METROPOLIS PART 2 - SCENES FROM A MEMORY

This is probably the best album Dream Theater has ever recorded. It is definitely the best Dream Theater album I've heard. The songs are varied and dynamic. The schmaltzy parts are there to further the story on this concept album. And Mike Portnoy doesn't drown out the rest of the band with his ham handed drumming.

The concept is an interesting one. A hypnotist has a man in a trance, where he remembers a past life as a woman who gets murdered. The music is peaceful when it needs to be, and absolutely frenzied at other times. And the story, in music, is well told.

The music itself, while being pure Dream Theater, appears to be heavily infused with nods to Pink Floyd. The intro and inteludes are reminiscent of passages from the Wall, and the finale has a choir and vocalist that bring to mind Dark Side Of The Moon.

As concept albums go, this is one of the better ones.