DREAM THEATER

Ugh. Where to begin? Another album from DT that I've completely lost interest in before I even finished listening to it. These guys are now the AC/DC of Progressive Metal. To quote one of my favorite old school thrash albums, "The always changing, never changing, nothing changes..." You've got 2 instrumental tracks here, 'False Awakening Suite' & 'The Enigma Machine' which are both decent BECAUSE they are instrumentals. So, the focus should be on the musicianship. The entire rest of this album is awful songwriting. And like 'TCOT' from 'BC&SL', with it's fast forward inducing volume swells, the supposed epic 'Illumination Theory', is a mediocre song that achieves it's length by a long-winded, dull excursion into what it would sound like if Jordan Rudess was replaced with an iPhone app. I used to really admire these guys, but if this is all they have left in the tank, then it's time to either pack it in or become an all instrumental project since the only time they show any signs of their old creative magic, is when they're not constrained by the DT song structure schematic that serves up some of the most truly god-awful and uninspired melodies in the genre. And let's not even get started on the lyrics....... 1 out of 5 stars. I'm feeling generous.