The song that elevated Dream Theater, for me, from "hey these guys are pretty cool, I'll listen to their music now and then" to "this is so amazing."
Seriously. I was so in love with Blind Faith that you couldn't believe it. It was like a journey. An odyssey. I got into DT through listening to individual tracks that a friend sent me, and I didn't have a laptop, so I had to put Blind Faith on a CD so I could bring it into my bedroom and listen to it on the CD player. With headphones, often. So at night, I'd close my eyes, press play, and experience the journey. Right in my ears, blocking out everything else. Just the music. And the images in my head. And I didn't know music could be like this! So many colours! So many moods! What a voyage.
Oh god I miss that. Discovering music. That was good. Carolina IV by Angra was also on that CD, or another one I made shortly after. That was like an expedition every time I listened to it. A journey all around the world, on a ship. I could see it returning, ragged, at the end. I could hear the stormy seas. Carolina IV ends in the same way it began, too. Like Blind Faith did. Maybe that was the little key. The sense of coming full circle, but going to so many different places.
Crikey you guys have got me all nostalgic. I'm welling up - although, truth be told, that's because I put on too much Vaporub and it's stinging my eyes. But yes. Blind Faith got me into Dream Theater, into progressive music, into emotional music. Don't get me wrong, I listened to music before. Hell, I listened to Dream Theater before. I liked ITNOG and Honor thy Father, but mainly cause they were heavy and had loads of cool singalongy bits. And I liked Therion and Nightwish before hearing Dream Theater because I loved orchestras, so I did love powerful music that makes you swell up - and I loved heavy music. Always liked heavy music. But I never realised how epic music could be until I listened to Blind Faith, aged about 14, not long after Train of Thought was released. Beautiful.