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10094 - ROLLING STONE - 50 GREATEST PROG ROCK ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, DISC 29 - DREAM THEATER - METROPOLIS PT 2: SCENES FROM A MEMORY (1999)

Compilation By Jon Dolan, Dan Epstein, Reed Fischer, Richard Gehr, Brandon Geist, Kory Grow, Will Hermes, Ryan Reed, Jon Weiderhorn (rolling stone)

For close to a half century, prog has been the breeding ground for rock's most out-there, outsized and outlandish ideas: Thick-as-a-brick concept albums, an early embrace of synthesizers, overly complicated time signatures, Tolkienesque fantasies, travails from future days and scenes from a memory. In celebration of Rush's first Rolling Stone cover story, here's the best of the deliciously decadent genre that the punks failed to kill.

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DREAM THEATER
''METROPOLIS, PT 2: SCENES FROM A MEMORY"
OCTOBER 26 1999
77:12

1 Act I - Scene One. Regression 02:06
2 Act I - Scene Two I. Overture 1928 03:37
3 Act I - Scene Two II. Strange Deja Vu 05:12
4 Act I - Scene Three I. Through My Words 01:02
5 Act I - Scene Three II. Fatal Tragedy 06:49
6 Act I - Scene Four. Beyond This Life 11:22
7 Act I - Scene Five. Through Her Eyes 05:29
8 Act II - Scene Six. Home 12:53
9 Act II - Scene Seven I. The Dance Of Eternity 06:13
10 Act II - Scene Seven II. One Last Time 03:46
11 Act II - Scene Eight. The Spirit Carries On 06:38
12 Act II - Scene Nine. Finally Free 11:59

James LaBrie/Vocals
John Myung/Bass Guitar
John Petrucci/Guitars, Vocals
Mike Portnoy/Drums, Percussion, Vocals
Jordan Rudess/Keyboards, Choir Arrangements and Conducted
Theresa Thomason/Additional Vocals On 7, 11; Gospel Choir On 11
Mary Canty, Shelia Slappy, Mary Smith, Jeanette Smith, Clarence Burke Jr., Carol Cyrus, Dale Scott/Gospel Choir On 11

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ABOUT THE ALBUM/WIKIPEDIA

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REVIEW/AMG
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Dream Theater is almost aggressively out of fashion in 1999. Few bands subscribe to their dense blend of progressive rock and post-Halen metal, and those that do usually don't have major-label contracts, the way Dream Theater does. There was a point where they tried to straighten out their sound somewhat, as they flirted with straight-ahead, laid-back metal on 1997's Falling into Infinity, but with its 1999 studio sequel, Scenes from a Memory, Dream Theater delves straight into old-fashioned prog rock. Scenes from a Memory is an unabashed concept album, told in two acts, about the 1928 murder of a young woman and how a modern man is haunted by the crime. A convoluted, difficult tale is told in a convoluted, difficult fashion, with no less than four tracks clocking in at well over ten minutes and three others ranging from 6:30 to 8:50. Clearly, this is intended as some sort of masterwork, and what's remarkable is that Dream Theater comes close to creating a masterwork with Scenes from a Memory. The album plays more like a suite than a collection of individual songs. At times, that means the album can bog down slightly in its own flights of fancy and long instrumental sections, but concentrated listens reveal the intricacies of the song structures and the musicianship. Occasionally, it can seem as if James Labrie oversings, but that's a minor point -- the overall end result of the album is quite impressive indeed.

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BIOGRAPH/AMG
By Craig Harris

The technically proficient guitar playing of John Petrucci elevated Dream Theater to the upper echelons of contemporary heavy metal. While its lineup has continuously evolved, the Long Island-based quintet has consistently delivered sharp-edged music. Dream Theater is known for its high-energy concert performances. While they've released several live albums -- Live at the Marquee, recorded at the London club; Live in Japan, recorded during the Music in Progress tour in 1993, and a triple-CD and DVD, Live Scenes from New York -- they remain one of heavy metal's most bootlegged bands.
Originally named Majesty by Berklee College of Music students Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy, the band soon expanded with the addition of keyboard player Kevin Moore and vocalist Chris Collins. Releasing an eight-tune demo, Majesty Demo, as Majesty, the group sold 1,000 copies within six months. The departure of Collins in late 1986 left Majesty without a vocalist, and after a long period of auditioning possible replacements, the group settled on Charlie Dominici in November 1987. Changing its name, the group agreed on "Dream Theater," inspired by a now-demolished California movie theater. Signing with Mechanic Records, the group began working on its first full-length album. Delays caused by label mismanagement limited the group to performing at small clubs and bars. Frustrated by its experiences with the label, Dream Theater finally severed its ties with Mechanic.

This was only one drastic change in the band's course of action. Firing Dominici, the group spent the next couple years searching for a vocalist. The search ended in late 1991 when a demo tape from Canadian vocalist James LaBrie, formerly of Winter Rose, arrived. After flying to New York to audition, LaBrie was invited to join the band. Signing with Atco Atlantic (which came to be known as East West), Dream Theater released its second album, Images & Words, in 1992. One of three videos based on songs from the album, "Pull Me Under," became an MTV hit. Although Theater showed considerable growth with their third studio album, Awake, recorded between May and July 1994, the group continued to be hampered by personnel changes. Before the album was mixed, keyboardist Moore left the group to focus on his solo career. Hired as a temporary replacement for the band's Waking Up the World tour, Derek Sherinian later became a permanent member. His first recording with Dream Theater was a 23-minute epic, "A Change of Seasons," written in 1989 and released in September 1995 on the album of the same name.

Following a mini tour, Fix for '96, the members of Dream Theater separated for several months and became involved with a variety of outside projects. Petrucci was the busiest. In addition to joining Portnoy and keyboard player Jordan Rudess in the Liquid Tension Experiment -- a group that included influential bassist/stick player Tony Levin -- Petrucci played guitar with Trent Gardner's Explorers Club and made a guest appearance on Shadow Gallery's Tyranny album. Myung and Sherinian collaborated with King's X vocalist Ty Tabor in the band Platypus. LaBrie worked with Mull Muzzler, a group formed with Matt Guillory and Mike Mangini.

Dream Theater experienced yet another change when Rudess was tapped to replace Sherinian, who had been fired in 1999. The band released the progressive rock-heavy Scenes from a Memory that year, a conceptual piece that followed the story of a 1928 murder of a young woman and how a modern man is haunted by the crime. It was followed by Live Scenes from New York in 2001, which suffered from an unintentional bout with controversy when its original cover featuring the city of New York in flames was pulled due to the events of September 11. The group continued in the progressive metal vein in 2002 with Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, followed by the leaner Train of Thought in 2003 and Octavarium in 2005. The live album Score: XOX was released in 2006 and featured the band backed by a 29-piece orchestra. It was followed a year later by the new studio album Systematic Chaos, and in 2009 by Black Clouds & Silver Linings.

Sherinian went on to record as a soloist and to play with a prog and jazz fusion band, Planet X. Petrucci released an eponymously titled solo album in 2003, featuring accompaniment by Dave LaRue of the Dixie Dregs and Boston-based drummer Dave DeCenso. In late 2010, Mike Mangini joined the group, replacing drummer Mike Portnoy, who left the band in September of that year. With a rigorous touring schedule to firmly break in Mangini, Dream Theater somehow found time to record. They pre-released the track "On the Backs of Angels" to YouTube via their label, Roadrunner in June of 2011, followed by the CD release of the aptly titled full-length, A Dramatic Turn of Events, in the fall. After a period of rigorous international touring, the band took a break though its members continued writing. They reconvened in early 2013 and returned with a self-titled studio album in September -- this one with Mangini completely involved in the writing process -- followed in November with the concert recording Live at Luna Park on CD and DVD, which was recorded during the Dramatic Turn of Events tour over two nights at the Buenos Aires soccer stadium.

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BIOGRAPHY/WIKIPEDIA

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WEBSITE

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