This is Dream Theater's debut album, the album that started it all. This was before they had vocalist James Labrie, who is in the band as of today. if Dream Theater had kept Charlie Dominici, they most likely would not be as good as they are today, and would not have as many fans, since a lot of fans claim this as Dream Theater's worst album.
They have a very unique sound - influences of Metallica and Iron Maiden are most obvious. But they all have some virtuostic and more progressive elements of Pink Floyd, Genesis, but they also have their own unique style of sound. The album is the best in the beginning, and it ends with a bang. This is definitely not an album to start off with if you are new to Dream Theater, if you want to start, try Images And Words or Scenes From A Memory.
A Fortune In Lies - 6/10
This track has some of the heaviest riffs on the album. The musicians do a great job here, but, like a ton of other tracks, Charlie Dominici's voice comes in and really damages it. It's an average song, but it is in no way a bad song.
Status Seeker - 9/10
Wow, now this is a good song! This song shows Dream Theater's more virtuostic and progressive side, where metal takes a backseat. Unlike some of the other tracks, Charlie Dominici's vocals are excellent! I actually prefer him to James in this song.
YTSE Jam) - 7/10
One of Dream Theater's well-known instrumental tracks. The beginning starts with a neat effect, and then goes into some heavy riffs. It kind of drags on, making it rather repetitive, but near the end it picks up and gets better.
The Killing Hand - 6/10
After much of the heavy tracks, Dream Theater has a melodic opening, but it immediately goes into some hard rocking riffs. Again, Charlie Dominici annoys the hell out of me, and the lyrics are really baffling, but the musicianship is so good in this song. One of their lighter ones.
Light Fuse And Get Away) - 6/10
Not one of my favorites. Once again, the musicianship is excellent, but in this song, Charlie is more annoying than ever. He tries to speed up his voice in the somewhere in the song, and sounds plain bad. Kind of lengthy too. Not one of my favorites off of this disk.
Afterlife - 7/10
This track begins with a fast (and rather neat) guitar opening, and then when the other instruments come in, it sounds rather awesome. The guitar is very fast in this song, as well as the drums. The vocals aren't as bad in this song as say, Light Fuse And Get Away, which is a plus. The lyrics are meaningful, but it gets a little repetitive and drags on (could use a minute or two taken off), but it's a good song.
The Ones Who Help Set The Sun - 6/10
This song starts off very slow. For the first 2 minutes and 45 seconds, it is extremely boring and unthoughtful. Then, it smacks you in the face with fast drums and guitar playing, and gets heavier later on. As you listen, it gets faster and faster, and better and better. If the vocals were touched up a bit, this would be a pretty good song.
Only A Matter Of Time - 8/10
Kicks off with a unique and progressive opening, and then gradually gets faster. It gets really fast when Charlie comes in. His vocals are excellent in this song. Everything about this song is great - the lyrics, vocals, instruments, everything. John Petrucci takes a backseat in this song. Kevin Moore is the star with his excellent playing, Mike Portnoy's drumming is at his best, and Charlie sounds great. Unlike a lot of the songs, it doesn't seem to drag on as much. Six minutes is the perfect length. The perfect way to end the album.
This is overall a solid debut effort from Dream Theater. The things I liked were the excellent musicianship, the solos and the virtuostic elements. Things I disliked were, obviously the vocals, some tracks were too long and seems to drag on, and it was a little short.
Recommended tracks: Status Seeker, YTSE Jam, Only A Matter Of Time.
