RockRoast

For years, the members of progressive metal titans Dream Theater have joked that, if they ever had the opportunity to release a compilation CD, they’d call it “Dream Theater’s Greatest Hit.” Singular.

The joke is a reference to the closest thing the band ever had to mainstream success. In 1992, Dream Theater’s single “Pull Me Under” became a surprise hit, making a dent in the Mainstream Rock Tracks charts and getting considerable play on MTV. And though the band would put out seven more studio albums over the next fifteen years, they would never recapture the success of “Pull Me Under.” Instead, they built a more or less “underground” fanbase that, after twenty years of music, has earned them an opportunity to release a greatest hits collection.

Except they only have one hit.

So other than put out a CD with one song on it, Dream Theater have decided to add 21 other pretty cool songs. The compilation contains two discs. The first is the “dark side” of Dream Theater, including “Pull Me Under” and ten other heavy tracks. The second is the “light side,” which offers eleven softer ballads. Overall, Dream Theater’s Greatest Hit provides the listener with an accurate portrayal of the band at its loudest and its softest.

Many fans of the band are critical of the tracklisting, as they feel that many favorites and “signature songs” have been omitted. But I think the tracks are geared more toward casual listeners and should satisfy that group of people just fine. Even for the die-hard listener, however, there are plenty of favorites. I think the tracklisting has a pretty good “something for everyone” feel to it.

It’s also notable that producer Kevin Shirley has remixed three songs (Pull Me Under, Take the Time, and Another Day) for this compilation, and “Pull Me Under” in particular sounds great. You can stream ten of the twenty-two songs, including “Pull Me Under,” here.

Dream Theater’s Greatest Hit (…and 21 other pretty cool songs) is scheduled for release on April 1st from Rhino Records.

Until recently, I had passed Dominici over as just some prog metal band that I didn’t really expect to like. But as hype began to gather around its upcoming third record, I took a keener interest. Their singer and namesake, Charlie Dominici (best known as the original vocalist for Dream Theater), was generous enough to send me a promotional copy of O3: A Trilogy – Part 3. I went in expecting a few good songs and a few bad songs, but what I heard contained a surprising level of consistency.

King of Terror is a great opener, beginning with a beautifully haunting introduction. The peace is eventually shattered by a crunching guitar riff that drives the remainder of the song. Unfortunately the lush introduction is better than the heaviness that follows. The chorus, however, packs a powerful enough punch to keep you interested during the less exciting verses. Singer Charlie Dominici dominates “King of Terror” with a growling vocal that even the celebrated Russell Allen of Symphony X would have to cock an eyebrow at.

March Into Hell has one of the best riffs on the entire disc. The riff is used to its full potential, particularly to set up a nice groove behind the section of spoken words. Skeptics of Charlie Dominici’s performance on Dream Theater’s When Dream and Day Unite can put their fears to rest with this song, as it shows Dominici’s vocals blending perfectly with the metal mayhem behind him. “March Into Hell” is also the proud owner of some great atmospherics from keyboardist Americo Rigoldi and admirable guitar work on the outro.

So Help Me God reeks of a band intentionally trying to write a power ballad. It’s cheesy and overdramatic. But it also happens to be my favorite song on the record. I consider the song a huge risk on the band’s part, because it sounds like Dominici is selling out. But I think the emotional string sounds from Rigoldi’s keyboard were what rescued the song from the endless annals of cheesy ballads. This success is compounded by Charlie Dominici’s fantastic performance on one of the album’s best melodies. Drummer Yan Maillard wisely made the decision to rein his performance in a bit to match the feel of the song. This makes his more extravagant fills seem all the more impressive if only because of their scarcity. Despite the risk that the song represents, “So Help Me God” pulls at the heartstrings. The band has my respect for making it work.

Liquid Lightning is a song bursting with uncultivated promise. All the music on it is decent, but a bland melody brings the song down. The choruses are where everything finally comes together, but immediately afterward the listener is subjected to another verse before getting back to the good stuff. Despite the lackluster melody, however, the entire song oozes an infectious energy that makes it engaging.

Enemies of God offers some impressive rhythmic unisons between the Maillard brothers on drums and guitar. During one of the softer interludes, Riccardo Atzeni’s bass work surges to the forefront of the mix, giving him an opportunity to shine. The song also contains two sections of spoken word, the first of which is somewhat distracting. The second however, aids the slow, dramatic build to the song’s climax. “Enemies of God” is also interesting for its lyrical dichotomy, as it contains some of the lamest and cleverest lines of the whole album.

Revelation is an oddly forgettable song. If the title weren’t a key word in the chorus, I’m not sure I’d be able to remember much about the song at all without listening to it again. But it has good music delivered with great energy. My only complaint is Brian Maillard’s lightning-fast guitar solo. I’ve been paying attention the whole time, pal. I already know you can play like crazy. I’d prefer a nice melodic solo to an aimless flurry of notes. And based on some of the other solos I’ve just heard, I know you definitely have it in you.

Hell On Earth sees the story reach a point of no return, and the music does a fantastic job of mirroring the gravity of the situation represented in the lyrics. Americo Rigoldi excels once again, particularly in his contribution to the dark feel of the song. Charlie Dominici, unfortunately, seems to need to clear his throat, and his voice is sadly underutilized throughout the track. But as the song hits its climax and the horrible deeds of destruction are carried out within the lyrics, I have to say this song gives me the chills.

Genesis, most plainly, blew my mind. The ending of the story was not something I was expecting, and it had some pretty clever concepts in it (As far as the story goes, it’s what might have happened if Ayreon had done Operation: Mindcrime instead of Queensryche). “Genesis” is the last song on the record and it seems as though each performer is taking his bows. Charlie Dominici is in peak form, delivering the final lines with style. Rigoldi and Brian Maillard play off each other very well throughout this ten-minute epic. Yan Maillard’s performance demands respect as he guides the band through numerous sections of frenetic music. And Atzeni, though present and consistent throughout the album, gets one last solo about halfway through the final song. I kind of wish the first four and a half minutes could have been cut out and made an instrumental track between “Hell On Earth” and the rest of “Genesis,” but that’s really all there is to complain about. And that is more than counteracted by one the most unbelievably epic endings to an album I have ever heard. The conclusion of “Genesis” rivals the greatness of Dream Theater’s “Octavarium” and Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse.” It leaves me breathless.

Besides its perfect ending, O3 Part 3 spends most of its duration wandering halfway between mediocrity and greatness. Hardly anything on the album is average or bland, but the moments of true brilliance are somewhat isolated. Most of those moments are from individual performers, and the times that the entire band strikes gold simultaneously are few. O3 Part 3 sounds like the product of a promising band that is still—if you’ll pardon a cheesy lyric-related pun—searching for its chemistry. But despite a limited number of truly fantastic moments, the record is consistently good enough to earn significant replay value. And it sounds a little better every time.

Best performance: Americo Rigoldi, keyboards. Although I felt he was often buried in the mix, Rigoldi seemed to anchor the band’s sound when it was most needed.

Worst performance: Everybody else. Seriously, everybody did a great job, only Rigoldi did a little bit better than all of his bandmates.

Buy it if: You’re a fan of metal, you’re a fan of prog, or you don’t want to miss out on good music.

Score: 8/10

O3: A Trilogy - Part 3 will be released on April 22nd by InsideOut. It doesn’t appear to be available for preorder at the moment.

Dominici’s Official Website, which streams “March Into Hell.”

Ultima Ratio (2002)
Superior

Superior is a German progressive metal band that has seen very limited exposure outside of their home country. Ultima Ratio is easily the least progressive of their three releases, but it’s also the best.

Ultima Ratio is a concept album, following the journey of two men who start a religion based on rationalism and the mastery of emotion. Over the course of the album, their religion’s massive, worldwide success causes things to spiral out of control, and the two friends, seeing two different problems, plan different, drastic solutions. Complex and riveting, Ultima Ratio’s plot is by far my favorite storyline of any concept album.

The music is ingenious, too—there isn’t a weak song on the entire disc. Superior also maintains a good balance between unbridled aggression and calming beauty. The first song, “Ultra,” shows Superior’s dual-guitar attack at its best and immediately plunges the listener into the story. Later on, “Terror Fantasy” begins with a kind of joint guitar/keyboard riff that blows me away every time. And the final song, “Judgment Day,” is difficult not to sing along with. Throughout the record, Jan Becker’s keyboard work adds considerable depth to the sound. Meanwhile, Michael Tangermann croons, growls, whispers and perfectly matches every kind of feeling the music requires of him.

This is a fun album for Queensryche fans, too. It’s filled with little nuggets that briefly pay homage to Queensryche, especially to Operation: Mindcrime. Ultima Ratio avoids blatant ripoffs, however, and the whole album comes off as a brilliant achievement in musical expression and creativity.