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SIX DEGREES OF INNER TURBULENCE
Where to start with this one.....Well, it seems that New Yorks very own
Dream Theater have outdone themselves.....again!!!
Their last album, 'Scenes From A Memory', was a sprawling concept album
which told a complete story, involving the listener
to go deep into the psyche of the main character and become involved with
the story which unfolded over several movements.
With 'Six Degrees of Inner Turbulance', Dream Theater return once more to
the concept format, only this time they decided to
add another disc of songs that stand on their own. For DT fans, this is
pretty much a wet dream to come true. For the rest of
the music world, this could be alot to swallow. But then again, DT is not
for the average radio listener, and thankfully DT have
avoided catering to the masses for this new album. Instead, they do what
they do best, creating some of the most complex,
exciting and melodic progressive music this side of the hemisphere. Their
influences can be traced throughout this album, but
none of them are overexposed or exploited. Each track moves with an
effortless smoothness, creating very tight knit, intense
pieces of music that connect with the listener and actually make you think.
For one, this disc was produced by Mike Portnoy,
drummer and key spokesman of DT, and guitarist John Petrucci. Self-produced
discs are usually the kiss-of-death for most
bands and marks a clear choice to disregard any ideas or notions to curb the
self-indulgence to a minimum, but Dream Theater
have crafted not only one of their most cohesive efforts to date, but this
album is just damn hot sounding throughout. These guys
are pretty much untouchable in music circles and they play each note and
movement with unbridled conviction. Petrucci is absolutely
smoking on this disc and he uses so many different tones, textures and ideas
to embelish the song, something that many prog
rockers have no concept in doing.
Disc One, which consists of five tracks opens with 'The Glass Prison'. This
track is heavy as anything Pantera has written in
recent memory, but the melodic bridge and chorus lift this song to a whole
nother lever. Vocalist James Labrie positively soars
through this album. His voice is majestic and convincing and he has left the
histrionics behind which tended to plaque some of
the earlier DT releases (no offense James). This time out, the band just
gels perfectly, and they create some truelly awe-inspiring
music together. The wonderfully melodic 'Blind Faith' is the stand-out track
on disc one, and has a eary vibe running through it's
majestic melodies and catchy chorus. Another wonderful thing that is
prominent is the use of textures by the band on this entire
album. The acoustic guitars, chimes, percussive elements, samples, news
reports and various keyboard pads create a heavily
layered effort which will give listeners something new with each listening.
The disc continues with 'The Great Debate' which deals
with the Stem-Cell research debate raging in this country. The disc closes
with the haunting 'Disappear', which resembles an old
track titled 'Space Dye Vest' written by original keyboardist Kevin Moore.
This piece is dense and layered and very mood oriented.
Disc Two - The Six Degrees of Turbulance, which tells the story of a
person's decent into insanity, is broken into eight movements
that all tie together and should be viewed and listened to as one entire 42
minute piece. The opening 'Overture' is dense and symphonic
and uplifting before breaking into 'About To Crash', which puncuates the
acoustic underpinnings of John Petrucci. The disc continues
with the story before venturing into the absolutely beautiful 'Goodnight
Kiss' and 'Solitary Shell'. Both pieces showcase Petrucci amazing
melodic sense and use of dynamics. The entire band is in top form on
'Turbulance' and each player knows his role well, and the when
to play and not to play. There is plenty of room left for each member to
flex his musical muscle, but none of them resort to grandstanding
or overplaying. This album is simply going to be a classic among Dream
Theater fans. This album is without a doubt one of the most
ambitious and engaging records of this bands career and they need to be
applauded for their efforts.
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