IMAGES AND WORDS

This is the first DT album I have heard in full. I was familiar with "Pull Me Under" since I seen the video when this album just came out. I heard the title track to Octavarium once, and it put me to sleep. What I heard here pretty much met my expectations. Some parts I liked a lot, other parts I thought were cringe worthy. The rest fell somewhere in between. The don't like the very '80s sounding digital synths used here. The songwriting sometimes comes close to Hair Metal.

I had the single edit of "Pull Me Under" on a cassette comilation from the early 1990s. I know this song well; I always thought this was one of the best metal songs of the '90s. I hate how the ending just gets cut off on the album version. I generally can't stand LaBrie's singing on this album, which is the first with him. Nonetheless, I've often had the "living my life too much in the sun" line stuck in my head over the years. "Another Day" has some saxophone, which I wasn't expecting. I don't like the song anyway.

"Take The Time" begins good with the fast and heavy pace. Then goes funk-metal. They sample Public Enemy in this song! Too bad you only hear Chuck D and not Flava Flav. More melodic guitar playing later on. The harmony vocals sound very Hair Metal. Nice piano in the middle with a sample of someone speaking Italian. Good guitar solo. Last 2 or so minutes is the best part of the song. Sounds like a cross between Hair Metal and Thrash Metal. I don't like the synth sounds at the beginning of "Surrounded". Very cheesy and '80s sounding. This song sounds like a cross between Michael Bolton and Queensryche. I like the "dark to light to dark..." line. Awful song overall.

The best song is "Metropolis Pt. 1". I like the guitar when the singing starts; very Metallica sounding. After 4 minutes begins the best part of the whole album. When I listen to this section I think: "why can't all prog metal sound like this? all the time!" Simply awesome 4 minutes of music. "Under A Glass Moon" has a part that reminds me of Voivod. The instrumental section beginning in the middle is pretty good. Don't really care for the parts with vocals.

"Wait For Sleep" is a short piano-based ballad. Filler. "Learning to Live" is the longest song but not the best. The synths at the beginning are awful and cheesy. Good acoustic guitar later on. Some interesting piano playing even later on. You actually hear the bass for a bit near the end. Not a bad album but I've heard a lot better proggy metal. This album does not make me want to check out any more DT albums. But I might check out some of their later stuff just to see how different it is. For Images & Words I give 3 stars.