Ed ecco che nel 1997, dopo lo spettacolare e unico "A Change Of Seasons", i Dream Theater pubblicano "Fallino Into Infinity", il loro album più controverso. Fu pubblicato il 23 settembre del 1997. Fu registrato agli Avatar Studios di New York.

L'impressione che da l'album fin dalle prime canzoni è che il gruppo abbia messo da parte le sonorità tipicamente metal che lo hanno reso famoso. Nel disco ci sono canzoni più immediate, ballad indimenticabili, più accessibili, più orecchiabili. Ma non per questo viene tralasciata la tecnica e la bellezza dei brani. Nell'album per la prima volta nella loro carriera i Dream Theater incidono molte ballad con la classica struttura strofa - ritornello, ma senza mai mettere da parte i tipici assoli strumentali che hanno reso famoso il gruppo. Infatti molti brani dimostrano come le classiche cavalcate progressive non sono mai tralasciate.

"Falling Into Infinity" è un album solare, diretto ma molto profondo. Anche qui si nota come la band riesca ad addentrarsi in territori mai esplorati fin ora e di cavarsela alla grande. Con pezzi unici, melodici ricchi di sfumature. Testi profondi e intimi che ti entrano dentro. Un sound innovativo e attuale. La registrazione è come sempre impeccabile, il suono ottimo.

"New Millenium", "You Not Me", che in origine doveva chiamarsi "You Or Me" e "Peruvian Sky" sono tre pezzi da favola, uno più bello dell'altro. In "New Millennium" i Theater riscrivono trent'anni di progressive-rock con un pezzo spettacolare con le tastiere di Dark Sherinian sempre in primo piano. "You Not Me" ha un ritmo travolgente e immediato. Anche qui si nota come la band riesce a inserire in una ballad parti progressive. Ispirata ai Pink Floyd, soprattutto le parti di batteria è "Peruvian Sky", inizialmente con un andamento piuttosto lento, che poi all'improvviso sfocia con un supremo assolo di Petrucci. Anche qui in primo piano le influenze progressive. La ballad più bella del disco è "Hollow Years", pezzo strappalacrime molto ispirato con la splendida voce di LaBrie che anche nelle parti lente da il meglio di sé. Uno dei brani più riusciti dell'intero album. "Hell's Kitchen" è un pezzo strumentale fantastico, che da solo vale tutto ciò che di buono si dice del disco. Un andamento e una melodia mai scontata, strumenti che disegnano un'atmosfera sonora unica, indimenticabile e nostalgica. "Lines In The Sand" un altro pezzo tipicamente progressive. "Anna Lee" è un'altra ballad struggente. Chiude l'album "Trial Of Tears" una canzone di 13 minuti scritta dal bassista John Myung. Anche qui si può notare la vena creativa dei Dream Theater che riesce ancora a incntare.

Un disco molto bello, struggente e malinconico. Una prova pienamente superata dal gruppo che si conferma una delle band più famose del mondo con canzoni dirette che colpiscono per la loro bellezza.

Elenco tracce testi samples e video

01   New Millennium (08:20)

A single star behind me
A red sky burns ahead
A lonely light below me
Awake among the dead
An overwhelming feeling
Leaves me numb and strange
A sense of new beginning
I sense a wind of change

Out with the old useless
People so cold ruthless
Welcome in a new millennium
How many times must I
Live out this nightmare I
Can't wait until a new millennium

I've got this feeling
The tide is turning now baby
Funny feeling
Everything's gonna be alright now

Living out a constant deja vu
Keep your head up
Please be patient we will get to you
Keep your head up
Just have some faith and you can see it through
Keep your head up
But faith don't pay the rent that's overdue
Keep your head up
All that's glittering is turning blue
Keep your head up
What they want from me ain't gotta clue
Keep your head up
Swallow pride before it swallows you
Keep your head up
Don't dare bite the hand that's starving you
Keep your head up

How can you keep your head
And not go insane
When the only light at the end
Of the tunnel is another train

Lies ten feet tall
Have broken my fall
Welcome you all new millennium
It's well overdue
And I can't wait to
Welcome in a new millennium

I've got this feeling
The tide is turning now baby
Funny feeling
Everything's gonna be alright now

02   You Not Me (04:58)

03   Peruvian Skies (06:43)

There, there it is
I swear he's gonna murder that poor kid
Wait, I hear it again
Don't turn on the lights until we
Hear the way it ends

Under peruvian skies
Vanessa regretfully waits
The story unfolds in her eyes
Where midnight hysteria's
No big surprise
Battered and bruised
Always confusing
The love that she's losing for hate
Poor Vanessa
Poor, poor Vanessa

Hey, I hope you know
I'm taking all of this time with me when I go
Shame, you're not to blame
I'm the monster you created
In your daddy's name

Under peruvian skies
Vanessa regretfully waits
The story unfolds in her eyes
Where midnight hysteria's
No big surprise
Battered and bruised
Always confusing
The love that she's losing for hate
Poor Vanessa
Poor Vanessa

Terror by night
Liar by day
Telling her secrets
Won't take them away

Under peruvian skies
Vanessa regretfully waits
The story unfolds in her eyes
Where midnight hysteria's
No big surprise
Battered and bruised
Always confusing
The love that she's losing for hate
Poor Vanessa

04   Hollow Years (05:53)

He's just the kind of man
You hear about
Who leaves his family
For an easy out
They never saw the signs
He never said a word
He couldn't take another day

Carry me to the shoreline
Bury me in the sand
Walk me across the water
And maybe you'll understand

Once the stone
You're crawling under
Is lifted off your shoulders
Once the cloud that's raining
Over your head disappears
The noise that you'll hear
Is the crashing down of hollow years

She's not the kind of girl
You hear about
She'll never want another
She'll never be without
She'll give you all the signs
She'll tell you everything
Then turn around and walk away

Carry me to the shoreline
Bury me in the sand
Walk me across the water
And maybe you'll understand

Once the stone
You're crawling under
Is lifted off your shoulders
Once the cloud that's raining
Over your head disappears
The noise that you'll hear
Is the crashing down of hollow years

Carry me to the shoreline
Bury me in the sand
Walk me across the water
And maybe you'll understand

Once the stone
You're crawling under
Is lifted off your shoulders
Once the cloud that's raining
Over your head disappears
The noise that you'll hear
Is the crashing down of hollow years

Once the stone
You're crawling under...
The noise that you'll hear
Is the crashing down of hollow years

05   Burning My Soul (05:29)

A thorn in my side, a chip on my shoulder
A lump in my throat, the size of a boulder
The chill up my spine, can't get any colder
And you wonder why I can't smile

A knot in my gut, an ape on my back
In the heat of the moment
I'm knocked off the track
You drop the ball, I pick up the slack
And you ask me why my hair's gray

Twisting, turning
Losing all sense of yearning
Living and learning
The pressure keeps on burning my soul
Burning my soul
Burning my soul

I say it's green and then you tell me it's red
Keep your thoughts and ideas
Locked inside of your head
We've got someone
Who can think for you instead
And he sounds just like the last one

Twisting, turning
Losing all sense of yearning
Living and learning
The pressure keeps on burning my soul
Burning my soul
Burning my soul
Burning my soul
Burning my soul

Responsible thinkers
Throw caution to the wind
But I find myself
Speaking from within
I can't live my life
Walking on eggshells
To stay on your good side

Using your words
Controlling my life
Can't you see it's my words
That gives you your life
So I hurt your feelings
Well I'm really sorry
But I don't give a shit, no...

Twisting, turning
Losing all sense of yearning
Living and learning

The pressure keeps on burning my soul
Burning my soul
Burning my soul
Burning my soul
Burning my soul
Burning my soul
Burning my soul, yeah

06   Hell's Kitchen (04:16)

(Instrumental)

07   Lines in the Sand (12:05)

Sometimes, for a moment of bliss
And the passion, we're craving
There's a message we miss
Sometimes when the spirits left alone
We must believe in something
To find if we've grown

Tragic reflex, shattered calm
Static progress, senses gone
Numb awareness, final psalm

Swept away with the tide
Through the holes in my hands
Crown of thorns
At my side drawing lines in the sand

Sometimes, if you're perfectly still
You can hear the virgin weeping
For the savior of your will
Sometimes, your castles in the air
And the fantasies you're seeking

Are the crosses you bear

Sacred conflict, blessed prize
Weeping crosses, stainless eyes
Desperate addict, faith disguised

Swept away with the tide
Through the holes in my hands
Crown of thorns
At my side drawing lines in the sand

We fabricate our demons
Invite them into our homes
Have supper with the aliens
And fight the war alone
We conjure up our skeletons
Enlist the den of theives
Frightened from our closets
Then sewn upon our sleeves

In the stream of consciousness
There is a river crying
Living comes much easier

Once we admit
We're dying

Sometimes, in the wreckage of our wake
There's a bitterness we harbor
And hate for hatred's sake
Sometime we dig an early grave
And crucify our instincts
For the hope we couldn't save

Sometimes a view from sinless eyes
Centers our perspective
And pacifies our cries
Sometimes the anguish we survive
And the mysteries we nurture
Are the fabrics of our lives

Swept away with the tide
Through the holes in my hands
Crown of thorns
At my side drawing lines in the sand

08   Take Away My Pain (06:03)

I was sitting on the edge of his bed
Staring at the headlines on the paper
He said, "look at poor gene kelly
I guess he won't be singing in the rain."
You can take away my heroes
Can you take away my pain

Take away my pain
Leave the cold outside
Please don't let it rain
Don't stumble on my pride
Take away my pain
I'm not frightened any more
Just stay with me tonight
I'm tired of this fight
Soon I'll be knocking at your door

She was standing by the edge of his bed
Staring at the message on their faces
He said, "what else can you do babe?
I guess I won't be coming home again."
They just took away all my promises
Make them take away my pain

Take away my pain
Leave the cold outside
Please don't let it rain
Don't stumble on my pride
Take away my pain
I'm not frightened any more
Just stay with me tonight
I'm tired of this fight
Soon I'll be knocking at your door

His final scene
The actor bows
And all those years
Are gone somehow
The crowd applauds
The curtain fails

I was standing by the edge of the water
I noticed my reflection in the waves
Then I saw you looking back at me
And I knew that for a moment
You were calling out my name
You took away my hero
Will you take away my pain

Take away my pain
Let the cold inside
It's time to let it rain
There's nothing left to hide
Take away my pain
I'm not frightened any more
I'm learning to survive
Without you in my life
Til you come knocking at my door...

09   Just Let Me Breathe (05:28)

Open your eyes
And turn off your mind
Step right up folks and you will find
Agrowing trend
An epidemic
Spread with zen
And hypodermics

Just close your mind
You can find all you need with your eyes

The big machines take care of
You until you kill yourself
And then the sales go through the roof
Calculated, formulated
Feed my head with simple thoughts
And let me breathe instead of being taught
All bottled up and tearing at the seams
I'm bored
Just let me breathe

A daily dose of eMpTyV
Will flush your mind right down the drain
Shannon Hoon and Kurt Cobain,
Make yourself a household name

Just close your mind
You can find all you need with your eyes

The big machines take care of you
Until you kill yourself
And then the sales go through the roof
Calculated, formulated
Feed my head with simple thoughts
And let me breathe instead of being taught
All bottled up and tearing at the seams
I'm bored
Just let me breathe

Strike up your best angst ridden posture
Manufactured anger
Let's not forget my legacy
All my heroes have failed me
Now they're dead and buried

Just close your mind
You can find all you need with your eyes

The big machines will take care of you
Until the fashion fades
And the checks go through
my bank roll's red and my face is blue
And still they'll turn their backs on you for
Someone new

Feed my head
With some real thoughts
And let me think instead
Of being taught
I'll say things
You won't believe
Just stand back
Just let me breathe...

10   Anna Lee (05:52)

Helpless child
They invite your hands to fill their needs
Will you be the same
Shameless smile
To steal from you the innocence that bleeds
Will they feel your pain

Trying to believe
The scars unseen
The tears wash clean
You don't wanna breathe the air you breathe
You don't know how you'll live a life alone
She keeps holding on
Holding on to you
Let her breathe the air
Don't wanna be alone
Where do you belong
Anna Lee

Behind those eyes
The vivid scene, a lucid dream within
Questioned secrets are revealed
And every time
You can't deny the lines that trace your skin
Wounds that never heal

Trying to believe
The scars unseen
The tears wash clean
You don't wanna breathe the air you breathe
You don't know how you'll live a life alone
She keeps holding on
Holding on to you
Let her breathe the air
Don't wanna be alone
Where do you belong
Anna Lee

And now she's calling out a name
Can't keep on hiding all her pain
You feel the rain move in
As you begin
To turn and answer the call

Trying to believe
The scars unseen
The tears wash clean
You don't wanna breathe the air you breathe
You don't know how you'll live a life alone
She keeps holding on
Holding on to you
Let her breathe the air
Don't wanna be alone
Where do you belong
Anna Lee

11   Trial of Tears (13:05)

Under the sun, there is nothing to hide
Under the moon, the stranger waits inside
People disappear
The music fades away
Splashing through the rain
I'll dream with them one day
It's raining, raining,
On the streets of New York city
It's raining, raining, raining deep in heaven

I may have wasted all those years
They're not worth their time in tears
I may have spent too long in darkness
In the warmth of my fears

Take a look at yourself
Not at anyone else
And tell me what you see
I know the air is cold
I know the streets are cruel
But I'll enjoy the ride today

It's raining, raining,
On the streets of New York city
It's raining, raining, raining deep in heaven
Raining deep in heaven

I may have wasted all those years
They're not worth their time in tears
I may have spent too long in darkness
In the warmth of my fears

As i walk through all my myths
Rising and sinking like the waves
With my thoughts wrapped around me
Through a trial of tears

Hidden by disguise, stumbling in a world
Feeling uninspired, he gets into his car
Not within his eyes to see, open up, open up
Not much better than the man you hate

Carico i commenti...  con calma

Altre recensioni

Di  MetallAro

 Il principale errore, a mio parere, sta negli stupidissimi quanto inutili effetti tecnologico-futuristici, opera di Sherinian.

 Hell's Kitchen è un capolavoro strumentale veramente bello ed indiscutibile, la più bella traccia del disco.


Di  petrucci

 Nonostante molta gente sottovaluti questo disco bisogna dire che rivela sempre nuove ed interessanti sorprese.

 Hell's Kitchen è una delle migliori canzoni strumentali dei Dream Theater, non stanca neanche dopo molti ascolti.


Di  Dreamtheater

 "Hell's Kitchen è certamente la miglior cosa dell'album e una delle più belle strumentali del quintetto americano."

 "Non si può definire un fallimento perché le buone idee sono presenti, ma neanche un capolavoro per ovvi motivi."


Di  splinter

 Se non vi piace vuol dire che siete troppo tradizionalisti e poco aperti alle innovazioni.

 Dai, poi così tanto male questo disco non è; spero che questa recensione costituisca un invito a rivalutare quest'album.


Di  Federico95

 Dopo aver sentito Trial Of Tears si ha come una sensazione di vuoto...

 "You Not Me" è uno dei peggiori pezzi mai scritti dai Dream Theater.