A Change Of Seasons [EP]

Performer: Dream Theater
Engineer: Doug Oberkircher; Andrew Scarth
Producer: David Prater; Dream Theater
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Dream Theater: James LaBrie (vocals); John Petrucci (guitar); Derek Sherinian (keyboards); John Myung (bass); Mike Portnoy (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: David Rosenthal (programming). Recorded at Bear Tracks Studio, Suffern, New York in May 1995 and live at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London, England on January 31, 1995. Includes liner notes by Dream Theater. A Change of Seasons is a strange disc. There are only five tracks but with a total time that approaches an hour anyway. The first track, the 23-minute, seven-part epic "A Change of Seasons," is one of the most impressive pieces of music ever written in the progressive metal vein. With the same heavy sound that marked Awake, but with many other styles mixed in, the track features incredible playing, dramatic, complex instrumental arrangements, and soaring vocals. New keyboardist Derek Sherinian (formerly of Kiss and Alice Cooper) adds his own stamp to the Dream Theater sound as if he'd always been with them. The remainder of the tracks are live cover tunes, recorded from the band's "Uncovered" gig at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club; the material varies widely and includes Elton John's "Love Lies Bleeding" and Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers." The final track, "The Big Medley," has to be heard to be believed; Dream Theater shift musical styles on a dime to cover Pink Floyd, Kansas, Queen, Journey, the Dixie Dregs, and Genesis all in ten minutes. ~ Phil Carter

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.

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