IMAGES AND WORDS

I don't know if I can add anything that hasn't been covered in some of the other reviews, but I will say that I love this CD, it's one of my all-time faves. I'm no expert on what's "prog" enough or whatever, but can we can we just get past ourselves for a minute (you know who I'm addressing right now) and just focus on whether it's a good collection of songs or not. AND, HELLO, IT IS!!! Obviously, Dream Theater is a progressive group. Look, you either like them or you don't, and if you do, I don't see how you can not like this album. "Images", along with "Scenes", are my 2 favorites from this very talented group of musicians and songwriters. 'Pull Me Under' is, without a doubt, cool as all get and one of DT's best songs ever, but the album is filled with great songs and great little sections of music. It has a very bright (dare I say, almost 80s) sound to it- the lush keyboards, the guitar effects, even the drums are tight and the cymbals & hi-hat are are mixed very prominantly, and some I know don't care for this. I think James LaBrie sounds great here and altogether, the sound was a huge leap from their first disc. John P has some great solos on here, but also plays some pretty cool rythmn parts, as always. The interplay of the members is what, I think, makes Dream Theater one of the greatest groups ever. Some prefer their darker, heavier sound developed after this, like on AWAKE and SIX DEGREES.., and I like that too. See, you can like chocolate and vanilla, dig? Anyway, I think IMAGES AND WORDS will still sound great 20 years from now.