Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Dream Theater - Score - 2006 - Rhino Records

Track Listing:1. The Root Of All Evil 2. I Walk Beside You 3. Another Won 4. Afterlife 5. Under A Glass Moon 6. Innovence Faded 7. Raise The Knife 8. The Spirit Carries On 9. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence: 10. I. Overture 11. II. About To Crash 12. III. War Inside My Head 13. IV. The Test That Stumped Them All 14. V. Goodnight Kiss 15. VI. Solitary Shell 16. VII. About To Crash (Reprise) 17. VIII. Losing Time/Grand Finale Vacant 18. The Answer Lies Within 19. Sacrificed Sons 20. Octavarium: 21. Intro 22. I. Someone Like Him 23. II. Medicate Me 24. III. Full Circle 25. IV. Intervals 26. V. Razor's Edge 27. Encore: Metropolis

Without a doubt, Dream Theater has become one of the most commercially successful progressive bands since the height of progressive rock in the mid-1970s, despite their ability to fly under the radar in rock circles. Though they have had a few extremely successful hits e.g. “Pull Me Under”, Dream Theater seems to serve as sycophant to their very dedicated fan base who has managed to keep the band alive and well and in good standing with their creditors. Whether prog rock keeps you up at night or not; sufficient platitudes have been earned by the band including their technical proficiency, their magazine industry awards and collaborations with other more commercially successful and viable musicians. Example? Guitarist John Petrucci was named as the third player on the G3 tour six times, more than any other invited guitarist, following in the footsteps of Eric Johnson, Robert Fripp, and Yngwie Malmsteen. There is also something to be said about their 20 year long history as a band, apparently the post concert group hugs are working.

To celebrate their anniversary, Dream Theater didn’t go with a commerative plate as the traditional gift idea but instead has released the "Score" 2-DVD which contains the entire "20th Anniversary World Tour" grand finale recorded live at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 1st, 2006. Set aside an afternoon and turn off your cell as the dvd contains nearly 3 hours of music – and over 90 minutes of it was performed with a full orchestra).

The DVD also contains a 1 hour Documentary tracking the entire career of the band from the very beginnings at the Berklee College Of Music in 1985 all the way to the Radio City Music Hall grand finale. Included for the Dream Theater rabid fan is rare and never before seen footage and interviews with current and previous members of the band. Also included on the DVD are several live Bonus Tracks from through the years taken from the Portnoy Archives.

Notable performances include “The Root of All Evil”, “Under a Glass Moon” and “War Inside My Head”.

While the technical sound quality of the dvd is good (it is radio city music hall after all), and LaBrie's vocals are spot on, the camera work feels a bit high schoolish and choppy and if you’re looking for a band in serious need of a stylist, you’ve found it. Mike Portnoy directed it-and a graduate of the Scorsese directing school he is not. The extra footage may be worth your purchasing power but if you want to basically get the gist, you can just as easily put all of their cds on a disc changer and call it a day.

The dvd is noteworthy but it is definitely a dvd marketed for the die hard fan jones-ing for a trip down memory lane or some guy in New Jersey who is seriously upset he’s missed every one of their concerts. –Strutter July 30, 2007


Rating: 3.5


--Strutter 08.01.07