In an industry where legendary feuds
and destructive break-ups are the rule rather than the exception,
it's reassuring to see a band like Dream Theater still relatively
intact after nearly thirty years of toruing and recording. The band's
history is definitely an abnormality in the age of instantly-created
pop stars and Youtube sensations – from taking two years to find
the right vocalist after firing their first one following the
completion of their first album, to the recording of their landmark
Images and Words three years
after the release of their debut album, the revolving-door history of
their keyboard players (the current one, Jordan Rudess, is the
third), to the most significant event in the band's history since the
addition of James LaBrie in 1991 – the departure of founding
member, drummer, and songwriter Mike Portnoy in 2010. It's fitting,
then, that the band chose this year to release a self-titled album to
mark their time together, celebrate their career so far, and
(hopefully) silence any naysayers who have doubts about the band's
future in these uncertain times.
With
all of this turbulent history, it makes the band's massive legacy and
acclaim even more impressive. Dream Theater is a progressive rock
band that managed to swim against the current of alternative and
grunge rock in the early nineties with their own special blend of
highly technical instrumentality, their ear for hooky riffs, and
their unquenchable thirst to continually push their limits. Having
any kind of success as a progressive rock band after Nirvana's
Nevermind seemed like
a long shot at best – but not only did their 1992 album Images
and Words gain them significant
critical praise, they only attracted more attention as they honed
their unique prog formula down the years – no small part owed to
their legendary reputation in concert: their shows regularly reach
the three hour mark, with no intermission and no opening act, and
they're probably the most heavily bootlegged band in recent history
thanks to their penchant for performing a rotating set list crafted
to ensure as few repeats as possible during the tour and a habit of
surprising fans with spectacular covers and goofs – anything from
randomly playing the theme to “The Simpsons” mid-song to diving
into renditions of Elton John and Metallica songs without warning.
Nowadays, they're considered giants who forged a new genre of music
imaginatively dubbed “progressive metal” and have inspired
countless bands with their unabashed love for obscure time
signatures, intricate (sometimes purposely so) instrumental passages,
and poetic lyrics.
And
does Dream Theater live
up to this challenge? Well, yes and no. Any fans expecting a
radically different sonic experience stemming from the addition of
replacement drummer Mike Mangini (formerly of Annihilator and Extreme
among others) will be disappointed. While Mangini and Portnoy
undoubtedly have very different techniques and habits, the percussion
here sounds eerily similar to what we've come to expect from the
band, and much credit is due to the band as a whole for integrating
Mangini into their sound so deftly. As a whole it is a bit lower key
than previous albums, but anyone worried about Mangini's placement
into the band's greater sonic picture will be reassured by this
record.
As for
the songs themselves? Well, this is still a Dream Theater album.
While the opening numbers “False Awakening Suite” and “The
Enemy Inside” make for a promising start, the mid-tempo “The
Bigger Picture” abruptly ends any fond memories of righteous
headbanging by upping
the Rush influence to “obvious to someone who doesn't even listen
to Rush” levels. This template is repeated for the remainder of the
album until the final track, the twenty-two minute epic “
Illumination Theory”. One of Dream Theater's longest endeavors, the
track lacks the cohesiveness of past long-players like “Six Degrees
of Inner Turbulence” and “A Change of Seasons” - rather than
consist of a series of shorter songs sharing a single thread (like
the former) or follow a single long-winded theme (like the latter) it
just feels patched together. Periods of total silence or lightly
ambient instrumental sections jarringly give way to LaBrie's vocals,
which are unremarkable on this record. It's surprising, given a band
of Dream Theater's ability, that so many of these songs are so
consistently tame – you would think with increasing influence from
both old-school icons like Rush and younger, fresher talent like
Bring Me the Horizon (LaBrie has admitted to being a fan of newer
hardcore bands, unlike most of his bandmates) that each track would
be memorable or distinctive in some way. That isn't the case here
though, with “The Looking Glass”, “Behind the Veil”, and
“Surrender to Reason” all blending into one another – and not
in a good “they're all part of a suite” way, either. “Enigma
Machine” deserves special mention as the first instrumental track
since 2003's Train of Thought and
is one of the highlights of the album.
The rest of the
band sounds fine, although considering each member's prodigious
musical talents, “fine” for Dream Theater is more advanced than
most bands will ever dare to attempt. John Petrucci's guitar playing
is certainly mind boggling, but after nearly thirty years it's no
longer as interesting as it once was. The same can be said for Jordan
Rudess' keyboard work – this time opting for a more subdued
performance unlike his more explosive past efforts. The bass guitar
is quiet, as is the way for most metal albums – an unfortunate
genre cliché that really should be reversed.
Dream Theater is
a strange record. While it has been proclaimed as a “musical
re-invention” by the band, the material here is some of the most
vanilla and toothless they've ever put out. Everyone slows down with
age, and Dream Theater certainly aren't in their twenties anymore.
With the amount of talent they possess, they could do anything
musically – and if they want to slow things down, that's fine.
That's ultimately the best and worst aspect of this album – it
checks all the boxes that Dream Theater albums have always checked,
but without much new ground broken. It could be argued that they've
already broken so much ground that they've barely got any left to
stand on – and no band is more deserving of a break than this one.
But whether Dream Theater will
reinvigorate or solidify an already slowed-down band remains to be
seen.
