Falling Into Infinity is extremely underrated

[lumpy33]

i find the writing on fii to be a bit understated for d.t., but most of the music breathes well, and the clarity of the mix makes those types of songs successful i think.  i love hearing myung as prominantly as i do on fii and adtoe.

as a pianist, i would have loved to have heard a few more albums with derek.  i prefer his style of playing with d.t. over the other kevin and jordan (who are also great, of course).

the one thing i've always taken issue with on the album is petrucci's guitar sound.  i like a crisp metal crunch, a la train of thought, and his sound on fii - it's not clear to me - like the mid's are turned way down, or like i'm listening to his parts through a wrapping paper tube or something.  wierd, i know.  hard to explain.  i wonder if it's a gear issue or amp setting issue...

great album though.

[Ben_Jamin]

I listened to You Not Me recently...it's not bad.

[JoiseyDTLovah]

I'm giving it a spin in entirety right now. 
I like you not me - the solo kicks ass.   

[coffees for closers]

I think many fans were swayed by MP's vocal dislike of the album. I know I was at the time. I believe it was an issue with Kevin Shirley who had a hand in the production, mixing and engineering, and bringing in Desmond Child that got under his skin. John was cool with it.
Any way I am actually surprised the album was not more of a commercial hit.

[Dublagent66]

It has a couple clunkers (YNM, JLMB), but overall I like it a lot.   

[GalacticGuitarist87]

Great album and definitely different from their other albums atmosphere wise.

[Cruithne]

I think many fans were swayed by MP's vocal dislike of the album.

Perhaps, but certainly not all.

I'd guess that a certain amount of low rating for the album is likely contextual to its release, it certainly was for me: compared to I&W and Awake it was a noticeable drop-off in quality and a bit of a shock to the system. Yes, there's good material on the album and a couple of classic tracks, but I&W and Awake don't just have "good" material, they have great material practically from start-to-finish.

At the time it put me off bothering to follow DT for a while. SFaM was out for at least a year before I picked it up and only did so because a friend of mine (who also didn't rate FII much) had picked it up on a whim and was waxing lyrical about it.

However, FII now sits at about the middle of DT albums for me and I'm far more fond of it than I am ToT, SC and BC&SL and as such I have a less disparaging view of it than I had at the time.

I guess part of one's dislike for an album that doesn't meet expectations around the time of its release can be attributed to the worry that it represents the future of the band and it's only when it can be viewed in the wider context of the band's career that it's possible to rate it fairly.

[coffees for closers]

Found this old interview.

JP: Falling Into Infinity was done at Avatar, just like Systematic Chaos. Kevin Shirley recorded that record, produced it, an engineered it, and one of the things I totally remember is that we had all of this Boogie stuff in one room. We actually made a poster out of it. I borrowed cabinets – they sent me cabinets. My goal was to pick the perfect cabinet. I had 4 x12s with ninety-watt speakers, and halfbacks, and all these different things. That’s when I discovered and fell in love with the 4 x 12 Rectifier Traditional cabinet, which is what I’ve used ever since. 

MPc: Do you use it with the Celestion Vintage 30s?

JP:  Vintage 30s, but on Falling into Infinity we experimented with everything, like the twenty-five watt greenback speakers. I had every Boogie head you could imagine in this room. It was like a guitar store – it was awesome, and we centered on that cabinet and I’ve used that cabinet ever since. I think it sounds really natural, just the way it resonates and everything.