Awake by Dream Theater
Not Much To Say.
Some rock & roll purists consider the term progressive rock an oxymoron.
After all, rock & roll is supposed to be about feeling, not thinking. Prog rock
bands miss the point by taking the soul out of a musical form thats
purposely crass and anti-intellectual. All the precise, long-winded
arrangements, keyboard flourishes, wailing vocals, and overorchestration
of groups like Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and, to a degree, Rush suck
the soul out of something that should be less head and more body. Dream
Theater, though they possess many of the same characteristics as these
bands, still manage to maintain a human element in their music. Awake is
at times self-indulgent and pompous, but songs like Lie, a passionate
crusher that finds guitarist John Petrucci launching riff after thunderous riff
in a cacophonous volley of crunch, ring true with real passion and base
emotion. Its the depth and tonality his guitar brings to the music that keeps
Dream Theater from falling into the Styx-isms they often veer dangerously
close to. A very solid record for those who dont mind thinking while
rocking. --Adem Tepedelen
My exposure to Dream Theater started two years ago with Images and
Words and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. Liking both of them but
preferred 6DoIT. I then moved forward to Octavarium and Systematic
Chaos which I thought were brilliant albums. Recently, Ive started working
my way backwards through Dream Theaters discography. With some
bands, this could be a disappointing experience since their earlier works
might lack the maturity or sophistication of their later albums. But Im
pleased to report that Awake is a very good album that showcases the
mature Dream Theater sound and musicality despite its age.
The main difference between Awake and Images and W ords is that James
LaBrie developed his own, more distinctive vocal style; on the previous
album, he had sounded a lot like Rushs Geddy Lee. Also, the band
significantly increased their use of speaking and playing of sound clips that
have been featured in some songs on many DT albums. The main
difference between Awake and more recent DT albums is that their original
keyboardist, Kevin Moore, is still in the band. While the current
keyboardist, Jordan Rudess, is more talented, Moore is also quite good; on
this album, he plays a lot of (non-electric) piano.
I like all the songs on the album, but my favorites are Caught in a Web,
Innocence Faded, the 3-part A Mind Beside Itself (which is where the
album title Awake comes from), Lie, Lifting Shadows Off a Drea m, and the
peculiar but beautiful Space-Dye Vest. All of these and the others I did not
list feature good melodies, vibrant instrumentals, and thoughtful lyrics.
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