METROPOLIS PART 2 - SCENES FROM A MEMORY

With Jordan Rudess now on keyboards the virtuosic aesthetic of the band became even more notable here, resulting in a very inspired sounding band with a good chemistry, but it can go overboard with certain sections/solo's and overstay its welcome sometimes, though the musicianship is incredible. Otherwise, the songwriting of this thing is great and with many memorable tracks that loosely follow the concept of the "Metropolis Part I" track from the 1992 "Images & Words" album. I will not go into any further details here, as this review will get too long if I do that, but I can say that it's very well done conceptually. DT would further explore such adventurous concepts later on, and while their "knack" for ballads ("Through her Eyes" etc.) doesn't really do it for me, they act like breathers between the intensity of the other tracks like the head twisters 'Beyond this Life' and 'Dance of Eternity'. A very good starter for new listeners of prog-metal or DT in general, along with I&W and SDOIT.