A CHANGE OF SEASONS

A Change of Seasons is a stopgap mini-LP released while DT was put on hiatus by newly- hired record heads who wanted a commercial success, and knew that a prog band wouldn't be it. This disc contains what I look at as the band's second greatest epic and a hadful of live covers. This is the first recording to feature keyboardist Derek Sherinian who wasted no time showing that he was a wrothy replacement for Kevin Moore.

The title track is the band's first epic. It's a 23 minute journey through a person's life. It starts with soft acoustic passages that build slowly and the band joins in until James comes in softly and things calm down. From there, the song weaves its way through heavy riffs to soft acoustics. The beauty of this epic is how well the band gels. Portnoy crashes with Petrucci in the heavy moments and cruises with Myung in the softer parts. Myung finally gets to be the driving force as he guides the band through the different passages, occasionally giving way to Petrucci's solos. James' vocals are great, and Derek's keyboard wizardry dispels any doubt that the band shouldn't have let Kevin leave. This song was DT's greatest achievement until the title track from the much flawed Octavarium was so great it redeemed even that lackluster album. This song is a prog metal classic.

The covers are not very interesting. Derek is the only member of the band that fits the Elton John covers. The Purple covers are good but they don't add anything to the originals. The Led Zeppelin medley is great but far inferior to the originals. The big medley that ends the album is a miss. Every time the band begins to really groove with the song, they switch to another.

Fans of DT must own this for A Change of Seasons. However, you can get this track off of the Live Scenes in New York album, but the song is broken by playfulness that to some enhances the song (me included) and to others ruins the flow. The covers are nothing to brag about, but the title track is a marvel of prog metal.

Grade: C+