Great band, but what's with the Horror Movie style album cover?.
Number 38 on my countdown of my 100 favorite CDs is a band I really got into about ten years ago...
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Number 38: Dream Theater - Images and Words (1992)
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The New York based band is one of the most talented in the limited field of Progressive Metal. They have lots of chops and instrumental prowess to spare and wear their influences on their sleeve. Bits of Rush, Queensryche, Journey, Queen, Kansas, ELP and just about every other group to play Prog, Arena Rock or Metal gets mashed up into the Dream Theater sound. At times they can be derivative yet always engaging.
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Images and Words is my favorite of the Dream Theater albums, it's the one that seamlessly blends their influences together. The amazing tempo shifts in the opener "Pull Me Under" recall Rush at their best as drummer Mike Portnoy nails every beat. The power ballad "Another Day" is moving and capped with a stellar soaring guitar solo by John Petrucci. "Surrounded" is almost U2ish with the echoing Edge style guitarwork.
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A ten minute epic, "Metropolis pt.1" is the highpoint of the album as the band unleashes a flurry of tightly structured instrumental interplay that rivals Classic Yes. It even ends with a bit of Prince's "Purple Rain" for good measure. Bassist John Myung comes to the foreground a little to show his dexterous playing style.
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"Under A Glass Moon" features what Guitar magazine ranked among the Top 500 guitar solos of all time. Throughout the album Kevin Moore's tasteful keyboards and James LaBrie's wailing vocals add emotional power to the band's super tight rhythm section.
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Even with all the great Dream Theater music that followed, nothing tops Images and Words for me as my all time favorite from DT. And now, here's a little "Pull Me Under"...
Dream Theater - "Pull Me Under"
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