Label: Elektra Records
Release date: 23.09.1997
Producer: Kevin Shirley
Album length: 78.12 min
Genre: Progressive Metal
“Falling into Infinity” was a troubled fourth album that nearly tore apart one of the key and most exciting rock bands of the 1990s. While making it, American progressive metal champions Dream Theater found themselves caught ‘between a rock and a hard place’: their label at the time, Elektra Records, started pressuring the band to steer their compositions as far as possible in a commercial direction. Their popularity had been growing relentlessly from album to album, and they enjoyed plenty of goodwill from metalheads and the affection of many prog rock fans.
During the making of the first and only Dream Theater studio album featuring keyboards by former Alice Cooper and Kiss keyboardist Derek Sherinian (“A Change Of Seasons” from 1995 was an EP with an original title track and covers of other artists), who replaced original member Kevin Moore in 1994, a rift opened up between the two founders of these prog metal titans with their enviable academic pedigree. Guitar virtuoso John Petrucci had no problem going along with the label’s wishes and was ready for sonic compromises, meaning more compact compositions, fewer wild improvised jams and a clear ‘beginning and end’. Drumming fanatic Mike Portnoy, on the other hand, wouldn’t hear of it, since he wanted to keep going in the songwriting and sonic direction they’d followed so far.
In the end, with the band already threatening to fall apart, Petrucci and Portnoy somehow made peace and managed to land on a middle-ground compromise. So “Falling into Infinity”, their only studio album under the production baton of Kevin Shirley (best known for his work with Iron Maiden and Journey), became one of the oddest albums in the entire Dream Theater discography, one that still divides plenty of fans today. Portnoy and Petrucci originally planned to call the album “Stream of Consciousness”, but the other three members, meaning Sherinian, singer James LaBrie and bassist John Myung, found that title too pompous.
To be fair, “Falling into Infinity” deserves more respect than it gets, especially among the metal ‘community’. It’s one of the most varied albums in the whole Dream Theater story, one where the band came up with some of their most mature work in terms of arrangements and lyrics, while still leaving enough crazy improvisational detours to make every fan of virtuoso grandmasters drool. Dream Theater had already proven on earlier albums that they also have a knack for writing more compact pieces, without major experimental detours and with rich lyrical content, but on “Falling into Infinity”, an almost completely different album from its predecessor “Awake” (1994), that became even more obvious.
The most melodic, varied and (let’s call them) radio-friendly compositions with those typical Dream Theater melodies came from Petrucci this time, while Portnoy wrote a few more ‘traditionally’ hard-hitting and experimental numbers with a strong improvisational stamp. LaBrie contributed one love ballad, while Myung shone with the excellent thirteen-minute closing epic “Trial Of Tears”. After Kevin Moore’s departure, the lyric writing fell on the shoulders of the remaining band members. As a lyricist on “Falling into Infinity”, Portnoy especially stood out, taking direct aim at the music industry and Elektra Records in “New Millennium”, “Just Let Me Breathe” and “Burning My Soul”.
“Falling into Infinity” opens with “New Millennium”, where Sherinian plays around with electronic textures on synths in the intro, before fiery interplay between guitar and keyboard passages kicks in, laid over massive rhythmic nuances. LaBrie’s chameleonic vocals reinforce the gloomy atmosphere and cynical lyrics, while sharpened guitar variations and the use of interesting digital effects on the keyboards bring a noticeable dose of hard rock charm to this stormy composition. The instrumental ending also treats us to some witty fusion variations that nicely liven up the dramatic atmosphere.
“You Not Me”, which Petrucci wrote together with musician, songwriter and producer Desmond Child, known for penning hits for plenty of world-famous acts, is the most commercially minded creation on “Falling into Infinity”. It has sonic elements that are unusual for Dream Theater, laced with hard rock and even alternative rock, and a melodic-dramatic chorus to boot, yet this odd but fun number never became the hit the label of the time had hoped for. Portnoy wasn’t thrilled at all about Child’s songwriting involvement, since in his view Elektra Records forced him on the band for one single purpose: the hunger for a big radio hit.
With “Peruvian Skies”, which has socially critical lyrics about child abuse, i.e. pedophilia, Petrucci managed to create the first Dream Theater classic on this album. A slow start leads into a melancholic section with lots of interesting guitar variations, with LaBrie’s singing, packed with exceptional emotional weight, front and center this time. About halfway through the song comes a shift into a hard-hitting section with bristling guitar passages and massive drum fills, followed by a shorter instrumental jam with crazy improvisations. This technically high-caliber state lasts all the way to the punchy yet melodic finale.
“Hollow Years” is a simple but very pleasant Petrucci ballad with gentle acoustic guitar chords, where LaBrie shines once again with a superb vocal performance while Sherinian provides lovely symphonic arrangements. It’s one of the rare simple yet deeply emotional and heartfelt Dream Theater songs that refute the claims of some critics that this is a band that suffers from a lack of soul, despite its astonishing technical know-how, impressive songwriting skills and ability to play practically anything they fancy.
The up-tempo “Burning My Soul” is a much darker, more metal-leaning composition with irritated bass lines, uncompromising guitar passages and fiery drum stampedes. This time LaBrie goes for a somewhat more epic and angry singing approach, which peaks in the pompous chorus. The instrumental “Hell’s Kitchen” is stuffed with plenty of inventive guitar variations and subtle symphonic arrangements, while the rhythmic intensity stays at an excellent level the whole way. Petrucci gives himself a huge amount of room for his breathtaking guitar acrobatics this time.
“Lines In The Sand”, one of the better moments on “Falling into Infinity”, is a twelve-minute epic that opens with Sherinian’s synth soloing and Petrucci’s fiery improvising, followed by a shift into a stormy, hard-hitting section in the middle of which the band ramps up the dramatic atmosphere. This time LaBrie is joined on additional vocals in certain verses by guest singer Doug Pinnick (King’s X), whose vocal outpourings add a touch of soul. One of the verses also mentions the unused, originally proposed title of this album, ‘Stream of Consciousness’. Dream Theater wouldn’t be Dream Theater if they didn’t treat themselves to intense, electrified improvisations between the instrumental sections, where every member gets enough room to show off their own virtuoso chops.
“Take Away My Pain” is a quality power ballad with a pleasant atmosphere thanks to subtle keyboard and guitar arrangements, dynamic rhythmic nuances and LaBrie’s singing, into which he pours practically all of his emotional potential. Pieces like this may have put off traditional metalheads, but they earned the band the respect of plenty of genre-agnostic music gourmets who previously weren’t quite sure about Dream Theater as a band with heart and soul.
“Just Let Me Breathe”, Portnoy’s songwriting contribution, is again a somewhat more ‘traditional’ Dream Theater creation with more pronounced metal and experimental moments, with no shortage of brutal passages and wild drum fills, while Sherinian’s improvisational whims in between inject a hefty dose of fun lucidity into this hard-hitting song. In the closing stretch the band gets tangled up in a wild instrumental jam, while LaBrie’s energetic vocal performance helps keep the intensity high. “Anna Lee” is LaBrie’s love ballad, built on refined piano arrangements and moving guitar passages, while the vocal ace once again conveys a wide range of emotions in dramatic fashion. Petrucci then shines in the closing section with a melancholic guitar solo that deepens the intense atmosphere even further.
With the thirteen-minute epic “Trial of Tears”, split into a three-part suite, Myung created the main contender for best composition on “Falling into Infinity”. Here Dream Theater very successfully build a bridge between progressive metal and progressive rock. An ambient, almost hypnotic intro with plenty of dissonant sounds is followed by a shift into a rhythmically slow section where LaBrie’s vocals gradually build a tense atmosphere. The excellent chorus with a gorgeous symphonic arrangement provides the ambient climax of this brilliant epic and full-blooded Dream Theater classic. Next come lots of complex instrumental moments, where Petrucci takes a complete solo detour in the middle of a fusion section while his bandmates keep right up with a bravura display of their serious technical skills. The ending of the epic leans balladic, with a melancholic melody on guitar and piano and as emotional a LaBrie as it gets, while Sherinian and Portnoy, each in their own way, spice it all up instrumentally one more time for the grand finale.
“Falling into Infinity” is probably the most overlooked album in Dream Theater’s discography so far, one that actually ranks among the elite of their achievements, even if it demands a bit more time and genre openness. Its bad luck was mainly that the stylistic departure was too shocking for the traditional fan base at release, and that it came out between two masterpieces, “Awake” and “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory” (1999). “Falling into Infinity” did bomb commercially across the board at release, and Portnoy still fumes at Elektra Records, Kevin Shirley and Desmond Child today, since in his view the album would have turned out completely different without their meddling. Still, he surely can’t deny that it’s a completely distinctive entry in their discography, one that brought the band lots of new fans from outside the traditional fan base.
author: Peter Podbrežnik
rating: 9.0 / 10
Track list:
1. New Millennium (8:20)
2. You Not Me (4:58)
3. Peruvian Skies (6:43)
4. Hollow Years (5;53)
5. Burning My Soul (5:29)
6. Hell’s Kitchen (4:16)
7. Lines in the Sand (12:05)
8. Take Away My Pain (6:03)
9. Just Let Me Breathe (5:28)
10. Anna Lee (5:51)
11. Trial of Tears (13:07)
– a) It’s Raining
– b) Deep In Heaven
– c) The Wasteland
Lineup:
James LaBrie – vocals
John Petrucci – guitar, backing vocals
Derek Sherinian – keyboards, backing vocals
John Myung – bass guitar, chapman stick
Mike Portnoy – drums, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Doug Pinnick – backing vocals on “Lines in the Sand”
