Dream Theater stages a great encore

Dream Theater

“Images and Words”

Atco Records

****

After a three-year absence, Dream Theater have returned with a follow up to their incredible debut, “When Dream and Day Unite.” The result is one of the greatest albums this side of the galaxy.

If you had to label it, “progressive metal” would be a pretty apt description of this album. It’s about as non-commercial as you can get. Most of the songs here are more than seven minutes in length and not very functional. This is not music to dance to and doesn’t make very effective background or “mood” music. It’s there to kick back and pay attention to.

This is not one of those raw, goof-off, let-mistakes-slide kind of record. This is an immaculately-played and produced serious-business album. That is not to say that it is stuffy or no fun. It is actually quite a lot of fun to listen to and, boy, is there a lot to listen to. These guys pack more musical ideas into one of their eight-minute monstrosities than most bands do in a whole album.

On a technical level, there are very few who can touch these guys. Each member is a virtuoso of frightening ability.

There’s guitarist John Petrucci, who lays down lightning-fast arpeggios in a fluid style that brings to mind Steve Vai, especially on the intro to the majestic “Under A Glass Moon.”

Mike Portnoy contributes one of the most aggressive and memorable drum performances in recent memory. Never satisfied with a typical beat, he is constantly adding off-beats and machine gun rolls, keeping the rhythm interesting.

Bassist John Myung is as capable of soloing as he is at holding down the bottom. And keyboardist Kevin Moore is the finest rock keyboardist since Keith Emerson.

Rounding out the fold is new member, vocalist James LaBrie. Chosen only after the band tried out 200 other guys, LaBrie was worth the wait, as he is a singer of immense range and style.

It should be stressed, however, that this is not a case of technique for technique’s sake. The band maintains an incredible sense of musicality and that is where their strength lies. The songs are long simply because that’s what sounds best. There aren’t any formulas at work here. No verse-chorus-verse-chorus and a 30-second guitar solo. The progressions all follow through logically and in ways that best serve the songs.

Whereas the debut showed a lot of Rush influence, this disc’s influences seem to be Kansas and the Dixie Dregs, but with a harder edge.

Most surprising on this album is “Another Day,” which with its sax solo and moderately paced arrangement, kind of sounds like some of the contemporary jazz you’d hear on CD 101.9 FM. The same holds true for “Surrounded,” which is a sleepy ballad until you get to the guitar break, which is like U2 on speed. The two-and-a-half minute “Wait for Sleep” is a pretty song which recalls the “Excorcist” section of “Tubular Bells,” with LaBrie exercising some Freddy Mercuryisms.

The rest of the album consists of five gargantuan opuses that are busy as hell though never seem as lengthy as they actually are due to their sheer greatness, which totally absorbs the listener. The performances on these tunes are relentless with some truly slick time-changes that only learned musicians like this lot could pull off.

If you want to hear some sophisticated hard rock that possesses musicianship with a capital M, this is your band.