IMAGES AND WORDS

This was the first album I heard from DT...I still remember that I was on a summercamp with my scoutgroup in Wiltz, Luxemburg in the summer of 1993...when one of my groupmates,,,that first intruduced me to Yes (which I didn't like at all) and Genesis (which I totally adored together with Pink Floyd) forced me to sit down and listen to it....if you pretend to like Prog...then sit down and listen to this...The first song he put on was Metropolis and I was totally blown away.....what a song....that intro.....once again he threw me into something I could bite teeth on...and I did. When I came home I ran to the recordstore (where I later became to work and where I have taken all that amazing prog to me) and I brought the cd together with Live At The Marque that was just released.....that month.....I took them home and played it again....only this time from start to finnish....and WOW !!!....Its true Metropolis is one of the best tracks of the album and stands out by now as one of the everlasting classics of Prog metal.

The rest of the album gave some good tunes...and ofcourse the absolute highlight (I think the first highlight of their carrear.....Learning To Live). The album kicks of with Pull Me Under..basically the song that made them famous and the song that brought them even on MTV....Im sure it took alot of Metallica lovers (who were still very hot back then, due the release of the Black Album that brought even more popularity for a Metal band....however it was in a time of Guns N' Roses, Pearl Jam and Nirvana...so metal was hot anyway....Pull me under is right from the beginning a stagering piece of music....that creates an enormous melody once song is on full speed....Really like the heavy Metallica kind of Rif.....but the audition of Keys is what DT is making better than they will ever be....Some great drumming here of Portnoy...........and LaBrie shows himself from his best side right from the beginning. Another day is a typical single and sounds indeed rather commercial...although I think it has some stagering guitarwork. Take the time is much better...another by waves very heavy song.....that has a great riff and this time a really amazing bass....especially in the beginning right before the vocals comes in the first time.....The bridge again has some great guitar. Like how the song ends aroun 6,5 min and them comes back again....very beautifull....although later Live renditions truly improved much on the song....Surrounded is another single based song that has a very nice piano intro...and some great singing of LaBrie....The song builds up like a typical ballad but soon gets into a more heavy song again...creating another typical DT song....with a sound that is actually very much the same as the rest of the album........Som great guitatwork....On 3,5 min.....Metropolis is......Wow !! The beginning...the haunting keys and then...that heavy riff over it....before the full band kicks in....fantastic......and than screaming guitar....awsome.....some good drumming of Portnoy here. The riff that starts at 1.40....really good....and LaBrie shows his vocal skills here....I think in this one all band members show their best side......under a Glass moon starts of with some great guitar....and took me a long to get used too...A long time I always only listened certain parts of the album and skipped this one cos I thought it was too heavy....Or perhaps cos it is simply falling into shreds because its location before the great master of all songs..Now I van digest it better and here too the band created a really great meolody...lovely heacy...especially during the chorus..towards the end....an amazing solo of Portnoy again......This song has some truly amazing drumming...... With Wait for sleep we get some time to breate...finally....a really amazing piece of keyboardplaying and a great voice.......Beautifull lyrics this one.....and I think a very Moore song, that does remain the best keyboardist DT ever had....and the one that brings emotion in the band.......its so regretfull they let him go.....The shortest song on the album but the most emotional and a perfect buildup torwards the mangun opus of the album...Learning To Live....Great beginning....amazing riff.....the first innstrumental part......is really setting the tone...we think...but then then she song slows down a bit after 1 min....and we get one of the most amazing vocal parts LaBrie ever did...guided by some amazing bass, keys and drumming......Once again beautifull lyrics.....This is a song with so many rythm changes and so many to offer......one can write a book about it.....Its said that the only reason they recorded this song was because they wanted to create THE perfect song...and it took them 2 months in the studio to complete it....It deserved.....what a song......what an album.....

To this day one of DT's 3 best albums.

Comes highly recomanded....