Coming in at #5 is a song from my fifth favorite Dream Theater album... what a coincidence! The song is "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" off of the album of the same name. First, though, I want to talk a little bit about the rest of the album.When I say that this is only my fifth favorite album by this band is not at all a negative thing. This album really is a great set of songs. As a concept album, the band was trying to put together a collection of songs that represent the turbulence in all of us, whether it be alcoholism, losing one's faith, death, or moral judgment. They also kind of divided their fans with this album. Many liked the individual singles of the first CD, and others preferred the epic that was the second disc. First, a little about the former:
The first song, "The Glass Prison" opens with the last sounds of the previous album, a tradition that would be carried through until their eighth album, Octavarium. After a quiet guitar intro, the song explodes into a fast-paced metal riff. The song is actually just the first 3 parts of an unfinished suite by Mike Portnoy, the band's drummer. It describes the first three of twelve steps in the Alcoholics Anonymous program. It has been continued throughout the rest of their albums, and is expected to be finished on their upcoming tenth album. This is the haviest song on the album, and could also be considered an epic in itself. As the album goes on, you get some other really great songs: "Misunderstood" is a great slow song that explodes with power about halfway through. The lyrics are amazing as well. I also highly recommend "The Great Debate," a song about stem-cell research. The song takes a neutral stance and weighs the arguments in a very thought-provoking, and yet entertaining song. However, what I really want to talk about is the sixth track... the one that makes it onto my little list.
"Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" is the second longest piece of music I have in my iTunes library (although it's broken into 8 tracks), weighing in at over 41 minutes long. This song is broken up into an intro, finale, and six stories of different mental disorders. These include: Bipolar disorder, PTSD, Schizophrenia, Post-Partum depression, Autism, and Dissociative Identity Disorder. I won't go into the real details of all of the sections, but the way they're represented is extremely well done. For example, in 'About to Crash,' which is about Bipolar disorder, the band uses 7/4 time signature to describe her manic episodes, and then a more relaxed 4/4 to describe the depression. These musical characteristics are found all through the piece, though. What I really like most about this that some of the more famous epics are missing is that this really feels like one piece. If you're interested in hearing a good prog epic with some metal thrown in, this is a great choice.
If you're in the mood for some interesting music, please give this album, or just this song, a listen. What else have you got to do? ;)
Free link to the album on Napster:
http://free.napster.com/view/album/index.html?id=12856424
P.S.: I also recommend listening to the orchestrated version they did live:
http://free.napster.com/player/?play_id=17450900&type=track
Still to come:
A song about nothing
An album where the epic is the only good song
A song whose relative minor is F
A song from the longest studio album I own
How many can you guess?
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