METROPOLIS PART 2 - SCENES FROM A MEMORY

"The band's boldest artistic statement in their 15 year career" read a sticker on the wrapping of Dream Theater's fifth full length recording, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. The band has taken on the challenge of writing a concept album for the first time. The title and theme are obviously derived from "Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper," off of Images and Words, and many recurring themes both lyrically and musically are found between both the song and this record, as well as within the record itself. As risky as it is to do so, Dream Theater does it perfectly, keeping the album very coherent and tight, without monotony or predictability.

The album revolves around five characters, and deals in both past and present. This, however, is no Ayreon album; LaBrie voices all of the parts, with the exception of a guest gospel-style vocalist Theresa Thomason on a couple of tracks, and a gospel choir on one. The concept, in short, is about a character named Nicholas, who is haunted by frequent, vivid dreams of a girl, Victoria Page. Nicholas enters regression therapy in his pursuit to resolve this that has been haunting him. I do not want to spoil the whole plot, so that is where I will stop. The story in itself is interesting, but there's also excellent music to back it up, as you would expect from Dream Theater.

Keeping the words to a minimum (there are plenty of other reviews that detail the album), this is Dream Theater's finest work (which really says something). Plenty of variety here. The band continues to prove that they are the masters of their craft: each musician displays their seemingly inhuman capabilities without compromising the integrity of the songs. Every note is played with care and surely with emotion. A masterpiece without question.