LIE

''Containing previously unreleased live & studio material'' says the picture of the cover here. Dream Theater are famous nowadays for there ''studio leftovers'', but do not expect that much new here. This, after all, is either a long single or a short EP. The space of about twenty minutes however is used very good.

The single edit of ''Lie'' is basically a shortened version, as often with those edits. A bit less instrumental work, but that does not hurt the song, it increases the heavy feeling, but leaves less of the progressive side of the band. Oh, how I love ''Space-Dye Vest'', one of the most beautiful tunes Kevin Moore has ever written. An emotional song, starting with piano only, some sound effects and spoken samples. The dark emotions are later strengthened by Petrucci's guitar with some slow chords in the background. Over it all, there is LaBrie in a believable sad tone. Dark and beautiful is this song. ''To Live Forever'' was a leftover from the first years, after years of work it finally was released. An average, ballad-like song with some mood-changes and a build-up. Especially like the sound of accoustic guitar at the beginning. The downpoint follows, a live version of ''Another Day''. While this is by no means a bad song, and all instruments are played well and clear, LaBrie destroys it for me. Inconsisted live vocals were his weakness back then, and here he is not able to sing the high notes, or starts some unfitting tremolo or yodeling or whatever this is supposed to be..

Overall, this might sound like a solid three stars for a single/EP, but why do I give two? This is good, yes, but there is no need if you already own the studio albums of the period. The EP is more a small compilation than an addition to your collection. The one new song, ''To Live Forever'', is not such a stand- out that it is more that for collectors/fans only. Certainly, no really bad songs are here, yet this is more or less unneccessary. And as hard as this is to find nowadays, it is not worth the money. Rather buy ''Images & Words'' + ''Awake''.

Two stars, by the truest meaning of the rating.

"Lie" is a single released in September 1994 by EastWest Records to support the October 1994 release of the third full-length studio album ("Awake") by progressive metal act Dream Theater.

The single consists of four tracks. The first two tracks on the single are tracks from "Awake" in mildly edited versions. The first track is "Lie" and the second track is the Kevin Moore penned "Space-Dye Vest". The two remaining tracks are "To Live Forever", which is an older song Dream Theater had played live for many years which now finally saw a release in a studio version, and "Another Day" from the band´s second full-length studio album "Images and Words (1992)" in a live version.

Even if I usually dislike it when artists edit their original material the version of "Lie" featured on the single isn´t altered too badly. "Space-Dye Vest" is without a doubt a beautiful Kevin Moore penned track and great closing track on "Awake" but I think it´s an odd choice for this single. Of course you can´t leave out "Lie" (it´s sort of a title track on this single) but the inclusion of "Space-Dye Vest" is a bit unneccesary if you ask me.

"To Live Forever" is as mentioned a track Dream Theater had played live for years. The track is also featured on the "Images and Words: Live in Tokyo (1993)" video which was recorded during the "Images and Words" tour. "To Live Forever" is a pretty good Dream Theater track but nothing too special really. But I guess it´s great that the band finally had a chance to release the track after playing it live for so many years. Sort of get it off their chest.

The last track on the single is "Another Day" in a really great live version. The parts that were played by saxophone on the original studio version of the track, are played by Kevin Moore on the keyboards and it sounds really good to my ears. I know some people have a hard time swallowing this very pop orientated track by Dream Theater but I´ve always enjoyed it. This live version of the track is no exception. It should be noted that the live version on this single isn´t exclusive to this release. In fact it had already been released on the "Another Day" single in 1993.

The musicianship is as always outstanding and the sound quality is excellent on all songs.

While a single like this is naturally mostly a fan item I´ll dare give it 3 stars anyway and that´s because the tracks that are featured here are all of good quality. I could have done without "Space-Dye Vest" as I already have "Awake", but I guess it doesn´t hurt that the track is included.

Dream Theater's first ever UK single fails to impress me. For starters, the song in question, Lie, appears in it's edited form, which cuts out the 1½ minute guitar solo outro which is present on the studio album. Unfortunately, this is the only part of the song I enjoy. On the album, this song would segue from the far superior The Mirror, so on this version, it has been modified to have a new drum fill at the beginning. If you're such a DT nut that you need to hear this tiny drum fill, then it can also be heard on the 'Greatest Hit' compilation.

Afterwards comes Space-Dye Vest, Kevin Moore's 'au revoir' to Dream Theater. Although this is a brilliant song, I cannot see why they included it here. I hate doubling up on songs, and this version is identical to the album version.

Next up is Dream Theater's most popular non-album track To Live Forever. Dream Theater recorded many demos and live versions of this track, but this was to be the final and 'definitive' version of the track. This version was also released on the 'Greatest Hit' compilation. Among DT fans, this version is sometimes known as To Live Forever '94, to avoid confusion with To Live Forever '91, the earlier version of the same track. With a harder sound and better lyrics, I actually prefer the first version to this one.

Finally we are presented with a live version of the 'Images and Words' ballad Another Day. There are absolutely no surprises to be heard, except that the saxophone on the original has been replaced by a synth sound. LaBrie's voice sounds excellent on this track, and the band in general sound powerful and majestic.

Dream Theater have had better singles (see 'The Silent Man' and 'Hollow Years') but 'Lie' definitely isn't one of them. The only reason you'd really want this is to hear To Live Forever, and you can do that via 'Greatest Hit' anyway. Try another day Dream Theater!