Dream Theater closed out the first set of each concert on this tour with their semi-hit single "Pull Me Under," and this is what concludes this DVD. For some reason, I still have yet to hear a live version of "Pull Me Under," that I like as much as the original Images And Words version. Again, I think it was Petrucci's guitar tone on that album, and probably because I was so blown away by the song when I first began hearing it on the radio back in 1992.
Although the DVD running time is about 90 minutes, the live performances only make up a little more than an hour of that. The audio has been remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround for this DVD, and it brings a huge improvement over my original VHS version. The video looked reasonably good, and the camera work was superb.
The DVD also includes a new full-length band commentary track, which was recorded in April 2004 while they were back on tour in Japan, and it can get pretty hilarious at times. While the band was all commenting on their appearances at the time, Portnoy chimes in with "look at my hair!...it's like twice the size of my body." That's exactly what I was thinking as I was watching the concert.
Images and Words: Live In Tokyo captures an awesome performance by one of the world's most influential progressive-metal bands, just as they were breaking onto the scene. The fact that you can now get this together with their 5 Years In a Livetime video, all in the same package, makes it an absolute steal. So steal it already!
Set List
1. Under a Glass Moon
2. Wait For Sleep
3. Surrounded
4. Ytse Jam
5. To Live Forever
6. A Fortune In Lies
7. Puppies On Acid/Take The Time
8. Pull Me Under
Ratings:
Performance 8/10
Production 7/10
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