AWAKE

No matter how much I've listened to this album, I've never really been able to appreciate it all that much. Yes, there are some great moments in it, and 'Space-Dye Vest' is one of the best progressive ballads ever written, but the fact remains that much of the album is half-baked, and a steep dive from the awesome music found in 'When Dream And Day Unite' and 'Images And Words.'

That's not to say that this is a completely bad album. It's alright, but alot of the music on it is subpar. It really doesn't sound like a Dream Theater album. Songs like 'Lie' are just heavy, noisy messes and don't deserve too much listening time. There are only 3 or 4 songs on this album I really like... '6:00' for example is a very funky sounding track, and while it's not gold, it's still very enjoyable to listen to.

The true power of this album lies in 'Space-Dye Vest.' It's certainly one of the greatest songs Dream Theater ever made, simply because theres no pretension in it. It's an emotionally based song, and theres no flaunting of musical virtuosity in it. It makes me sad that Kevin Moore is no longer in Dream Theater. There would have been alot more amazing songs like that in Dream Theater's repetoire if he had stayed.

In conclusion, not a great album, and alot of it is very disposable, but it has just enough worthy points in it to be worth checking out.

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