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Rating: Nothing new on the Western front: the long-awaited new album by Dream Theater does not disappoint (my) expectations; an album that's been recycled for a few years now, sells a ton of copies, and fills stadiums all over the world. Has no one noticed yet that the band does nothing but slightly modify songs already written in the past?
The good singer has nothing innovative from a vocal standpoint, always the same tones, the same high notes in every single track; Petrucci's solos (undoubtedly remarkable) are seriously getting on my nerves, all precisely the same as each other.
In short, I may not be a fanatic of DT, but "Metropolis pt. 2" I liked a lot: it's an album that's at times excessive, but of undeniable value. Now the band continues, like Iron Maiden, with the "one studio album, one live album" method. Only Maiden do it to survive after many years of hard work, DT does it to make even more avalanches of money than they already do.
Every blessed (?) time their work is published, after a few months you find on the shelves the eternal triple live with new flashy interpretations, each 6 hours long!!! And obviously the double DVD, of course! The average DT fan spends at least 75/80 euros each year to complete their beautiful discography, in which not even the most insignificant EP recorded by the band is missing. Not to mention the concert tickets, at least 40 euros for the crappiest seat in the venue. Imagine how many millions of euros they can make in just a few months on tour.
Meanwhile, I listen to this 'Systematic Chaos', which seems never to end: 2 tracks of 9 minutes, 1 of 10, another of 15, and the last of 17, plus the remaining ones (no less than 5 minutes each), for a total of almost 79 minutes (that is, the maximum duration of a CD-R). The usual story: the DT want to be megalomaniacs, they want to act like they play endless suites (like in progressive, yes! The heirs of progressive!), and amaze the drooling followers who would follow them to the world's end. I fear this story will never end...
Now I turn individually to DT fans: I'm not against you, let it be clear, only you don't have the courage to admit that now the band is slowly scraping the bottom of the barrel, looking for some bone to throw at you to keep you quiet. This album is already a strong signal of this fact, so be honest, don't shout masterpiece. Having said that, no one forbids you from safeguarding your tastes, which are the only thing you can keep intact. If you like them so much, I have NOTHING against it. I will admit on my part that, like the other albums, this one is NOT unbearable, just a little boring (except for the trashy covers of Pink Floyd/Metallica/Maiden, on which I absolutely can't agree with you if you think they are a good idea!).
Regards, Paloz (deadpoetpaloz.blogspot.com)
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Forsaken (05:35)
For a while
I thought I fell asleep
Lying motionless inside a dream
Then rising suddenly
I felt a chilling breath upon me
She softly whispered in my ear
Forsaken
I have come for you tonight
Awaken
Look in my eyes and take my hand
Give yourself up to me
I waited painfully
For night to fall again
Trying to silence the fear within me
Out of an ivory mist
I felt a stinging kiss
And saw a crimson stain on her lips
I have to know your name
Where have I seen your face before?
My dear one don't you be afraid
Forsaken
I have come for you tonight
Awaken
Look in my eyes and take my hand
Give yourself up to me
Take me far away
Close your eyes
And hold your breath
To the ends of the earth
Forsaken
I have come for you tonight
Awaken
Look in my eyes and take my hand
Forsaken
Fly away with me tonight
Awaken
Renew my life
Now you are mine
Give yourself up to me
03 Constant Motion (06:55)
Tunnel vision at blinding speed
Controlling my thoughts, obsessing me
Void of any uncertainty
Throughout my very soul
Lost illusions of mind control
Resisting all hope of letting go
Racing impulse of dark desire
Drives me through the night
I try to shut it down
It leaves me in the dust
No matter what I've found
I can never get enough
Frantic actions of insanity
Impulsive laced profanity
Long for elusive serenity
Way out of my control
Traveling through both space and time
Out of body
Out of mind
Out of control
My wheels in constant motion
Spinning round and round it goes
I can't let up
I can't let go
Can't stop this flame from burning
Forever more
Into the night
Blistering
Focus here, focus there
Cannot see the light
Falling down through the night
Sprawling everywhere
Searching left, searching right
Panic setting in
I can no longer fight
When will this end?
Accelerate, dislocate
Set to crash and burn
Haven't got time to waste
Not planning to return
Aggravate, Agitate
When will I ever learn?
There's no way out of here
Nowhere to turn
Obsessive yearning
Compulsive burning
Still never learning
Insane random thoughts
of neat disorder
Scattered wasteland surrounding me
Tattered memories of what used to be
Apocalyptic mind debris
Until we meet again
Traveling through both space and time
Out of body
Out of mind
Out of control
My wheels in constant motion
Spinning round and round it goes
I can't let up
I cant' let go
Can't stop this flame from burning
Forever more
Into the night
Blistering
Traveling through both space and time
Out of body
Out of mind
Out of control
My wheels in constant motion
Spinning round and round it goes
I can't let up
I can't let go
Can't stop this flame from burning
Can't stop the wheels from turning
Traveling through both space and time
You get yours
And I got mine
Out of control
My wheels in constant motion
Spinning round and round it goes
I can't let up
I can't let go
Can't stop this flame from burning
Forever more
Into the night
Blistering
04 The Dark Eternal Night (08:53)
No one dared to
Speak of the terrible danger
The hideous ancient warnings
Forged in the void of night
He is risen up
Out of the blackness
Chaos
The last of the prophets
Sinister
A sickening monstrous sight
Through the stifling heat
Underneath the pale green moon
I burned with a thirst
To seek things not yet seen
Climbing endless stairs
Leading to the choking room
Eager to explore
His most shocking mysteries
Drifting beyond all time
Out of a churning sky
Drawn to the beckoning light
Of the dark eternal night
Black forces
Rage in the vortex
Fighting
Waves of destruction
Swallowing
The echo of the universe
I am the last
Born of the blood of the pharaohs
The ultimate god of a rotting creation
Sent to unleash this curse
Restless crowds draw near
Nameless hooded forms appear
Amidst fallen ruins
Grotesque creatures battle
Shadowed on a screen
Yellow evil faces leer
Vacant monuments
Corpses of dead worlds left behind
Drifting beyond all time
Out of a churning sky
Drawn to the beckoning light
Of the dark eternal night
Trapped in a hellish dream
Spinning past worlds unseen
And frightfully vanishing
Into the dark eternal night
Drifting beyond all time
Out of a churning sky
Drawn to the beckoning light
Of the dark eternal night
Trapped in a hellish dream
Spinning past worlds unseen
And frightfully vanishing
Into the dark eternal night
05 Repentance (10:43)
Hello Mirror, so glad to see you my friend
It's been a while...
Staring at the empty page before me
All the years of wreckage running through my head
Patterns of my life I thought adorned me
Revealing hurtful shame and deep lament
Overwhelming sorrow now absorbs me
As the pen begins to trace my darkest past
Signs throughout my life
that should have warned me
Of all the wrongs I've done for which I must repent
I once thought it better to regret
Things that I have done than I haven't
Sometimes you've got to be wrong
And learn the hard way
And sometimes you've got to be strong
When you think it's too late
Staring at the finished page before me
All the damage now so clear and evident
Thinking about the dreaded task in store for me
A pit of fear at the thought of my amends
Hoping that the step will help restore me
To face my past and ask for forgiveness
Cleaning up my dirty side of this unswept street
Could this be the beginning of the end?
I once thought it better to regret
Things that I have done than haven't
Sometimes you've got to be wrong
And learn the hard way
And just when you're through hanging on
You're saved.
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Other reviews
By Dolly_Quinn
This album is terrible and represents all those things that are fundamentally wrong with the prog-metal genre.
Systematic Chaos is one of the least valid works ever made in metal.
By High Voltage
"Systematic Chaos is certainly the album that comes closest to what Dream Theater is today."
"The Ministry Of Lost Souls could be defined as one of the best tracks on the album—almost 15 minutes of pure progressive and pure Dream Theater compositions."
By MarkTwin
A truly brilliant start, that rapid and engaging prog note by note captivates immediately.
With this album, it seems they want to prove that they still want to amaze and experiment, and in my opinion, they have succeeded almost exemplary.
By lux
Today I consider the Theater of Dreams the ultimate embodiment of mediocrity and complete artistic nothingness made Rock.
What awaits you after inserting the disc into the player is, therefore, an Anti-Art endurance test.
By TheDanceOfEternity
Dream Theater. After 5 minutes and 13 seconds comes the extraordinary singing of James Labrie who, in this song as in all the others, has a very captivating voice.
LONG LIVE PROGRESSIVE, LONG LIVE DREAM THEATER.
