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It's amazing how events can overcome and
completely alter the impressions people have of, well, just about everything. Before the attacks on the World
Trade Center, I was ready to criticize Dream Theater's "Live Scenes in New York," along the lines of,
"Why is this album being released? After all, the band only has full five length studio albums, and this package
is the 4th 'special' release (3 live, 1 ep). Besides, the music on this release's 3 discs has already been
available on video for months. Whether fans got the VHS, or the comprehensive DVD chronicling that last
show of the "Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory" tour, this performance has been out there for a while.
I guess those criticisms are still valid, but they pale
considering the events of September 11th. It's scary how
the original cover featured the New York City skyline, (including the twin
towers), silhouetted against flames, standing above an apple wrapped in barbed wire. The
origins of the cover lie in Christian symbolism, with a burning heart surrounded by barbed wire representing
Christ's crown of thorns, as seen on the cover of the band's 1st live album,
"Live at the Marquee." The addition of the skyline, and the replacement of the
heart with an apple were merely a clever, but unfortunate reference to the fact that the
show took place in New York City... the Big Apple. The cover art
led to a recall of the album a mere three days after its release
(note: the CD will be re-released in late October with the cover seen
at right).
Tragedies aside, the nature of the show still
makes for a solid package. Put on for the purpose of recording a video/album, Dream Theater went all out,
playing for over three hours. CDs 1 and 2 consist largely of the entire
"Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory" recreated live. The performance is enhanced by two special
features -- an extended solo from keyboardist Jordan Rudess, and the live presence of Teresa Thomason,
recreating her stirring vocals on, "The Spirit Carries On." Factor in,
"Metropolis, part 1," a combo
medley called, "Caught in a New Millennium," and even a bit of "Acid Rain" from the Liquid Tension Experiment
side project.
The first two discs would have made a
decent package by themselves, but it's on the third disc that "Live Scenes from New York," really stands out.
For that third CD, "Dream Theater" dusted off a few older epics in all their full-length glory, including
all three parts of the "A Mind Beside Itself"
trilogy, "Learning to Live," from the band's breakthrough
1992 album, "Images and Words," and the song once
described by vocalist James LaBrie as, "23 minutes of fucking insanity,"
"A Change of Seasons." Count the
multimedia material (a couple of videos) the band added to disc 3, and it could have been a separate release in its
own right. As is, the three plus hours of live "Dream Theater" should be plenty enough to satisfy the
band's fans until their next studio release.
|
| Artist |
Dream Theater |
| Title |
Live Scenes
from NY |
| Label |
WEA/Elektra |
| Reviewer |
Partha
Mukhopadhyay |
| Rating |
 |
|
 |
| web site |
www.dreamtheater.net |
| win stuff |
 |
|
|
Below is the
original cover art referred to in Partha's review. This
cover led to the recall of "Live Scenes from NY" so
that less controversial artwork could be created.
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