SIX DEGREES OF INNER TURBULENCE

To me, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is the last Dream Theater album that is mind-blowing. After this, Dream Theater started declining in musical quality. That, however, is not important. The important thing here is that this album shows Dream Theater at their best. While this might not be their best album, it does feature some of their strongest music.

Disc 1 contains five songs, three of which are over ten minutes. It is based around the heavy side of Dream Theater, except the closer, Disappear. Even though it is all very heavy music, it is still very progressive. The musicianship is, of course, awesome. The Glass Prison is an excellent opener, very heavy, very fast and a lot of shredding. It calms down in a few places, but mostly it is showing the heavy side of Dream Theater. Things calm down a bit with Blind Faith, at least in the beginning. It eventually picks up to an awesome instrumental section. Misunderstood is structured similarly to Blind Faith, it starts slow and picks up. The end drags on for a bit, but the overall the song is very strong. The Great Debate is a song about stem-cell research. It shows both sides of the argument, while combining it with some of the best musicianship found on the album. The final song, Disappear, is a beautiful ballad in 5/4 time.

Disc 2 contains one song, divided into eight tracks. The title track, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence describes mental disorders, and their effects on human beings. The 42 minute epic is the highlight of the album. It covers the whole spectrum of Dream Theater, showing their heavy, melodic and of course progressive side. To me, the highlight is Goodnight Kiss. It contains one of my favorite Petrucci solos of all time. However, the whole suite is great, and should be listened to in its entirety.

Overall, this album is one of the best from Dream Theater. If you don't have it in your collection, I urge you to get it! You will not regret owning this masterpiece.