Dream
Theater has been around a long time, and with longevity sometimes comes
complacency. That is what we are facing
here with Dream Theater’s newest, self-titled release. It’s a decent album, but I have listened to
it nearly ten times now since purchasing it and I can’t recall anything really
standing out. In the past, there has
always been a song, or maybe two, that really separate themselves in my mind
from the rest of the album. With this
new release, it is all technically superior, as all Dream Theater albums are,
but nothing really pushes to the front in terms of a standout track.
It’s
amazing how after two-plus decades, vocalist James LaBrie can still retain the same
voice that he had back in the day. To be
able to hit the high notes, something that I have seen deteriorate with age
from many artists from Paul Stanley to Joe Elliott, etc., and yet not effect
LaBrie at all is impressive. His voice
hasn’t aged a day, and if it wasn’t for the composition of the music, would be
the standout on any Dream Theater album.
The
music, however, is grand in the grandest sense of the term. Seriously, it’s like the band is trying to
create more than just a song or a group of songs, they are creating a
soundtrack. The cohesion of the music
itself is more than just what you would find in a concept album, it feels as if
this is one big song (something that is not unfamiliar to Dream Theater at
all), an album-wide track that fits together perfectly. It could be that cohesion that creates a lack
of a standout song. There is no instance
here where we see a focus on making a “single” or some kind of promotional
track. In fact, hearing these songs out
of order would probably be a disservice to the music itself. Everything was carefully crafted by the band
to be listened to in this order and at their pace. The trip that they take you on is of their
own design, not that of a record company or producer. I have to give the band credit for that at
the very least. This feels like an
effort by the band to create a definitive record, one that we can all look to
when we talk fondly of Dream Theater. It
is not a collection of songs, it’s a full album. Unfortunately, without any standout tracks,
that “full album” isn’t something that can stand up to previous efforts like Images and Words and Awake.
This is
not a bad album, by any means, but it is something that I would expect would
only appeal to die hard Dream Theater fans.
If you really want to get into the band, I would suggest going back to
the beginning and working your way to the present.
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