SIX DEGREES OF INNER TURBULENCE

By far the heaviest of DREAM THEATER'S albums up to this point, though it was to be outdone by its successor, 'Train Of Thought'. 'Six Degrees' does what 'A Change of Seasons' should have done: backed up an epic with a solid album of original songs. However, for me at least, the album of original songs outshines the epic, which in this case I find unconvincing.

The five songs on Disc 1 are all spectacular. They are a world removed from the gentle metal of 'Images and Words', instead offering a genuinely heavy sound that can compete with anything out there for brutality. This is signalled from the start of 'Glass Prison'. I particularly appreciate 'The Great Debate' - I admire the band for trying to tackle such a subject using this medium. I'd like to see them try this sort of thing again - and they did, with 'Sacrificed Sons' on Octavarium.

I'm less convinced with the 40-minute song cycle on Disc 2. I do find it hard to listen to: overly elaborate preludes and outros mean there is less meat in the sandwich than I expected. The psychological theme is too similar to that in SFAM for my liking. And the tracks themselves see far less development than on the first disc.

Metallers will enjoy Disc 1, I suspect, while symphonic proggers may get something out of Disc 2.