ON THE BACKS OF ANGELS

Don't let the rating fool you - I think this is a great piece of music. Definitely the most progressive music Dream Theater has created in a while under ten minutes. It's almost surreal thinking ten years ago today I got into DT, and this is probably the first song from them i've heard that seems more composed than improvised. There's a lot of maturity in this track, far from the senseless noodling that DT has been known for in recent years. The chorus is catchy while also being full of epic, the riffs and short solo passages feel fresh and the instrumental in the middle of the song feels like it fits.

I can actually hear Myung on here, and it's great to hear Ruddess making use of more.... traditional Progressive sounds.

The down sides are LaBrie's singing and Mangini's drumming which both seem to just do enough to suit the song without making it their own. It will be interesting to see Mangini's ideas as he grows with the band.

Overall, a nice piece of music. Using the PA ratings, it's a good song, but I wouldn't say it's an excellent addition. I'll wait for the full album to come out before going any higher.