TENEMENT FUNSTER/FLICK OF THE WRIST/LILY OF THE VALLEY

The second Dream Theater cover single is here, and it is quite a fun one! Covering three of Queen's lesser known songs from the album Shear Heart Attack, I was a little bit skeptical. I am a huge Queen fan, and am of the belief that nobody does Queen like Queen themselves. My biggest reservations about it all had to be vocal wise, and I'm not entirely nagging on James LaBrie. Queen is amazingly well known for their vocal harmonies, and I was frightened at the concept of Mike Portnoy tackling those.

All around this cover really does deliver. The instrumentation is amazing, and James' vocals actually sound quite superb! I do have a few complaints, but they are nothing major. I was expecting more of a "medley", not Dream Theater playing tracks 3, 4, and 5 off of a Queen album. Dream Theater has shown their creativity, and I know they're capable of really playing with songs. It sounds like Dream Theater just playing Queen the way they wrote it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I wanted more experimentation. The third and final complaint will have to be Mike Portnoy and his annoying background vocals. They do sound "decent" here, but I personally have never liked his voice. At the same time, the songs wouldn't be the same if they weren't there, so I'd rather have them than not have them.

The bottom line...

Dream Theater and/or Queen lovers ***** Casual Dream Theater fans or OLD Dream Theater fans **** Everyone else ***

I would probably give it closer to 3.5 stars, because people who just DON'T like Dream Theater are not going to like this, while people who are a fan will really enjoy it. I would say that it is "An excellent addition, but not essential."