Review Summary: One of the best prog metal albums. A milestone of the modern prog.
“Images And Words” is the second studio album of Dream Theater and was released in 1992. The line up on the album is James LaBrie, John Petrucci, Kevin Moore, John Myung and Mike Portnoy.
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy in Boston. Dream Theater is, in the 21st century, the standard bearers of the progressive metal sub-genre. While the sub-genre’s origins can be traced to Queensrÿche’s 1988 conceptual album “Operation: Mindcrime”, it was Dream Theater that have largely defined and expanded this sub-genre of prog since 1986, despite the huge contributions of some other great bands, such as, Psychotic Waltz, Sieges Even and especially Fates Warning, but with less success in the popularity. The band’s ability to deliver tight, melodic, musically sophisticated songs and thematic concept albums that encompass elements of hook-based hard rock, riff-fueled metal, syncopated prog, and sophisticated lyrics have made of them the act that subsequent genre bands aspire to and are measured by.
“Images And Words” keeps its position as the band’s most commercially successful album and it’s also one of the best and most loved albums released by them. It was a giant step from their debut album, in terms of quality and prog music.
“Images And Words”, is one of the most ground-breaking and innovative albums of the 90’s. It’s a milestone in the progressive metal and has been the inspiration for countless musicians. Whether this is the best Dream Theater’s album is debatable. There are people who will consider this and its follow-up their finest works, while some others will claim Dream Theater’s grew from album to album, always pushing the form of the envelope. However, what cannot be argued is that “Images And Words” is surely the most important album they’ve released and one of the cornerstones of the genre. This album brought something new to the scene, this famous progressive metal sound that would become Dream Theater’s signature and it would make them famous for being one of the most influential progressive bands.
“Images And Words” has a different sound. Incredibly complex song structures, tremendous musicianship, perfect execution and an intriguing originality that makes you ask, “Who are these guys?” Portnoy and Petrucci are for sure the best known, being part of diverse side-projects, but are often nominated when it’s time to vote for best musicians awards. Moore is an enigmatic imaginative keyboardist and composer. Petrucci is technically perfect. Portnoy is the best “disciple” of Neil Peart, the best source of his inspiration. Myung isn’t a vulgar bassist. You need to see Dream Theater on stage or watch any live video to understand why. His concentration and fingers movements are amazing. Maybe this was the best line up they had, especially considering that LaBrie was on top of his vocal abilities at the time.
“Pull Me Under” was inspired by Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. It begins with a clean guitar riff, soon joined by keyboards and drums. The song gets heavier and is a great opener. It became a radio hit. “Another Day” is beautiful, one of the best songs in the soft style. Many dislike the song, but I really like it. “Take The Time” is a classic Dream Theater’s song. It’s jazzy, bluesy, epic and metal at the same time. It’s catch and technical, at the same time. “Surrounded” was “The Longest Night” on promotional copies. It’s not as catchy as some other tracks but it still is beautiful and complex. “Metropolis – Part I: The Miracle And The Sleeper” is based on the story of Romulus and Remus the founders of the city of Rome. In contrast to common beliefs, it has no relation to Fritz Lang film “Metropolis”. It’s recognized as a fan’s favourite song. It has heavy riffs, complex drumming, emotional lyrics and abundance of time and mood changes. They can look back and be proud of it. “Under A Glass Moon” is sung by LaBrie beautifully. It has a great guitar solo by Petrucci too. “Wait For Sleep” has a darker, emotional content. It’s a beautiful song with just piano and vocals, and serves as an intro into the last song. “Learning To Live” is very special to me. It’s the epic and a great piece with an incredible work and amazing musicianship. It’s the most progressive song on the album that ends the album perfectly.
Conclusion: “Images And Words” is a great album with some of the best tracks ever made by Dream Theater that fits well into prog music. Its complexity and performance are hard to rival, and the songwriting is quite unique and has its own flair that Dream Theater fans have come to love all over the years. The best moments of this amazing album are the two great epics, “Metropolis – Part I” and “Learning To Live”. “Pull Me Under”, “Take The Time”, “Under A Glass Moon” and “Wait For The Sleep” are all great songs too. “Another Day” and “Surrounded” despite being also two great songs aren’t as good as the others. “Images And Words” is a masterpiece, an historical album and the most important Dream Theater’s album, ever. It would be hard to imagine a progressive rock metal fan who doesn’t own “Images And Words”.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
