Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

Is all hope lost with Dream Theater, this once great band? Or can they recover from their lackluster 1999 effort Scenes From A Memory? It wasn't that SFAM was a bad album (it did have a few good moments), but many a good song was ruined by Dream Theater's nonsensical instrumental sections. It was their ability to destroy an otherwise solid song with musical masturbation that kept SFAM from becoming a great album. It didn't help that the album was built upon one song from an album they made seven years previous to SFAM's 1999 release (1992's Images & Words). This isn't progress. Throw in SFAM's bumbling, ridiculous and badly put together storyline and many of us DT fans were left scratching our heads. I laughed when I read that Dream Theater claimed they listened to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and the Wall and Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime while recording SFAM. Clearly, they didn't listen to those three classic albums close enough: Much of SFAM was a confusing mess of excess with an occasional song thrown in almost as an afterthought. Pink Floyd and Queensryche knew better. I digress, I know, but Dream Theater hasn't released a meaningful CD since 1994's Awake. SFAM was an album meant to appease the more anal portion of their fan base-the ones that think progressive equals excessive (they haven't a clue). The rest of us were left out. But that was two and a half years ago. The question before us now is this: Has Dream Theater recovered from SFAM? Does Dream Theater succeed with Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence? Or is it just another chaotic mess with one or two good songs? Well, we will find out together...

DISC ONE
1. "The Glass Prison"
We're off to a damn, good start! Dream Theater stated that they had listened to Megadeth while recording Six Degrees. And it is obvious listening to this song. Although Megadeth never wrote a tune that was fourteen minutes long, take away James LaBrie's vocals and Jordan Rudess's keyboards, and this song could have easily fit on Megadeth's classic thrash album Rust in Peace; "Holy Wars...the Punishment Due" and "Tornado of Souls" immediately come to mind on first listening to this song. And, yes, "The Glass Prison" is that good! Guitarist John Petrucci gives us a variety of hard hitting, Megadeth-ish riffs and leads. This song also has similarities to other Dream Theater songs such as "The Mirror", "Lie", "Burning My Soul" and "Pull Me Under". Metallica is brought to mind several times as well (most notably "Of Wolf and Man" and "The Call of Ktulu"). "The Glass Prison" is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite Dream Theater songs. Yes, we! are off to a good start.

2. "Blind Faith"
This song is a mid-paced and driving, though oddly, it is not a aggressive tune-a least, not the verses. This is a pretty good song overall. Pink Floyd and maybe a bit of Tool are brought to mind when listening to this song. The Floyd influence is a carry over from Scenes From A Memory and Falling Into Infinity as there were a few songs on both albums that conjured up images of Pink Floyd.

3. "Misunderstood"
If "The Glass Prison" was a tribute to Megadeth, then this song pays homage to Tool. I like that Dream Theater is experimenting with some different sounds and metal styles. I felt they didn't do that enough on Scenes From A Memory. This song is rather slow, but it grows heavier and has that dark, driving sound that Tool is known for. The last minute and a half of this song are rather annoying as guitarist John Petrucci goes overboard a bit with his guitar screeching. But I'll live. This is a very good song.

4. "The Great Debate"
This song is about stem-cell research and whether it is ethical or not. I think Dream Theater is a little too over ambitious here when it comes to the theme of the song. But they make up for it with some interesting musical themes. Singer James LaBrie is excellent here as he moves from one vocal style to another (with the help of a voice processor). This song reminds me a bit of "Burning My Soul" from Falling Into Infinity as it is a fairly aggressive tune of medium pace. Good song, even with the subject matter and the fact that DT is a bit too repetitive here.

5. "Disappear"
Pink Floyd is brought to mind again. This is a calm, easy going song that has a tone of melancholy sadness to it. While this song is decent, it never quite takes off for me.

DISC TWO
6. "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence"
I. "Overture"
This part of the song features an orchestra backing up Dream Theater. Dramatic and oft times bombastic, this part of "Six Degrees" sets the stage for the rest of disc two..

II. "About to Crash"
This is an excellent song. Keyboard driven early on, the rest of the band soon joins in on this somewhat upbeat song. Not that the subject matter (depression) is all that upbeat, but that is the best way to describe this odd song, even with its undercurrent of doom and gloom. "About to Crash" sounds a bit like some previous DT efforts including "Surrounded" and "Innocence Faded".

III. "War Inside My Head"
This is a harsh, fast-paced, aggressive song. It reminds me of some songs off DT's 1994 CD Awake, notably "The Mirror" and "Lie". It is a short song. But a good one.

IV. "The Test That Stumped Them All"
This part of "Six Degrees" is even more aggressive and faster than "War Inside My Head". It is a weird song as there are some unusual spoken word parts to it here and there. Not one of my favorites from this disc. But it isn't bad.

V. "Goodnight Kiss"
A slower song that relies mostly on Jordan Rudess's keyboard work, this part of "Six Degrees" also showcases James LaBrie's work as a vocalist. John Petrucci's guitar solo in the middle of the song is excellent. Petrucci plays in a vein not unlike that of Pink Floyd's guitarist David Gilmour. Good song.

VI. "Solitary Shell"
Excellent song. Somewhat upbeat like "About to Crash", but being led by guitar rather than keyboard. This song (along with "The Glass Prison") may be the best song on 6DOIT.

VII. "About to Crash (Reprise)"
This tune basically bookends "Six Degrees". And it is a continuation of the first "About to Crash".

VIII. "Losing Time/Grand Finale"
I'm not sure why this last track is separated from "About to Crash/Reprise" because they are essentially the same song. LaBrie vocals are powerful and moving hear. And the album ends on an emotionally stirring note

I was ready to call this album Six Degrees over Over-Indulgence. But DT reined it in and stuck to concentrating on good song writing rather than technical masturbation. And they made a great CD, their second best disc in my opinion (1994's Awake still remains my favorite). Thumbs up to Dream Theater. They didn't regress like they did on Scenes From A Memory. They've progressed here. Unfortunately, this doesn't bode well for Dream Theater's next release. I have a feeling that the band will feel pressure from some of their diehard, more anal fans and cave in and do another Images & Words/Scenes From A Memory. This would be unfortunate since writing coherent songs like those found on Awake, Six Degrees and, yes, even Falling Into Infinity is Dream Theater's strength. One interesting note about Six Degrees is that, according to drummer Mike Portnoy, most of disc two was written by keyboardist Jordan Rudess. I find this fascinating since I didn't feel Rudess meshed well w! ith the rest of the band on SFAM. Well, he certainly meshed well here! I'm impressed with his song writing ability.

A couple of problems I do have with this CD: One, Dream Theater calls the song "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" one song. This is a load of crap. It is six (or eight) separate, distinctive songs that run together, no more. Dream Theater could have connected any half-dozen of their songs in this manner and called it one song. I don't know who they are trying to fool here. "Six Degrees" even shows up as eight separate tracks on my CD player! Are they trying to fool some of their diehard fans into thinking this CD is progressive by having a forty minute song on it? Not that most of the anal DT fans would know what true progressive is, (this CD is in fact progressive) but this is a lame attempt at trying to pander to a good portion of their fanatical fan base. I have no doubt if the songs that comprise "Six Degrees" had been released as individual songs, the wanking-loving, fanatical fan base would have accused Dream Theater of selling-out or some other nonsense. I just ! find the whole thing absurd: Dream Theater calling "Six Degrees" one song and DT's nutty portion of their fan base who don't even know what the term "progressive" means. Problem two I have with this album (especially disc two) is the sometimes sloppy lyrics. I won't go into detail, I'll just say this: Ever since original keyboard player Kevin Moore left the band in 1994, there has been a steady decline in the quality of Dream Theater lyrics. Moore is missed.

My reservations not withstanding, this CD was a pleasant surprise. I fully expected Dream Theater to continue to wallow in the excesses that marked Images & Words and Scenes From A Memory. They didn't do that. I'm happy they refrained from selling-out to their nutty, anal, wanking-loving portion of their fan base. The rest of us deserve better. And so does Dream Theater.

Ratings and Wrap Up:
The best: Hey, this is Dream Theater's best album since 1994's Awake!
The worst: The lyrics on disc two are pretty bad in places. Kevin Moore is missed.
The weird: Tool was an influence on this album. Some may think this strange. But Tool is a progressive band.
The rest: Surprisingly, this album is getting quite a bit of positive attention from mainstream magazines like Entertainment Weekly and Maxam. Is progressive music catching on?

Rating: 8.9
Review by Joseph White -

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