Released: 1994
Tracks: 6:00; Caught in a Web; Innocence Faded; Erotomania; Voices; The Silent Man; The Mirror; Lie; Lifting Shadows off a Dream; Scarred; Space-Dye Vest
Best track: Lifting Shadows off a Dream
Track to skip: absolutely none
Damn, how excellent is this? I love every note of this thing. This is officially DT’s 3rd release, but most people know it as #2 since most people aren’t aware of When Dream… I think it’s better that way. Anyway, from the first listen of this it was very evident that it is better than Images and Words. It’s considerably longer (74 minutes total), but for some reason it all sounds more concise. No, ‘direct’ is a better word. Where there was a lot of showoff-ness on I&W, on Awake it really sounds like every little nuance is supposed to be here and nothing goes on for too long. Another way of saying all that is the songwriting on this one is stellar and a huge improvement. Also, while there are absolutely a lot of solos on here, none of them are really pretentious like could be said about I&W. I don’t think these guys are pretentious or anything, but if someone were to say that about the amount of solos on I&W, I wouldn’t disagree. On Awake, however, it’s all really concise.
Something I’ve always loved about Dream Theater, and more so on this album, is how every member contributes to the lyrics. Petrucci is still the main lyricist, but the other 4 (including LaBrie for a change) also write lyrics. And, to make it even better, as a band they write GOOD lyrics. Not a bunch of stupid love songs, but serious, thoughtful and intelligent lyrics. Dream Theater is one of the few bands out there that really puts as much effort in the music as they do the lyrics. It’s a rarity, that’s for sure. After this album, the guys lose a lyrical voice that hasn’t yet been filled. This was keyboardist Kevin Moore’s last album (the lyrics to 6:00 sum up nicely what he was going through in making his decision to leave the group) who quit right after they finished this. For Awake and I&W I’d say both he and guitarist John Petrucci split the lyrics evenly. Since Moore’s departure, neither of the keyboardists have written any lyrics that I’m aware of. True LaBrie has stepped up and written more, but Moore is a much better lyricist.
So, what we have on this album are focused and tight songs (don’t look at the times, listen to the music), superb lyrics, more than superb musicianship, huge confidence, bigger production budget, etc. etc. etc. All that adds up to not only a large improvement over Images & Words, but also DT’s best album to date. I hope that someday they top this one; that’s an exciting idea if they can. But for now, this is their best. Awake is an excellent album.
Rating: 97
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