AWAKE

This is, in my opinion, the most complete DT album, and the only one I can listen to front to back without needing to come up for air. It's not quite perfect (nothing ever is), but it's the closest they've gotten to it.

From the opening drum fill of '6:00,' it was clear to me that the band was still full of the interesting ideas featured on IAW, yet they managed to distill them into songs that didn't appear to needlessly wander (see 'Learning to Live'). There are moments (parts of 'Innocence Faded' and 'The Silent Man' in particular) that still don't fully resonate with me, but the rest of the album is so damn good - both in terms of songwriting and the crisp production quality - that I always let it slide.

I kept buying DT albums up to and including SDOIT, but they never quite reached the heights they attained here. As others have stated, Kevin Moore isn't the keyboard whiz that Jordan Rudess is, but his contributions elevated the songs in a way that none of the other keyboard players can or did.

4.5 stars, rounded up.