Musicianship: 10
Vocal: 9
Atmosphere: 10
Melody: 9
Originality: 9
Production: 10
CD Covers: 8

Best Songs:
01. Scene One: Regression
02. Scene Two: I. Overture 1928
05. Scene Three: II. Fatal Tragedy
07. Scene Five: Through Her Eyes
08. Scene Six: Home
10. Scene Seven: II. One Last Time
11. Scene Eight: The Spirit Carries On

9/10. A Masterpiece, but only barely, it's on the border of being an album that tried very, very, very hard but failed to be a mastepriece and only the superb technical abilities of the band save it, making it indeed a masterwork of prog. If only the two effortless, boring as hell ballads weren't here and were replaced by good songs, I would have no doubts about giving it a perfect score.

Beautiful album and great history.
In my opinion this album is perfect to make a movie, maybe in the future.

Yeah it will get popular

I like it!

The best Dream Theater album ever.

What can I say? Great story, Great Music, Great band = Great Album
a great masterpiece

This album represents what the progressive metal is.

My favorite of DT.

Well this album is the very definition of a concept, and a very good one at that. The longest songs are obviously amongst the best, but that's not to say that excellent songs such as 'Fatal Tragedy' and 'The Spirit carries on' don't prove their worth either. Both 'Through my Words' and 'Through my Eyes' I think the album could have done without, but even then that is only six minutes less of a superb album.

My first DT album (and my first prog metal album)! But I think Images And Words is a lot better, though. I feel bad for what happened to James and his voice at that time...

Under my top 3 albums of all time, just beautiful! Its a must have for everyone whos into prog metal/rock music.

This album is magical, a masterpiece of prog metal.

Absolute top of the progressive metal that ever was and will ever be, in my opinion of course . This album delivers very interesting and chilling story, progression and outstanding performance on each one of the instruments.

It they touched the glory with Images & Words, this album make them be THE GLORY!!!

If not for a few filler songs and some unnecessary instrument wankery, this would be a great album. "Fatal Tragedy" is a great piece, "Spirit Carries On" has a great solo and "Home" has this great riff and oriental feel. Other than that, nothing that touches me personally.

Written by Kangaroo Jury on 01.03.2019 at 19:55

A wankery fair by a group of megalomaniacs.

actually that's the description for Systematic Chaos
my only complaint with this album is that is a bit too long (to put it nicely).

Perfect album, a true masterpiece

This needs a movie

10/10

A very well constructed concept album, their songwriting and musicianship is at their very best here and it's no doubt the pinnacle of their career for most people, but I see this album the way I see The Wall by Pink Floyd.

As good as this album is it's not my favourite, as of all concept albums of this style, it takes time and concentration to fully appreciate it, and unfortunately I can get easily distracted and impatient at times so I have only managed to listen through the whole album in one sitting once. I've always preferd Images And Words because I can put it on any track at any time and each track is a classic in it's own right, here there's very few stand out tracks as such, more just a free flowing album.

Every time I listen to it I love it more, it's insane

Can't quite explain why it's not my favourite as it seems to be for most others..

Written by Robdog on 09.12.2021 at 10:37

Can't quite explain why it's not my favourite as it seems to be for most others..

it's not my favorite either.

Written by JoHn Doe on 09.12.2021 at 14:28

Written by Robdog on 09.12.2021 at 10:37

Can't quite explain why it's not my favourite as it seems to be for most others..

it's not my favorite either.

I agree with you both. Images and Words and Awake are far better with less instrumental wankery and superior ballads. The ballads on this one are the epitome of boredom. I'd say Train Of Though is also a better album in DT's discography.

Written by Metren on 09.12.2021 at 14:56

Written by JoHn Doe on 09.12.2021 at 14:28

Written by Robdog on 09.12.2021 at 10:37

Can't quite explain why it's not my favourite as it seems to be for most others..

it's not my favorite either.

I agree with you both. Images and Words and Awake are far better with less instrumental wankery and superior ballads. The ballads on this one are the epitome of boredom. I'd say Train Of Though is also a better album in DT's discography.

I agree
and nice to see the Moore era getting some love!

Written by Metren on 09.12.2021 at 14:56

Written by JoHn Doe on 09.12.2021 at 14:28

Written by Robdog on 09.12.2021 at 10:37

Can't quite explain why it's not my favourite as it seems to be for most others..

it's not my favorite either.

I agree with you both. Images and Words and Awake are far better with less instrumental wankery and superior ballads.

Same here.
This album is the first one I detect when I take a look at the MS Top 200 Albums and scroll down from the top for albums that are not in my personal top 200 list (2nd is Lateralus, 3rd is Red).

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 08.05.2021 at 08:21

A very well constructed concept album, their songwriting and musicianship is at their very Best, and it's the pinnacle of their career, the album overall is probably their best work no doubt, but I see this album the way I see The Wall by Pink Floyd.

As good as it is it's not my favourite, as of all concept albums of this style, it takes time and concentration to appreciate it, and I can get easily distracted and impatient at times, so I have only managed to listen through the whole album once, I've always preferd Images And Words because I can put it on any track at any time. I will have to give this album another listen to, if I ever find the time.

Yeah this is my opinion as well.
There are nice melodies here, but overall it gets too long and boring. I'll stick with Images and Words

Agreed with most of these comments. Images And Words as well as Train Of Thought are better.

Drumming in this album is out of this world

Written by 24emd on 18.01.2023 at 12:21

Agreed with most of these comments. Images And Words as well as Train Of Thought are better.

Aagh I hate myself. This album is amazing and their best early album, probably on par with ToT. Plenty of cool songs and storytelling, with probably only a few weak parts. The transition in "Strange Deja Vu" at 2:40 is on point

Written by 24emd on 22.01.2024 at 14:07

Written by 24emd on 18.01.2023 at 12:21

Agreed with most of these comments. Images And Words as well as Train Of Thought are better.

Aagh I hate myself. This album is amazing and their best early album, probably on par with ToT. Plenty of cool songs and storytelling, with probably only a few weak parts. The transition in "Strange Deja Vu" at 2:40 is on point

Nah, you're wrong. Gotta walk through mud to reach its goodness. Overall it demands your full attention as a performance. Better to consume the energy now rom the get go all the way through without dragging your feet through any slimey sound effects, actor voices or ballads.