DREAM THEATER

This album is better than A Dramatic Turn of Events but still not great. Mangini's drumming is really good but they are definitely lacking Portnoy's song writing skills still. When I heard the intro "False Awakening Suite" I was pretty pumped, expecting the best but things kind of were a roller coaster from there. This first song is killer and showed a few things more reminiscent of bands like Symphony X. I was also glad that Labrie was not involved as that's usually better in my opinion.

"The Enemy Inside" is also a good song. Heavy and in your face and not ruined by Labrie's singing as he fits the song well. Definitely some good riffs and what we have all come to know and love about Dream Theater. "Enigma Machine" is my favorite song on the album. That could be because no Labrie, or that some of the riffs remind me of the Inspector Gadget theme. Rudess also puts in some really cool keyboard sounds in the middle that one might not expect to fit, but it does, in fact it fits really well. "Illumination Theory" is another good one. Again, Labrie makes it work. He has some sort of effect on his voice in the beginning which is cool. It starts out heavy hitting and then slows down then builds up again, as any good epic should.

As for the other songs not mentioned by name, not great. Some are slower which isn't necessarily a turn off for me, but Dream Theater's recent albums haven't been great in that department, these aren't any better. They just don't match up to the likes of "The Silent Man" or "Space Dye Vest." There are a few good riffs in there, worth listening to if you're a big DT fan but otherwise not worth it. This is why I rate it 3 stars. It's not a bad album, but overall you wouldn't be missing much if you never listened to it. I also think DT needs to get a new singer, that in itself could bump this album up a star.