SIX DEGREES OF INNER TURBULENCE

"Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" seems to have a mixed opinion among Dream Theater fans and proggers in general. This album in some ways determines how far your dedication to this band goes. I guess that any hardcore Dream Theater fan would absolutely love "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" others, however may not.

I guess there are many in the same boat as me on this one. I'd just like to say that the second disc containing the 40 minute epic is fantastic and is some of my favourite prog metal material. The first disc, on the other hand is less that amazing and can really get on my nerves, particularly "The Great Debate" - but there are a few interesting passages thought the first disc but they cannot live up to the grandeur of the second part of the album. I sense a very strong passion throughout the second part of the album and the entire band seems to use all their creative powers to make something special. John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy in particular are highly active in the composition of the album (perhaps because they produced the album.)

(1st Degree) "The Glass Prison" is the heaviest song on "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" and it is a prime example of when metal and prog are mixed together. It has a classic Dream Theater concept with the guy trapped in a foreign realm and stuff. While these concepts may be extremely cheesy they can be quite entertaining. The song its self isn't half bad there is an unnecessary amount of doodling through the piece and I reckon a few minutes could've been knocked off it and it would have had more or less the same effect.

(2nd Degree) "Blind Faith" is somewhat of an interesting song and the lyrics to it can have some imaginative qualities. Once again there is a bit of doodling which can be kind of unnecessary, not as much as "The Glass Prison" though. I'd have liked to see this track with a little more solid material but that's being a bit too adventurous I suppose.

(3rd Degree) The thing that annoys me about "Misunderstood" is that the last three minutes or so of the song is incredibly repetitive and unnecessary. But the strong and extremely melodic guitar work from Petrucci makes up for this, but the last part of the song is defiantly miss-able.

(4th Degree) "The Great Debate" is perhaps one of my most dis-liked songs in prog, not because of the instrumentation but mostly due to the issue the song addresses. I usually don't mind political issues being spoken about in music but when it comes to stem-cell research forget about it. I don't think that it is an appropriate issue to be addressed in a song by Dream Theater. I just can't listen to it, end of story.

(5th Degree) "Disappear" borrows a melody from a song I once heard, I can't remember what the song is called but I remember I heard it in a movie set during World War 2 starring Anthony Hopkins. "Disappear" is rather apocalyptic in concept and a listen would defiantly confirm my belief. The instrumentation suites the vocals and concept well and makes for an interesting listen.

(6th Degree, hey what a surprise!) "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" is apparently about an autistic dude who is appropriately described most accurately in part VI (six (sex!! in Latin)) "Solitary Shell." The epic is not as one song but it is around 42 minutes of music divided into even movements. The overture, the first song of the epic is probably the best and it displays all the skills of the band amazingly well. "Solitary Shell" and "Losing Time" are the two other major highlights of the piece. Others like "Goodnight Kiss" and "The Test That Stumped Them All" are also splendid to behold. This piece is what makes the album worth buying, great song.

1. The Glass Prison (3/5) 2. Blind Faith (4/5) 3. Misunderstood (3/5) 4. The Great Debate (1/5) 5. Disappear (4/5) CD 2: (42:02) 6. Degrees of Inner Turbulence (5/5) (counted as one) TOTAL = 20 divided by 6 = 3.333 = 3 stars! Good, but non-essential

In Summary, "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" is quite a good album but various sections of the album degrades the quality of the album. It is worth having and it is defiantly a must have for all Dream Theater fans. In summary I'd recommend this album to prog metal fans.