Every once in a while, I get to thinking that reviews would be better if done a couple months after a disc is released, especially when the band in question is one of your favorites, and you’re past the initial, “Holy wow! New disc from a fave band!” stage. The distance from the release date allows a disc to sink in, allows the reviewer to settle down, and really assess the disc for its merits, rather than being in thrall to the awesome newness of it all.
Then again, sometimes a couple months only serves to reinforce the first reaction. In the case of Dream Theater’s 9th full length album, Systematic Chaos, what I think three months after the disc is released largely reflects the original impact of the disc – stellar musicianship, as always, some darn impressive riffs and segments from all the players involved, and songs that largely fit the pattern of the past four Dream Theater albums. One about Alcoholics Anonymous, a political screed of some sort, and an epic to anchor the proceedings. Pretty much par for the course, but with more attention to the instrumental fireworks fitting into the song structures than was apparent on “Octavarium,” and far more cohesion than exhibited on “Train of Thought.”
What the intervening months did give me, however, was a chance to really get into a track that initially drove me nuts, namely, Constant Motion. Instead of the next installment of, “woe is the life of a rock star,” following in the footsteps of Endless Sacrifice, and Disappear, which I thought at first, it’s actually an anxious look at the ravages of various mental afflictions, including OCD. As such, the frantic paranoia of the instrumentation, which really bothered me at first, makes a lot of sense. The track is especially lifted by its instrumental midsection, which displays a latin flair, perhaps a flamenco styling, somewhat reminiscent of Jim Matheos’ work on the Fates Warning track, “Monument.”
Besides that track, the songs I liked during the first few listens remain my favorites to this day, with Prophets of War, and Ministry of Lost Souls, fighting for the coveted title of “my fave song on the disc” honors. The former attracted largely negative initial attention from Dream Theater fans for featuring a techno dance groove underlying the first couple of verses. Once past that first shock, though, I found myself really getting into the techno aspect, and the gloriously 70s disco-like touches the band adds to the proceedings, without sacrificing the rock nature of their craft. The vocal washes, the brief falsetto employed by James Labrie, all of it works, and very effectively, to prop up the highly political lyrics penned by Labrie. The song is perhaps the strongest political stance the band has taken – where previously, they went after cultish figures in tracks like, In the Name of God, in Prophets of War, Labrie directly takes aim takes on those who would profit from conflict, “Can we clean up this mess?/The loss of loved ones/A perverse request/They continue the same rhetoric/There derelicts that profit/win or lose.” The lyrics are backed up with booklet visuals depicting ants carrying a bullet on their backs. It’s not much of a stretch to infer a reference to the common people/soldiers laboring away for corporate war profiteers.
The other contender for best song on Systematic Chaos, is Ministry of Lost Souls. Musically, the band had “Muse” on the mind while composing this number, and I can only imagine that the Jennifer Love Hewitt show, “Ghost Whisperer” was on in the background when the guys were coming up with the lyrics. The track opens in grand epic style, with swelling instrumentation setting the scene for a tale about a guy who saved a girl’s life, but died for his heroics, waiting for that girl to join him in the afterlife. References to the girl “stuck not crossing over,” enhance the Ghost Whisperer reference. The track’s instrumental midsection, in my opinion, is likely the most integrated piece Dream Theater had managed to accomplish this decade. As per their usual, they achieve fireworks during the instrumental section. Unlike so many of their songs over the past five years, those fireworks don’t seem out of place with what leads into and what follows. As a fan, it’s a great sign, that the band’s still plenty capable of constructing a song where melody reigns over wankery. As a reviewer, it’s just a darn good song, effective even at 16 minutes.
In and around these tracks, Dream Theater takes on a number of interesting lyrical topics, including vampires (Forsaken) and the never-ending struggle between good and evil in, The Dark Eternal Night. The centerpiece of the disc is meant to be its bookends, parts I and II of In the Presence of Enemies. It works as a split piece, but somehow, the unified, 25-minute live version I witnessed in Milwaukee (see review) last month didn’t hold up, and as a result, the studio version has taken a hit in my book.
That said, Dream Theater is my favorite band. And while I’m enough of a realist to admit that, yes, they are capable of doing less than completely wonderful things, Systematic Chaos, in my opinion, is the best, most cohesive album they’ve delivered in the past five years at least, if not during the 21st century.
