A CHANGE OF SEASONS

Perusing a local music shop one afternoon, a certain name caught my attention. Dream Theater. I had heard recommendations from friends that I would enjoy the band immensly yet I was still reluctant to try them out. I had heard bits and pieces of songs here and there, but was still unfamiliar with the band. Here I stood with a choice. Should I spend the $14.50 on "A Change of Seasons", the cheapest of the bunch, or save myself some money for lunch at Taco Bell? Reluctantly, I grabbed the disc and skipped my meal. In turn I was not dissapointed. The opening track, a twenty-three minute epic immediately had me floored. The song was composed with the greatest of care, moving through hard metal passages, instrumental breaks, and soft acoustic passages all which flow together without boring the listener. Many times long songs tend to falter under their own weight, seemingly drifting on and on without end. "Seasons" however displayed appropiate reserve and range to keep interest. Since becoming familiar with Dream Theater, Petrucci can sometimes shred without end (Train of Thought anyone?) picking speed over lyricism. Happily, that is not the case here. The solos are fast when they need to be, melodic when necessary, and never dissapoint. Compared to other Dream Theater albums, LaBrie's vocals are at the top of their game. Sherinian proves demonstrates he is a worthy keyboard player and Myung and Portnoy keep up the good work. The lyrical content, a story of the change of a mans life in relation to the change of seasons, works immensly well with the music, drawing out the pure emotion put into portnoy's words. However, the covers that dominate this album are a bit of a dissapointment. With such an excellent opening, I expected more. Granted they would be have been more entertaining had I been to that show, they just seemed out of place. They are not bad covers, but nothing particularly stands out. 'seasons' was initially meant to be released with the bands "Images and Words" album, my personal favorite, and would have felt more at home rather than the grouping with mediocre cover songs. Still, "Seasons" demonstrates some of Dream Theaters best work, and the song alone is worth the cost of the album. Highly Recommended.