First of all, I think this album being a sellout or one of their worst or whatever is an attitude that's perpetuated by the band (MP in particular). Most fans seem OK with it, maybe they don't all love it but I've found more people dislike their newer albums and the debut. It seems universally considered underrated, which to me says that it isn't underrated at all. 
I wasn't there when it came out, so maybe the reception was different at the time but I think it has aged well for most people. Personally, I think it's a solid effort. It's about on par with ADTOE for me; there is nothing blow-your-mind amazing on here and some of DT's worst songs live here, but I can skip the bad stuff and get a pretty solid 50 minute album. I don't really care about them sounding commercial or whatever, I love the more melodic accessible side of DT. Sonically, this is hands down their best album. I love how they're experimenting with different sounds and instruments here. The production is top notch and this album really has a unique sound to it. No two DT albums sound alike and this one is probably the most unique even for DT standards.
Love New Millennium. The polyrhythmic stuff is straight out of the King Crimson playbook. It's something different for them and sets the tone for the album pretty well. It's still heavy, but a bit lighter and maybe slightly commercial for DT standards. I'm going to vote for it though, as I feel only 3 FII songs isn't enough and this is unfortunately the next one on the list.
You Not Me, whatever. I don't hate it, but it was definitely a creative misstep. It will get my vote. I actually haven't listened to this in a very long time, every time I put on FII I skip it. FII might also be the only album where I'll skip songs. But that's more because there's stuff on here worth listening to, unlike Systematic Chaos where I don't skip any songs because I never listen to it.
Anyway, I don't care that this song is "commercial" or that they worked with Desmond Child or whatever. My problem with the song is that it's generic and boring. It's obvious to me that nobody cared when they were working on it.
Peruvian Skies is probably the "classic" song from this album and one of their more memorable shorter songs. It's totally Pink Floyd meets Metallica. Who would've thought a combination like that would work? It was also cool how they'd jam on both Have A Cigar and Enter Sandman during this song live. The Metallica influence is mostly in the riffing toward the end. The descending stuff with hints of chromaticism. Very Metallica-like riffing. The guitar solo in this is also one of Petrucci's best. I really like how this song builds up, it really highlights one of the major strengths of this album: dynamics. I've seen criticisms of DT that they don't play with dynamics anymore. While I consider DT12 a better album as a whole, I have a hard time arguing with that when listening to this.
Hollow Years is incredible. Glad to see it getting love here, it's one of the best songs on the album. To Knick's point about the anti-ballad bias around here, I won't be voting for any of the ballads from this album this first round. I do really miss how DT used to experiment with other styles. I can't see them writing a song like this today.
Burning My Soul, awful song. It's my second least favorite DT track. Everything about this song is so generic and dull, from the riff that plods on and on to the lame chorus, to the forced odd time signature bridge. It gets my vote. The worst thing about this song though is honestly JLB. He handles his more limited range well on most of this album, but I really think this song would've benefitted from a more aggressive Metal vocalist. Case in point, here's Devin Townsend doing the song with PSMS (Portnoy, Sheehan, MacAlpine, Sherinian):
He's mostly screwing around on a song he barely knows, but listen to how he belts out the chorus. That alone almost saves it. I'll give Portnoy credit on this one, I actually like a lot of the lyrics on this. You can really feel his frustration during the making of this album.
The first half of the album is shaky, but it picks up big time at Hell's Kitchen and stays at a high level for the most part. I can't take anyone seriously who complains about DT "wanking" and then votes for Hell's Kitchen. I honestly prefer this to Erotomania, Ytse Jam, and Enigma Machine. The way it builds up is so cool, the band is playing with dynamics and mood here instead of showing off. The outro is one of the best Dream Theater moments ever recorded. It's short but so what? It's just an awesome musical moment.
Lines In the Sand is easily my favorite song on the album. I feel like this song is Petrucci's answer to a lot of the late 80s/90s shredders out there. Take away the vocals and this could've easily been on an album by Satriani, Vai, MacAlpine, Lane, etc. It's that same sort of guitar driven rock with a badass solo in the middle. But it also has vocals and the vocal parts are pretty cool, if unnecessary. Love the guest appearance from the King's X guy, he's a great singer who doesn't get enough credit. JLB also does a good job on this. But lets talk about the real main event of this song: JP's guitar solo. I'm not even going to try to describe how good it is. Just listen to it. That's how you write a great guitar solo. That's his La Villa Strangiato/Comfortably Numb/Eruption/Insert Legendary Guitar Solo Here. Anyone who says DT is all style and no substance, skip to 5:35 in Lines In the Sand. Not only is it a good guitar solo, but the rhythm section behind it is perfect. Derek in particular does a great job interacting with JP's playing. It's like an actual musical conversation. Kevin Moore never really did that, he had a very self centered style of playing (who would've guessed?).
I really like Take Away My Pain. It's a little bit U2ish, but still really good. Heartfelt lyrics and an awesome buildup. This is one of those songs that's really elevated by the arrangement and the production. The layering of the guitars, the synth pads, the tape effects. All really neat things. It takes the song from being a nice ballad to a really atmospheric special song. I don't know why it doesn't get more appreciation. My favorite part is the bridge. Not only does it build up to a great guitar solo, but the stuff going on sonically is so interesting. If I had to say anything negative about it, it's ever so slightly longer than it needs to be. Maybe a chorus or a verse too long. It's repetitive in a similar way to Burning My Soul, but the repetition works here.
Just Let Me Breathe, is the second worst on the album. It's inoffensive, but just kind of bland again. It gets a vote! It does have one of the most difficult DT guitar passages, but I never cared for this song enough to be bothered to really attempt learning it. It's a long album, this is the bathroom break song.
Yea, very Elton John. Also a bit of Beatles in there. Really nice song and a nice swan song for Derek being his only writing credit. I'm a sucker for that leslie guitar tone. Also a really nice slide guitar solo! Again, DT doing something different is always welcome. It doesn't feel like they wrote this as an obligatory pre-epic ballad (I'm looking at you Along For the Ride).
Trial of Tears is the first of many Rush homages for the band. It's actually hard to believe that it took them this long to go full Rush mode on us, considering how it's probably the one band they all adore. Great song, seeing this in 2014 was a real treat. Another awesome instrumental section, with a brilliant guitar solo. Petrucci has mentioned that he prefers to jam on one chord instead of something with chord changes, but he's clearly capable of doing chord changes as heard on this song. Always gives me goose bumps.
I think the biggest problem with this album is that it's too long. Before I started writing this, I planned on saying that you could ditch You Not Me, Burning My Soul, and Just Let Me Breathe, and put Raise the Knife there instead, but I don't know if that's even a good idea. It's almost 80 minutes. DT makes long albums anyway, but something about this album drags on a bit too much. Thank H that the record label didn't let them do a double album with a 20 minute Metropolis at the end. That would've killed the band. I find that I enjoy the album more when I skip those 3 songs. It's shorter and more enjoyable. 8-9 songs is a good amount for a DT album too IMO.
Here's the obligatory ranking:
1: Lines in the Sand
2: Hell's Kitchen
3: Trial of Tears
4: Hollow Years
5: Peruvian Skies
6: Take Away My Pain
7: Anna Lee
8: New Millennium
9: You Not Me
10: Just Let Me Breathe
11: Burning My Soul
As for the bonus songs, The Way It Used To Be is meh (Cover My Eyes should've been here, but I understand why NP chose not to include it) and Raise the Knife is awesome. It's a shame they didn't get to give it a proper recording, but like I said this album is already packed as it is. Having it as a live recording is good enough for me.
Btw, fans of this album need to check out the PSMS dvd. Lots of stuff from this album and ACOS!
https://www.amazon.com/Live-Tokyo-Blu-ray.../B00DPH7R56
I wasn't there when it came out, so maybe the reception was different at the time but I think it has aged well for most people. Personally, I think it's a solid effort. It's about on par with ADTOE for me; there is nothing blow-your-mind amazing on here and some of DT's worst songs live here, but I can skip the bad stuff and get a pretty solid 50 minute album. I don't really care about them sounding commercial or whatever, I love the more melodic accessible side of DT. Sonically, this is hands down their best album. I love how they're experimenting with different sounds and instruments here. The production is top notch and this album really has a unique sound to it. No two DT albums sound alike and this one is probably the most unique even for DT standards. Love New Millennium. The polyrhythmic stuff is straight out of the King Crimson playbook. It's something different for them and sets the tone for the album pretty well. It's still heavy, but a bit lighter and maybe slightly commercial for DT standards. I'm going to vote for it though, as I feel only 3 FII songs isn't enough and this is unfortunately the next one on the list.
You Not Me, whatever. I don't hate it, but it was definitely a creative misstep. It will get my vote. I actually haven't listened to this in a very long time, every time I put on FII I skip it. FII might also be the only album where I'll skip songs. But that's more because there's stuff on here worth listening to, unlike Systematic Chaos where I don't skip any songs because I never listen to it.
Anyway, I don't care that this song is "commercial" or that they worked with Desmond Child or whatever. My problem with the song is that it's generic and boring. It's obvious to me that nobody cared when they were working on it. Peruvian Skies is probably the "classic" song from this album and one of their more memorable shorter songs. It's totally Pink Floyd meets Metallica. Who would've thought a combination like that would work? It was also cool how they'd jam on both Have A Cigar and Enter Sandman during this song live. The Metallica influence is mostly in the riffing toward the end. The descending stuff with hints of chromaticism. Very Metallica-like riffing. The guitar solo in this is also one of Petrucci's best. I really like how this song builds up, it really highlights one of the major strengths of this album: dynamics. I've seen criticisms of DT that they don't play with dynamics anymore. While I consider DT12 a better album as a whole, I have a hard time arguing with that when listening to this.
Hollow Years is incredible. Glad to see it getting love here, it's one of the best songs on the album. To Knick's point about the anti-ballad bias around here, I won't be voting for any of the ballads from this album this first round. I do really miss how DT used to experiment with other styles. I can't see them writing a song like this today.
Burning My Soul, awful song. It's my second least favorite DT track. Everything about this song is so generic and dull, from the riff that plods on and on to the lame chorus, to the forced odd time signature bridge. It gets my vote. The worst thing about this song though is honestly JLB. He handles his more limited range well on most of this album, but I really think this song would've benefitted from a more aggressive Metal vocalist. Case in point, here's Devin Townsend doing the song with PSMS (Portnoy, Sheehan, MacAlpine, Sherinian):
He's mostly screwing around on a song he barely knows, but listen to how he belts out the chorus. That alone almost saves it. I'll give Portnoy credit on this one, I actually like a lot of the lyrics on this. You can really feel his frustration during the making of this album.
The first half of the album is shaky, but it picks up big time at Hell's Kitchen and stays at a high level for the most part. I can't take anyone seriously who complains about DT "wanking" and then votes for Hell's Kitchen. I honestly prefer this to Erotomania, Ytse Jam, and Enigma Machine. The way it builds up is so cool, the band is playing with dynamics and mood here instead of showing off. The outro is one of the best Dream Theater moments ever recorded. It's short but so what? It's just an awesome musical moment.
Lines In the Sand is easily my favorite song on the album. I feel like this song is Petrucci's answer to a lot of the late 80s/90s shredders out there. Take away the vocals and this could've easily been on an album by Satriani, Vai, MacAlpine, Lane, etc. It's that same sort of guitar driven rock with a badass solo in the middle. But it also has vocals and the vocal parts are pretty cool, if unnecessary. Love the guest appearance from the King's X guy, he's a great singer who doesn't get enough credit. JLB also does a good job on this. But lets talk about the real main event of this song: JP's guitar solo. I'm not even going to try to describe how good it is. Just listen to it. That's how you write a great guitar solo. That's his La Villa Strangiato/Comfortably Numb/Eruption/Insert Legendary Guitar Solo Here. Anyone who says DT is all style and no substance, skip to 5:35 in Lines In the Sand. Not only is it a good guitar solo, but the rhythm section behind it is perfect. Derek in particular does a great job interacting with JP's playing. It's like an actual musical conversation. Kevin Moore never really did that, he had a very self centered style of playing (who would've guessed?).
I really like Take Away My Pain. It's a little bit U2ish, but still really good. Heartfelt lyrics and an awesome buildup. This is one of those songs that's really elevated by the arrangement and the production. The layering of the guitars, the synth pads, the tape effects. All really neat things. It takes the song from being a nice ballad to a really atmospheric special song. I don't know why it doesn't get more appreciation. My favorite part is the bridge. Not only does it build up to a great guitar solo, but the stuff going on sonically is so interesting. If I had to say anything negative about it, it's ever so slightly longer than it needs to be. Maybe a chorus or a verse too long. It's repetitive in a similar way to Burning My Soul, but the repetition works here.
Just Let Me Breathe, is the second worst on the album. It's inoffensive, but just kind of bland again. It gets a vote! It does have one of the most difficult DT guitar passages, but I never cared for this song enough to be bothered to really attempt learning it. It's a long album, this is the bathroom break song.
The Anna Lee melody is just Someone Saved My Life Tonight 2 or 3 octaves higher.
Yea, very Elton John. Also a bit of Beatles in there. Really nice song and a nice swan song for Derek being his only writing credit. I'm a sucker for that leslie guitar tone. Also a really nice slide guitar solo! Again, DT doing something different is always welcome. It doesn't feel like they wrote this as an obligatory pre-epic ballad (I'm looking at you Along For the Ride).
Trial of Tears is the first of many Rush homages for the band. It's actually hard to believe that it took them this long to go full Rush mode on us, considering how it's probably the one band they all adore. Great song, seeing this in 2014 was a real treat. Another awesome instrumental section, with a brilliant guitar solo. Petrucci has mentioned that he prefers to jam on one chord instead of something with chord changes, but he's clearly capable of doing chord changes as heard on this song. Always gives me goose bumps.
I think the biggest problem with this album is that it's too long. Before I started writing this, I planned on saying that you could ditch You Not Me, Burning My Soul, and Just Let Me Breathe, and put Raise the Knife there instead, but I don't know if that's even a good idea. It's almost 80 minutes. DT makes long albums anyway, but something about this album drags on a bit too much. Thank H that the record label didn't let them do a double album with a 20 minute Metropolis at the end. That would've killed the band. I find that I enjoy the album more when I skip those 3 songs. It's shorter and more enjoyable. 8-9 songs is a good amount for a DT album too IMO.
Here's the obligatory ranking:
1: Lines in the Sand
2: Hell's Kitchen
3: Trial of Tears
4: Hollow Years
5: Peruvian Skies
6: Take Away My Pain
7: Anna Lee
8: New Millennium
9: You Not Me
10: Just Let Me Breathe
11: Burning My Soul
I noticed that when listening to this on ACOS. He has the atmosphere of Kevin Moore (but does it better) but also a similar shreddy solo style to Rudess (but does it better). What he doesn't have is Rudess' compositional abilities, which would become the final piece of the DT puzzle.
As for the bonus songs, The Way It Used To Be is meh (Cover My Eyes should've been here, but I understand why NP chose not to include it) and Raise the Knife is awesome. It's a shame they didn't get to give it a proper recording, but like I said this album is already packed as it is. Having it as a live recording is good enough for me.
Btw, fans of this album need to check out the PSMS dvd. Lots of stuff from this album and ACOS!
https://www.amazon.com/Live-Tokyo-Blu-ray.../B00DPH7R56
