---------------------------------------------------------------------
      Dream Theater - Score - 20th Anniversary World Tour (CD1)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Artist...............: Dream Theater
Album................: Score - 20th Anniversary World Tour (CD1)
Genre................: Progressive Metal
Source...............: CD
Year.................: 2006
Ripper...............: Exact Audio Copy   (Secure mode) & Plextor Premium 2 (-usefua)
Codec................: Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)
Version..............: reference libFLAC 1.1.4 20070213
Quality..............: Lossless, (avg. compression: 130 %)
Channels.............: Stereo / 44100 HZ / 16 Bit
Tags.................: VorbisComment
Information..........: 

Ripped by............: Millennium2000 on 9-7-2007
Posted by............: Millennium2000 on 9-7-2007
News Server..........: Giganews
News Group(s)........: alt.binaries.sounds.lossless

Included.............: NFO, MD5, M3U, LOG, PAR v2, CUE
Covers...............: Front Back CD 

---------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Tracklisting
---------------------------------------------------------------------

   1. (00:08:22) - (72,69%) Dream Theater - 01 The Root Of All Evil
   2. (00:04:11) - (72,59%) Dream Theater - 02 I Walk Beside You
   3. (00:05:22) - (71,88%) Dream Theater - 03 Another Won
   4. (00:05:56) - (71,47%) Dream Theater - 04 Afterlife
   5. (00:07:29) - (71,27%) Dream Theater - 05 Under A Glass Moon
   6. (00:05:36) - (72,91%) Dream Theater - 06 Innocence Faded
   7. (00:11:43) - (72,19%) Dream Theater - 07 Raise The Knife
   8. (00:09:46) - (63,46%) Dream Theater - 08 The Spirit Carries On

Playing Time.........: 03:40:14
Total Size...........: 416,82 MB

NFO generated on.....: 9-7-2007 13:06:12


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Mixed Bag, January 5, 2007 
By  David Johnson
     

DT is GREAT live - very tight, very exciting (with the possible detraction of 
LaBrie's flat vocals on a few albums). Score is no exception and LaBrie's voice 
is top notch on every track here. The attraction of this album is that it's an 
anniversary concert, with the addition of an orchestra. I think it fails to 
inspire on both of those counts however - I'll elaborate: 

1)Anniversary Concert: I know DT (especially Portnoy)is rabid about not 
playing the same songs live every night, and never playing the same set in 
the same city twice - and for this they are to be commended. Some bands 
release several live albums over the course of their careers featuring the 
same hit songs - what's the point? Every DT live album is unique in this sense 
and that's why there are so many live releases compared to other artists. 
HOWEVER: On a 20th anniversary CD, you would expect to find some of the 
more obvious songs such as 'Pull Me Under', or 'Burning My Soul'. Instead, the 
setlists (particularly the 2nd disc) jumps around a bit too much and isn't very 
cohesive. Six Degrees is a great choice on Disc 2, and Disc 3 featuring 
Octavarium and Metropolis make sense, but Disc 1 and the remaining tracks 
on Disc 2 leave me scratching my head a bit -mainly because: 

2) They feature an orchestra. I was worried at the outset of the Six Degrees 
overture (Disc 2 track 1) which begins the 20 minute song on a shaky leg. 
They are not tight at all - particularly the string section. Some of the runs 
here sound like a car wreck, their timing is terrible, and I believe I even hear 
a few horns that are out of tune. This is remedied however once the band 
kicks in on 'About to Crash' at which point the orchestra seems to disappear 
completely. This is probably the most terribly mixed metal band/orchestra 
combo album I've ever heard. As others have mentioned, the low strings are 
nonexistent, and the the rest of the symphony is covered up by Rudess' 
keyboards. The orchestra does shine on the quiet tracks such as 'Goodnight 
Kiss' and 'Solitary Shell' - but once Petrucci and Portnoy start doing thier 
thing, the orchestra may as well have left the building. At least it covers up 
their helter skelter timing and tuning problems. Hopefully for the 30 year 
anniversary concert DT go with Michael Kasdan (Metallica S&M) and a 
certifiable symphony like Boston or San Francisco. This was a bit of a waste 
sonically and financially I'm sure. Why didn't the setlist play to the strengths 
of a string section? Where is 'Under a Glass Moon', or 'Peruvian Skies'? I've 
been dying to hear these tracks with a full orchestra. Instead, we get 
'Vacant' - why bother? 

All that being said - get this album. It is expansive and extremely enjoyable, 
just don't expect to hear the orchestra much - and don't expect much when 
you do. 

Here's to another 20 years to the greatest prog-metal band in the world! 
---------------------------------------------------------------------

:: Generated by Music NFO Builder v1.20 - www.nfobuilder.com ::