METROPOLIS PART 2 - SCENES FROM A MEMORY

Not to take anything away from this studio-recorded piece, but before I continue with the review, I'd like to affirm for the record that this group's live performance (taken place in 2001, Live Scenes from New York) is a lot better than the original album, but if you're unfamiliar with the story, I suppose the original would be best to start with. So, without further ado, let us get started . . .

Track 01 - REGRESSION. The first track, beginning the account, begins with Nicholas (the central character) being hypnotized by a therapist hired to uncover what Nicholas was seeing in his dreams, and in a way, ward off the never-ending images. As the therapist counts down from ten, guitarist John Petrucci joins him with a few cyclical notes to craft the disposition as Nicholas (about to be sung by James LaBrie) falls into a peaceful sleep. "Safe in the light that surrounds me," although coming from Nicholas' mind, is in fact sung by lead singer James LaBrie, who varies from characters Victoria Page, Edward Baynes and his brother, Julian Baynes, throughout this anecdote. It's pretty simple to spot, if you listen to the words; the bewildered lyrics belong to Nicholas, the fragile ones are Victoria's, Julian's are rancorous and often narcissistic, and Edward's are endearing and mildly cynical. Anyway, right now Nicholas is kind of going through what's about to happen with the forthcoming tracks, what's going to unfold; in other words, Nicholas is arranging - telling - the lyrical panorama, whereas the next song, Overture, will be setting the oncoming tune(s).

Track 02 - OVERTURE 1928. First off, let me explain the title: an overture, by definition, is a musical introduction to an opera or other large musical work, which means that this is a mixture of all the rhythmic melodies you'll hear as the recording goes on; and 1928 is when this event took place. This is quite the instrumental bit, too, as you'll hear excerptions from "Metropolis pt.1: The Miracle and the Sleeper" (which you can find on their Images and Words release), "Strange Déjà Vu," and "One Last Time" (if I have missed any, please let me know). This short, three-minute instrumedley really brought a singular kind of harmony to my ears, and the transitional drum roll by Mike Portnoy served well going into Strange Déjà Vu.

Track 03 - STRANGE DÉJÀ VU. Now, Nicholas is going through a dream, where images flash in his head that he has seen before, only he doesn't know when or where; a strange déjà vu, if you will. When he [LaBrie, singing as Nicholas] says: "There's a girl in the mirror, her face is getting clearer," he's talking about Victoria. It's probably an easy dot to make, fairly obvious, but I nonetheless wanted to point it out to clarify any necessary means in order to fill the ends, you know? And I'm sure many might disagree with this next presumably "factual" avowal, but I have to say that this song articulates much of James LaBrie's greatest vocal talents, both live and studio-recorded. He hits the crucial notes impeccably, and brushes off Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess so well, the entire part is played astonishingly. The lyrics: "Tonight I've been searching for it, a feeling that's deep inside me," is now Victoria singing, and it won't renovate back to Nicholas until the lines, "Back on my feet again, eyes open to real world," and from then on, he will be heading the words.

Track 04 - THROUGH MY WORDS. Jordan Rudess and James LaBrie are all you hear during this song, no one else. Rudess plays the ivories, which is followed by LaBrie [or Nicholas]. I, for one, think this is more like an opening for Fatal Tragedy, bearing in mind the changeover linking the two songs.

Also, this is also the same theme for Through Her Eyes, but that's noticeable just by pigeonholing the two titles.

Track 05 - FATAL TRAGEDY. This track, again, leads off with Nicholas explaining his dream. During this time, he realizes that he led a previous life as Victoria, and is now the reincarnated interior that lived in 1928. You might find that to be an unexpected twist, but once you think about it, you'll most likely hit yourselves for not seeing it sooner; at least, I did. The music itself, I think, was essential to the story. In the midst, I heard infinitesimal extracts to previous and future pieces alike, and the band has habitually referred to the midsection sounding somewhat like Inspector Gadget, so make your mind up for yourselves.

"As the night went on, I started to find my way; I learned about a tragedy, a mystery still today" is when Nicholas finds out Victoria was, in fact, murdered, and the plot thickens. Also, the ending sequence is rather upsetting.

Track 06 - BEYOND THIS LIFE. At the start of this one, LaBrie is singing as a headline of a newspaper back in '28, where Victoria was murdered. The newspaper is only meant to view the incident from an objective standpoint, without any emotional hindrance - just like a man reading the first-page headline in a local newspaper, that's all this track is. . . well, except for the chorus, obviously. So the story up to this point is that a witness, who was Edward, found Victoria "dead and lying on the ground," and standing above her was Edward's younger brother, Julian, with a gun in his hand. Edward said he tried to help, but Julian then "turned the weapon on himself," and fell over Victoria with his eyes wide open. Edward, according to his story, then ran to find assistance.

(Many Dream Theater listeners may not want to admit it, but there is an important riff in this song that was influenced by Radiohead.)

And though the song is, in truth, moderately drawn out, I don't have much to say. That's not to imply it isn't good, because it's actually quite unique, it's just one of those pieces I enjoy better when silent, is all.

Track 07 - THROUGH HER EYES. So now Nicholas has seen Victoria's gravestone, knows she dead, and believes he knows how, however you'll see how that changes later on in the story. He [Nicholas] is in the cemetery he's been to before in his dream, but now it's clearer; he can actually see where he is, and what he's doing. It's not the best song on here, but a great ballad, regardless.

(MY FAVORITE TRACK ON THIS ALBUM.) Track 08 - HOME. Well, this is the first time you hear anything from Julian's point of view, from his side, and these lyrics that will be sung by LaBrie are actually coming from his mouth. There is also a minor bass line John Myung does in the ending segment of the preamble, which some of you might find analogous to the group Tool and their work, or at least I did. Whenever I hear it, I think Tool, and I value the similarity.

Moving on, later on in the song, the thoughts will go from Julian to his brother Edward and his calm temperament. Julian: "Shine-lake of fire, lines take me higher, my mind drips desire, confined and overtired."

Edward: "I remember the first time she came to me, poured her soul out all night and cried."

And then Nicholas: "Her story, it holds the key, unlocking dreams from my memory."

So you actually hear from all sides of this triangle, although Julian and Edward are the only ones experiencing it; Nicholas is merely recalling this from the past life he had as Victoria. I enjoyed this song the most because you begin to understand the motives behind two men, the brothers, involved. You can see why they both did what they did, and the story clears up.

I also love the guitar solo taken from the first Metropolis, "The Miracle and the Sleeper." Plus, the two lines: "Victoria watches and thoughtfully smiles, she's taking me to my home," which, except for the switch from Metropolis to Victoria, is identical to the lines in "The Miracle and the Sleeper." This song is just all kinds of outlook.

Track 09 - THE DANCE OF ETERNITY. Another great instrumental piece, but not their best. Personally, I opt for either "Stream of Consciousness," "The Ytse Jam," or "The Crimson Sunrise" fragment from A Change of Seasons. The seven-string guitar provides its role for this song, I think.

Track 10 - ONE LAST TIME. This part of the story starts with Nicholas swerving off somewhere and totally not knowing what the hell is going on, in a manner of a speaking. Up 'til now, he thought she was murdered, and pretty much that was the end of it, but now he realizes Victoria had an affair with Edward, and is now breaking it off with him. . . So, I guess you can say this song has two sides to it: one, where Nicholas uncovers more, and two, where Victoria ends her relationship with Julian's brother, Edward, to go back to Julian, hence the title One Last Time.

The chorus is Victoria singing, while the rest is Nicholas. So more and more clues are being revealed and Nicholas is starting to understand that everything he thought happened wasn't really true at all.

Track 11 - THE SPIRIT CARRIES ON. Now Nicholas is contemplating the meaning of it all, the truth, and so forth. "They say, 'Life is too short, the here and the now, and you're only given one shot.' But could there be more, have I lived before or could this be all that we've got?" focuses on all the things people say to make their lives fascinating and very, very, aromatic, at least what I take from the lyrics.

"Move on, be brave, don't weep at my grave, because I am no longer here. But, please, never let your memories of me disappear,"

is the only time Victoria says in this song; the rest is Nicholas. A little note for the live version of this song on Live Scenes from New York, I loved that the band got Theresa Thomason to sing Victoria's part, and the little duet James does with her. A beautiful pair, the two of them, and they unquestionably hit the fundamental nature of what this song means.

So, yeah, Nicholas has finally dealt with the reality that his spirit will, indeed, carry on long after he's dead.

Track 12 - FINALLY FREE. "You are once again surrounded by a brilliant white light. Allow the light to lead you away from your past and into this lifetime. As the light dissipates, you will slowly fade back into consciousness, remembering all you have learned. When I tell you to open your eyes, you will return to the present, feeling peaceful and refresh. Open your eyes, Nicholas." The therapist has now recovered Nicholas from his deep sleep and ended the session. The sound you hear in the background is Nicholas getting into his car and driving "home," get it? On the way, his mind starts telling the story as it really went down, what really happened, and how the conspiracy has abruptly emerged from the first song, Regression. As a result, now the existent story has ended. This track is merely telling the event as a whole and how it really took place: no more deceit, no more half truthful images that never told the real tale. You see what really happened.

After Edward sees Julian and Victoria kissing in the park (or something), he kills them both. Up until now, you've been told Julian killed Victoria and then himself, only because that's what Edward told the police and news media. Anyway, he sees them making up and the overwhelming reaction takes over him and releases a vehemence that couldn't be withheld. The lyrics: "He'd seem hopeless and lost with this note, they'll buy into the words that I wrote," is really Edward writing the phony suicide note to cover up murdering Julian and Victoria.

"Feeling good this Friday afternoon, I ran into Julian, said we'd get together soon. He's always had my heart, he needs to know I'll break free of the Miracle [Edward], it's time for him to go" is Victoria's account of what happened up until she was shot by "the Miracle," who is Edward (which would make Julian "the Sleeper"), and the idea that she has finally broken free of him.

"In a pathway out of view, they thought no one knew," this happens just before Edward sees them renewing their relationship, and:

"Then came a shot out of the night," is when Edward shoots Julian. The music that's going on during this whole scene is breathtaking, and I still get chills when I listen to it live - if you like this album, you really have to get the live version, because it is just so much better. Upon hearing it my first time, I just so many chills running up my spine, I couldn't believe it. Not only 'cause of the lyrics, either, and what's really happening, but because the musical nerve that takes place during such.

"Open your eyes, Victoria," is what Edward says to her just before he pulls the trigger, as well, and LaBrie starts with the chorus that now the Sleeper [Julian] is singing. James LaBrie's vocals are phenomenal here, too; man, I can listen to him for hours.

Just before LaBrie comes in with, "As their bodies lie still," I was fond of Petrucci hitting pretty close to the highest note on the guitar, if not the highest. I believe it's the F Sharp; either way, I feel it was appropriate. This song nearly won the best on this album, really for this line: "We'll meet again, my friend, someday soon," because of how LaBrie constructs it. Such a striking line and sung much of the same way, moreover.

After the guitar ceases to go minor even as the keys go higher, the scene closes to Nicholas arriving at his house. He sits down, watching television, and turns the channel to a news station that's talking about an incident that is much of the same that happened back in '28, only abundantly different; the report you hear at the end is referring to the John F. Kennedy, Jr. incident and the omitted airplane. Nicholas turns off the T.V., pours a drink, puts on a record with the theme from Regression, and sits back to relax. All of a sudden, though, was the therapist sneaking up behind him and saying, "Open your eyes, Nicholas," which ends the vocals of the album and leaves you only with static. What happened is - or should be - clear now, and that is the therapist was Edward re- incarnated, and he and Victoria somehow found each other in another life, so the same thing reoccurs. The therapist kills Nicholas, as you can probably hear, but the sound leaves an excellent foreword to their next release, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, which coincidentally begins the same way.

I hope you have benefited from this review, or at best understood what I've typed, because I tried my best at sounding coherent in explaining this conceptual piece.