IMAGES AND WORDS

I am going to start out this review by saying that I am not a fan of Dream Theater. So maybe I'm biased. Although, I have listened to the majority of their discography and given them an equal chance to impress me. The thing about Dream Theater is that they want to impress me too much. When I am listening to something that is obviously a band trying as hard as possible to show off pure talent (which I will acknowledge Dream Theater for having more than enough of that). This insanely talented band just doesn't do it for me. I will express exactly why I dislike their music, and it has nothing to do with their talent.

1) I dislike LaBrie's vocals. You can call me a bit of a hypocrite because I thoroughly enjoy a lot of Queensryche's music, even the vocals, especially on Operation:Mindcrime. LaBrie's vocals remind of very stereotypical metal vocals, kind of like an 80s hair band. Again, he is talented, but I do not enjoy his style as some do.

2) I really wish Kevin Moore would just get rid of those terrible sounding keyboards already. They are the worst. They sound like a cheap $200 Craigslist find, and I wish he would find some good key sounds. The are not pleasant to the ear in the same way that 80s keyboards are not pleasing to my ear.

3) There is only so much unnecessary shredding I can take. I say that with all due respect. I do not enjoy 2 minutes of straight blistering syncopated parts in weird time signatures. When those types of things occur, I feel that the music has become way too superficial.

I actually somewhat enjoy some parts of songs on this album, but I really do not feel like I can honestly say, "Hey, do you wanna pop Images and Words into the car radio?" I hope I have made it clear that I respect Dream Theater's insane talent, but I just do not enjoy their music, including Images and Words.