A CHANGE OF SEASONS

This is a strange beast that is actually two albums in one. The first part consists of a very good DT epic clocking in over 23 minutes. It's a great song that features a bit of everything you'd expect from these guys, I especially love the nicely done acoustic passages. But the majority of the album is a needless batch of cover songs that most certainly has to be rated "for fans only." For guys with such great musical ability I'm really unimpressed by how little they do with great material. "Perfect Strangers" is the best one and they nail it very well. But the Zeppelin? Oh please. Our old garage band pulled off better Zeppelin back in the day. They sure make you appreciate John Bonham on attempt at Achilles Last Stand. And SRTS? What the hell was that? Truly dreadful. I feel they do a poor job technically (not often can you say that of DT) but more importantly they just don't "get" the spirit of the three songs they choose. I'd be surprised if even they would argue that point today. The Big Medley is a little better than the Zep debacle but still seems pretty pointless. One thing that really hinders my enjoyment is the "medley" approach generally-I just hate getting a couple of minutes and then on to the next song. Pick less songs and play the whole thing guys! Reminds me of the lame medleys Rush sometimes links together in their encores. Instead of brief bits of "In the Mood/Working Man/Fly By Night" just give us a complete and decent La Villa or something. This review is just a quickie but frankly this album doesn't need much more thought. Even with the one good original song I'm afraid I have to rate this one "for fans only." Not a recommended progressive title.