Awake

Performer: Dream Theater
Engineer: Duane Baron; John Purdell
Producer: Duane Baron; John Purdell
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Dream Theater: James LaBrie (vocals), John Petrucci (guitar), Kevin Moore (keyboards), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums, percussion). Recorded at One On One Studios and Devonshire Studios, North Hollywood, California between May & July 1994. Personnel: John Petrucci (guitar); Kevin Moore (keyboards); Mike Portnoy (drums, percussion); Rich Kern (programming). Audio Mixers: Duane Baron; Ed Miller ; Ryan Arnold; John Purdell. Recording information: Devonshire Studios, North Hollywood, CA (05/1994-07/1994); One On One Studios, North Hollywood, CA (05/1994-07/1994). Photographer: Dennis Keeley. Dream Theater's web of metal and progressive elements comes roaring out of the speakers at full throttle like some manic coupling of Frank Zappa, Guns & Roses and Yes, a garish torrent of virtuoso chopsmanship, classical flourishes and good old fashioned nosebleed metal. With his snaking, syncopated lines, complicated rhythmic variations and crunching tone, Dream Theater's John Petrucci is a guitar hero for the '90s, and string slingers who admire the likes of Alan Holdsworth and Steve Vai will find much to admire in his unhinged extended flights on "Voices" and "Erotomania." And singer James LaBrie possesses the kind of classic tenor pipes that distinguish singers like Robert Plant, Steve Perry, Geddy Lee and Axl Rose from the rest of the pack: the kind of powerhouse squawk that can push through the guitars and keyboards--hey, you can hear him in Antarctica. The songs on AWAKE constitute a richly orchestrated suite of moods, and tend towards the kind of mystic parables and epic gestures that used to so fascinate Jimmy Page. It's a nightmare world of spiritual crisis, lost innocence, fractured identity, fatal temptation and stifling paranoia. The music reflects this tension in its grand gestures and intricate ensemble passages, to particular effect when the lyrics tend more towards personal rites of passage, as on "Scarred" and "The Silent Man."

Q (12/94, p.130) - 3 Stars - Good - "...melodramatic New Jersey outfit who marry metal with what used to be called progressive rock. All the trademarks of the latter are here: the cryptic voiceovers...the epic scale...and, amid madly frenetic melodies, mellow, reflective passages..."

Dream Theater may not have been the very first to combine heavy metal's biting guitars with progressive rock's complex structures and virtuosic displays, but they were certainly at the vanguard of the prog-metal paradigm in the late '80s. By the '90s, they had become the definitive avatars of the genre. They were also the nexus for numerous prog supergroup offshoots, such as Transatlantic, Liquid Tension Experiment, and Explorers Club.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25