Dream Theater - Awake
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Free Music Notes for Awake
Free Music Review: Worth every second..time and time again
Hit: 5 Stars
There are not enough synonyms in the English language for the word "great" to adequately describe how awesome this CD really is. This might very well be THE best album of all time. It's certainly progressive, it's for sure metal, and it's most defiantly the most awesome thing to ever grace my ears. I can't say it's without a doubt the best Dream Theater album, but it's one of their most musically diverse, accessible, and replay-able.
6:00 and Erotomania are showcases for Dream Theater's superior musicianship. Caught In A Web, Voices, Lie, and the Mirror give the album its heavier, edgier fell, while Innocence Faded, The Silent Man, Lifting Shadows Off A Dream, and Space-Dye Vest provide the emotional and beautiful side. My two favorites, though, are Innocence Faded (too darn short, but I love the pre-chorus) and Scarred (gets the nod as my favorite song on the album). Every song is great--there's no low point in the album.
The production of the album is flawless (only complaint is I could use a slightly louder, "boom"ier bass drum)--every crisp hi-hat from Portnoy hit and every blazing note from Petrucci come out perfectly audible. Dream Theater will always be the musician's music, but I think this, like Images and Words, extends beyond its progressive base. It's probably their darkest album, though not their most influential, heaviest, or technical. Still, I think it's overall their best, if not solely for its replay value. The beauty is in the subtleties! The guitar in the background of Scarred's chorus, the flawlessly incorporated keyboard, and Portnoy's beautiful double-bass drum work all contribute to this album's staying power. I can't really do justice to how good this album is, you'll just have to get it yourself. I'll have this one spinning in the CD player for many years to come.
Final verdict: 5 stars+
Instant classic, must have, essential. Get the point?
Free Music Review: It's good....very good....
Hit: 5 Stars
Dream Theater's follow-up their breakthrough album "Images and Words" characterizes a markedly different change in style for the band. Just by looking at the song names, with those enigmatic and dismal titles, you can tell that Awake is a more darker, more serious record than the relatively positive and hopeful feeling I&W. Some would say that this is the inferior album, but I think that the somber arrangements yield more emotional intensity, with more profound and honest performances by all the band's musicians.Vocalist James LaBrie's voice is tempered by a vicious element that lends a deep sense of anger to many of the songs, but at other times he can be wonderfully delicate and soulful. He retains all of his best qualities from I&W, but he expands his vocal vocabulary by better utilizing his ample range. John Petrucci's guitars are dazzlingly technical, but what makes him so special is that he can isolate and preserve the emotion in the music. For example, the dissonant notes in the solo of "Voices" perfectly encapsulate the feeling of confusion expressed in the lyrics. In a lot of cases, solos present in songs because most people think they have to be. In a Dream Theater record, the solos serve as emotional peaks for the songs. The keyboards imbue the songs with an important sense of atmosphere. Just listen to the haunting "Space-Dye Vest," a beautifully somber song anchored by a piano riff that, while quite simple, speaks to you in more ways than other songs in their entirety.
Some people care little about lyrics, but let me point out that Dream Theater writes great songs; they are loaded with metaphorical references and vivid imagery supporting a deep emotionally based theme. Sometimes a metal band can have brains.
To conclude simply, Awake is an incredible album by progressive metal's greatest band.
Free Music Review: Cool album
Hit: 5 Stars
I picked this album up for $5.99 while on vacation, having heard good things about DT (im mainly into stuff like MegaDeth, metallica, anthrax, ect) and was pleasantly surprised. the album is quite long, but very good. john pertucci is a talented guitarist, but his solos often just seem like speed runs through scales. other than that, great album
track-by track guide:
1: 6:00 - totally cool song, dont know why some people dont like it. best track on the album, good guitar work and great vocals from james 10/10
2: Caught in a Web - this was the first DT song i had heard prior to purchasing this album, it was good then, but pales in comparison to other tracks 8/10
3: Innocence Faded - Great guitar intro, somewhat quiet track, his vocals go too high at some parts, though 8/10
4a: Voices - first part of a three part 'song', i like the intense part at one part of the song 8/10
5b: Erotomania - a lot of people liked this instrumental, but i dont see much special in it(part 2 of 'a mind beside itself) 7/10
6c: The silent man - the last part of the 3 part track, a really cool acoustic tune 9/10
7: The Mirror - Second heaviest song on the album, which is a good change of pace, heavy, downtuned riffs (sounds like johns guitar is in Drop B or something) 8/10
8: Lie - the mirror transists into the heaviest song, Lie. one of my favorites from 'Awake' it doesnt end as good as it starts 9/10
9: Lifting shadows off a dream - dont really remember much from this track.. 6/10
10: Scarred - really long track.. starts off with a cool jazzy guitar solo/intro 8/10
11: Space-Dye Vest - really weird song.. somewhat of a ballad.. its really deep, somewhat sad. hard to get into but good closer to the album 8/10
in short, i recommend this album, especially if you can get it for the price i did
Free Music Review: The Album I'll Never Get Sick Of... EVER.
Hit: 5 Stars
I love this CD ... reading reviews that say there's no "heart" in this album confused me. I hear a lot of passion and feeling in this CD. I guess if playing solos that contain notes faster than 8th notes, accompanied by bad wah-wah pedal technique, then they'll never have "heart" to you. That being said, this is STILL my favorite DT CD. I love every one of them dearly (except for Falling Into Infinity), and have been a die-hard Dream Theater fan since I saw them at a club in Philadelphia with about 50 other people - but this is THE quintessential Dream Theater album. There's just something about this record that just sticks with me - not one bad song, not one melody out of place - nothing. It's perfect in every way, and not just from a "technical" stand-point. It's far from "sterile," as some would suggest, and everything flows perfectly. This is about as far from "spliced together" as you can get - which some bands (i.e. Metallica!) do.
Make no mistake: These guys can play, and write, at a level most bands could only hope to achieve. And no matter what the naysayers about "technical" players may post about this band, it still all sounds like sour grapes to me. I LIKE hearing musicians BE musicians. It's not about ego - it's about EXPRESSION. So, sorry if expressing yourself with arpeggios is wrong in your book - it's not in mine.
It WOULD be wrong if EVERY solo spot on every song didn't fit what was going on around it - but I can't find one solo, after listening to this CD more than 600 times, that doesn't compliment or contrast the song in an appropriate manner.
AWAKE should be in everyone's CD collection. It takes some adjusting to, but that, to me, is a sign of a band who's not afraid to take chances leaping into new musical territories for them.
Free Music Review: Awake, exposure of a dream
Hit: 5 Stars
I first got into Dream Theater because of these album , when I bought it I never thought that it would change all my music tastes at the time, Awake is a very interesting piece because it was a major change in Dream Theater musical style the album was wrote in inspiration of the images and words tour and reflects a whole experience with Dream Theater's signature, John Petrucci got a heavier sound by experimenting with seven string guitars and develop a darker sound than images and words, Awake was the last album recorded with the original keyboardist Kevin Moore, his solo contributions Space Dye Vest (a mid tempo basically piano-voice piece) is probably one of the most sentimental songs I've ever heard in a my life, The virtousity roller coster starts with 6:00 an excelent song with incredible solos en tempo changes, next one of the signature songs of the album Caught in a web a killer piece with some cool strings effects, track tree is Innocence Faded, a melodic song with a great guitar solo, tracks four to six are mi personal favorite the trilogy a mind beside itself: "Erotomania" , a insane instrmental piece with odd time signatures cool piano parts, and a guitar solo that will blow you away, "Voices": an epic song, probably one of Dream Theaters best pieces, and finally "Silent Man" an really cool acoustic guitar piece, track 7 The mirror ,is one of the heaviest dream theater songs a killer composition with great lyrics and unbelievable melody changes, track 8 Lie is a cool heavy song, with petrucci signature sound, Lifting shadows of a Dream: is a cool mid tempo song, with some great lyrics, Scarred is a like an album resume and all the members show their great skills, and the last Space Dye Vest Do your self a favor and buy these album now you wont regret ir never!