Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Dream Theater
Label: Elektra Entertainment Records
Release: 1997
Length: 78:12
Rating: 4/5
»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 pushing the band to steer their compositions in a more commercial direction. Their popularity had been growing relentlessly from album to album, earning them plenty of love from metalheads and the affection of many prog rock fans.
During the making of the first and only Dream Theater studio album featuring former Alice Cooper and Kiss keyboardist Derek Sherinian on keys (»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 pedigrees. Guitar virtuoso John Petrucci had no problem going along with the label’s wishes and was ready to make sonic compromises, meaning more compact compositions, fewer wild improvisational jams and a clear ‘beginning and end’, while drumming fanatic Mike Portnoy flat-out disagreed. He wanted to keep going in the compositional and sonic direction they’d been on until then.
In the end, with the band’s breakup looming, Petrucci and Portnoy somehow made peace and managed to land on a middle-ground compromise. That’s how »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 strangest albums in the whole Dream Theater catalog, and it still divides plenty of fans today. Portnoy and Petrucci originally planned to call the album »Stream of Consciousness«, but the other three members, Sherinian, singer James LaBrie and bassist John Myung, found that title too pompous.
To be honest, »Falling into Infinity« deserves more respect than it gets, especially from the metal ‘community’. It’s one of the most varied albums in the whole Dream Theater story, with the band delivering some of their most mature work in terms of arrangements and lyrics, while still leaving enough crazy improvisational breakouts to keep the virtuoso-worshippers happy. Dream Theater had already proven on earlier albums that they could write more compact pieces too, without big experimental detours and with rich lyrical content, but on »Falling into Infinity«, an album almost completely different from its predecessor »Awake« (1994), that became even more obvious.
This time around, Petrucci came up with the most melodic, varied and (let’s call it) radio-friendly tracks, full of those signature Dream Theater tunes, while Portnoy wrote some more ‘traditionally’ hard-hitting and experimental pieces 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 to the remaining members. Portnoy really made a name for himself as a lyricist on »Falling into Infinity«, openly slamming the music industry and Elektra Records in the songs »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 temperamental exchanges between guitar and keyboard passages follow, laid over massive rhythmic nuances. LaBrie’s chameleon-like vocals back up the gloomy atmosphere and cynical lyrics, while edgy guitar variations and some interesting digital effects on the keys give this turbulent track a noticeable dose of hard rock charm. In the instrumental finale they also treat themselves to a few witty fusion-style variations that nicely liven up the dramatic mood.
»You Not Me«, which Petrucci wrote together with musician, songwriter and producer Desmond Child, known for writing hits for plenty of world-famous names, is the most commercially minded creation on »Falling into Infinity«. Despite sonic elements untypical for Dream Theater, with touches of hard rock and even alternative rock and a melodic, dramatic chorus to boot, this odd but fun number didn’t become the hit the label of the time was hoping for. Portnoy wasn’t thrilled about Child’s songwriting involvement at all, since in his view Elektra Records forced him on the band for one single reason: the hunger for a big radio hit.
With »Peruvian Skies«, which has socially critical lyrics about child abuse, or pedophilia, Petrucci managed to create the first Dream Theater classic on this album. A slow start leads into a melancholic section with plenty of interesting guitar variations, while LaBrie’s singing, packed with emotional weight, takes center stage this time. About halfway through, the song shifts into a hard-hitting section with angry guitar passages and massive drum fills, followed by a shorter instrumental jam with wild improvisations. This technically high-caliber state lasts all the way to the punchy yet melodic ending.
»Hollow Years« is a simple but supremely pleasant Petrucci ballad with gentle acoustic guitar chords, where LaBrie shines once again with a superb vocal performance, while Sherinian takes care of the gorgeous symphonic arrangements. It’s one of the rare simple but deeply emotional and heartfelt Dream Theater songs that refute the claims of some critics that this is a band that, despite astonishing technical skill, impressive songwriting chops and the ability to play practically anything they fancy, suffers from a lack of soul.
The uptempo »Burning My Soul« is a much darker, more metal-leaning piece with irritable bass lines, uncompromising guitar passages and fiery drum stampedes. LaBrie takes a somewhat more epic and angrier vocal approach this time, which peaks in a pompous chorus. The instrumental »Hell’s Kitchen« is stuffed with inventive guitar variations and subtle symphonic arrangements, while the rhythmic intensity stays at a top-notch level the whole way through. Petrucci gives himself loads of room here for his breathtaking guitar acrobatics.
»Lines In The Sand«, one of the better moments on »Falling into Infinity«, is a twelve-minute epic that opens with a Sherinian synth solo and some fiery Petrucci improvising, followed by a shift into a turbulent, hard-hitting section where the band cranks up the dramatic atmosphere. This time LaBrie is joined on additional vocals in some verses by guest singer Doug Pinnick (King’s X), whose vocal outpourings bring in a pinch 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 allow themselves intense, electrified improvisations between the instrumental sections, where every member gets enough room to show off their own virtuoso skills.
»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 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 had previously been unsure about Dream Theater as a band with heart and soul.
»Just Let Me Breathe«, a Portnoy composition, 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 give this hard-hitting track a generous dose of fun lucidity. In the closing section 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 alongside moving guitar passages, while the vocal standout once again dramatically conveys a whole range of emotions. Petrucci then shows off a melancholic guitar solo in the closing part 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 lovely symphonic arrangement, delivers the ambient climax of this brilliant epic and full-blooded Dream Theater classic. Plenty of complex instrumental moments follow, with Petrucci treating himself to a full-on solo breakout in the middle of a fusion section, while his bandmates keep pace with a bravura display of their considerable technical skills. The epic’s ending leans toward ballad territory, with a melancholic melody on guitar and piano and the most emotional LaBrie you could ask for, while Sherinian and Portnoy, each in their own way, spice up the grand finale with one more round of instrumental fireworks.
»Falling into Infinity« is probably the most overlooked album in Dream Theater’s discography to date, and it actually ranks among the best things they’ve done, even if it asks for a bit more time and genre open-mindedness. Its bad luck was mainly that the stylistic departure was too shocking for the traditional fan base when it came out, and that it landed between two masterpieces, »Awake« and »Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory« (1999). »Falling into Infinity« did crash and burn commercially across the board on 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. Even so, he surely can’t deny that it’s a totally distinctive entry in their whole discography, one that won the band plenty of new fans outside the traditional fan base.
Line-up
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”
Production
Kevin Shirley
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
