A CHANGE OF SEASONS

I'm in a minority when I think that the title track here is not really that good. Combined with tons of cover songs that I really could do without, what does that make? An album I hardly ever feel like listening to.

1. A Change of Seasons- What does everyone else hear in this song that I don't? Sure, it's Dream Theater, but it sounds rambling and uninspired to me in many parts. Also, the production isn't really as good to me, and the drum sound doesn't strike me as being good like most of Portnoy's other recordings are. When I think about Dream Theater's greatest moments, I think of Scenes from a Memory and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and certainly not this song for good reason. The musicianship is good, but this song simply doesn't rank up with their best work for me. 6/10

2-5. The Covers- The reason I bunch these tracks together is because they all serve the same purpose for me and warrant the same rating. They are well-played, but they are what they are: cover songs. DT also go into some dangerous territory to cover here like Elton John and Led Zeppelin, but they manage to make it still sound alright. However, what I want when I hear an album is original material by a band, especially when that band has such instrumental prowess as Dream Theater has shown us. NOT cover songs. Meh. What a waste of disc space. 1/10

For collectors and fans only, definitely. If you want to hear Dream Theater's best work, do NOT buy this album for the title track and especially not for the covers. I'd buy nearly every single other album they ever made before buying this one.