As soon as I picked up the CD..without even hearing it..I looked at the font and got bad feelings about what was inside.

[contest_sanity]

The change in font I can definitely understand. The artwork not so much. Sticking to the exact same style of album artwork for three albums running would be wearing very thin (although Maiden and Megadeth made it work).
The font however is a consistent part of a band's identity, and is associated with the biggest change in Metallica's career, so that one would have thrown me off big time too. It always bugs me that it's the one DT album (excluding WDADU of course) that doesn't feature it. It deserved it!

As soon as I picked up the CD..without even hearing it..I looked at the font and got bad feelings about what was inside.

I don't think I considered the font one bit when I picked up it up on its release day.  I was just thrilled to have some new DT, since FII was the first album to be released after I became a fan.  Concerning fonts in general, it seems like a metal/hard rock and progressive phenomenon.  I'm trying to think of bands in other genres and not much is coming to mind as far as the importance of font goes.  I'm sure I'm probably leaving out some glaringly obvious examples, but I assume those will be pointed out to me.

[LCArenas]

Well, and they'd also have to fly in Desmond Child to perform on YNM, Derek for the whole album, Doug Pinnock for LITS, and Kevin Moore for the encore: a dramatic interpretation of 'Raise The Knife' where MP chases him around the stage with a blade.

[ACID_FOX]

The more I listen to it, the more it starts to become my favourite DT album.


Awake better watch out 

[chaossystem]

I think this is one of their most UNDER-rated albums! Personally, I like variety, and this one has tons of it: Short, heavy "rockers" (just Let Me Breathe, Burning My Soul) Long "progressive epics" (Trial of Tears, lines in the Sand) Slighty "funky" tunes (You Not Me, New Millennium) Ballads (der-Hollow Years) What's noto like?

[Kotowboy]

I haven't read the thread - just wanted to pitch in.

• Easily. Easily their best sounding album. Every instrument just sounds crystal clear , live and pure.

• Has some DT classics on. Lines In The Sand is probably my #2 favourite song after Octavarium.

• It is a bit poppy in places but the band had their hands tied a bit.

• Overall I prefer it to Awake easily.

[Kotowboy]

The change in font I can definitely understand. The artwork not so much. Sticking to the exact same style of album artwork for three albums running would be wearing very thin (although Maiden and Megadeth made it work).
The font however is a consistent part of a band's identity, and is associated with the biggest change in Metallica's career, so that one would have thrown me off big time too. It always bugs me that it's the one DT album (excluding WDADU of course) that doesn't feature it. It deserved it!

I found a picture of FII with the current DT logo and I use that picture for FII on my iTunes.

[PwnsomeWin]

I don't understand why this album isn't liked. Anna Lee is my second favorite DT ballad according to my rankings. Trial of Tears is great too, with that awesome solo leading into an epic ending. You Not Me is mediocre, but I like pretty much everything else.

[Zook]

I did a re-listen of FII a month or 2 ago, and I really like it now. Even the infamous cheesy wonky WTF songs.

[Kotowboy]

I really like New Millenium too.

[Rodni Demental]

More  for New Millennium, absolutely excellent song. Perfect opener for the album.

Also, The Riff that comes in at 7:12 is completely badass. (it's also used in one of the verses or prechorus' or something whatever you call the bits in this song lol.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

New Millennium has always been a pretty OK song to me. I like the latter half of it a lot in particular in comparison to the first half.

FII in general has warmed up to me quite a bit since my first listen. Two classics were born out of it in Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears, and it also has what I feel to be one of their best instrumentals in Hell's Kitchen. Hollows Years is actually an extremely moving ballad and Peruvian Skies is a great prog tune. My issue is only with how inconsistent the album is. It has some of their best stuff along with very sub-par tracks like You Not Me and Just Let Me Breathe. Thankfully, there are more ups than downs here for sure.

[425]

I'm really growing to love Falling Into Infinity. I would say that it's now in my top 3. Definitely behind IAW, my number one. I'm not sure if it would be ahead or behind ADTOE. But it's a really fantastic album.

It's definitely a different thing than DT's other albums. It sounds like no other, more so than a lot of the band's other albums. FII is way groovier and jazzier than anything DT wrote before or since, and I really enjoy that. Also, while I love Kevin and Jordan and wouldn't trade any of their work on any of the albums they made with DT, Derek's playing on this album has a lot of personality and really makes it stand out for me.

I've read through this thread, which is several years old, and one major topic of discussion is about the role of the demo tracks in their association with the album. I really just don't associate them with the album at all. Personally, as a person who can't help but get bothered about audio quality, I can't really listen to the demos because they don't sound good to me. So I've heard the demos maybe twice. The only cut track that I've heard well enough to even make a judgement about is Raise the Knife, because that song is on Score. I really like it, and I think it would have been great on FII, but since it wasn't on the album, I just view it as a standalone entity of sorts, like A Change of Seasons. And no, I don't wish it was on the album, because I don't really think there's anything on the album that could have been cut to allow RTK to be on the album while preserving the flow that I wouldn't have missed.

The best songs on the album are doubtlessly Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears. These two kind-of-jazzy epics are both in my top 15 for DT, so you get the idea of how much I love them. Both of them are great compositions and have emotional weight. The same can be said about Hollow Years, which I think is one of the most underrated DT songs. It's truly a touching piece. These are just three of the album's 11 songs, but this is already 30 pretty much flawless minutes of music. On top of this, New Millennium is a great opener, and Peruvian Skies and Hell's Kitchen have proven to be growers for me. All three are also great tracks. Take Away My Pain is a weird one that I've grown to love for its weirdness. Burning My Soul and Just Let Me Breathe bring a different attitude to the record, but both are great songs despite some maybe slightly juvenile lyrical moments (though I think JLMB's lyrics are kinda kickass in their own way, especially for having the bravery to name-drop Nirvana in a negative context). Anna Lee is a decent ballad, but I think it's the album's weak link. It's definitely my least favorite track.

You Not Me is a good song. It's not a great song, but it's a good song. I actually really like the riffs and overall guitarwork in this song even though it's nothing like what we've come to expect from John Petrucci, and the vocal melodies are actually good and catchy. I really like this song! Then again, I'm one of those sinners who enjoys pop music, so I'm probably just wrong.

[BlobVanDam]

I really like New Millenium too.

I've dug that song ever since hearing it on Budokan. Definitely an underrated song, even if not one of their best.

[t-bone2112]

Yes, after this thread died 2 years ago, I'm digging it up.  So shoot me!

I only put this CD into my car about 2-3 times a year for a listen.  And every time I do, I ask myself "why don't you listen to this more often, idiot?"  It is such a great album!

There is really only one song I don't care for and usually consider skipping over it, Just Let Me Breathe.

The absolute awesomeness for me: Trial of Tears (one of my favorite DT songs), Hell's Kitchen, Peruvian Skies.  These are absolute classics for me.  All of the other songs I at least like.

Everyone hates Anna Lee, and today as I listened to it, i was reminded how much I really like it.

John Myung's bass tone is the best he ever recorded.  Love the sound of the drums, the guitar tone is great; overall I love the production.

I don't know people......great album!

YMMV

[Dublagent66]

I enjoy FII every time I listen to it.  The snare isn't my favorite, but still a very enjoyable and memorable listen.

[goo-goo]

Interesting..I absolutely LOVE the snare sound on this album.

This was my 2nd DT album and I was shocked by it since it sounded so different from Images and Words (my 1st DT album). This has been the album that has aged the best for me. Would love to hear the FII demos with the same production as this album.

[Cool Chris]

When I bought this when it came out, I actually liked You Not Me more than half of the songs on the album. That, Peruvian Skies, Anna Lee, and ToT were the only ones I liked to any degree, which was hard coming off I&W and Awake which I loved front to back. Haven't listened to the CD in ages, and doing so likely won't change my opinion on it.

[mikeyd23]

This thread inspired a re-listen of FII for me on my way to work this morning. Great album, keeps getting better with age.

MP's cymbal work on this album is so, so good.

[Peter Mc]

I'm in the patchy release camp although the songs I'm not so keen on are the shorter ones so there's still a good hour of great music which is longer than most bands full album.

I love Lines In The Sand (with Hells Kitchen intro), Trial of Tears and Peruvian Skies and I like New Millennium quite a bit.  The rest I'm happy skip past.  Take Away My Pain should have been a great song but production totally kills any emotion in it for me and it just does nothing for me which is a shame considering what the song is about.  Even JP's solo, which can sometimes elevate a song, is not particularly memorable.

[Dublagent66]

Gotta love threads about the good ole days.   

[Scottjf8]

You not me and take away my pain just ruin this album for me.

[Dublagent66]

Not the strongest tracks on the album.  Especially YNM but I can still appreciate them both to some extent.  I've always liked TAMP and losing a loved one recently gives that song a whole new level of meaning for me.

[jakepriest]

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.

[rumborak]

take away my pain just ruin this album for me.

That's like, maybe one of their best ballads to this date.