Author: Jernej Vene
Artist: Dream Theater
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Released: 1999
From the opening chords of Regression, the fifth studio album Scenes From A Memory by American quintet Dream Theater whisks us off into a surprising world, the kind only the champions of modern progressive rock and the leading shapers of its standards can create. Scenes from a memory is a real treat for listeners with a taste for demanding music like the stuff Dream Theater play, since the title track is a textbook symphony, the kind that only they can write and play in modern rock. Scenes From A Memory was produced by drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci, who already visited Slovenia back in 1998 at the invitation of a rep from Ibanez guitars and drew a nice crowd of admirers with his show. “We always wanted to write a concept album,” says Mike. “All my favorite albums are conceptual: Pink Floyd’s The Wall, The Who’s Tommy, Queensryche’s Operation Mindcrime; they’re all major influences.” John Petrucci continues: “The biggest challenge was picking a theme interesting enough to cover a whole album. We followed a story about reincarnation, which lets us feed our own curiosity too, since it’s a phenomenon that fascinates everybody.” The main character in the story is Nicholas, who suffers from nightmares about his various lives, and thorough psychotherapy reveals that he’s actually the reincarnation of the soul of a young girl, Victoria Page, who lived in the early 20th century. Nicholas digs deeper and uncovers the tragic story of Victoria’s love triangle with two brothers (the characters from the song “Metropolis Part 1”), which ended in the girl’s violent death. John explains that they drew inspiration from exploring many ideas and concepts about reincarnation, since every religion wrestles with questions about life after death. “One of my favorite songs on the album is ‘The Spirit Carries On’, with its central question of where we come from and where we’re going. That gives the song a real gospel quality. We used a choir. It’s a dramatic moment of decision for our hero, when he discovers that we all go on…Beyond This Life is another highlight, telling the story of Victoria’s murder in the style of a 1920 newspaper report.” Scenes From A Memory was written and recorded entirely at the tried-and-tested Bear Tracks studio in New York State, and without demo recordings, which gives the music and the creative process a new freshness and spontaneity. A fresh wind blew through the band with the arrival of keyboardist Jordan Rudess, whom Mike and John, after good experiences working together on two Liquid Tension Experiment records, invited into the permanent Dream Theater lineup, and he plays a big part on the current record. The keyboards add an important dimension to the dynamic color that has defined Dream Theater’s unique sound for over a decade. Sound engineer Kevin Shirley, known for his work with Aerosmith, Billy Squier, Joe Satriani, Journey and The Black Crowes, helped load the album with real rock power, punch and bite. The almost scientifically precise arrangements of the individual songs really shine through, as does the outstanding mastery of every member of the band. Singer James La Brie says the hard rock’n’roll life of the past decade had a huge influence on the making of Scenes From A Memory. You can feel a lot of pain, anger, awareness and fear in some of the songs. In the second half, though, the guys heal those troubles with a positive, cheerful outlook on the problems of the people around them. The record is unique in their career, since it’s the first time they’ve gone for a concept, and it contains songs that swing from fairly melodic stuff to almost thrash metal. Petrucci’s riffs and amps pushed to the point of squealing, Mike Portnoy’s earthquake curtains of drums, Jordan Rudess’s shimmering keyboard sounds, the virtuoso bass of the Japanese-American John Myung and the supple voice of James La Brie make a combination that’s one of a kind in the rock world. Dream Theater have deliberately woven the musical styles rolling through Scenes From A Memory into their own identity. Even though most of it is hard, sharp rock and metal, it’s no guitar orgy; it mixes in just the right amount of jazz, progressive, almost classical-flavored playing and, in some songs, lyrical acoustic passages. The emotional peak of Scenes From A Memory is the twenty-three-minute title track. In the words of singer James La Brie, we can slowly wrap up our walk through Scenes From A Memory: “On the new record we’re talking about being aware of our existence. We humans need to get closer to ourselves, figure out what’s best for us, and then use those discoveries in everyday life.”
Lineup
James LaBrie – vocals
John Petrucci – guitars, vocals
Mike Portnoy – drums, vocals
Jordan Rudess – keyboards
John Myung – bass
Tracklist
Act 1:
“Scene One: Regression” – 2:06
“Scene Two: Part I. Overture 1928” – 3:37
“Scene Two: Part II. Strange Deja Vu” – 5:12
“Scene Three: Part I. Through My Words” – 1:02
“Scene Three: Part II. Fatal Tragedy” – 6:49
“Scene Four: Beyond This Life” – 11:22
“Scene Five: Through Her Eyes” – 5:29
Act 2:
“Scene Six: Home” – 12:53
“Scene Seven: Part I. The Dance of Eternity” – 6:13
“Scene Seven: Part II. One Last Time” – 3:46
“Scene Eight: The Spirit Carries On” – 6:38
“Scene Nine: Finally Free” – 11:59
