AWAKE

Awake is Dream Theater's 3rd studio album, which has more of a grungy sound than any other of their albums. I guess it's just Dream Theater's spin on the grunge rock music that was popular at the time. It's also the last with keyboardist Kevin Moore.

As with all other Dream Theater albums, the extraordinary skill of the members is obvious. I think that on this album there is more of a focus on the songwriting than anything else, which makes sense, because the band was trying to create a radio hit that was as big as their 1992 hit Pull Me Under.

The grungy sound of this album is unique to all other Dream Theater albums. Many people state that this is the band's best album. I would disagree, but I would note that this album may appeal to people who mightn't otherwise like the band's music. It's arguably their most accessible album. Some might say that James LaBrie was at his vocal peak on this album, which was just before he got food poisoning and got his vocal chords damaged for a number of years.

Stand out tracks include the opener 6:00, Voices, and the 11 minute epic Scarred; but all of the songs are good.

Overall: This is a solid release from Dream Theater, definitely worth picking up if you're a fan of some of the band's music. 4/5