Don

11: Space-Dye Vest

This is the final track on the record which is another ballad and is solely written by Moore. It's yet another non-progressing tune and the use of even more voice overs makes it easily the worst track on the album.

Beginning with an extremely predicable and consequently boring melody, the track doesn't get off to a good start. The chords and melody just keep ascending to the point that it becomes immensely irritating. And after that's over it then repeatedly reverses and descends – no it's not a joke. This then repeats twice and of course it ends back where we started; the root note. It's a tune that could be played by a student that just took up the piano and has simple pedal changes as well.

So the intro is simple but does that take away from the emotion Moore's trying to convey here? Well, of course it does. Just by going up scales doesn't give your ballad emotion, it just fills it with cheese, and it doesn't matter how appropriate the key it's in is.

After the repetition, effects and cymbals are added in the background as Moore changes rhythm and plays only chords for a short while. Then we're taken into what becomes the main melody line (which made its first appearance in “The Mirror”) and is accompanied by more eerie effects and a lower than normal bass drum. Soon LaBrie joins in and does a good job in expression, however, the melody doesn't seem to really do much as it only comprises of a few notes repeated over and over. Also, the reverb is a bit much here. And underneath, Moore repeats endlessly.

The next section brings backs the same chords and eerie effects from earlier but placed over the top is yet another voice over. This time it's from the film “A Room With a View” and the comparison to the lyrics this time is appropriate and it takes nothing away from the music - nothing much has been happening anyway. The song is about lost love and desperation, portrayed by obscure lyrics. When the long sample ends the second verse begins and is almost musically identical to the first. The differences are the introduction of backing vocals singing: “Oohs,” which works quite well, and more of Petrucci's distortion (this time it's just static acting as a drone and continues on almost throughout the entire song). The fact that everything else stays the same means that adding in additional layers right now doesn't achieve much.

Then we're hit with more voice overs. Since the song is written in the first person, it's presumably a personal rendition about Moore. This is relevant because of the next sample used; it's of a young girl who talks about how she was too young to work. Now this can't be personally relevant to Moore for obvious reasons, and if it's about the girl he lost (or similarly the one he found) then what does that have to do with anything?
With the next sample, Moore ridiculously compares his angst-ridden saga with OJ Simpson's, ending with “No one can say they know how he feels.” Well this could obviously be true for Moore's case but making it in comparison with OJ feels almost as if he's taking too big a slice of the cake here.

Even featuring the hilarious Conan 'Obrien doesn't make the next sample any better. It's more obscure than the rest and thus it also makes no additional impact on the listener. When that ends, Moore plays more of the same melody line and the sound becomes thinner because Petrucci's static is now the only thing accompanied. As this is happening, even more samples are added but this time they're almost inaudible: “If you're not in this house by nine o'clock, then you'd better find some place to sleep.” But wasn't this ballad meant to be about loss love, and not about someones childhood? It seems quite apparent that Moore isn't capable enough of composing music to convey his emotions, so he ineptly uses many samples - which in turn makes it an agglomeration of voice overs appearing on the entire album.

Petrucci's static eventually fades out into nothing but makes its reappearance during the final verse. It begins with a crash from Portnoy and the introduction of Myung playing drones. When LaBrie sings the well known line“And I'll never be open again,” Portnoy and Petrucci finally join in pointedly. This is an attempt to act as a pre-climax. Portnoy doesn't do to much and Petrucci just follows the main melody played by Moore.

During the climax/ending of the piece, Portnoy starts playing a straight-up beat, the backing vocals reappear and Petrucci plays the same chord at the start of every measure with his distortion seemingly even louder now. When LaBrie finishes singing, Moore takes over with more of the same and the introduction of strings finally makes the texture a lot thicker. It seems as if the entire ballad has been building up to this point, but yet with only around 30 seconds to go the listener probably feels cheated.

Then it simply just stops. But soon, Moore starts playing again and the ballad ends exactly the same irritating way it started. In the end, “Space-Dye Vest” serves as a mediocre ending to a mediocre (at best) album.

Rating: 1.5/10


Final Comments

Awake is probably a record just for metal heads that are into the mainly tuneless Metallica or perhaps Megadeth. The production and the transitions between tracks are mostly good; it is the music and song writing that is the huge let down. The lyrics could have been better and probably seem better in comparison to the incredibly poor song writing. The poor song writing exceptions are the fantastic and memorable “Innocence Faded,” the mind-boggling and perhaps the only true progressive track: “Erotomania,” and the uplifting “Lifting Shadows off a Dream.” Hardcore Images & Words fans that anticipated the album would have been greatly disappointed on the first listen and would probably only have enjoyed the previously mentioned tracks if they enjoyed “Another Day” or “Surrounded.” After the first listen - excluding aforementioned tracks - it would prove to be an almost impossible task to be able to distinguish any of the tracks or recall any stand-out moments. It's probably just as well that this album was Moore's last with the band, as things start to get a whole lot better soon thereafter.

Dream Theater have somewhat alienated their fan base hoping to create new fans by making their sound heavier and more commercialised but at the same time decided to throw in several ballads in the mix for variation. Awake is a disappointing effort and is among Dream Theater's worst recordings. It's certainly not recommended for progressive metal or progressive rock fans, but Dream Theater fans would definitely appreciate several track here and there. But nevertheless, Awake was a superior album for its time but doesn't quite hold up by todays standards, nor does it hold up at any musical level.

OVERALL RATING: 3.7/10


Miscellaneous Personal Comments:

When I seldom put it on I skip each track except the three stand-outs and maybe “Lie.”

When playing the vocal melodies on the piano it's easy to notice the drab use of notes in comparison to every other Dream Theater album.

Playing along to the tracks on guitar isn't as challenging as most of other albums. When attempting to play something I write down the notes and say “Okay so a simple ascend here and then a bend there...” but when I'm trying to write down a solo or rhythm part from Scenes from a Memory, for example, it becomes quite difficult. And the same goes when playing on the piano.

And the thing is, when I'm reading the notes on complex solos I don't say “Wow this is complex so therefore it's good,” I say “Well that's interesting, it probably should be a 'c# ' there instead of a 'd', I wonder why he did that.” And then when you learn the solos you understand that every “out-of-place” note becomes beautiful and adds emotion and if you were to change even one single note it'd all collapse. This can't be said about the mostly boring Awake solos. But this isn't to say that an entire song or album revolves around solos. But for me, intricate solos and layering are vital in adding heart to the music, and Awake failed here. Later on it becomes apparent that Petrucci has now completely mastered his craft, whereas on Awake, it's obvious that he still has a long way to go.

In no way did I decide that I hated the overall sound of Awake so therefore just nitpicked on everything. My opinion was formed from the moment I first listened to it and more or less stayed the same throughout. And the same is true for albums I love too; I wouldn't just put every little aspect in positive light just because I enjoyed the album overall.

I have obviously missed out on commenting a vast amount of musical elements, but I tried my best to include what I believed to be the most important aspects of the album.


Notes:

Took four days to write.

Word count of review: 7,951.

Estimated number of listens of the entire record: 10-15.

I don't hate all samples, I love them in “The Great Debate,” “Home,” etc, because they add meaning to the concepts and don't take anything away from what's happening musically.

Analysis of lyrical concepts were mostly omitted because the reviews were getting too long. And also because lyrical conception is more so a personal interpretation than the musical elements.

I hope that even Awake lovers will enjoy reading the review because they might find several things that they previously missed.

The above review isn't in anyway trying to insult anyones opinions or to offend the band in any way. The above is of course entirely my opinion even though I refrained from writing in the first person because that's just bad reviewing.

And finally: feel free to ask me to review any song, if you like.

By Valon Archimedes aka perfect tension