Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory

Dream Theater | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 26, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra
• ASIN: B000021XS0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (694 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,316 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #33 in Music > Hard Rock & Metal > Progressive Metal

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Progressive rock has long been the most devalued currency in popular music, perhaps due to the culture's dumbing down, too many conceptually knotted triple-albums, or merely a Greek chorus of critics parroting the emperor from Amadeus: "Too many notes!" Maybe that's what makes Dream Theater's Scenes such an audacious rush (no pun intended). Here we have a two-act murder mystery examined from a hypnotic dream state and parlayed by "The Orchestra," as the band refers to itself here. Andrew Lloyd Webber hasn't written anything as focused--or musically audacious--in decades. And if the band attacks feverish shift meters and plows through enough structural modes and, yes, notes, to make the aforementioned emperor's head spin, they manage to keep things concise, focused, and largely effective. The addition of keyboardist Jordan Rudess has freshened the band's tack, infused now with the odd, playful ragtime piano quote and sitar sample. Vocalist James Labrie, meanwhile, amply proves that Queensryche's Geoff Tate isn't the only drama queen in prog metal. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

DREAM THEATER SCENES FROM A MEMORY

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

135 of 138 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning tour-de-force. January 29, 2001

By Lord Chimp

Format:Audio CD

In a time when most bands have stopped trying, Dream Theater continues to challenge themselves. Simply put, no band has Dream Theater's bombastic musical audacity...at least, no band with signed with a major record company. After nearly breaking up following the stressful recording of Falling Into Infinity, the band managed to convince their label to let them produce the record they wanted all along. As a result, the band has made their finest work.

Extrapolating the saga of Images And Words' "Metropolis Pt.1" is the stunning concept album Scenes From A Memory, an epic suite divided into twelve parts. The original concept was delightfully obscure and nebulous...almost mythical. The band has taken the concept and fleshed out the core ideas, producing a slightly generic two-act murder mystery. Lyrically, the album sometimes comes across flat. Judging from earlier albums, we know Dream Theater can shine lyrically, but given the story approach, their diction is straightforward, generally lacking the profundity of their earlier lyrical work. In terms of writing, this is no Operation: Mindcrime. Nonetheless, the tale is reasonably compelling, with a striking revelatory moment when the listener unravels the mystery of the plot. Despite the prosaic style of writing, between the plot, story, and music, it's barely a fault.

Musically, the band seems to be going all out. The album begins with a tepid acoustic number "Regression" but then floors the listener with the stunning instrumental "Overture 1928." From there, the album's 77 minutes of music covers plenty of ground, from heartfelt piano ballads to eastern chord progressions, from furious assaults of shredding to orchestral sections and a gospel choir. All the musicians make an impression, particularly on the insane instrumental, "The Dance of Eternity." This frenetic six-minute flurry of notes that changes time signatures every bar (with weird stuff like 19/16 and 15/8), swaps between piano and guitar leads, stuns with a mind-boggling bass solo, and a seamlessly incorporates a ragtime piano section. (Fans with keen ears will even pick up a section from Metropolis Pt.1 played backwards.) Scenes From A Memory does an outstanding job establishing musical cohesion by intermittently using familiar riffs, both from this record and Metropolis Pt.1. This is an important artistic choice as it forms continuity, and it is done with notable success here.

Special mention goes to Jordan Rudess, the band's new keyboardist, recruited after Petrucci and Portnoy worked with him on Liquid Tension Experiment. Whereas most keyboardists (in progmetal) do little other than offer a string synth and occasional solo to support the guitar, Rudess is the most original keyboardist around...he shares the spotlight with the guitar rather often. He exacts a the perfect tone during solos (it almost sounds like guitar), which eliminates the "cheese" sound often attributed to the instrument. He employs sitar samples, genuine sounding orchestral synths, stunning piano, and other quirky sounds (like this strange trumpet thing on "Beyond This Life"). His technical brilliance is superlative...seriously one of the best keyboardists on the planet.

The album enjoins a gamut of emotional reactions from the listener. Particularly distinct are the emotions in the respectively heartbreaking and joyful ballads "Through Her Eyes" and "The Spirits Carries On" as well as the underscored anger and hopelessness in "Home" and "Finally Free." This is mainly attributable to vocalist James LaBrie's emotive performance. Compared to his earlier works, his vocals here are less high-key but very refined and expressive. I get uncontrollable chills whenever he sings the final section of "Through Her Eyes," or The Miracle's sinister soliloquy during "Home."

Finally, I will quickly address the accusation that Dream Theater cares more about showing off than writing good songs. This is absolutely untrue. As a metal band, they can be intense, but a solid melodic element is intact. Their solos are not masturbatory; they inject the songs with a high-point of emotion or intensity. Even moments of striking dissonance prove to be engaging.

I think it's understood by now that I regard this album with reams of deference. It's completely awesome. Buy it...it's astonishing.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stuff! (4.5 Stars) November 20, 2001

By Samhot

Format:Audio CD

An oustanding album. This is where Dream Theater's musicianship shines best. Of course, many people already know that this is a concept album based on a murder mystery that is solved while a character named Nicholas is hypnotized. It's 77 minutes and is a rock opera in a literal sense as it is metal meets opera (Think, Queen/Queensryche/Metallica) sorry for the comparisons. While a great album, it is VERY grand and large-scale so at tmes, it can get tiring, and you must be in the mood for something like this (as with anything).

Every track on here is dripping with jaw-dropping playing from every member of the band, but if I had to pick favorites, I would choose the following: "Overture 1928"; a heavy, theatrical instrumental. "Fatal Tragedy"; one of the strongest tracks on here. The clip here on amazon lets you sample only a crumb of the track, as it starts off heavy and slow, then progresses into a fast paced metal frenzy with crazed guitar solos, crazed keyboard flourishes and whacked-out drumming. I also love how it has great melodious vocal overdubs. "Beyond This Life"; continues the story, once again with crazed musicianship, featuring a guitar/keyboard section reminiscent of Frank Zappa. "The Dance Of Eternity", is a 6-minute instrumental and probably Dream Theater at their most impressive musicianship-wise. It's a frenzied track with tempo and time changes that are insane (it has 13/16 and 14/16) with music ranging from jazz, ragtime and classical to the obvious metal. "One Last Time"; a slower, absorbing piece that ends on an operatic note. Beautiful. "Finally Free", is where the story really unravels, but I'm not going to spoil the ending, but you will find it on this track. "Home" (the longest track on here) is the track I never really liked that much; the Indianesque musings I found not to work well with Dream Theater's brand of music. It just seemed a bit tacky and contrived.

Overall, an entertaining piece of work which is recommended for those that like music made on an epic-scale.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best album ever, period. December 31, 1999

By LG

Format:Audio CD

I assume that if you are not already familiar with Dream Theater's music you wouldn't be reading this. What I can say quickly about this album is that it was the album that I always knew Dream Theater could make.

When I started listening to DT I bought "Images and Words" and immediately I was impressed with how hard it was while still being melodic. My favorite band before that was Iron Maiden and after hearing the first track of Images ("Pull me Under") I knew that after 5+ years they would be toppled. I am a guitar player who has listened to all of the shred bands, metal, etc... and I immediately fell in love with DT.

The "Awake" album is very very good, the older live album from Europe is good, "A Change of Seasons" is awesome, but I disliked "Falling into Infinity".

Scenes hits back with a ruthless vengence. The first time I listened to it I was driving to work and it made me cry for about 5 minutes. Whenever I play it on my stereo at home it makes me cry about 3-4 times per spin. It really is that good. Everything good about their previous stuff has been incorporated. On the "Awake" album the Erotomania song is similar to the overture on Scenes in that it introduces many of the main themes of the album (or song trio in the case of "Awake").

John Petrucci is awesome on the guitar. Besides being a technical wizard on the guitar his musical tastes are very similar to mine in that he likes all types of rock all the way up to thrash metal riffing like Pantera (listen to Lie from Awake). The song "Fatal Tragedy" on Scenes is incredible because it is so hard but at the same time still melodic.

The Steve Morse school of 1 note on hellaciously distorted electric guitar = 1 power chord is adhered to in many places, opening up a very different style of hard music because the typical power chord is abandoned.