Great review, man
I'm just going to chip in and give a positive review for
This Dying Soul, which is my second-favorite on the album after
In The Name of God:
The song is divided into two parts, labeled "IV. Reflections of Reality (Revisited)" and "V. Release." These correspond to the fourth and fifth steps in AA's [URL=http://www.aa.org/default/en_about_aa_sub.cfm?subpageid=17&pageid=24]twelve-step recovery program.[/url] After the pounding intro, the song launches into two mini-solos by Petrucci and Rudess before flowing seamlessly into an Eastern-sounding melodic structure. The song quiets down as LaBrie sings a haunting melody with a reference to
The Mirror. While LaBrie does lamentably go into Durst-like rapping, the band bookends it with a chilling chorus accompanied by a beautiful guitar harmony.
The song transitions into the second half by echoing the riff from the beginning of the second section ("Restoration") of
The Glass Prison. It proceeds into a fairly straightforward but nevertheless powerful structure, again with lyrical references to "Restoration."
To be honest, I didn't find any of the solos besides the ones at the beginning to be particularly memorable, although they are technically out-of-this-world as usual. The song overall really worked for me though, in no small part due to the tie-in to
The Glass Prison.
And the best part: Mike Portnoy plans to continue writing the story told in this song and
The Glass Prison into songs on the next few Dream Theater albums. I can't wait for the next one
