FALLING INTO INFINITY

For what is said to be Dream Theater's most commercially-oriented album, 'Falling Into Infinity' actually sits as one of the longest-running releases by the US progressive metal pioneers (at some seventy-eight minutes, precisely the length of a classic double album from the 1970s), as their fourth studio album presents a collection of songs that diverge from the darker stylistic tropes of 'Awake'. Abandoning their signature font for the album cover (which happens to be one of the least intriguing Storm Thorgerson covers), DT also seem to have abandoned their sense of originality on what can generally be seen as one of their more derivative and uninspired albums; and even if the stories around the recording of 'Falling Into Infinity' range from the band being pushed by their label to produce a more marketable album, to them creating exactly what they had wanted to, the entire album seems lackluster in terms of creativity and complexity, compared to its predecessors.

Containing two long tracks and having a total of eleven songs is definitely not a sign of an album that was supposed to be commercially acceptable and more easily marketable in my view. Amidst the difficult and transitory musical climate (for what concerns heavy music) in the late 1990s, the album really positions itself as mere entry in the band's catalogue, a placeholder even. However, despite the difficulties the band had supposedly faced, there are several fine moments on 'Falling Into Infinity' like 'Peruvian Skies', the heavier track 'Burning My Soul', the sole instrumental on the album titled 'Hell's Kicthen' as well as the album closer 'Trial of Tears', sitting at thirteen minutes of playtime. I also tend to enjoy the commercial sound of 'You Not Me', which seems to be an indicator that the band is quite good at writing radio-friendly material. The rest of the album sounds timid and uninspired as well as quite forgettable - unsurprisingly perhaps, most of the songs on here have seemingly not been able to break into the "Dream Theater pantheon".