AWAKE

There are many different music styles here but I don't think this takes away from the CD. It just shows that DT is a very talented band. The first three songs, 6 Oclock, Caught in a Web, and Innocence Faded, are shorter and hard rocking. They are good but the real magic happens at the start of Erotomania and on.

Erotomania and Voices really are just fantastic. The song lyrics are clever and twisted like a person's sick mind: "Maybe I am just Cassandra pleading..."

The Silent Man is an accoustic song that is fun. The Mirror and Lie are examples of DT playing really heavy metal. When I was twenty I remember thinking that these guys were as hard hitting as Metallica but more progressive. I still think this is true.

Lifting Shadows off a Dream is a slow ballad that even my wife likes, even though she dislikes metal. DT likes to put one or two slow songs on each CD. I like this. I know another reviewer said that these slow songs are typical FM radio ballads. Maybe that is true with the short song Wait for Sleep off of the Images and Words CD, but what radio station would play Lifting Shadows since it is six minutes long? Plus it is beautiful and provides a nice break up of the heaviness.

I think the real gems of the disc are the last two songs. Scarred is a masterpiece of both song writing and music playing. Long, full of change ups, and heart breaking. "How come you don't understand me? How come I don't understand you? Thirty Years says we're in this together, so open your eyes." It is a tragic song about a marriage coming to an end.

People say that Space Dye Vest does not match with the other songs on this CD. That is true. It fits better with Kevin Moore's solo cd Dead Air for Radio. But this song is outstanding. Some songs that rely on movie clips just fall flat. This one rises above that and what can I say? It works. And it is very moving and haunting.

My bother and I somtimes sit around and try to explain our musical tastes and explain what makes one CD good and what makes one great. It is a hard question to answer. A good CD is a B and a great one is an A. But why? That is the million dollar question. But for me Awake is an A. It is more than good. It is great.

Share this DREAM THEATER review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to stefano
• Report this review (#746932)
• Buy DREAM THEATER music online with PA partners
• Show all DREAM THEATER MP3/Stream
• Go to DREAM THEATER page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Awake page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for DREAM THEATER related discussions