DREAM THEATER - SCORE: 20TH ANNIVERSARY WORLD TOUR LIVE WITH THE OCTAVARIUM ORCHESTRA

I did not really enjoy going to this concert.

This DVD is more of a celebration then a concert of 'Dream Theater History', which really isn't that special. It is also strange that they came out with a 5 years in a Livetime DVD 10 years ago and now this one is a 20 years anniversary. Can you say time travel? I wasn't all impressed by the sound considering their 93' DVD and Live at Budokan was much better. All the stage presence is completely gone and there is just no emotions going on at the stage, people tend to exaggerate but on this one I can humbly agree. This is only getting two and a half stars because besides very few nice selections we get 'Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence' (song) in its entirety and 'Octavarium' which is an ok song, with an orchestra accompaniment. The highlight of the album, believe it or not, is James LaBrie. His vocals on this album are spot on which is a nice response to his criticism. After 'I Walk Beside You' there is a track taken off each album consecutively. I'll do track by track on this one.

'The Root of all Evil' - Not a really nice song to start with. This is also the worst of the 'AA' saga.

'I Walk Beside You - Did you read my Octavarium review? This song is plagiarized so there is no use to discuss it really. A terrible track anyway.

'Another Won' - This was a Majesty song. It isn't too shabby but it is nothing exceptional.

'Afterlife' - This is one of the better tracks on the debut. It's not a bad song and LaBrie does a great job singing.

'Under a Glass Moon' - An excellent track from their best album. I prefer the Live in Tokyo version. They were younger chaps and had more stage presence.

'Innocence Faded' - I don't understand why you would take this track to celebrate on of the bands most 'tightest' albums musically. There is so many better jammin' songs they could have played.

'Raise the Knife' - Why did they choose this one as well? This wasn't on 'Falling Into Infinity' for a reason.it just wasn't good enough. Very boring track, by this time I kind of wanted to leave.

'The Spirit Carries On' - Trash.utter trash. The band's most hailed masterpiece by many fans and considered largely a prog-metal opus.is summed up by this track? Why culminate with a soft track that fails to deliver any emotion or is not moving in the slightest bit? This is the weak focal point on the album and DVD.

'Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence' - Much better. The band decides to play the near 40-minute piece in its entirety without any breaks. This was truly stunning.

'Vacant' - I like this track. Why would you put this on an album that is full of epic tracks in length with some of the most demanding technicality that made them who they were? This is a kind retreat. Poorest track listing on this DVD I say.

'The Answers Lie Within/Sacrificed Sons' - I'm combining these two pieces because they are largely just typical Octavarium tracks. Truly boring as hell with no direction and flavor.

'Octavarium' - I am not too fond of this track myself, I mean it's decent but sad to be called an epic. It was nice to see it preformed with an orchestra.

'Metropolis' - This is another nice track from 'Images and Words'. It has been played out to oblivion, but it has just become a standard regardless.

The documentary is a waste of time. It was very over dramatized and seemed like Portnoy just wanted to be part of 'screwing the music industry'. They definitely made things sound so much worse then they were. If you take the early DVDs, everyone was cheery and happy, even during the dark times in the 'Falling Into Infinity' period. John Petrucci also said that he feels like 'Octavarium' is his favorite. Well he said on the Images DVD that Images is his favorite and then 'Falling Into Infinity' was his favorite on 5 Years. I think he's being a bit of a pre-teen with these new albums. There is some bonus track footage, which is really terrible in quality being 'Another Day', 'The Great Debate' and 'Honor Thy Father'.

Ultimately, this is a terrible track listing. The only things that stood out on the performance were 'Six Degrees' and 'Octavarium'.less then half of the performance. Less then half = less then half rating. 2.5 stars.

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