0 [FROM THE CRATES #21] Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999)

From the Crates by Matt Abramson

Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
(Elektra 1999)

"I keep having this recurring dream where I'm picking so fast that it just becomes one note." -John Petrucci (Systematic Chaos DVD)

Often times I wax poetic about the difference between shredding and wanking. They sound exactly the same to the untrained ear, yet are worlds apart in reality. The difference? Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci. Dude is possibly the most blazing fast shredder on the Earth, but he's primarily famous for being IN A BAND AND WRITING SONGS. GOOD SONGS. WITH A BAND. WITH WORDS. Catch my drift? The other "name" guitar wankers do not hold a candle to Petrucci in tandem with the mighty Dream Theater. As a musician, the only thing left to do after a Dream Theater album is quit. I reckon you might be starting to get it. To be continued.

Anyway, I love the shit out of Dream Theater. I make judgments about how much I really like people based on their opinion of Dream Theater. They are the only band I can think of that is relentlessly heavy yet uplifting at the same time, and where I would normally find myself critical of their glossy crystal-clear sound I'm instead in awe of their studio precision. The musicianship, on the other hand, speaks for itself. One Dream Theater track is enough to make graduate level music scholars completely fucking crosseyed.

Enough ass kissing and tangental asides. 'Scenes from a Memory' is the mother of all concept albums, and it stands out amongst the vast catalog of Dream Theater concept albums. Actually, pretty much every Dream Theater album is a concept album, part of their unquestionable awesomeness. I won't get into specifics and literary criticism-type shit about the story itself (there is a lengthy Wikipedia article if you are so inclined) but I will say that I wish I could have seen the tour that followed the album, which was a full live production complete with actors and extra musicians. The 'Live Scenes from New York' triple live CD will have to do.

The things to pay attention to on this disc are recurring musical themes and the idea of present and future versus perception. Pay close attention to the second track, it introduces every musical theme on the album. By the time you get to the fifth track, "Beyond this Life", you should be completely unaware that it is in fact the fifth track. "Home" is a personal favorite. It's built on a heavy handed harmonic minor (read: Middle Eastern sounding) riff with a massive chorus that builds into an avalanche of brilliant solos and clocks in at nearly thirteen minutes. And yeah, fuckin' sitar (secretly, I think it's the work of keyboard maestro Jordan Rudess).

'Scenes' is as musically dense as it gets. I would advise against listening to it in the car, as you may well crash your shit into a tree. Also, resist the temptation to skip tracks! I know, sometimes you just need to hear your jam, but listening to the album as a whole on a reasonable sound system at an unreasonable volume undistracted is a hell of a trip, no chemical augmentation required. This column may be about the nary heard gems out there, but it's about listenable, do-not-press-stop-or-I-will-beat-your-fuckin'-ass albums first and foremost. And 'Scenes from a Memory' is about as awesome an album as anyone could ever find.