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Rating: "When Dream And Day Unite" is the debut album of what would become one of the most beloved and discussed bands of all time: Dream Theater. However, this review will focus on the album in question and not on what the five New Yorkers would become.
Back in 1989, the band's lineup was:
Vocals - Charlie Dominici
Bass - John Myung
Guitar - John Petrucci
Keyboard - Kevin Moore
Percussion - Mike Portnoy
Let's start with the fact that we're not talking about a garage band, but true professionals; it's not really a debut, given that Petrucci, Myung, and Moore had already cut their teeth with the Centurion, and later Portnoy as well with Majesty.
The start is electrifying: you immediately understand who you're dealing with. "A Fortune In Lies" may not be a masterpiece, but it's certainly among the most successful songs on the album. It's a pity about Dominici's voice, which seems more concerned with expressiveness than with good taste, ending up reducing the chorus to a whine. You immediately notice a very inspired Myung and Moore who will accompany us later. "Status Seeker" flows pleasantly, "sanza infamia e sanza lode" (without infamy and without praise), with an acceptable Dominici. Then we arrive at "The Ytse Jam": a gem of the album. It starts as if concluding a previous song, then an oriental riff (the east seems to be a true inspiration for Petrucci) on which he plays, or rather pushes to the limits of physical endurance of their instruments, each member of the group. The absence of Dominici for the 5:47 of the jam is a godsend. We then arrive at "The Killing Hand": good song, in which perhaps Dominici's expressiveness is not out of place; nothing compared to a certain Kevin James LaBrie (!), who will succeed him in 1991. An inspired Petrucci takes us to the next "Light Fuse And Get Away": nothing to say about the song. A perhaps slightly weak start, but nevertheless more than appreciable. In "Afterlife" you get the sense of what a strange little man is on the bass: the start is a whirlwind, but the usual Dominici manages to push it into the background. "The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun" starts poetically slow, then speeds up into what can be defined in two words: Dream Theater. The theater of dreams then drags us to "Only A Matter Of Time": a worthy conclusion to the album, with a Portnoy in the mood for finesse, in the continuous time changes in pure prog style, and a Moore foreshadowing us great albums, as in fact the next two will be.
The rating, however, is not the highest: mainly due to a singer who, in my opinion, does not manage his potential well, resulting in tiresome and repetitive. Additionally, the recording quality of the CD is not good at all. Nonetheless, it remains a great album that all enthusiasts should own.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Status Seeker (04:14)
Heart sick at the sight of the
Status Seeker
In a sense I'm not beyond reproach
The aspiration to drop a name
When any rose might smell the same
Maybe you'll figure it out someday
'I want to know you now...
You know I've always believed in you.'
Nothing is sacred...
You draw the bottom line
With a dollar sign
Change of opinion...
At the drop of a dime
Graceless intrusion...
Are you sanctified in your judgment of me?
All that I deserve is what you were unable to see
In the garden where the seeds were spilled
I favored the few that stood strong in the sun
As I reached for the profit of my prize
I found I had trampled the forgotten ones.
Nothing is sacred...
You draw the bottom line
With a dollar sign
Change of opinion...
At the drop of a dime
Graceless intrusion...
Are you sanctified in your judgment of me?
All that I deserve is what you were unable to see
You're running in circles
And I'm turning away
You refused to believe
Now I'm turning away
Nothing is sacred...
You draw the bottom line
With a dollar sign
Change of opinion...
At the drop of a dime
Graceless intrusion...
Are you sanctified in your judgment of me?
All that I deserve is what you were unable to see
You're running in circles
And I'm turning away
You refused to believe
Now I'm turning away
04 The Killing Hand (08:38)
An Angel's kiss now fallen
Descending scarlet cuts the sky
Faded names left on the wall
Honor the fighting leave life to die
Remembered is the sacrifice but
No praisal of blood still flowing
Who were the leaders?
What controlled the Killing Hand
That caused this mourning?
Crossing over...
06 Afterlife (05:24)
I touched with one
Who made me run
Away from my own soul...
In this world with its many illusions
We are moving like mice through a maze
And now I find
What's left behind
Has served to make me whole
Full of doubt, deception, and delusion
Seeking purpose to all earthly days
I search within
Beneath a skin
That bears both pleasure and pain
In a world full of constant confusion
I will not be a par to the craze
In the Afterlife
Will dark be bright?
Will cold be warm?
Will the day have no night?
In the Afterlife?
Will the blind have sight?
In the Afterlife
Behind closed eyes
Some comfort lies
In knowing the truth never spoken
Through this world with its hidden conclusion
We'll keep moving like mice through a maze
In the Afterlife
Will dark be bright?
Will cold be warm?
Will the day have no night?
In the Afterlife?
Will the blind have sight?
In the Afterlife
In the Afterlife
Will dark be bright?
Will cold be warm?
Will the day have no night?
In the Afterlife?
Will the blind have sight?
In the Afterlife
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Other reviews
By MetallAro
For a debut album, the word 'experience' does not exist in the vocabulary of these ALIENS!
In 'The Ytse Jam,' every member (except the singer) delivers a stunning solo, showcasing their harmonic and technical beauty.
By splinter
In this debut album, the influences of classic metal prevail, but there is already a good dose of progressive influences.
A glaring missed masterpiece is 'The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun'... it transforms into a bland, repetitive and not very creative riff.
