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Dream Theater
Greatest Hit…And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs
(Rhino Records)
Okay, okay...so I know I’ve asked this before, but do you really remember where you were the first time you heard Dream Theater? I do. In fact, I remember it as if it were just yesterday. The year was 1997, the weather was obscenely hot and the beer was ridiculously cheap and mind-numbingly cold. After several failed attempts at broadening my admittedly limited musical horizons, I opted to purchase a copy of what was then the group’s latest release (the inexplicably overlooked Falling Into Infinity) from those brain-dead hacks at the BMG Music Service. Once my bastardized version of the disc in questioned at long last landed on my doorstep, I wasted little time diving headlong into the musical abyss that awaited me. Roughly seventy five minutes later, I found myself hopelessly hooked, leading to the beginning of a long and disturbingly obsessive love affair.
On the brilliant Greatest Hit…And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs (2008), an expertly assembled twenty two song, two disc collection of genre-defying Progressive Heavy Metal, each track, beginning with a 2007 Remix of the Shakespearian-fueled “Pull Me Under”, the searing “Peruvian Skies”, and the awkwardly-titled (albeit blissfully mosh-inducing) “The Test That Stumped Them All”, immediately commands the rapt and undivided attention of all parties involved, myself most definitely included. Effortlessly swaggering through a delightfully in-depth collection of both ‘…light and dark…’ (i.e. heavier and not-so-heavy) material that swiftly spans much the group’s pioneering twenty five year long (!) career, the quintet once again easily scores major points early and often without bogging down amid their own already oft-documented virtuosic aspirations.
Continuing with the haunting “Endless Sacrifice”, the relentlessly pummeling “The Root Of All Evil” (from 2005’s arguably lackluster Octavarium) and a 2007 Remix of the maddeningly infectious “Another Day”, the steadfast--to say the very least--combination of vocalist James LaBrie, guitarist John Petrucci, keyboardists Jordan Rudess (Dixie Dregs and Liquid Tension Experiment), Kevin Moore and Derek Sherinian, bassist John Myung and drummer Mike Portnoy steamroll ahead like the well-oiled machine they have so obviously become. Wisely foregoing the embarrassing cash-in ‘…compilational…’ ploys so often embraced by their few would-be contemporaries, the group deftly delivers an impossibly varied sonic cocktail laced with a mind-boggling array of razor-sharp riffs and solos and a virtual tidal wave of imaginatively punishing rhythms.
Produced, mixed and engineered by a veritable dream team of David Prater, John Purdell & Duane Baron, Kevin Shirley, Portnoy and Petrucci, other standouts, including the stunning, emotionally-charged “Hollow Years”, an edited version of the soaring, acoustic-tinged “Solitary Shell”, and the equally impressive closer “Disappear”, offer a wealth of compelling further sonic evidence in support of the group’s already well-deserved reputation as a creative force to be reckoned with. With the majority--if not all--of the impressively multi-dimensional wares contained herein effectively serving as a curiously long-overdue testament of the group’s now trademark ‘…thinking man’s…’ approach, the resulting rarity-laden behemoth that is Greatest Hit… ultimately delivers the proverbial goods without somehow overly focusing on a particular album or era.
So what’s wrong? You’re still not convinced? Seriously…do yourself (and thus those in your immediate vicinity) an indescribably huge favor and pick this little ‘…monster…’ up. An absolute must-have for even the most casual of fairweather fans (or, for that matter, anyone with a genuine and sincere interest in all things Prog or Prog-related), the carefully calculated ferociousness and breathtaking precision at the smoldering epicenter of each undeniably exhaustive composition is seemingly guaranteed to leave all parties involved only wanting for more. Consequently, if you’ve once again found yourself in search of a refreshingly thought-provoking alternative to the painfully bloated, Hip Hop-infused excesses of the so-called mainstream, then this, my friends, might just be the high octane cure for what ails you. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
Select Discography
Greatest Hit…And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs (2008) **
Systematic Chaos (2007) **
Score (2006) **
Octavarium (2005) **
Live At Budokan (2004) **
The Majesty Demos 1985 - 1986 (2003) ***
Train Of Thought (2003) **
Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (2002) **
Metropolis 2000: Live Scenes From New York (DVD) (2001) **
Live Scenes From New York (2001) **
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory (1999) **
Once In A LIVEtime (1998) **
Falling Into Infinity (1997) **
A Change Of Seasons (EP) (1995) **
Awake (1994) **
Live At The Marquee (EP) (1993) **
Images And Words (1992) **
When Dream And Day Unite (1989) *
* features vocalist Charlie Dominici
** features vocalist James LaBrie
*** features vocalist Chris Collins