SIX DEGREES OF INNER TURBULENCE

When I click the rating of 5 stars and the warning came up, i sat for a second and really thought about my decision to rate this album a masterpiece. After considering for a little while i clicked the ok button and changed my rating to a four. Now, to back myself up. I first got into dream theater a few years ago when a friend introduced me to "awake". It was love at first listen and the CD became a regular visitor to my cd player. Well i didnt want it to be lonely so i bought a few more DT discs to keep it company and my apreciation for these guys talent deepend. I eventually got around to buying Six Degrees of Inner Turbulance just a little while ago, although i had downloaded 3 of the songs before, and let me say, blown away.... by the second disc (ill get back to disc 1) Simply amazing. Every track flows perfectly into the next and the further i delved into the disc, the more impressed and wowed i was. I particuarly loved " Overture" and "Solitary Shell". From the blisteringly fast and heavy "The Test That Stumped Them All" (do i hear pantera?) to the mellow songs that follow to the superb closure, pure majesty. And now back to disc one.

one word can some this one up.. Dissapointing. Dont get me wrong its defiatly not bad, standouts include "misunderstood" and "the Glass Prison", but as i said, dissapointing especially as a follow up to Scenes from a Memory. What were they thinking with "the great debate"? i usualy skip the song and thats never happend to me and any dream theater song. its just not up to par with any other of their song, except for a few on "octavarium" but ill leave that for another review. again, not horrible, just not very good. Most everything else however, very nicly done aside from a few minor annoyances. Overall, disc one gets a whopping 7/10.

FINAL REVEIW: well, not a masterpiece.. but pretty close despite a few flaws with the first half. dont blow off the first half just based on my review.. its still good... but not up to par. 4.5 stars, and a halleluja for SIX DEGREES OF INNER TURBULANCE!!! blown away.