The Images And Words tour will always be my most memorable since it was the first time I saw them play live. It was a small, outdoor concert pavilion and only a few hundred people were in attendance, but the show was magical. They reached their peak on the Scenes From A Memory tour and have not looked back since.
Score is Dream Theater's fifth concert video and is, in my opinion, their most satisfying one overall. Sure, I have my complaints, mainly with the setlist, but this is definitely one extraordinary DVD. The production quality is on par with the Live At Budokan DVD, which means it looks and sounds amazing.
The performance was recorded on April 1, 2006 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Being that this was billed as their "20th Anniversary Tour," I was disappointed that the setlist focuses so much on their newer material — which I am less a fan of — and ignored many of their career highlights. I do give these guys credit for not continually repeating themselves like many other bands do, and having enough confidence in their new material to make it the focus of each tour.
The concert is divided into two main sets - the first one featuring just the band and lasting about an hour, and the second one featuring an orchestra and going on for an additional one hour and forty minutes. That's what happens when you have album-length songs to play.
It begins with the plush red stage curtain being pulled back to reveal two large screens which flash images of the band's various album covers. The pulsating keyboard riff and drum fills that begin "The Root Of All Evil," all perfectly timed with the stage lighting and strobes, makes for a killer show opening.
Right away you could feel the electric vibe emanating from the hometown crowd, which immediately energizes the band and leads to one of their most dynamic performances ever. This is in stark contrast to the rather subdued atmosphere of the Budokan show.
Check out John Petrucci's new look. He must be hanging out with Zakk Wylde a little too much because, along with his new long and scraggly goatee and slicked back hair, he has packed on about 20 new pounds of solid muscle. Quite a contrast from that gay-looking DiMarzio ad he did for Guitar World magazine recently. He looks like Bronson Pinchot. Have you seen that thing?
Article comments
1 - Lee
Nice review, it's an 18 string not a 12 string though!
2 - Tony
The most technically proficient band to grace the planet earth, of course the new dvd was amazing.
3 - Nicholas
"Dream Theater was everything I had been waiting for in a band - the progressive grandeur of Yes, the power and intensity of Metallica, the melodic charm of Boston, and the instrumental virtuosity of Rush."
Give yourself a hand, that is poetry.
4 - greenblob
ok..
call me stupid.. call me naive.. but i had never listened to Dream Theater before..
im a big fan (and player) of tech metal like Cynic, Death, Athiest..
bought this dvd.. and damn...
what a show.. not the kind of vocals im used to, but damn that guy can sing.. as for the rest of the band.. wow...
i agree, the PCM 2 chan mix is great.. much better than many many others i have heard on main stream dvd releases..
awesome review man.. it pretty much sums up the dvd.. guessing i'll be a late comer to join the dream theater bandwagon. will have to buy "images and words" in the coming days..
sorry.. a long post... but i'm just damn impressed by this..
blob..
5 - Paul Roy
Welcome to the club greenblob. Dream Theater has always enjoyed good crossover appeal, which is why they can more than hold their own with the likes of Megadeth and Fear Factory on a mostly thrash metal tour like Gigantour, while at the same time not being entirely out of place opening for Yes.
6 - Nicolas Salas
Hi..... Jordan Rudess has the best style from dream theater....... derek sherinian its the worst thing that ever hapened to dream theater
7 - mascha
yup, derek sherinian its the worst
8 - Tumpal
I have no problem whatsoever concerning this album, the set list is simply acceptable. And thats what Dream Theater is all about: Simply the best band one the surface of the world up to the stratosphere.
9 - davo
Kevin moore is better than rudess, he does wonders in Images and words. Although rudess is awesome, they should get all the guys back together for a jam sesh. Any ideas as to why they fired Dominici in the early stages?