October 4, 1994 - Awake

A week after my last release and two years since "Images And Words", Dream Theater released their third album "Awake" on October 4, 1994. Their last album did very well commercially and Dream Theater were under a lot of pressure to produce another hit album. There were tensions during the recording sessions and after all the recording but before the release of the album keyboardist Kevin Moore quit the band. This is a sad development, as Moore is an excellent keyboardist but he wanted to focus on his own music and felt he needed to leave. Let's check out the last album with this line-up then!

The album begins with "6:00" and Mike Portnoy opens tbings with a nice drum fill and beat and then Moore comes in with a cool keyboard riff. John Petrucci joins next with some guitar and then when John Myung finally enters on bass they shift to a new heavier riff that sounds pretty good. We then hear a voice repeat "six o' clock on a Christmas morning" and then a man and woman talking briefly as they segue into the first verse and James LaBrie finally joins in. He sings a decent verse overtop some cool music that has drums, bass, guitar and keyboards all sounding good and all working together nicely. They briefly return to Moore's opening keyboard riff, then it's off on another verse. The heavier riff from earlier turns out to be a solid chorus riff that LaBrie nicely sings overtop of and then it's solo time for Kevin! Moore delivers a pretty sweet keyboard solo with a couple pretty fast parts and they move from here into a softer new riff with Moore playing some cool synths in the background. Petrucci ties things nicely back to another verse and after a final chorus we get another round of "six o' clock on a Christmas morning" before Petrucci ends the song with a short but sweet guitar solo! Nice first song for sure! Up next is "Caught In A Web" and Moore plays a slow and slightly trippy synth riff while Petrucci drives things with a cool guitar riff and Portnoy adds some cool drums as well. Things sound pretty epic and after a short intro LaBrie enters to sing another pretty solid verse. They play a couple verses before reaching the chorus where LaBrie holds some long notes and then they hit repeat and do it all again. After this chorus Petrucci plays some cool guitar and nicely ramps things up into a full-blown solo that sounds pretty sweet. The solo devolves into the heavy background music continuing while Moore plays some light synths and eventually we find our way back to the main riff. They play a final verse and a couple choruses before ending things on a nice note. Track 3 is "Innocence Faded" and Petrucci leads a cool intro riff with some nice guitar, but things quickly quiet down for the first verse as LaBrie sings lightly overtop a light guitar riff. It's a long and pretty bland verse for Dream Theater and the chorus is also very light. LaBrie hits sole really high notes in the second verse and after another chorus he takes off on a new verse briefly, but it's not long before we're back at the chorus. After over four minutes of slow and sappy, they suddenly kick into a cool fast-paced metal riff and now we're head boppin' to a cool new beat! Petrucci ends up soloing overtop with some pretty cool stuff and they nicely finish off this song; why couldn't the whole thing be like that ending? The next song is the instrumental "Erotomania" and it's driven by a heavy and catchy guitar riff by Petrucci while Moore adds some synths in the background. Myung's bass is pretty solid as well but Petrucci is the driving force with lots of cool guitar. Portnoy adds in some nice drum fills here and there and Moore switches back and forth from synths to piano for different cool parts. Petrucci delivers one solid early solo and then after a few more minutes of solid contributions from everyone John takes off again with another pretty sweet guitar solo. This one goes on for a decent while and then Portnoy nicely segues us over to a cool new part that somehow ties perfectly back into the main riff. They play a final short verse before things dissolve very dreamily at the finish with some light guitar and lots of percussion to end this pretty cool instrumental tune. Track 5 is just under ten minutes and is titled "Voices". It opens with Myung playing a quiet but cool bass riff with Petrucci thundering in and out with some loud guitar. Portnoy and Moore build around this and John and Kevin team up to play some cool stuff before things quiet right down for the verse. LaBrie begins a quiet verse overtop some piano by Moore and after a long and quiet verse the chorus is a little louder but still pretty slow. The next verse is louder than the first one and then after another chorus Portnoy goes off rambling for a short bit and then the music shifts to a light new riff and LaBrie sings a soft verse to match. It's not bad, but it's pretty tame and unexciting compared to their norm and it goes on for a few minutes. Finally we get a solo as Petrucci starts off on a pretty epic guitar bit that has lots of sweet stuff in it. The solo nicely leads into an upbeat new riff and LaBrie sings a solid verse to match and it leads perfectly back into the chorus. After this final chorus Petrucci plays us out with some light guitar that segues right into the next track "The Silent Man", which was also one of the singles (though not anywhere near succesful as "Pull Me Under" last album). Petrucci continues with some light acoustic guitar and LaBrie sings a sappy verse overtop. The guitar is a bit sappy too, but I find James makes things sound even more sad and this is not the Dream Theater I'm hear to listen to. The chorus is equally sappy, especially with some lame backing vocals and then we also have some strings that usually I would love, but they are so bland and sad here. Petrucci plays a short little solo that is alright, but then it's a final verse and chorus to end what might be Dream Theater's worst song so far. Track 7 is "The Mirror" and a nice heavy riff leads the way with Moore adding some organ in the background. LaBrie comes in and yells a nice high verse we hear a cool instrumental bit, then another verse. The first chorus sounds pretty good and from here they move into a softer new riff and LaBrie sings a new verse to match. Another solid instrumental part ties things back to another chorus and then things break down until Myung's bass is nicely keeping the pace. They nicely build from here to a heavy new riff that sounds pretty sweet, but then the song ends and carries right over into the next track "Lie" with Petrucci leading the way with some cool guitar but there's some pretty cool bass, drums and keyboards as well to make for another pretty cool main riff. LaBrie sings a couple decent, quieter verses to match the mood and then the chorus is louder. They jam through another verse and chorus before shifting to a new riff and they set the stage nicely with a cool heavy backing riff and then Petrucci produces a wicked little solo overtop. This leads to another chorus which Petrucci spices up a bit and then from here they take another heavy then that I think sounds pretty cool and it sets the stage perfectly for another guitar solo. This one is a longer, and Petrucci really shows off with some pretty wicked parts to it that are insanely fast. This solo actually takes us close to the end of the song and they end it on a nice note as well. Track 9 is "Lifting Shadows Off A Dream" and Myung starts us off with a cool bass riff that everyone builds around to form a slow main riff, with Moore adding some quiet but epic synths. LaBrie sings a sappy verse overtop and although Petrucci's light guitar sounds cool this is pretty slow and sappy for these guys. There are moments of cool guitar, drums and keyboards bit they're all short-lived and this is largely one of Dream Theater's blander songs. The next song is the longest on the album at 11 minutes and is called "Scarred". It opens with some slow bass and drums and then Petrucci plays some slow but pretty epic guitar overtop to lead the way.

LaBrie sings a high verse to match the mood and after this verse they segue nicely into a heavier new riff and LaBrie sings a louder new verse overtop the nice heavy guitar and bass. They jam out a couple of these heavier verses before seamlessly moving back to the original verse and then things shift very smoothly again to a quiet and light new verse. This verse gets louder and builds until...they return to the original verse once again. Then it's time for a pretty awesome little guitar solo by Petrucci and then it's Moore's turn! He plays a long and pretty good keyboard solo, but it sounds somewhat muted for some reason and just doesn't hit as hard. Petrucci's guitar takes over again and is much louder as he plays another pretty cool guitar solo. They return to the main riff once again and then it's off on a solid instrumental break led by some nice synths from Moore that takes us to the end of this long song. The final song on this long album is "Space-Dye Vest" and Moore takes center stage for this song that turns out to be his farewell from Dream Theater. He plays a pretty cool piano riff that is the driving force of this song and it sounds epic all by itself as Moore starts things off by himself, and things sound great. LaBrie eventually comes in and sings a nice verse overtop and after this verse we hear a long talking bit with a new voice telling a woman that someone else does'nt really value her, like he does. This is a bit out of left field but it's interesting and then Moore drives another verse and LaBrie sounds solid overtop again. After this verse it's another long talking part, this one with several different voices. None of the voices seem connected to each other, each one just talls for a bit about some random stuff; the piano in the background is cool the whole time though. After this long part LaBrie sings another verse and then Petrucci and Portnoy finally join in for a heavier, fuller verse. Moore adds some synths overtop the piano as well and everything sounds pretty good. Portnoy plays a nice fill before things quiet right down and Moore plays us out as the song began with some final epic piano.

That is the end of "Awake" and I thought it was a solid, but not spectacular album. There were definitely some cool songs on this album but there were also a couple snoozers, which is quite uncharacteristic for Dream Theater. Even their softer songs on their last album were still alright, but this time it was not up to their usual standards, especially for "The Silent Man". The good songs were still great though and all five members sound pretty great (even James LaBrie sounds pretty solid on this album!) It's sad that Kevin Moore isn't sticking around but he certainly played some cool stuff on these first three albums. I think "Awake" is better than their debut "When Dream And Day Unite" but it's nowhere close to "Images And Words". Where will Dream Theater go from here? I look forward to hearing how their new keyboardist will hold up!