Dream Theater: Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The music of Dream Theater -- a metal-flake blend of Styx drama and ELP grandeur -- seems to divide listeners into "love 'em" and "hate 'em" camps. The band's sixth album, an ambitious double-CD titled Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, is unlikely to alter that dichotomy. The thing is, with Dream Theater, you know what you're getting: musical virtuosity and technical perfection. The five songs on Disc One have all of the above in spades, with "The Glass Prison" and "Misunderstood" ranking among the best songs in Dream Theater's catalog. It is on the second disc's all-encompassing title track, however, that the group really brings it on home. Less a song than an eight-part spiritual pilgrimage, "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" is a gorgeous conceptual masterpiece exploring the many facets of mental illness. Despite the seriousness of the material, lyrics are poetically matter-of-fact, but never morose or too heavy handed. Musically, influences as disparate as Pink Floyd, Metallica and Yes creep in and lend an uplifting feel to the work. For fans of Dream Theater, it is "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" that will separate the zealots from the mere enthusiasts.

GAIL WORLEY
(January 28, 2002)