Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory
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Everyone likes to read, listen, or at least make up their own stories. This is the same for bands -- except when a band makes up a story, it’s called a concept album. A couple of familiar ones would be Tommy by The Who and The Wall by Pink Floyd. However, one that should definitely not go unnoticed is Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory by Dream Theater.

The concept for this album is that a young man, in the 1990s, seems to be having dreams of a former life during the 1920s. The album then takes us through the whole drama of what might be the former life, which ends very interestingly.

Not only is the story for this album excellent, Dream Theater is extremely talented. Three out of the five current members attended and met at Berklee School of Music in Boston. That has to say something. Their musical talent is felt throughout the entire CD.

The songs flow right together. Some of the best songs are “Strange Déjà Vu,” “Scene Four: Beyond this Life,” and “Scene Six: Home.” “Strange Déjà Vu” builds up the story by telling what the main character is seeing when he dreams. The song seems to take off right from the beginning with bass, guitar, and drums. They flow together like nothing I have ever heard before. The drum beat in the song is out of this world. Mike Portnoy is able to keep a nice steady beat with his arms while playing sixteenth notes on his two bass drums.

“Scene Four: Beyond this Life” is an 11-minute jam song. However, this jam session blows those DMB or Grateful Dead jam sessions out of the water. The guitar playing by John Petrucci ranks right at the top along with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. The sound that is underlying throughout the whole song is similar to that of Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android.” The lyrics to this song set up the reoccurring dream that the main character has, and this is where we get more into the story.

“Scene Six: Home” is another one of those jam songs. Interesting thing is the song is 13 minutes long. Much like “Beyond this Life” sounds like Radiohead, “Home” sounds much like the heavy metal rockers, Tool. This song begins with a Middle Eastern feel, which it holds for most of the song. However, during the jam session, the keyboardist plays a solo that makes one feel like they are in a club during the Roaring 20s. This song gives background on the incident that occurs in “Beyond this Life.”

This CD is phenomenal. The level at which this band plays is insane. Some parts of the songs are written in some crazy time signatures like 11/8 time. This CD displays their musical talents that they established at Berklee. You will really want to listen to this CD over and over again -- if not for the story, then for the music. However, if you want to hear this CD live, then I would strongly suggest Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from New York.

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