Lines in the sand (Dream Theater) (LP 2404 - 2414)

Dream Theater  A Change Of Seasons (CD, EastWest Records, 1995) ****  

Dream Theater  Falling Into Infinity (CD, Elektra Records, 1997) ***  

Dream Theater  Once In A LIVEtime (2CD, EastWest Records, 1999) ***  

Dream Theater  Metropolis Pt 2 - Scenes From A Memory (CD, Elektra Records, 1999) ****  

Dream Theater  Live Scenes From New York (3CD, Elektra Records, 2001) ***  

Dream Theater  Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (2CD, Elektra Records, 2002) **  

Dream Theater  Train Of Thought (CD, Elektra Records, 2003) ****  

Dream Theater  Live At Budokan (3CD, Atlantic Records, 2004) ***

Dream Theater  Octavarium (CD, Atlantic Records, 2005) ***

Dream Theater  Systematic Chaos (CD, Roadrunner Records, 2007) ****

Dream Theater  Black Clouds & Silver Linings (CD, Roadrunner Records, 2009) ****

Genre: Prog rock 

Places I remember: Fopp, HMV, Virgin Megastore (Dubai), JB Hi-Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Beyond This Life (Scenes From A Memory); All Of Me, Stream Of Consciousness (both on Train Of Thought) 

Gear costume: Just Let Me Breathe (Once In A LIVEtime)

Active compensatory factors: The first part of my Dream Theater run down includes the albums that had Mike Portnoy on drums until his departure in 2009. 

There are quite a few so grab a coffee! A big one.

I missed the first stack of albums and the first one I bought was actually Systematic Chaos in 2007 from a CD shop in New Plymouth that has long gone. I'd read about them and so took a punt on this one because I was intrigued.

More on that album when I come to it, but like many of my first tastes of a band, it remains my favourite!

But I digress. A Change of Seasons isn't a legit album as such - even though it clocks in at about 100 minutes. The band called it an EP because it wasn't designed as a logical album step after their third album (Awake - which I don't have).

Instead, A Change Of Seasons includes the 23 minute title track and then additional 'seasonings' - i.e. a series of cover versions including a medley of rock classics. So we get fizzed up versions of Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Kansas, Queen and others.

It's a hell of a lot of fun! My favourite sections are the Elton and Led Zep tributes. 

Falling Into Infinity is the first of the proper Dream Theater albums I own. It was their fourth. It's a good album, but not a great one. The follow up to it would be awesome though.

Before that fifth studio album there would be a double CD celebrating the Falling Into Infinity tour - Once In A LIVEtime. It's a great catch up of the first 4 studio albums and A Change Of Seasons - which comes in various parts throughout the concert. 

Given its length - it's bound to be uneven - hence the three stars.

Scenes From A Memory is part 2 of Metropolis and is the band's first concept album. I don't have part 1 - that was on Images And Words - their second album. It wasn't intended as a part 1 and 2 - the Part 1 tag was added as a joke! But none of that matters as Part 2 hangs together well as a stand-alone album.  

The concept deals with the story of a man named Nicholas and the discovery of his past life/lives through regression therapy. It gets really complicated (Townshend's Lifehouse project is a doddle compared to this) and I get lost every time, but it's a lot of fun musically.

The live triple CD (these guys provide value for money or a test of patience depending on your viewpoint) is a record of their New York concert in 2000.

Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence is another looong album - a double CD. It's their sixth studio album. 

It begins with the static white noise that ended Scenes From A Memory. I like that sense of continuity. Then it hits hard with the first track The Glass Prison. But, it's hard to maintain that fierce attack throughout a double CD.

And so it proves. The first disc is the better of the two, but still far too long and ultimately uneven. Plus, the lyrical content is all over the place. It shapes up as a concept album around Mike Portnoy's pursuit of sobriety and then gives way to things like The Great Debate - about stem cell research.

Album two is pompous, bloated, pretentious and overblown. A tendency they have from time to time. Lord knows what this one is on about - I kind of lose interest. So - a lost opportunity after the brilliance of Scenes From A Memory.

Their next album, a year later (these guys don't dilly dally) was Train Of Thought. Time to peel back the pretentious stuff and go hard!

Train Of Thought holds two of my favourite Dream Theater songs - All Of Me has a killer riff, shades of Tony Iommi during that opening track, and Stream Of Consciousness. Both feature the killer guitar chops of John Petrucci. 

In fact the whole album is much more guitar focussed than normal. All a plus point in its favour for me.

The live triple CD at Budokan features a lot of Train Of Thought and is all the better for it, but a triple CD is a lot to take in and I often get mid-way through CD 2 before needing to hear something different.

Their eighth studio album, Octavarium came in 2005. This album a year strategy is pretty impressive.

Octavarium boasts a great cover, nice reference to it being number 8 and a new record company - Atlantic.

The band's aim for this one was to present a classic Dream Theater album and a simpler more stripped down approach. That may have been the aim but for me Train Of Thought is a classic Dream Theater album. This eighth one is a mixture of styles and often shorter songs, but still with that full-on soundscape of old. Maybe that's what they meant by classic DT (by the way - that's a weird aspiration for a prog metal band - just sayin').

The most interesting track is the title song, weighing in at a massive 24 minutes. It feels like they were going for Pink Floyd's Echoes in places.

Nineth studio album, Systematic Chaos, was where I began listening to the band. I took a punt on it in 2007 after I saw it for sale in a CD shop in New Plymouth (not there now - it was in the City Centre mall).

This is still my go-to Dream Theater album. It hits hard and John Petrucci's guitar hits a peak on this album for me.

Although it's another loooong album (78 minutes of brutal attack), it never outstays its welcome. Mainly because every track twists and turns and keeps its momentum going.

Next up was 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings. Another 70 plus minute prog metal monster. This one was the last to feature drummer and founding member, Mike Portnoy. He'd eventually rejoin the band 13 years later but for now, this was it.

It's a fitting conclusion for the time being - all of the Dream Theater moves and tropes are present and correct. If it ain't broke don't fix it! But I think they needed a fresh approach from here on in. We'll see because...

Where do they all belong? The second batch of Dream Theater albums comes after Mike Portnoy left amid a dramatic turn of events and Mike Mangini took over on drums.