METROPOLIS PART 2 - SCENES FROM A MEMORY

Scenes from a Memory is a horribly contrived story with obtuse character references. There should be a test on it in Concept Albums 101 so aspiring prog rockers can know what not to do. Ugh, I can't say enough about how bad they executed this album as a whole in terms of trying to make it a concept album. It's mostly a series of unrelated lyrics (sometimes one line not even vaguely related to the previous, or is a giant leap to reach it from the previous line) and the music continues the trend, mainly being useless shifts in time signature.

Scene 1 starts the album on an interesting note, and Scene 2 (both tracks) is probably the best song on the album, as it has great guitar work and relatively great (e.g. "adequate") lyrics. Scenes 3 and 4 are very rapid tracks that bring in unwelcome gothic elements to the album, and ones that don't fit well into the album as a whole, at that.

Scenes 5 and 6 are much slower, and the latter of which builds very well musically from Scene 5 into Scene 7, incorporating an almost Tool-esque edge to the beginning of the song. By the end, it's degenerated into the time signature-bending melee that is this album as a whole. The first track of Scene 7 continues this downward spiral. Again, 7's second track "One Last Time" sounds poised to salvage the album, but awful wailing lyrics follow an equally wailing guitar into the Chuckie-esque music that ends the track.

The album's beginning of the end is Scene 8, which actually sounds okay at the ballad- esque beginning, but not for a prog-rock band. The track ends as a totally unexpected breakout into a choir-backed (!!!) statement of enlightenment from the protagonist, which is almost entirely unsubstantiated by the events of the rest of the album. Scene 9 is equally bad, but the last 2 minutes of carefully designed noise make for a brilliant ending to an otherwise soggy album, and is barely enough to bump the album up from one to two stars.

All in all, this album made me realize that Dream Theater's guitarist should go join another band, because it's obvious he's the only strong part of the entire band. In the end, Scenes From a Memory just plain doesn't hold up.

LYRICS: 4/10 MUSICIANSHIP: 8/10 CONCEPT: 1/10 CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 1/10

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