For the first one, only one listen. Thankfully, what a brutal album. The others I'll put on rotation, then do a deep listen when I write.
I'll say this: after one listen, Images and Words might represent the best improvement, album over album, I've ever seen in a band.
Stardust
Rainmaker
When Dream and Day Unite (1989)
Hey, I’ll give this reviewing thing a whirl too. So, When Dream and Day Unite isn’t a good album, and it’s not even all that interesting, but it’s where Dream Theater started and it’s nice to look back at it after hearing the rest of DT’s career because it most definitely sounds like a band’s first album. That’s why I can’t hate it despite the insane production issues and the poor vocal performance of Charlie Dominici - it would be like calling a kindergartner’s drawing awful. You can see that they tried very hard and were very proud of it, so I’ll only give the album a slap on the shoulder. There’s no way I can be too mean towards it. The band had to start somewhere, I mean.
Anyway, onto the songs themselves...
1. A Fortune in Lies
At least that intro catches my attention immediately, because if it wasn’t there, I would probably not remember anything else about this song. The production issues of this album rear their head as soon as the intro is over and it’s so noticeable. Aside from that, there really isn’t too much bad about this one, besides Dominici’s dreadful wailing. However, it’s the same in reverse - there isn’t anything particularly good about it except for the neat intro. 5/10.
2. Status Seeker
So, this is your first hint that these guys really like Rush. Don’t worry, if you don’t catch it here, you definitely will later. Anyway, this song isn’t very good but it’s not as offensively horrible as some DT fans would like to call it. It’s harmless and it doesn’t bother me. In fact, I do like it over A Fortune in Lies, since it’s more...uhh, catchy. Still gets the same 5/10 rating, however.
3. Ytse Jam
That’s Majesty backwards, if you didn’t catch that. Anyway, this is a pretty nice instrumental with not a lot to it; it’s not the band’s best instrumental after all. The production issues aren’t especially prevalent here, making it much more listenable than most other songs on the album. Honestly, the lack of Dominici is a good thing, if I have to be cruel. Regardless, you can see DT starting to work out their identity here, seeing as this is their first instrumental of several others. It’s not terribly polished, but I like it anyways. 7/10.
4. The Killing Hand
I AM THE KILLING HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNd! ...wait, wait, sorry, that’s the Marquee version. The studio version is unfortunately quite a bit weaker, mostly because it has considerably lower production values and not the magnificent presence of pre-food-poisoning James Labrie at the helm. Still, though, this song did manage to crack itself into my top 10 at one point so it’s rather great, nonetheless. It has absolutely dropped in my rankings, but it will still get a lovely 9/10 rating from me.
5. Light Fuse and Get Away
Ehhhhhhhh, there’s not a lot to say about this one, except the fairly decent lyrics. It’s more unremarkable than pretty much anything else on the album, so it’s naturally unmemorable as frick to me. It does sound more like standard DT fare, though...that’s something, I suppose. I also don’t hate it, since I can’t find anything substantial to particularly like or dislike in it. Middle of the road! This means 5/10, by the way.
6. Afterlife
I quite like this one, since Dominici’s vocals are actually adequate here and there are solid riffs and a nice flow to it all. It does remind me a lot of Afterimage by Rush, however. That would explain the title. Also, I’d like to applaud this song for not sounding like mud! This is the best sounding song on the album, even moreso than Ytse Jam and The Killing Hand. The rating wavers between a 7 and a 8 on this one, but I don’t want to give decimal ratings so I suppose I’ll give it a low 8/10.
7. The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun
And that one leads directly into this. There’s lots of potential here for something really quite great, but they’re squandered by the production, Dominici and the fact that they can’t live up to the intriguing introduction that henceforth builds to nothing. It’s more than a little disappointing, considering I can see a song in here that I would really, really like. Instead, I just kind of like it. That earns it a 6/10.
8. Only a Matter of Time
HELP THERE’S TOO MANY LYRICS. Moore probably wanted quantity over quality here and while some of the lines work wonders as read, a lot of them don’t and since they’re presented in such a ridiculous fashion; thrown at you at lightning speeds and renders the lyrical content totally moot since I can’t focus on a single line. Also doesn’t help that Dominici’s performance is all over the place, due to the lyrical overload. It’s a shame too, as that overshadows a pretty good song. I like this song a lot, actually, despite its glaring flaws shouting at you every step of the way. It would be a low 8 but I’ll have to mark it down to a 7/10.
The Final Score: 6.5/10
...yeah, that score sounds about right. Again, not a terribly bad album but DT would improve immensely from this debut.
Immediately.
Hey, I’ll give this reviewing thing a whirl too. So, When Dream and Day Unite isn’t a good album, and it’s not even all that interesting, but it’s where Dream Theater started and it’s nice to look back at it after hearing the rest of DT’s career because it most definitely sounds like a band’s first album. That’s why I can’t hate it despite the insane production issues and the poor vocal performance of Charlie Dominici - it would be like calling a kindergartner’s drawing awful. You can see that they tried very hard and were very proud of it, so I’ll only give the album a slap on the shoulder. There’s no way I can be too mean towards it. The band had to start somewhere, I mean.
Anyway, onto the songs themselves...
1. A Fortune in Lies
At least that intro catches my attention immediately, because if it wasn’t there, I would probably not remember anything else about this song. The production issues of this album rear their head as soon as the intro is over and it’s so noticeable. Aside from that, there really isn’t too much bad about this one, besides Dominici’s dreadful wailing. However, it’s the same in reverse - there isn’t anything particularly good about it except for the neat intro. 5/10.
2. Status Seeker
So, this is your first hint that these guys really like Rush. Don’t worry, if you don’t catch it here, you definitely will later. Anyway, this song isn’t very good but it’s not as offensively horrible as some DT fans would like to call it. It’s harmless and it doesn’t bother me. In fact, I do like it over A Fortune in Lies, since it’s more...uhh, catchy. Still gets the same 5/10 rating, however.
3. Ytse Jam
That’s Majesty backwards, if you didn’t catch that. Anyway, this is a pretty nice instrumental with not a lot to it; it’s not the band’s best instrumental after all. The production issues aren’t especially prevalent here, making it much more listenable than most other songs on the album. Honestly, the lack of Dominici is a good thing, if I have to be cruel. Regardless, you can see DT starting to work out their identity here, seeing as this is their first instrumental of several others. It’s not terribly polished, but I like it anyways. 7/10.
4. The Killing Hand
I AM THE KILLING HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNd! ...wait, wait, sorry, that’s the Marquee version. The studio version is unfortunately quite a bit weaker, mostly because it has considerably lower production values and not the magnificent presence of pre-food-poisoning James Labrie at the helm. Still, though, this song did manage to crack itself into my top 10 at one point so it’s rather great, nonetheless. It has absolutely dropped in my rankings, but it will still get a lovely 9/10 rating from me.
5. Light Fuse and Get Away
Ehhhhhhhh, there’s not a lot to say about this one, except the fairly decent lyrics. It’s more unremarkable than pretty much anything else on the album, so it’s naturally unmemorable as frick to me. It does sound more like standard DT fare, though...that’s something, I suppose. I also don’t hate it, since I can’t find anything substantial to particularly like or dislike in it. Middle of the road! This means 5/10, by the way.
6. Afterlife
I quite like this one, since Dominici’s vocals are actually adequate here and there are solid riffs and a nice flow to it all. It does remind me a lot of Afterimage by Rush, however. That would explain the title. Also, I’d like to applaud this song for not sounding like mud! This is the best sounding song on the album, even moreso than Ytse Jam and The Killing Hand. The rating wavers between a 7 and a 8 on this one, but I don’t want to give decimal ratings so I suppose I’ll give it a low 8/10.
7. The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun
And that one leads directly into this. There’s lots of potential here for something really quite great, but they’re squandered by the production, Dominici and the fact that they can’t live up to the intriguing introduction that henceforth builds to nothing. It’s more than a little disappointing, considering I can see a song in here that I would really, really like. Instead, I just kind of like it. That earns it a 6/10.
8. Only a Matter of Time
HELP THERE’S TOO MANY LYRICS. Moore probably wanted quantity over quality here and while some of the lines work wonders as read, a lot of them don’t and since they’re presented in such a ridiculous fashion; thrown at you at lightning speeds and renders the lyrical content totally moot since I can’t focus on a single line. Also doesn’t help that Dominici’s performance is all over the place, due to the lyrical overload. It’s a shame too, as that overshadows a pretty good song. I like this song a lot, actually, despite its glaring flaws shouting at you every step of the way. It would be a low 8 but I’ll have to mark it down to a 7/10.
The Final Score: 6.5/10
...yeah, that score sounds about right. Again, not a terribly bad album but DT would improve immensely from this debut.
Immediately.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
Jumping on the bandwagon much?
Collin
Chasing Ponce De Leon's Phantoms
I was thinking about doing it too for DT. @Diesel 11 might as well jump in too!
phantomoftheicarus
Bleeding Freak
I want to do a DT review as well
Yeah, my opinion of When Night and Day Unite is pretty much this: They should have called the album Dusk & Dawn and shortened the rest of it up a bit too.
It's a band that's under water because they went too deep, too fast. They matured quickly, and maybe that's because they put themselves out there so aggressively and failed pretty hard.
It's a band that's under water because they went too deep, too fast. They matured quickly, and maybe that's because they put themselves out there so aggressively and failed pretty hard.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
What do you mean by failing pretty hard? Or when?
On When Dream and Day Unite, I've probably listened to the album in full just once. I'm not familiar with the songs off the top of my head but I know that the jump in quality on their next album is remarkable, even if I don't care that much for Images and Words. It's still amazing what they did at that age.
I mean that WD&DU is objectively a poor album.
mtmccox
Ancient Mariner
I gave WDaDU a listen just for fun now, at work, (heard it once or twice before) and did not finish because I could not handle the vocals. It was just like eating a pickle that is a bit too sour. The improvement between the first and the second record is astonishing, ha.
The thing is that their career could’ve pretty much ended with that album. They spent the next few years without a label and were struggling to find a new singer. They had a ton of time to work on songs for the next album and refine their sound. WDADU is the sound of a bunch of college kids who got signed way too early. Images and Words is a matured group of professionals who now have a better understanding of how cutthroat the music industry is (although they would have to learn this lesson again before the end of the decade).
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
James LaBrie saved Dream Theater confirmed.
Stardust
Rainmaker
That sounds like a interesting album title; When Night and Day Unite. I wonder what it has to do with DT's debut album, though. And then you use WD&DU as an abbreviation anyways.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
Oh, I agree, the production quality leaves much to desire. I understood that sentence as referring to DT's career in the long run.
Yeah well it's one album and I don't really care about it, so we're lucky I got close to accurate.
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
LaBrie and Pull Me Under specifically.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
One day.
Images and Words (1992)
1. Pull Me Under - A far more relaxed beginning, the band already shows great signs of maturation. Moore sneaks into this slowly, and Petrucci leads in with Portnoy's drums sounding far more elegant and interesting. James LaBrie is automatically a huge upgrade. I don't love his voice, but it's much better than his predecessor's. Time changes are still a little awkward, but far less so than on the previous album. Chorus isn't too bad, and the music is pretty good. Good instrumental with a nice soulful solo from Petrucci. I understand this song is beloved live, and maybe it becomes something special there, but I can only realistically give it an 8/10.
2. Another Day - Nice and slow and decently heavy. I like this track a lot, and I find myself bobbing along to it. I wish it had another gear, but another murderously soulful solo from Petrucci really caps this one off. The second straight 8/10 outing for this album.
3. Take the Time - A little interesting intro, with some more groovy lyrics. I like it a little more when it settles into a bit more of a pattern than the funky grooves it has earlier on. This song has the feeling of being progressive for the sake of being progressive, with some additional awkward time shifts, and a bit too much wankery. It's not bad, it's above mediocre, but I don't care to listen to it regularly, either. 7/10.
4. Surrounded - A little softer to start. This shows off LaBrie's voice the best yet of any song, I think. I'm getting some Queen vibes as this starts up, and knowing they regard Queen highly, I believe that's a little intentional. It's nice without being great, and I can't see myself wanting to revisit it frequently. 7/10.
5. Metropolis - Part I ["The Miracle and the Sleeper'] - Coming into this, it was easily my favourite Dream Theater song, and there are a myriad of reasons why. Do I really need to list them? For the first time on this very good album, the band hits a new high, coming up to strong crescendos and really fulfilling the promise of a band that has rapidly matured. There's a bit of wanking here, especially in the instrumental, but the purpose of it is solid. The time changes are on point and accurate, and it tells a beautiful story. Unlike Moore-penned lyrics, this one conserves the lyrics and lets you explore the music more thoroughly. 10/10.
6. Under a Glass Moon - Love the keyboard heavy intro on this one and the eventual tune that spins out of it. Nice fills from Portnoy to get it going. I like the way it sounds in the choruses, but it meanders a but too much in the instrumental. It's not great, but it's pretty darn good. 8/10.
7. Wait For Sleep - Simple and soft but not bad at all. I enjoyed it, but it's nothing special. 7/10.
8. Learning to Live - There's a lot of elevator music in here. I kinda forgot I was listening to it a few times, and had to come back forcibly. It's fine, but it's not great. 6.5/10.
Total score: 77%
A vast improvement over the previous album, there's no bad tracks here. I found myself getting lost in some of the longer tracks during the day as I listened to the album, and there's nothing exactly bad about the album. It's quite pleasant and nice. Those are words I generally don't want to use to describe heavy metal. Of course, the centrepiece is Metropolis Part I, which is as massive as I have always been led to believe. Looking forward to the next one!
1. Pull Me Under - A far more relaxed beginning, the band already shows great signs of maturation. Moore sneaks into this slowly, and Petrucci leads in with Portnoy's drums sounding far more elegant and interesting. James LaBrie is automatically a huge upgrade. I don't love his voice, but it's much better than his predecessor's. Time changes are still a little awkward, but far less so than on the previous album. Chorus isn't too bad, and the music is pretty good. Good instrumental with a nice soulful solo from Petrucci. I understand this song is beloved live, and maybe it becomes something special there, but I can only realistically give it an 8/10.
2. Another Day - Nice and slow and decently heavy. I like this track a lot, and I find myself bobbing along to it. I wish it had another gear, but another murderously soulful solo from Petrucci really caps this one off. The second straight 8/10 outing for this album.
3. Take the Time - A little interesting intro, with some more groovy lyrics. I like it a little more when it settles into a bit more of a pattern than the funky grooves it has earlier on. This song has the feeling of being progressive for the sake of being progressive, with some additional awkward time shifts, and a bit too much wankery. It's not bad, it's above mediocre, but I don't care to listen to it regularly, either. 7/10.
4. Surrounded - A little softer to start. This shows off LaBrie's voice the best yet of any song, I think. I'm getting some Queen vibes as this starts up, and knowing they regard Queen highly, I believe that's a little intentional. It's nice without being great, and I can't see myself wanting to revisit it frequently. 7/10.
5. Metropolis - Part I ["The Miracle and the Sleeper'] - Coming into this, it was easily my favourite Dream Theater song, and there are a myriad of reasons why. Do I really need to list them? For the first time on this very good album, the band hits a new high, coming up to strong crescendos and really fulfilling the promise of a band that has rapidly matured. There's a bit of wanking here, especially in the instrumental, but the purpose of it is solid. The time changes are on point and accurate, and it tells a beautiful story. Unlike Moore-penned lyrics, this one conserves the lyrics and lets you explore the music more thoroughly. 10/10.
6. Under a Glass Moon - Love the keyboard heavy intro on this one and the eventual tune that spins out of it. Nice fills from Portnoy to get it going. I like the way it sounds in the choruses, but it meanders a but too much in the instrumental. It's not great, but it's pretty darn good. 8/10.
7. Wait For Sleep - Simple and soft but not bad at all. I enjoyed it, but it's nothing special. 7/10.
8. Learning to Live - There's a lot of elevator music in here. I kinda forgot I was listening to it a few times, and had to come back forcibly. It's fine, but it's not great. 6.5/10.
Total score: 77%
A vast improvement over the previous album, there's no bad tracks here. I found myself getting lost in some of the longer tracks during the day as I listened to the album, and there's nothing exactly bad about the album. It's quite pleasant and nice. Those are words I generally don't want to use to describe heavy metal. Of course, the centrepiece is Metropolis Part I, which is as massive as I have always been led to believe. Looking forward to the next one!