IMAGES AND WORDS

IMAGES AND WORDS is the quintessential Dream Theater album and the album that all Progressive Metal is judged by, even though Dream Theater were yet to reach true metal status until 1994's Awake. This album houses all upon which Dream Theater stands for; masterful instrumentalists, beautiful song writing, technicality, deep lyrics and pure epicness (sorry but it had to be said). The production values are through the roof, especially considering their debut's shoddy producing. James LaBrie's voice is still at it's peak, well before the food poisoning incident that caused Falling Into Infinity to be such a poor album vocally. Kevin Moore was at his keyboard playing and lyric writing peak and would be the last album he truly wanted to be a part of. Plus all of the songs on the album are true Dream Theater classics, especially Pull Me Under, Metropolis Pt. 1 and Learning To Live.

The songs:

Pull Me Under: The opening track of the album sets the stage for the whole album, a heavy record that blends technicality with beauty and a side of metal. The lyrics are some of Moore's best and will be a lasting testimony to his genius mind. LaBrie's vocals here immediately send the message that this is the man for Dream Theater, clearly sending his voice to those high notes and delivering perfect harmonies during the chorus and a screaming shockwave during the bridge and pre-chorus. John Pretucci's first signs of shredding are shown in this song during the pre-chorus, foreshadowing some of his later solo and DT works. Mike Portnoy and John Myung hold up well here but don't really add to the song and deliver unique parts like the others do. Probably my second least favourite on the album. 9.5/10

Another Day: Ah yes, the first Dream Theater ballad, this is one of the few songs that Dream Theater would continue to play well into the 21st century and rightly so as it holds up well as a crowd favourite at shows. The outstanding saxophone work of Jay Beckenstein is also present in this song adding a nice feel to the overall product. The only real downside to the song is the somewhat cheesy lyrics and vocals but it is far from being a turn-off. A pleasant song, yet not one of my favourites. 9.5/10

Take The Time: This song is fantastic, though I won't go out and purposefully play this song, when it comes on during an iPod shuffle session, I will be more than happy to listen to it. LaBrie's vocals are outstanding on this song especially during the second verse where he hits all those frequent high notes in quick, smooth succession, 'tis a shame whenever they play this song live they always cut this verse, but LaBrie's current voice just still isn't up to it. The instrument section of Moore, Myung, Portnoy and Petrucci are all at their best here, each showing off their skills and adding to the song at the same time. Overall, my least favourite but a fantastic song. 9/10

Surrounded: This song is a piece of beauty, the vocal melodies and drumming are some of the best on the album, accompanied by Moore's fantastic keyboard texturing and layering during the intro and throughout the whole song which add a whole new level to the song. The most fantastic though is the dual accompaniment of Myung and Petrucci during the verses and the latter's lightning solo. My second favourite song on the album. 10/10

Metropolis Pt. 1: The quintessential Dream Theater song on the quintessential Dream Theater album, every fan knows this song and any fan that doesn't isn't a true DT fan. The technicality in this song is the highlight and what the song is known most for (so much so that DT later created a sequel as an entire concept album based around technicality). The vocal harmonies mid-way, just before the instrumental section begins are astounding, so astounding that they never try and replicate it live (with the exception of Live Scenes From New York, where Portnoy delivers an average attempt at it). The highlight of the instrumental section for me is one of Myung's few bass solos, the man is an absolute master of the instrument creating a lightning fast shred-fest rivaling some of Petrucci's fast solos; all with his fingers! Probably the most famous song on the album but not necessarily the best. 10/10

Under A Glass Moon: My favourite song of the album, though not as technical as the previous track, the band chooses to slow down the technicality somewhat (only to be revived later by the closing track) to produce a more texturized, metalized and beautiful song. The vocals are some of LaBrie's best, with Surrounded and the Metropolis harmonies beating it by only a slight bit. Petrucci's solo here is so good it was placed at #97 of the Best Guitar Solos Of All Time list. Portnoy and Myung hold up really well here and work together to create a strong and heavy rhythm section that rival that of Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes and Geddy Lee and Neil Peart of Rush. Moore has a much more subdued role here, providing background pads for most of the song, coming out with a fantastic and much overlooked solo straight after Petrucci's. My personal favourite on the album but still not the best. 10/10

Wait For Sleep: This short piano and vocal piece suits as a perfect intro to Learning To Live (in which this piano line is repeated during the closing sections of the song). LaBrie's vocals are strong as always here and Moore has put all his heart and soul into writing this piece and it's easy to tell. 10/10

Learning To Live: And here it is, the best song of the album and one of my favourites, coming in straight after Surrounded on my list. Learning To Live is DT's second epic and first track to break the 10-minute barrier. This song features lyrics by Myung, who has only contributed to 4 song in Dream Theater's entire catalog; he is a one-of-a-kind lyric writer, the lyrics themseleves aren't really that good but his style of writing is so different from the other members, which is probably one of the reasons he decided to stop contributing. This song features powerful work from all members, Moore's keyboard skills are at his best here, with tons of different patch changes throughout, giving multiple sounds and feels throughout the entire track. Petrucci uses a lot of clean guitar work here, giving a much more melodic and less metalish feel to parts of the track. Myung's bass is the most audible in this track, giving the most unique performance on the album from him. Portnoy deals with multiple time signatures on this track well, providing some of the best drum work from him, and LaBrie offers an astonishing vocal performance mid-way during the instrumental wordlessly singing and building up the notes until he hits that famously high F#, something he finds difficult to do these days (and on the Live Scenes rendition sadly). But the true treat is how all these parts come together to form what I would honestly call Dream Theater's second best song so far (surpassed only be A Change Of Seasons). All of these talented musicians come together to perfectly form a Progressive Metal masterpiece that should be listened to and adored by all Dream Theater and Prog Metal fans. An easy 11/10

This is Dream Theater's defining album and, like I said at the beginning of the review, one of only 5 pieces of their work to score an honest 5 stars here at Prog Archives. If you are a fan of Dream Theater and haven't heard it; get it now, illegally if you must. If you're a fan of Prog Metal or even simple Prog Rock, I HIGHLY recommend you try this album, it will be well worth your time, even if you only enjoy one or two tracks.

Rating: 10/10 - 5/5

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