AWAKE

There's no way to deny the importance of Dream Theater in Prog Rock History considering their second and third Studio Album.

After all the success that the band achieved with their previous release "Images & Words" and their first world tour, Awake is the record that brought that strength to these guys even without being that successful in the charts. Even though, the album has this awesome mix of intricate instrumental passages, heavier riffs than ever and a very powerful voice. In my opinion James LaBrie really shines on this album, you feel every single note coming out from his voice that makes this magnificent work stand out and reinvent the band. Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci reach new horizons with their instruments adding also the magical contribution of Kevin Moore and John Myung holds up quite well, adding to the Prog Metal Sound with his bass playing. I also have to notices the lyrics of every single song; which are the best that the band has ever written.

A stunning beginning opens this release with a drum fill in "6:00", the song is structured in an increasing way, the way they progress and change, and the maturity that had reach the band in that moment is simply amazing. The instrumental jam is found in the climatic point of the track followed by a little break that introduces us to some kind of solo.

"Caught in a Web" is when the album starts growing and it never stops, the drums and the keyboards are immaculate, without a single stain. John Petrucci & James LaBrie share credits for this lyrics that haunted me.

"Innocence Faded" has a very happy start; this is a more hard rock metal song with some progressive elements and a very poppy chorus that is almost impossible not to sing.

"A Mind behind Itself" has these two parts; which are simply powerful, marvelous, amazing and all the adjectives you want to add to the sentence, "Erotomania" and "Voices" closed beautifully by the John Petrucci's "Silent Man". The first one is an instrumental piece that content one the most progressive stuff made by the band. "Voices" is one of the most solid tracks in the album, musically, lyrically and conceptually perfect. "The Silent Man" closes this epic with an acoustic sound; this is some kind of rest for the 2 next songs that follow into a heavy and crunching sound.

"The Mirror" is the reflection of Mike's alcohol dependence, his fight against his alcoholism is captured perfectly in this song. The powerful start reminds me a lot to the Pantera Style which is well spice with the keyboards to add some progressiveness to the matter in fact. The reference made of "Space-Dye Vest" is excellent.

"Lie" has the most powerful sound of the whole album, but the lack of progressive elements minimizes my taste for this song. Even though, this song is pretty enjoyable in their live performances.

"Lifting Shadows off a Dream" is one of my favorite tracks in the album, the bass harmonic intro by John Myung, the soft keyboards following the same melodic line of the voice, James LaBrie, the space guitar sound by Mr. Petrucci and the lyrics make of this track a wonderful experience. Just sit down and enjoy the gig.

"Scarred" is the song that prepares everything, 11 minutes of great musicianship by these New York guys as a preamble for the closing and most beautiful track in this release.

"Space-Dye Vest". Wow!!! Since the beginning of the song you know this is going to rule the universe. An excellent production that includes some excerpts of a movie, a television program and daily news add some drama to the music and the lyrics written by Kevin Moore.

Concluding, this is an awesome album and a sad goodbye for Kevin Moore.

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