| CD Reviews Last updated: 10.8.05 Dream Theater Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory Tracklist: Act I 1. Scene One: �Regression� (2:06) (Lyrics, Music: Petrucci) 2. Scene Two: I. �Overture 1928� (3:37) (Music: Dream Theater) 3. II. �Strange D�j� Vu� (5:12) (Lyrics: Portnoy, Music: Dream Theater) 4. Scene Three: I. �Through My Words� (1:02) (Lyrics, Music: John Petrucci) 5. II. �Fatal Tragedy� (6:49) (Lyrics: Myung, Music: Dream Theater) 6. Scene Four: �Beyond This Life� (11:22) (Lyrics: Petrucci, Music: Dream Theater) 7. Scene Five: Through Her Eyes (5:29) (Lyrics: Petrucci, Music: Dream Theater) Act II 8. Scene Six: �Home� (12:53) (Lyrics: Portnoy, Music: Dream Theater) 9. Scene Seven: I. �The Dance Of Eternity� (6:13) (Music: Dream Theater) 10. II. �One Last Time� (3:46) (Lyrics: LaBrie, Music: Dream Theater) 11. Scene Eight: �The Spirit Carries On� (6:38) (Lyrics: Petrucci, Music: Dream Theater) 12. Scene Nine: �Finally Free� (11:59) (Lyrics: Portnoy, Music: Dream Theater) Total � 1:17:12 Introduction: �Metropolis, Pt. 1�, found on their sophomore album Images And Words is one of Dream Theater�s most popular songs. Part 1 was tacked on as a joke, but fans wanted to see Part 2. Eventually, it was set to be on their fourth studio album Falling Into Infinity, but it was scrapped and ultimately evolved into it�s own album in 1999, titled Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory. It�s a concept album that tells the story of a man named Nicholas who is haunted by the dreams of a murder of a young woman named Victoria. This is also the first album to feature keyboardist Jordan Rudess, who replaced Derek Sherinian before this album went into production. Synopsis: Act I opens up with �Regression�. It�s a track that�s mainly for storyline purposes, where the Hypnotherapist puts Nicholas into a deep sleep. Towards the end of the song, the vocals and music slowly start to come in, which leads to the next track, �Overture 1928�. �Overture 1928� is a great instrumental that leads into the music of the album. �Overture 1928� has references to �Metropolis, Pt. 1,� such as the beginning synths. John Petrucci�s guitar solo in the song is actually played to a lyric in �Metropolis, Part I,� as many may recall when they hear it. The next track, �Strange D�j� Vu�, begins immediately after �Overture 1928�. �Strange D�j� Vu� features great vocals by James LaBrie, as well as some great playing by the band. The lyrics are also intriguing; the lyrics on the entire album are. As the title of the song indicates, Nicholas is trying to recall the memories of Victoria. �Through My Words� is another track for storyline purposes, in which Nicholas learns that he is Victoria reincarnated. This is why he is so intrigued by her murder, and why she has been seeking him out. The whole song features just vocals and a beautiful piano melody. The following track is �Fatal Tragedy�, in which Nicholas finds the home in which Victoria was killed and discovers how she was murdered. The whole song is quite heavy, featuring loud guitar and bass riffs, thundering drumming, and creepy organs. Right as �Beyond This Life� begins, you�ll immediately notice that this song is probably the fastest song on the album. Portnoy does some insane drumming here. There are some interesting vocal effects as well, during the chorus. Petrucci�s solo here is amazing, albeit a bit short. �Beyond This Life� goes into detail on how and why Victoria was murdered; two men who happened to be brothers loved her. One of the brothers, Edward, was incredibly jealous, and ended up murdering his brother, Julian, and Victoria. The song ends with a melodic sequence that leads into the next song. �Through My Words� is undeniably one of the softer, slower songs on the album. Guest vocalist Theresa Thomason does the vocals for the part of Victoria. This song is mostly piano dominated, as the song is meant to be depressing. There are very beautiful vocals from LaBrie here as well. In this song, Nicholas mourns the death of Victoria after visiting her grave. The following track is �Home,� which opens up Act II, and happens to be my favorite song on this album. �Home� is also the longest song on the album, clocking in at 12 minutes and 53 seconds. The beginning of the song has a very mysterious, middle-eastern influenced vibe. Then a heavy riff kicks in and the song commences. LaBrie�s vocals and the backup vocals from Petrucci and Portnoy are some of the best on the album in this song. Petrucci�s guitar riffs in �Home� are great. Towards the middle of the song, the speed slows down a bit, and it very slowly builds up again, leading to an amazing keyboard solo from Rudess, immediately followed by a flat out amazing guitar solo from Petrucci. I�d say this solo is one of his best solos in a Dream Theater song. The crazy instrumental �The Dance of Eternity� follows subsequently. �The Dance of Eternity� is my favorite Dream Theater instrumental. It contains a few references to �Metropolis, Pt. 1� such as the intro. And the whole band plays really well here. I dig that ragtime style piano solo Rudess plays about 2 and � minutes into the song. Shortly afterward is a jaw dropping, fast as hell bass solo by Myung. This one is even faster than his solos in �Ytse Jam� and �Metropolis, Pt. 1�! After all the craziness, the tempo slows down and goes right into �One Last Time�. �One Last Time� once again features great vocals, not to mention a striking chorus. Oh, and yet another cool guitar solo. Yes, Petrucci has quite a few of them on this album. And this song has a powerful ending. �The Spirit Carries On� is just simply awesome. The lyrics to this song are just incredible. The song starts of slow, with mostly an acoustic guitar and a piano heard. Then, once Theresa Thomason�s powerful vocals kick in, things start to pick up, and the whole song just explodes into a huge amount of emotion. The choir that sings during towards the end of the song just makes the song even more powerful. Hell, this whole song is simply uplifting. �The Spirit Carries On� is definitely one of Dream Theater�s best songs yet. This potent album closes with �Finally Free,� in which Nicholas� sessions with the Hypnotherapist ends, and Nicholas finally is at peace. The song has this haunting feel throughout its length, not to mention some creepy samples added in. �Finally Free� also reprises several riffs, lyrics, and themes found scattered about the album. And the ending to the story is bound to surprise all listeners (highlight below to read): [Spoiler] The Hypnotherapist is actually the reincarnated Edward, and he breaks into Nicholas� house and murders him. [End Spoiler] Highlights: �Beyond This Life�, �Home�, �The Spirit Carries On� Overall: �Metropolis, Pt. 1� is an amazing song, and Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory is an amazing album. The whole story of the murder of Victoria and Nicholas� dreams were put together in song form very well. All of the songs showcase the band�s talents, both musically and lyrically. Scenes From A Memory is, without a doubt, one of Dream Theater�s best releases. Highly recommended, for fans of the band and newbies alike. Final Score: A+ Any questions, comments, submissions, or anything related to the site should be e-mailed to me: shadowdragonxx [at] hotmail [dot] com. Don't take anything from the site without permission. |
| Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory Album line-up: James LaBrie - Vocals John Myung - Bass guitar John Petrucci - Guitars, vocals Mike Portnoy - Drums, percussion, vocals Jordan Rudess - Keyboards Additional Personnel: Theresa Thomason - Additional vocals on �Through Her Eyes� and �The Spirit Carries On�) Theresa Thomason, Mary Canty, Shelia Slappy, Mary Smith, Jeanette Smith, Clarence Burke Jr., Carol Cyrus, Dale Scott - Gospel Choir on �The Spirit Carries On� Release Year: 1999 Label: Elektra Records Produced by: Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci |
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