IMAGES AND WORDS

Images and Words is a remarkable work and represents the true spirit of progressive music as a whole. It showcases the raw talent of each member while remaining a compositional masterpiece. The album flows incredibly well, and is ordered in a truly perfect manner. "Pull Me Under" is to this day the band's most well-known and most-loved song (although it is not my personal favorite). The second track, "Another Day," is a traditional metal ballad, although it does contain the usual proficient musicianship. "Take the Time" is a wonderful blend of the entire band and is also one of their better known songs. "Surrounded" brings out the band's true prog nature, with poetic lyrics and beautiful melodies. "Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper" represents both sides of Dream Theater's musical prowess: groundbreaking composition with absolutely mind-blowing instrumental sections. The song opens with some fun E minor metal riffs with a short keyboard solo. The vocals come in with a chugging groove and LaBrie gives an incredible performance. After several minutes of prog-metal heaven, the instrumental section departs into a few minutes of syncopated, odd-metered mania. They then return to a vocal section with the perfect amount of closure. "Under A Glass Moon" is one of the most well-written tracks on the record, and contains one of the most favored Petrucci solos of the band's (and his) career. "Wait For Sleep" acts as an introduction to the album's epic closing, "Learning To Live." This 11-and-a-half-minute conclusion is a compositional gem, with the expected high level of musicianship and remarkable vocal performance. Although the lyrics are somewhat cliche, the band pulls it off better than any other band would be able to. This song contains LaBrie's renowned high F# scream, followed by a soulful, humongous solo by Petrucci. The song ends the album with a bass-driven groove, and fades out softly. Portnoy's high level of performance goes without saying, providing befuddling off-beat measures throughout. Kevin Moore, the primary songwriter on this album, keeps the compositional level at the top of the list. Images and Words is a groundbreaking prog-metal album, and is wonderful from beginning to end.

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