Dream Theater
Antagonistic Views

THE REVIEW

Ok, how can I tell you before you start reading the review that I don't like Dream Theater (the latest ones, of course, not those from the pre-Metropolis Part II era), without unleashing the wrath of many die-hard fans??? Mmmm… let's just say I don't like them and who cares about the fans, right…

So, let's start by stating that, don't worry, this is neither a review of “Images And Words” nor of one of the other four hundred million albums that the American band has released in over 20 years, since what we are going to talk about here is nothing but the recording of a live performance, specifically held at the “Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam on April 2nd 2002, where the band reprises their greatest hits, covering a bit of their entire discography, from that “When Dream And Day Unite” which brought them into the world of wide distribution record markets, to a little preview of the then brand new (it would be released a few weeks later) “6 Degrees Of Inner Turbulence”; now, what I asked myself when listening to this double live album (gifted by a special person to me) was fundamentally this, “Why should I listen to songs, many of which are good, sung so poorly and with a recording quality that turns the stomach?? Was there a need for another live signed by Dream Theater? Did anyone really feel the need for it? Well, I didn’t because while it's true that once again the New Yorkers have proven to be an extremely solid band technically speaking, on the other hand, they offered us a vocal performance that was decidedly variable, especially in tracks like “Pull Me Under” or “Take The Time”, but above all, they have given the public a product that lacks in recording quality, a feature that makes listening a decidedly arduous task.

From the beginning of the concert, opened by “The Glass Prison” to the end of the first part where they transition from “6:00” to “Lie”, having to necessarily mention tracks like “Surrounded” or the splendid instrumental “Another Hand”, Dream Theater prove to be a band of great experience, delivering an overall performance of good quality, but it’s from “Scarred”, which opens the second disc, that things begin to worsen: LaBrie shows shortness of breath in several instances, in some parts he even seems off-key, demonstrating also significant flaws from an emotional viewpoint, being colder than almost any other singer around; as things progress, they do not improve, and while one might consider the performance in “Peruvian Skies” to be good, it falls back into chaos in tracks like the aforementioned “Pull Me Under”, truly dreadful, where good old Kevin James just screams the chorus as if in a fit, something that repeats in “Home” and “The Spirit Carries On” (musically delivered excellently by the band), up until the closing “Take The Time”, in which the singer made me miss (now I’ll be stoned :D) in some passages Dominici.

In conclusion, giving a completely insufficient grade wouldn't be correct, because as already mentioned, the band's performance is as usual clean and almost flawless, but to promote this double album with top marks, or almost, would be really misleading due to both the poor vocal performance and the recording quality, which does not do justice to the work carried out by the four American musicians.

While waiting to hear something comparable to the beautiful “Live At The Marquee”, I go back to listening to the good works of times gone by that, with a lot of melancholy on my part, seem not to return.