September 19, 1995 - A Change Of Seasons
A week after my last release and a year after "Awake", Dream Theater released their first EP "A Change Of Seasons" on September 19, 1995. Kevin Moore left during the end of the recording process for "Awake" and this EP is the first release with new keyboardist Derek Sherinian. This EP has one original song, the 23 minute title track, as well as several live covers and despite being an EP, it's almost an hour long! Let's see what the new Dream Theater is all about!
That is the end of "A Change Of Seasons" and I thought it was a pretty sweet EP! The title track was pretty awesome with lots of nice flowing parts and of course excellent musicianship from everyone. Derek Sherinian seems like he fits in just fine and when he gets his opportunities he usually plays some cool stuff. The live covers were pretty sweet as well and for the most part I really liked Dream Theater's choices for their covers. This is technically an EP, but it's actually longer than their first album and I think it's even better than that album as well! It might be better than "Awake" as well, but it's hard to compare the half studio/half live with the regular studio stuff. Suffice to say it was a pretty awesome EP and I look forward to seeing what this line-up will do with a whole album!
The EP is headlined by it's 23 minute title track "A Change Of Seasons" which can be divided into 7 sections:
I: The Crimson Sunrise
Cool light guitar riff by John Petrucci mixed with some solid piano from Derek. Shifts nicely into louder and heavier riff with some nice bass by John Myung and several sweet drum fills from Mike Portnoy. Another nice segue into next part.
II: Innocence
Petrucci leads a solid metal riff and James LaBrie comes in to sing the first verse in his usual high voice. Sherinian plays some cool keyboards after the chorus. Petrucci starts a new light guitar riff that becomes the third section.
III: Carpe Diem
LaBrie sings a new verse nicely overtop the epic guitar. This shifts nicely into a light but fast-paced new riff which builds until they snap into the next section.
IV: The Darkest Of Winters
Amazing instrumental section that starts with a short but awesome keyboard solo. Then we get a guitar solo, and then an insane and outstanding part that has great little bits on guitar, bass, drums and keyboards! This all comes to a crashing, epic finish that leads beautifully into a new verse.
V: Another World
LaBrie sings epicly overtop some droning keyboards that change to some better piano. Petrucci plays a slow but epic guitar solo between verses and we have another great segue on bass by Myung that ties us into the next part. Progressiveness is at an all-time high with this one and they're doing pretty great!
VI: The Inevitable Summer
The bass sets the stage for another epic guitar solo but then they turn up the heaviness and set the stage for an amazing keyboard solo. This is Derek's first time letting it all go and he does a pretty awesome job with some crazy fast and insane keyboards. Kevin Moore was amazing, but Derek Sherinian seems like a damn fine replacement. After the solo they play a heavy and pretty sweet segue that takes us to our final section.
VII: The Crimson Sunset
Pretty solid, standard Dream theater riff with LaBrie singing decently overtop. Guitar and piano both sound good, Portnoy plays some tight drums as well, including a few really sweet fills. They end it as it began with the same guitar riff.
Similar to Rush's "2112", even though there are 7 distinct sections, everything flows really nicely and it feels like one song. Very nicely done! The rest of the EP is all live covers, starting with a cover of Elton John's awesome song "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding". Sherinian plays the epic intro on keyboards and not piano, and while I prefer the piano, things still sound pretty good. Petrucci's guitar sounds epic as well and they did a pretty good job of the first portion. The transition and the beginning of "Love Lies Bleeding" sounds pretty sweet. Petrucci adds some cool extra guitar wahs and Sherinian lays down the cool main piano riff as LaBrie finally joins in. It's hard to live up to Elton's singing James does a decent job. Sherinian delivers a pretty wicked piano solo that is a little spicier than the original and at the end there's some great metal flourish endings on guitar, piano and drums to finish off this pretty epic and cool cover. Up next is a cover of Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers" and Sherinian's old-school organ sounds phenomenal! They do a great job of making this still feel just like a Deep Purple song with everyone playing their roles nicely. LaBrie let's out some solid high yells and Petrucci nails the guitar solo with some pretty amazing shredding. Another pretty sweet cover! The third live cover is called the "Led Zeppelin Medley", a cover of parts of three different Zeppelin songs, starting with "The Rover". Petrucci's guitar sounds pretty epic and cool in this opening minute before they shift nicely into "Achilles Last Stand". They play it a little faster than the original and Myung's bass sounds pretty sweet, as does the sped up guitar and drums. LaBrie could never live up to the great Robert Plant, but he still manages to do a solid job with the vocals. Petrucci's guitar solo is predictably pretty awesome and Myung plays some great bass to back him as well. They transition nicely into the final tune "The Song Remains The Same" for the final minute and a half and Petrucci continues to shine with his best Jimmy Page impressions. A pretty sweet little medley! And speaking of, the final song on this EP is another medley, this time of pieces of six different songs, and it's titled simply "The Big Medley". It begins with a great choice, Pink Floyd's "In The Flesh?", and everyone does a wonderful job of making this sound pretty similar to the original version, really well done! From here they segue nicely right into the middle of "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas and Petrucci and Sherinian both sound pretty good in another great choice. Derek adds a little extra to the cool keyboards and Petrucci plays basically every guitar solo from the song, and he nails all of them wonderfully. He also perfectly segues right into the headbanging end of Queen's legendary "Bohemian Rhapsody" and although LaBrie does a very poor Freddie Mercury (who wouldn't) it's another great nod to a great song. The nice segues continue as now we're into "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" by Journey and this is easily my least favourite part of the medley with a slow, sappy Journey part. Up next is the instrumental "Cruise Control" by Dixie Dregs and Petrucci plays some cool fast guitar in this part. They close out the medley with "Turn It On Again" by Genesis which is an alright but repetitive one, even for this short bit. I really liked the first half of the medley, but the second half wasn't nearly as good.
I: The Crimson Sunrise
Cool light guitar riff by John Petrucci mixed with some solid piano from Derek. Shifts nicely into louder and heavier riff with some nice bass by John Myung and several sweet drum fills from Mike Portnoy. Another nice segue into next part.
II: Innocence
Petrucci leads a solid metal riff and James LaBrie comes in to sing the first verse in his usual high voice. Sherinian plays some cool keyboards after the chorus. Petrucci starts a new light guitar riff that becomes the third section.
III: Carpe Diem
LaBrie sings a new verse nicely overtop the epic guitar. This shifts nicely into a light but fast-paced new riff which builds until they snap into the next section.
IV: The Darkest Of Winters
Amazing instrumental section that starts with a short but awesome keyboard solo. Then we get a guitar solo, and then an insane and outstanding part that has great little bits on guitar, bass, drums and keyboards! This all comes to a crashing, epic finish that leads beautifully into a new verse.
V: Another World
LaBrie sings epicly overtop some droning keyboards that change to some better piano. Petrucci plays a slow but epic guitar solo between verses and we have another great segue on bass by Myung that ties us into the next part. Progressiveness is at an all-time high with this one and they're doing pretty great!
VI: The Inevitable Summer
The bass sets the stage for another epic guitar solo but then they turn up the heaviness and set the stage for an amazing keyboard solo. This is Derek's first time letting it all go and he does a pretty awesome job with some crazy fast and insane keyboards. Kevin Moore was amazing, but Derek Sherinian seems like a damn fine replacement. After the solo they play a heavy and pretty sweet segue that takes us to our final section.
VII: The Crimson Sunset
Pretty solid, standard Dream theater riff with LaBrie singing decently overtop. Guitar and piano both sound good, Portnoy plays some tight drums as well, including a few really sweet fills. They end it as it began with the same guitar riff.
Similar to Rush's "2112", even though there are 7 distinct sections, everything flows really nicely and it feels like one song. Very nicely done! The rest of the EP is all live covers, starting with a cover of Elton John's awesome song "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding". Sherinian plays the epic intro on keyboards and not piano, and while I prefer the piano, things still sound pretty good. Petrucci's guitar sounds epic as well and they did a pretty good job of the first portion. The transition and the beginning of "Love Lies Bleeding" sounds pretty sweet. Petrucci adds some cool extra guitar wahs and Sherinian lays down the cool main piano riff as LaBrie finally joins in. It's hard to live up to Elton's singing James does a decent job. Sherinian delivers a pretty wicked piano solo that is a little spicier than the original and at the end there's some great metal flourish endings on guitar, piano and drums to finish off this pretty epic and cool cover. Up next is a cover of Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers" and Sherinian's old-school organ sounds phenomenal! They do a great job of making this still feel just like a Deep Purple song with everyone playing their roles nicely. LaBrie let's out some solid high yells and Petrucci nails the guitar solo with some pretty amazing shredding. Another pretty sweet cover! The third live cover is called the "Led Zeppelin Medley", a cover of parts of three different Zeppelin songs, starting with "The Rover". Petrucci's guitar sounds pretty epic and cool in this opening minute before they shift nicely into "Achilles Last Stand". They play it a little faster than the original and Myung's bass sounds pretty sweet, as does the sped up guitar and drums. LaBrie could never live up to the great Robert Plant, but he still manages to do a solid job with the vocals. Petrucci's guitar solo is predictably pretty awesome and Myung plays some great bass to back him as well. They transition nicely into the final tune "The Song Remains The Same" for the final minute and a half and Petrucci continues to shine with his best Jimmy Page impressions. A pretty sweet little medley! And speaking of, the final song on this EP is another medley, this time of pieces of six different songs, and it's titled simply "The Big Medley". It begins with a great choice, Pink Floyd's "In The Flesh?", and everyone does a wonderful job of making this sound pretty similar to the original version, really well done! From here they segue nicely right into the middle of "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas and Petrucci and Sherinian both sound pretty good in another great choice. Derek adds a little extra to the cool keyboards and Petrucci plays basically every guitar solo from the song, and he nails all of them wonderfully. He also perfectly segues right into the headbanging end of Queen's legendary "Bohemian Rhapsody" and although LaBrie does a very poor Freddie Mercury (who wouldn't) it's another great nod to a great song. The nice segues continue as now we're into "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" by Journey and this is easily my least favourite part of the medley with a slow, sappy Journey part. Up next is the instrumental "Cruise Control" by Dixie Dregs and Petrucci plays some cool fast guitar in this part. They close out the medley with "Turn It On Again" by Genesis which is an alright but repetitive one, even for this short bit. I really liked the first half of the medley, but the second half wasn't nearly as good.
That is the end of "A Change Of Seasons" and I thought it was a pretty sweet EP! The title track was pretty awesome with lots of nice flowing parts and of course excellent musicianship from everyone. Derek Sherinian seems like he fits in just fine and when he gets his opportunities he usually plays some cool stuff. The live covers were pretty sweet as well and for the most part I really liked Dream Theater's choices for their covers. This is technically an EP, but it's actually longer than their first album and I think it's even better than that album as well! It might be better than "Awake" as well, but it's hard to compare the half studio/half live with the regular studio stuff. Suffice to say it was a pretty awesome EP and I look forward to seeing what this line-up will do with a whole album!
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