Dream Theater + Vinyl = Auditory Pleasure

Full disclosure; I'm a huge Dream Theater fan. I wouldn't quite say I'm a fanboy though, I actually hate "Train Of Thought. Suffice to say they're one of my favorite bands, and I'm always on the lookout for DT records. Prog metal at its best imo. Two recent finds from this awesome band follow.

 

First up is a European 7" promo record. This was distributed to radio stations in 2007 to promote Dream Theater's European tour with Symphony X opening. The A side is "Forsaken" from "Systematic Chaos", not the best song on the album but pretty good stuff. Unfortunately the "Systematic Chaos" vinyl was too compressed and it doesn't sound nearly as good as it could, this is no different.

The B side is Symphony X's excellent song "Set The World On Fire" from their 2007 album "Paradise Lost". I also LOVE Symphony X, partially because their from a few towns away from me in New Jersey, mostly because they're a killer prog/power metal band with a lion of a front man and the enemy of the Ninja Turtles on guitar(Shredder, get it?). Sounds a ton better than side, it's not compressed or anything.

 What we have here is pretty much the greatest thing that's happened in a LONG time, "Scenes From A Memory" vinyl! This is part of the Record Store Day Black Friday event, but mine came today from the label. I pre ordered this as soon as it was made available, and they did say it would ship out early but I didn't think it was this early! Seems it's still available from Brookvale Records.  

 

 As you can see the presentation is spot on. The artwork isn't some stretched, pixalted version of the cd cover like a shitty Back On Black pressing(never buy anything from that label), it looks really beautiful. Two LPs are housed in a nice gatefold, which I'm sure is necessary for an album as long as this one. Oh, and you can see the hand numbering on the back cover; mine is 2833/3000.

This record is sonically mind blowing, and I'd assume the source for this pressing was the original master tapes. It wouldn't sound nearly this good with any other source. I love this album its one of my top 5 of all time, but listening to this version I'm hearing subtleties and nuances in the sound that I've simply never heard on the cd.

"Scenes From A Memory" is an absolute masterpiece of prog rock/metal, yes it is. A concept album that rivals "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" in storytelling, and "Operation: Mindcrime" in composition, this is a real beast. I'm waiting for a Dream Theater reunion with Mike Portnoy so they can do a full stage production of this album, it really does beg to be performed in a theater(good pun). If you can't tell this an album worth owning, and I'm really happy someone had the good sense to put out a proper vinyl release of it.