SIX DEGREES OF INNER TURBULENCE

This is quite the excellent record. The album is composed of some awesome tracks but there is a single terrible one and a few flawed ones, which is not surprising though since it is a double-album. The first disc is a bit of an experimental one for Dream Theater. The second disc is a typical Dream Theater classic and a very good one at that.

'The Glass Prison' starts off the album. This is probably the first 'true' prog-metal song I have ever heard and still remains one of the best. The song was just awesome, a powerful metal song with some heavy riffs and extremely demanding guitar solo's. Portnoy begins to do some backing vocals.whoa!

'Blind Faith' is one of Dream Theater's very unique tracks.just something they would not do. Extremely melodic song that builds up into a fulfilling chorus. The guitar solo is nicely done and Rudess has a very nice acoustic grand piano fill that sends chills down my spine every time. This was another awesome track.

'Misunderstood' is probably my most hated Dream Theater song. Such a slow build-up into one of the worst choruses they have ever produced. The guitar solo is also surprisingly quite painful to the ears.

'The Great Debate' is really bombastic song. Unlike most people, I think this is one of the best tracks on the album. The song is about stem-cell research, which is a rather unique topic to handle in song form. The standout in the song is the build-up to the solo section, which is wonderfully done and served as a prelude of what was to come through 'Train of Thought'. The piano solo on this song is one of my favorites of all time. This track was a masterpiece of progressive music.

'Disappear' is one of the most haunting of songs in Dream Theater's library. The piano line gives a very eerie feeling to the listener. The vocal work is some of LaBrie's best; this soft piece was expressed beautifully.

'Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence', the title track, is nothing short of amazing. This is a 42-minute epic split up into eight tracks. Sadly I think the beginning and end are not that great. Although the first track was an overture, it was too boring and gave me a bad sense of what was to come but fortunately I was mislead. The 'About to Crash' song and the reprisal were both great ways to start and end the raw parts of the track. They really provided a sense of opening and closing to the intensity held within. The next two tracks were very heavy and weren't too shabby. Following that there is a bit of a rest as the next two tracks are slow and really contribute to the diversity. The album ends with the track 'Losing Time/Grand Finale' which is really a terrible track. The vocal work in it nearly puts me to sleep and I get the feeling Petrucci was going to fall over recording this from sheer boredom. Quite the turn off, but this 42-minute track altogether was freaking awesome.

Great album for a prog-metal fan to check out. 'The Glass Prison' is a prog-metal classic and this is a pretty superb double album we have here.a rare occurrence in the genre. It's just a little lesser then the previous solid effort, but you should be ultimately satisfied.

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