REALITY DREAM

4.5 stars for this live recording featuring material from their first three studio albums. Man this is so close to being 5 stars because of the peaks they hit for prolonged periods of time. The sound quality is excellent and for the most part they keep true to the original studio versions. I just love their sound though, the way they can bring so much atmosphere and depth contrasted with those heavy passages. This is a two disc affair with 14 tracks.

Disc one begins with "The Same River" which opens with the sound of applause and atmosphere as the guitar starts to cry out. It's building until we get heavy riffing after 3 1/2 minutes. Love the guitar and organ that follows. It's almost 6 minutes in before the main theme kicks in, vocals follow. Check out the guitar 10 1/2 minutes in, great track! "Out Of Myself" like the opening song come from the debut of course and how good is this one 1 1/2 minutes in, very powerful and I love the contrasts. "Volte-Face" has a very good heavy sound to it with prominant bass, vocals 3 minutes in. "Rainbow Box" is another kick-ass tune before "02 Panic Room" kicks in with that incredible groove to it, so good. Love the depth and atmosphere, and how good is this 3 1/2 minutes in as it relaxes some. Fantastic! "I Turned You Down" opens with piano before a full sound kicks in with vocals. Such a feel good song for me. "Reality Dream III" kicks in heavily before 2 minutes with synths over top. It settles back as the guitar solos over top. Contrasts continue. "The Curtain Falls" is the third and final song from the debut. Love the guitar early on, so relaxing. Warm vocals join in and it really is the guitar and vocals that make this such a good track.

Disc two begins with a top three song for me called "Parasomnia" from "Rapid Eye Movement". All my top three songs are on disc two by the way. This song opens with vocals only then a bass led section takes over as the vocals become more passionate. They are killing it 1 1/2 minutes in. I like when the calm returns before 4 minutes. Nice. The drum work and atmosphere standout 6 1/2 minutes in. Amazing tune. Another top three for me is "Second Life Syndrome" where we get plenty of atmosphere to start as the guitar comes in tastefully to appause. It kicks in after 1 1/2 minutes and the crowd loves it. FLOYD-like guitar a minute later and vocals follow. So intense, then the bass throbs 4 minutes in. My God! A dark calm after 6 minutes then it become gorgeous again before 8 minutes. It's building before 11 minutes as the crowd claps along. Pure joy 13 1/2 minutes in as this emotion stays to the end. "Back To The River" has so much atmosphere to begin with in this nod to PINK FLOYD. A beautiful instrumental where the guitar and bass are outstanding. Piano late as the melody for the next song "Conceiving You" comes in early. This is my other top three song. I'm not into ballads but this song kills me, it really does. Gulp. "Before" is a relaxed melancholic tune before we get some passion after 3 minutes. "Ultimate Trip" ends it, and it's drum led to start as Duda speaks to the audience in Polish. It's around 2 minutes when the main theme kicks in, vocals follow. Love the heaviness but also the atmospheric passages.

What can I say, this truly is a must for RIVERSIDE fans without a doubt. The emotion I enjoyed listening to this recording is what music is all about.