A CHANGE OF SEASONS

As a sort of present to the fans, Dream Theater released a studio version of their 23 minute "epic", "A Change of Seasons", and slapped on some live cover versions of classic rock tunes recorded at a special show in Japan. This album was the first album to feature new keyboardist Derek Sherinian. A Change of Seasons is a reasonably good song in musical terms (if a bit dark and grim), with the return of the 7-string electric guitar featured in Awake, and some nice passages utilizing airy textures and wacky jazzy interludes. However, the lyrics, well, suck, with not one, but two uses of the old cliche about "holding in with all of my might". Ugh. Well, at least the music is good. The covers range from awesome (Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers" is delivered with surprising panache and dramatic effect) to embarassing (the Led Zeppelin medley somehow slipped by the "silly vocal overkill" police). I guess the good and bad parts of this album cancel each other out, making it an Even Steven.