• Artist / Title: Dream Theater: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
• Month Reviewed: February 2002
• Format: CD
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So, just how do you follow the classic that is ‘Scenes From A Memory’? Well, it looks like you follow it up with a double CD! Yep, that’s right. A double. DT’s new album features just 6 songs, with the final track occupying CD 2 in its entirety. Naturally, all the usual swagger, outrageous playing and sheer bombast is present and correct, but on this album there is something more. There seems to be a degree of experimentation going on, particularly in CD 1. Lots of sound effects and moody atmospherics punctuate the heavy rock of the first five songs. Highlights of this disc are ‘Misunderstood’ and the simply astounding ‘Disappear’.

Most bands would have been happy with the above, but DT pull out all the stops for the second CD and title track. Chopped into 8 chunks, this is a stunning piece of work. It starts off like The Enid (but heavier!), and chucks in a dab of Pink Floyd, Yes etc but always, always manages to retain the DT sound. If this band can keep the momentum going and, judging by the crowd at their recent gig in Manchester, England, there is every chance they will become one of the biggest bands on the planet.