Dream Theater - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

Year of Release: 2002
Label: Elektra
Catalog Number: 62742-2
Format: CD
Total Time: 96:19:00

Voices were already flowing with some persistence months ago, but only when the preview of the cover of Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (similar to Nine Inch Nails in style) appeared, did the thing become certain: Dream Theater were ready for a profound change.

Still, the web was the one to deliver the final blow, considering that the new double album of the New York-based band was already available online (from an unknown source) about 2 months before the official release, all to satisfy the anxiety of the progressive hardcore fans. So now, with the album finally out there for everyone, we can draw the final outcome regarding this long awaited work...Six Degrees... is good or not?

Mmh, it's hard to give a definitive answer, even if the album clearly represents a deep fracture from the cumbersome past of LaBrie & co., and this is a move that we have to admire coming from a prog band. But let's go strictly to the music ... the Dreamers' sound has thickened considerably with this release, unravelling new roads that maybe will leave a bad taste in the mouth of hundreds of prog purists, but in the end it seems to have exceeded the test. The sense of being lost among the riffs of the songs, a sense that overtakes us at first hearing, slowly pales while we metabolise the new ideas of the American five-piece, even if sometimes we are left wondering where Dream Theater want to go with tunes like "The Great Debate" (here the Tool references are way too obvious!). In fact, some doubts emerge from the very beginning with "The Glass Prison," a song which looks like Metallica playing prog, but the magic hasn't utterly abandoned DT, and the demonstration arrives with the wonderful "Misunderstood" and "Disappear."

Another story is the second CD, embracing the entire title-track of 40 plus minutes, a suite reminiscent of "Metropolis - Part II," but without the huge feeling that some other masterpieces of the past, like "A Change Of Seasons," possessed ... nevertheless let's leave our friends to sharpen their new weapons for the future, even if on the horizon are lurking the menacing shadows of Pain Of Salvation, Wolverine and Vanden Plas!

Tracklisting:
Disc One: The Glass Prison (13:52) / Blind Faith (10:21) / Misunderstood (9:32) / The Great Debate (13:45) / Disappear (6:45)

Disc Two: Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (42:02): i. Overture - ii. About To Crash - iii. War Inside My Head - iv. The Test That Stumped Them All - v. Goodnight Kiss - vi. Solitary Shell - vii. About To Crash (Reprise) - viii. Losing Time/Grand Finale

Musicians:
James LaBrie - vocals
Jordan Rudess - keyboards
John Myung - bass
John Petrucci - guitars
Mike Portnoy - drums

Discography:
When Dreams and Day Unite (1989)
Images and Words (1992)
Live At The Marquee (1993)
Dream Out Loud (1994)
Awake (1994)
A Change in Season (1995)
Falling Into Infinity (1997)
Once In A Livetime (1998)
Scenes From A Memory (1999)
Cleaning Out The Closet (Xmas CD 1999) (1999)
Scenes From A World Tour - Christmas CD 2000 (2001)
Live Scenes From New York (2001)
Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (2002)
Train Of Thought (2003)
Live At Budokan (2004)
Octavarium (2005)
Score (3CD) (2006)
Systematic Chaos (2007)
Greatest Hit (...And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) (2008)
Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009)
A Dramatic Turn Of Events (2011)
Dream Theater (2013)
Live At Luna Park (2013)
Breaking The Fourth Wall - Live From The Boston Opera House (2014)
The Astonishing (2016)
Distance Over Time (2019)

Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York (DVD) (2001)
Live At Budokan (DVD) (2004)
Score (DVD) (2006)
Chaos In Motion (DVD) (2008)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin US

Added: February 8th 2002
Reviewer: Igor Italiani

Artist website: www.dreamtheater.net
Hits: 2582
Language: english