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Rating: Starting to describe and review a live show like this one is very difficult, especially when we talk about Dream Theater. From 1989 to 1997, Dream Theater, with their 4 albums and 'A Change of Seasons', delighted us with immense masterpieces, which still remain in the history of '90s Progressive Metal music.
The album composed in 1997, titled 'Falling Into Infinity', slightly diverged from its predecessors to take a new path. Let it be clear: still Progressive, but with a different sound, summed up in a small phrase:
"Dream Theater do not repeat themselves easily".
From their first official live (Live at The Marquee), 'Once In A LiveTime' takes a different path from 'When Dream & Day Unite' and 'Images & Words', based more on works like 'Awake', 'A Change of Seasons', and the aforementioned 'Falling Into Infinity'. The sound of the live is not far removed from FII, so much so that even the tracks from previous albums achieve a higher, more electronic level of sound, the same found in FII. 'Once In A LiveTime' is a live that satisfies most fans of that era, thanks to a set list containing some of the most beautiful works of Dream Theater.
A questionable "A Change of Seasons", divided into parts due to the length of the track, played very well, with a highly energetic Derek Sherinian (just listen to the 1st Part of the already mentioned song). It is also a fairly creative live because it is built on small medleys and jam sessions, making this concert unique. Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci demonstrate their prowess as Progressive musicians, and La Brie plays his part divinely, even if at some points he tends to go off-key or lose his voice, but those few times are quite imperceptible. Speaking of the live works that will come after, the sounds of this album are much cleaner compared to those found in 'Live Scenes From New York', and not just the sound, but also the way the musicians play, especially Mike Portnoy.
The 1st CD contains many gems from 'Awake' and 'FII', as well as two tracks from the first two albums (Take The Time from 'Images & Words', and Ytse Jam from 'When Dream & Day Unite'). The 2nd is based solely and entirely on 'FII' and 'Awake', and to finish in style, a "Pull Me Under" from 'Images & Words'. From here the Encore, with a "Metropolis" interrupted by a beautiful jam, connected to "Learning To Live", which in turn, invokes the 7th and last part of "A Change of Seasons", closing this splendid Box CD in beauty. A fantastic live, which deserves to be listened to and appreciated even in a minimal part. The live was entirely recorded in Paris in 1998, and in the DVD version (Five Years In A LiveTime), we also find "Burning My Soul", a track not included in the CD.
Tracks
1st CD: 1. A Change of Seasons I / 2. A Change of Seasons II / 3. Puppies On Acid / 4. Just Let Me Breathe / 5. Voices / 6. Take The Time / 7. Derek Sherinian Piano Solo / 8. Lines In The Sand / 9. Scarred / 10. A Change of Seasons IV / 11. Ytse Jam / 12. Mike Portnoy Drum SoloTracks
2nd CD: 1. Trial of Tears / 2. Hollow Years / 3. Take Away My Pain / 4. Caught In A Web / 5. Lie / 6. Peruvian Skies / 7. John Petrucci Guitar Solo / 8. Pull Me Under / 9. Metropolis / 10. Learning To Live / 11. A Change of Seasons VII
Tracklist and Lyrics
04 Just Let Me Breathe (05:53)
Open your eyes
And turn off your mind
Step right up folks and you will find
Agrowing trend
An epidemic
Spread with zen
And hypodermics
Just close your mind
You can find all you need with your eyes
The big machines take care of
You until you kill yourself
And then the sales go through the roof
Calculated, formulated
Feed my head with simple thoughts
And let me breathe instead of being taught
All bottled up and tearing at the seams
I'm bored
Just let me breathe
A daily dose of eMpTyV
Will flush your mind right down the drain
Shannon Hoon and Kurt Cobain,
Make yourself a household name
Just close your mind
You can find all you need with your eyes
The big machines take care of you
Until you kill yourself
And then the sales go through the roof
Calculated, formulated
Feed my head with simple thoughts
And let me breathe instead of being taught
All bottled up and tearing at the seams
I'm bored
Just let me breathe
Strike up your best angst ridden posture
Manufactured anger
Let's not forget my legacy
All my heroes have failed me
Now they're dead and buried
Just close your mind
You can find all you need with your eyes
The big machines will take care of you
Until the fashion fades
And the checks go through
my bank roll's red and my face is blue
And still they'll turn their backs on you for
Someone new
Feed my head
With some real thoughts
And let me think instead
Of being taught
I'll say things
You won't believe
Just stand back
Just let me breathe...
05 Voices (10:34)
'Love, just don't stare'
He used to say to me
Every Sunday morning
The spider in the window
The angel in the pool
The old man takes the poison
Now the widow makes the rules
'So speak, I'm right here'
She used to say to me
Not a word, not a word
Judas on the ceiling
The Devil in my bed
I guess Easter's never coming
So I'll just wait inside my head
Like a scream but sort of silent
Living off my nightmares
Voices repeating me
'Feeling threatened? We reflect your hopes and fears.'
Voices discussing me
'Others steal your thoughts
They're not confined within your mind.'
Thought disorder
Dream control
Now they read my mind on the radio
But where was the Garden of Eden?
I feel elated
I feel depressed
Sex is death, Death is sex
Says it right here on my Crucifix
Like a scream but sort of silent
Living off my nightmares
Voices protecting me
'Good behavior brings the Savior to his knees.'
Voices rejecting me
'Others steal your thoughts
They're not confined to your own mind.'
"I don't wanna be here,
'cause of my suffering, 'cause of my illness
Only love is worth having
Only love is what matters
Loving every people on equal terms. "
"You've got to know who you're dealin' with because, like a stranger,
A-heh, just might come in through here with a gun...
And then, what would you do? (Heh.)"
"Everything is immaterial..."
"'n' you know that reality is immaterial."
"This is not reality..."
I'm kneeling on the floor
Staring at the wall
Like the spider in the window
I wish that I could speak
Is there fantasy in refuge?
God in politicians?
Should I turn on my religion?
These demons in my head tell me to
I'm lying here in bed
Swear my skin is inside out
Just another Sunday morning
Seen my diary on the newsstand
Seems we've lost the truth to quicksand
It's a shame no one is praying
'Cause these voices in my head keep saying...
'Love, just don't stare.'
'Reveal the Word when you're supposed to'
Withdrawn and introverted
Infectiously perverted
'Being laughed at and confused
Keeps us pleasantly amused enough to stay.'
Maybe I'm just Cassandra fleeting
Twentieth century Icon bleeding
Willing to risk Salvation
To escape from isolation
I'm witness to redemption
Heard you speak but never listened
Can you rid me of my secrets?
Deliver us from Darkness?
Voices repeating me
'Feeling threatened? We reflect your hopes and fears.'
Voices discussing me
Don't expect your own Messiah
This neverworld which you desire
Is only in your mind
06 Take the Time (12:20)
Hold it now
Wait a minute
C'mon... whew...
Just let me catch my breath
I've heard the promises, I've seen the mistakes
I've had my fair share of tough breaks
I need a new voice, a new law, a new way
Take the time, reevaluate
It's time to pick up the pieces, go back to square one
I think it's time for a change
There is something that I feel
To be something that is real
I feel the heat within my mind
And craft new changes with my eyes
Giving freely wandering promises
A place with decisions I'll fashion
I won't waste another breath
You can feel the waves coming on
It's time to take the time
Let them destroy you or carry you on
It's time to take the time
You're fighting the weight of the world
But no one can save you this time
Close your eyes
You can find all you need in your mind
Unbroken spirit, obscured and disquiet
Finds clearness this trial demands
And at the end of this day sighs an anxious relief
For the fortune lies still in his hands
If there's a pensive fear, a wasted year
A man must learn to cope
If his obsession's real
Suppression that he feels must turn to hope
Life is no more assuring than love
It's time to take the time
There are no answers from voices above
It's time to take the time
You're fighting the weight of the world
And no one can save you this time
Close your eyes
You can find all you need in your mind
I close my eyes
And feel the water rise around me
Drown in the beat of time
Let my senses fall away
I can see much clearer now, I'm blind
"Ora che ho perso la vista, ci vedo di piu"
You can feel the waves coming on
It's time to take the time
Let them destroy you or carry you on
It's time to take the time
You're fighting the weight of the world
But no one can save you this time
Close your eyes
You can find all you need in your mind
Awww awww
Yeah...
Find all you need in your mind
If you take the time
Find all you need in your mind
If you take the time
08 Lines in the Sand (13:13)
Sometimes, for a moment of bliss
And the passion, we're craving
There's a message we miss
Sometimes when the spirits left alone
We must believe in something
To find if we've grown
Tragic reflex, shattered calm
Static progress, senses gone
Numb awareness, final psalm
Swept away with the tide
Through the holes in my hands
Crown of thorns
At my side drawing lines in the sand
Sometimes, if you're perfectly still
You can hear the virgin weeping
For the savior of your will
Sometimes, your castles in the air
And the fantasies you're seeking
Are the crosses you bear
Sacred conflict, blessed prize
Weeping crosses, stainless eyes
Desperate addict, faith disguised
Swept away with the tide
Through the holes in my hands
Crown of thorns
At my side drawing lines in the sand
We fabricate our demons
Invite them into our homes
Have supper with the aliens
And fight the war alone
We conjure up our skeletons
Enlist the den of theives
Frightened from our closets
Then sewn upon our sleeves
In the stream of consciousness
There is a river crying
Living comes much easier
Once we admit
We're dying
Sometimes, in the wreckage of our wake
There's a bitterness we harbor
And hate for hatred's sake
Sometime we dig an early grave
And crucify our instincts
For the hope we couldn't save
Sometimes a view from sinless eyes
Centers our perspective
And pacifies our cries
Sometimes the anguish we survive
And the mysteries we nurture
Are the fabrics of our lives
Swept away with the tide
Through the holes in my hands
Crown of thorns
At my side drawing lines in the sand
09 Scarred (09:28)
To rise, to fall
To hurt, to hate
To want, to wait
To heal, to save
Can't hear it, we fear it
Awareness won't come near it
Distractive, reactive
Disguised in spite of time
I never bared my emotion
My passion always strong
I never lost my devotion
But somewhere fate went wrong
Can't let them rape me again
Your venom's not family here
Won't let them fill me with
Fatalistic remedies
What if the rest of the world
Was hopelessly blinded by fear?
Where would my sanctity live?
Suddenly nobody cares
It's never enough
You're wasting your time
Isn't there something I could say?
You don't understand
You're closing me out
How can we live our lives this way?
You tell me I'm wrong
I'm risking my life
Still, I have nothing in return
I show you my hands
You don't see the scars
Maybe you'll leave me here to burn
What if the rest of the world
Was hopelessly drowning in vain?
Where would our self pity run?
Suddenly everyone cares
Blood heal me
Fear change me
Belief will always save me
Blood swearing
Fear staring
Conviction made aware
Give up on misery
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret
Do you feel you don't know me anymore?
And do you feel I'm afraid of your love?
And how come you don't want me asking?
And how come my heart's not invited?
You say you want everyone happy
Well, we're not laughing
And how come you don't understand me?
And how come I don't understand you?
Thirty years say we're in this together
So open your eyes
People in prayer for me
Everyone there for me
Sometimes I feel I should face this alone
My soul exposed
It calms me to know that I won't
Blood heal me
Fear change me
Belief will always save me
Blood swearing
Fear staring
Conviction made aware
Give up on misery
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret
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Other reviews
By Piccio
The concert is filled with gems played excellently with their usual precision and skill.
A very tasteful album that offers the listener a wide selection of tracks and conveys the emotions the band can deliver in concert.
