Falling Into Infinity

1. New Millennium

2. You Not Me

3. Peruvian Skies

4. Hollow Years

5. Burning My Soul

6. Hell's Kitchen

7. Lines in the Sand

8. Take Away My Pain

9. Just Let Me Breathe

10. Anna Lee

11. Trial of Tears: It's Raining/Deep in Heaven/The Wasteland

Tracks:

New Millennium
You Not Me
Peruvian Skies
Hollow Years
Burning My Soul
Hell's Kitchen
Lines In The Sand
Take Away My Pain
Just Let Me Breathe
Anna Lee
Trial Of Tears: It's Raining / Deep In Heaven / The Wasteland

Customer Reviews:

Uneven and inconsistent, but still Dream Theater.......2007-06-29

Dream Theater's 1997 release Falling into Infinity remains to this day the band's most harshly criticized album (though for reasons I'll never understand, a lot of people seem to hate 2003's Train of Thought). The reason for this album's failings can be summed up in two words: Desmond Child. I'm not knocking him specifically (OK, maybe a little), but his "hitmaking" ilk had no business working with a band like Dream Theater in the first place. By all accounts the band was desperate for another Pull Me Under moment that would reach a wide audience, so they allowed outside songwriters and producers to tinker with the formula that made Dream Theater a great band in the first place. The result was Dream Theater's most inconsistent album, and one that disappointed a lot of fans.

I sometimes look at albums in terms of the good, the bad, and the ugly, but this is Dream Theater we're talking about, so I'll revise my criteria a bit.

The Good - Despite the most un-prog use of the word "baby", album opener New Millennium is actually a pretty good song. Peruvian Skies is also quite good, and reminiscent of something you'd find on Awake. The instrumental Hell's Kitchen and the ballad Hollow Years are also good songs. The James LaBrie-penned ballad Anna Lee is quite nice, though a bit out of character for the band. I get the feeling the band blamed LaBrie for this album's shortcomings, as it would take a full decade before they let him anywhere near the songwriting process again.

The Decent - You Not Me, Burning My Soul, Take Away My Pain, Just Let Me Breathe. These aren't bad songs per se, but they just don't reach Dream Theater's high standards. Compared to the better moments on Falling into Infinity, these sub-par tracks only serve to distract from an otherwise good album.

The Brilliant - The highlights of this album are the songs Lines in the Sand (featuring Doug Pinnick of King's X) and Trial of Tears. These two lengthy epics represent everything I love about Dream Theater - the synergy of technicality, progression, melody, and emotion. If the album contained only these songs, it would be worth 5 stars easily.

I suppose if I'm truly honest with myself, Falling into Infinity would get a 3.5-star rating, but the presence of Trial of Tears and Lines in the Sand make it worth at least 4 stars. It's uneven. It's inconsistent. It's also the album that served as a wake up call for the band and inspired them to take control of their destiny and make the kind of music their fans wanted to hear (see Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory for proof).

Most underatted DT album.......2007-06-28

This album is absolutely incredible, just like all Dream Theater albums are. Yes, it IS their worst album, but that's not saying much.

Let me start off by saying that if you want to get into DT, this is not the album to start with. DT is way far away from what they usually do in this album, so you won't get the right impression.

If you're a hardcore fan, SAVE THIS ALBUM FOR LAST. After really getting into all the other albums b/c I ignored this b/c I heard it was a flop, it was a real treat at the end.

If you're somewhat of a fan, don't prioritize it over Images and Words, Awake, or Metropolis 2.

Ok so the REAL review:

New Millenium: Wow, this is an awkward song. Loose feel, and pretty groovy, in a good way. All right, but this is DT, and when in the WORLD would they ever put the words "baby" in there music? NOWHERE but here. And it works too. Not a good intro, but there isn't anything else that would work better choosing out of the songs on this album. 9/10

You Not Me: You see, John Petrucci worked with some other non DT member in writing the lyrics, and this is what happens. Its so one-dimensional, and, I hate to say it, boring. Worst song on the album. 6/10

Peruvian Skies: Wow, this is one of the best DT songs. Its good. LaBrie isn't weak on this one either. Nice slow build to the jamming session with JP and MP. 10/10

Hollow Years: Oh man, this would have been AWESOME if it was done before LaBrie injured his vocal cords. Nice slow beautiful lyrical song. I wouldn't even classify it as metal, maybe soft rock. Catchy too, but LaBrie is real exposed and it keeps the song from scoring a 10. 9/10

Burning My Soul: Lousy lyrics. Lousy catchy little noises. This is NOT Dream Theater. Second worst song on the album, but still better than most mainstream music. 6.5/10

Hell's Kitchen: Not one of their instrumental tracks that shines like The Dance of Eternity or Stream of Consciousness, but there's nothing really bad to say about it. 10/10

Lines in the Sand: Beautiful, lyrical, unfortunately LaBrie's accident doesn't help it. 9/10

Take Away My Pain: Lovely song dedicated to JP's father. Unfortunately, LaBrie makes a few notes kind of ugly, but not too many. 9.5/10

Anna Lee: LaBrie is exposed, but he sings quite well despite his accident. Beautiful song. 10/10

Trial of Tears: Whoa. Up there with Learning to Live, a Change of Seasons, Octavarium, etc. 15/10

Very good music by amazing musicians.......2007-05-15

Very good cd...played by amazing musicians, very heavy sometimes, quite soft and commercial on some songs but overall, a very good album to listen to.

Where they started to lose me.......2007-04-18

Don't get me wrong. I really like Dream Theater. But I used to LOVE them. I LOVED them when I first heard "Images and Words" and still loved them when they released "Awake". But this album seems to be when they started to really buy their own press and position as the premier progressive metal band on the scene and be more "prog" than "metal".

I hate doing this but this is really more like 3.5.......2007-04-10

Boy, you people aren't wrong when you say that Dream Theater went a bit commercial on this one because boy did they. I, within the last year or so have really become quite the Dream Theater fan and this was one of the last DT cds to get outside of the Change of Seasons ep and I have to say I was pretty dissapointed. Not that they have to be but I found that Dream Theater was a lot less heavy on this CD outside of the final track and a couple others in between. Thing is, Dream Theater has always been one of the bands that wouldn't give in to the demand of industry standards, etc. because they just want to make good, solid music but they disobeyed themselves with this. Not that they can't do good short songs because they can, it's just a lot of songs on here don't feel like Dream Theater songs. Another thing I feel is that the CD could've cut a couple of the tracks. The early parts to the middle of the CD really has quite a bit of filler; however, I do find that the CD picks up near the end.

Anyways, I'm sort of rambling now so I'm going to end it. Basically in a nutshell, this is still Dream Theater so I can't say it's a bad cd but don't expect the usual high par musicianship you generally will get with Dream Theater. This is their weakest effort by far.