rarefied air we are in, hmm hmm...
4. Rush - Power Windows (1985)
In my opinion, front to back (not "back to the front...", ha) this is the most consistently great Rush album. Once you get past the very 80s sounding (but good 80s, not bad 80s) synth arrangements, what you have is a set of 8 great, majestic sounding songs. Neil's lyrics are absolutely great and that's a large part of it too. You feel the songs mean so much more when you can get behind what Geddy's singing about. Speaking of Geddy, this is definitely one of his best vocal performances. Alex's solos are clearly the focus of his work on this album, and it shows. I love the interplay between the guitar and the backing synths in many of the solos. Most of the songs have a positive emotional sound to them as well, contrasting with the previous album, and I would say not duplicated until maybe Vapor Trails if that. The songs are all allowed to breathe, allowing the feel of each one to envelop you. Just think of the progression of the instrumental passage in Marathon, perfectly conveying the meaning of the song through music. When listening to the album, I sink in gently and it's just bliss. Favorites: Marathon, Territories, Middletown Dreams. Least favorite: Grand Designs (but it's still great)
3. Dream Theater - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (2002)
When this album initially came out, I didn't know what to think of it. It wasn't immediately awesome to me like SFAM was. I think out of the two discs, I initially would listen only to The Glass Prison and The Great Debate, if you can believe that. Disc 2 was especially confounding to me. I really had a hard time getting past the overture, which I was not a fan of, mostly how cheesy the synth strings and other orchestral patches sounded. Maybe I also listened to War Inside My Head and Test, but that's it. I guess I kept giving it tries over the next several years, but I would say it probably wasn't until about 2009 that I realized how awesome it was, especially Disc 2. Now I think, and I'm not exaggerating here, that Disc 2 is the pinnacle of long-form rock music and demonstrates to me that Dream Theater are simply the best band out there. Let me repeat that.
Disc 2 is the pinnacle of rock music. I wonder to myself, if all they released was Disc 2, if this would be the #1 album on my list. I don't know, maybe (the two albums left are each longer than Disc 2 and both form coherent narratives from start to finish, which suggests they might still be higher). But what I do know is Glass Prison is about 4 minutes too long, and Disappear is not a song I enjoy. Great Debate is my favorite on Disc 1, especially when it gets to "But have we gone too far?", and from then on this is almost untouchable in terms of how it stimulates my brain. After that, I would rank it Blind Faith, Misunderstood, Glass Prison, Disappear. Back to Disc 2 though, when I listen to this, it's exciting, and it takes me on a 42 minute journey that by the end feels exhausting and greatly satisfying. The tone keeps changing as you move from About To Crash to War Inside My Head to Test That Stumped Them All to Goodnight Kiss to Solitary Shell to Reprise to Losing Time/Grand Finale, but it evolves in a way that feels inevitable. And each section achieves what it needs to perfectly. By the time you get to that solo in Goodnight Kiss, and then Solitary Shell, you feel thousands of miles away from where you started, and that's a great thing. The conclusion is so grand and satisfying. I've already ranked all the songs, so no need to do a favorites list.
Topic: Re: nicmos' Top 50 albums v. #1 that is why you fail (Read 22953 times)
