Dopo l' esordio con l'ottimo "When Day And Dream Unite" (1989), nell'anno 1992, esce il capolavoro assoluto (fino ad adesso) dei Dream Theater, "Images And Words".
Ogni volta che lo ascolto, mi si riempie il cuore di indescrivibili senzazioni come la prima volta che lo ascoltai. Questo disco presenta alcune novità rispetto al precedente: una su tutte, è l'arrivo del cantante James Labrie che nel disco canta in maniera eccellente (romantico ed emozionante nelle canzoni lente, deciso ed aggressivo nelle altre). In questo disco, il quintetto newyorkese (per chi non lo sapesse: John Petrucci alle chitarre, John Myung al basso, James Labrie cantante, Mike Portnoy alla batteria e Kevin Moore alle tastiere) ci da piena dimostrazione delle loro abilità tecniche e compositive, con canzoni in pieno stile Progressive (noto influenze con Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis ecc...), con spunti classici e, ovviamente, metal (secondo me, più prog che metal), regalandoci un capolavoro storico. Ma passiamo ai brani: la prima canzone, "Pull Me Under", inizia con un' arpeggio della chitarra di petrucci, che cambia nel pezzo più energico dell' album, in modo che i testi (parlano della morte), siano in sintonia con la musica.
La seconda canzone è "Another Day", struggente ballad dai toni malinconici, in cui primeggia un grandissimo tastierista (Kevin Moore), ed il sublime James Labrie (bellissimo il solo di Petrucci, a mio avviso, uno dei più belli): anche qui il testo (parla della lotta contro il cancro del padre di John Petrucci) è in sintonia con le melodie, ancora più belle grazie ai vari soli di sax. Il terzo brano è "Take The Time", lungo brano caratterizzato dalle ottime armonie dei Theater, si dimostra variegato nella sua struttura (all' inizio, intro in gran stile metal, poi tratti prog e infine, pezzo strumentale con grande solo). Curiosità: come avete avuto modo di sentire, ad un certo punto del pezzo, si può udire una frase in italiano, "ora che ho perso la vista, ci vedo di più", rivolta ad un familiare della band che ha perso la vista.
"Surrounded", quarto brano del disco, si apre con un' intensa melodia di piano, synth e voce, per poi trasformarsi più energicamente, ma sempre mantenendo toni solari e malinconici (bello il solo di Petrucci). Il quinto brano, "Metropolis Pt.1, The Miracle And The Sleeper", è forse il brano più famoso della band e, sicuramente, uno dei più belli del disco (è fantastica in sede live): intro strumentale di tastiere, si fà intenso nella parte centrale per far spazio alle ottime melodie Prog, in cui ci danno dimostrazione della loro grandissima abilità tecnica e compositiva. "Under A Glass Moon", il sesto brano è un mix di Prog e metal, modellati con la loro solità bravura, e costituisce uno dei pezzi più duri dell'album, con parti veloci e tecniche, ma col solito Moore che forgia armonie e tappeti strumentali unici. Dopo la tempesta, arriva la quiete, con "Wait For Sleep", bellissimo pezzo solo per piano e voce: emozionante, malinconico, struggente, sono i molti aggettivi attribuibili a questa canzone, una delle più belle scritte da Moore (insieme a "Space Dye-Vest"). Siamo ormai volti al pezzo finale, "Learning To Live", forse il brano più variegato dell album: molto rock nella prima parte, poi spunti prog, classici, jazz e di nuovo rock e prog insieme, fino a giungere alla parte finale, caratterizzata da molte similitudini con "Wait For Sleep".
In conclusione, i cinque newyorkesi ci hanno regalato un grandissimo disco, sicuramente uno dei migliori della storia sotto l'aspetto Progressive-Metal (sono loro i fautori di questo genere, insieme a pochi altri gruppi), dandoci dimostrazione di tecnica, accuratezza, precisione, gusto, e di quanto siano bravi nell emozionare.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Pull Me Under (08:14)
Lost in the sky
Clouds roll by and I roll with them
Arrows fly
Seas increase and then fall again
This world is spinning around me
This world is spinning without me
Every day sends future to past
Every breath leaves me one less to my last
Watch the sparrow falling
Gives new meaning to it all
If not today nor yet tomorrow
Then some other day
I'll take seven lives for one
And then my only father's son
As sure as I did ever love him
I am not afraid
This world is spinning around me
The whole world keeps spinning around me
All life is future to past
Every breath leaves me one less to my last
Pull me under
Pull me under
Pull me under I'm not afraid
All that I feel is honor and spite
All I can do is set it right
Dust fills my eyes
Clouds roll by and I roll with them
Centuries cry
Orders fly and I fall again
This world is spinning inside me
The whole world is spinning inside me
Every day sends future to past
Every step brings me closer to my last
Pull me under
Pull me under
Pull me under I'm not afraid
Living my life too much in the sun
Only until your will is done
Pull me under
Pull me under
Pull me under I'm not afraid
All that I feel is honor and spite
All I can do is set it right
Pull me under
Pull me under
Pull me under I'm not afraid
Living my life too much in the sun
Only until your will is done
02 Another Day (04:24)
Live another day
Climb a little higher
Find another reason to stay
Ashes in your hands
Mercy in your eyes
If you're searching for a silent sky
You won't find it here
Look another way
You won't find it here
So die another day
The coldness of his words
The message in his silence
Face the candle to the wind
This distance in my voice
Isn't leaving you a choice
So if you're looking for a time to run away
You won't find it here
Look another way
You won't find it there
So die another day
They took pictures of our dreams
Ran to hide behind the stairs
And said maybe when it's right for you, they'll fall
But if they don't come down
Resist the need to pull them in
And throw them away
Better to save the mystery
Than surrender to the secret
Whoa ohhh
You won't find it here
Look another way
You won't find it here
So die another day
03 Take the Time (08:21)
Hold it now
Wait a minute
C'mon... whew...
Just let me catch my breath
I've heard the promises, I've seen the mistakes
I've had my fair share of tough breaks
I need a new voice, a new law, a new way
Take the time, reevaluate
It's time to pick up the pieces, go back to square one
I think it's time for a change
There is something that I feel
To be something that is real
I feel the heat within my mind
And craft new changes with my eyes
Giving freely wandering promises
A place with decisions I'll fashion
I won't waste another breath
You can feel the waves coming on
It's time to take the time
Let them destroy you or carry you on
It's time to take the time
You're fighting the weight of the world
But no one can save you this time
Close your eyes
You can find all you need in your mind
Unbroken spirit, obscured and disquiet
Finds clearness this trial demands
And at the end of this day sighs an anxious relief
For the fortune lies still in his hands
If there's a pensive fear, a wasted year
A man must learn to cope
If his obsession's real
Suppression that he feels must turn to hope
Life is no more assuring than love
It's time to take the time
There are no answers from voices above
It's time to take the time
You're fighting the weight of the world
And no one can save you this time
Close your eyes
You can find all you need in your mind
I close my eyes
And feel the water rise around me
Drown in the beat of time
Let my senses fall away
I can see much clearer now, I'm blind
"Ora che ho perso la vista, ci vedo di piu"
You can feel the waves coming on
It's time to take the time
Let them destroy you or carry you on
It's time to take the time
You're fighting the weight of the world
But no one can save you this time
Close your eyes
You can find all you need in your mind
Awww awww
Yeah...
Find all you need in your mind
If you take the time
Find all you need in your mind
If you take the time
04 Surrounded (05:30)
Morning comes too early
And night time falls too late
And sometimes all I want to do is wait
The shadow I've been hiding in has fled from me today
I know it's easier to walk away than look it in the eye
But I will raise a shelter to the sky
And here beneath this star tonight I'll lie
She will slowly yield the light
As I awaken from the longest night
Dreams are shaking
Set sirens waking up tired eyes
With the light the memories all rush into his head
By a candle stands a mirror
Of his heart and soul she dances
She was dancing through the night above his bed
And walking to the window
He throws the shutters out
Against the wall
And from an ivory tower hears her call
'Let light surround you'
It's been a long, long time
He's had awhile to think it over
In the end he only sees the change
Light to dark
Dark to light
Light to dark
Dark to light
Heaven must be more than this
When angels waken with a kiss
Sacred hearts won't take the pain
But mine will never be the same
He stands before the window
His shadow slowly fading from the wall
And from an ivory tower hears her call
'Let the light surround you'
Once lost but I was found
When I heard the stained glass shatter all around me
I sent the spirits tumbling down the hill
But I will hold this one on high above me still
She whispers words to clear my mind
I once could see but now at last I'm blind
I know it's easier to walk away than look it in the eye
But I had given all than I could take
And now I've only habits left to break
Tonight I'll still be lying here
Surrounded in all the light
06 Under a Glass Moon (07:03)
Tell me
Remind me
Chase the water racing from the sky
Always beside me
Taste the memories running from my eyes
Nervous flashlights scan my dreams
Liquid shadows silence their screams
I smile at the moon
Chasing water from the sky
I argue with the clouds
Stealing beauty from my eyes
Outside the soundness of your mind
Bathing your soul in silver tears
Beneath a blackened summer sky
Praying for time to disappear
Beneath a summer sky
Under a glass moon light
Night awaits the lamb's arrival
Liquid shadows crawl
Silver teardrops fall
The bride subsides to her survival
By your hand
I've awakened
Bear this honor in my name
Outside the soundness of your mind
Bathing your soul in silver tears
Beneath a blackened summer sky
Praying for time to disappear
Outside the soundness of your mind
Bathing your soul in silver tears
Beneath a blackened summer sky
Praying for time to disappear
07 Wait for Sleep (02:32)
Standing by the window
Eyes upon the moon
Hoping that the memory
Will leave her spirit soon
She shuts the doors and lights and lays her body on the bed
Where images and words are running deep
She has too much pride to pull the sheets above her head
So quietly she lays and waits for sleep
She stares at the ceiling and tries not to think
And pictures the chain she's been trying to link again
But the feeling is gone
And water can't cover her memory
And ashes can't answer her pain
God give me the power to take breath from a breeze
And call life from a cold metal frame
In with the ashes
Or up with the smoke from the fire
With wings up in heaven
Or here lying in bed
Palm of her hand to my head
Now and forever curled
In my heart and the heart of the world
08 Learning to Live (11:31)
There was no time for pain
No energy for anger
Sightlessness of hatred slips away
Walking through winter streets alone
He stops and take a breath
With confidence and self-control
I look at the world and see no understanding
I'm waiting to find some sense of strength
I'm begging you from the bottom of my heart
To show me understanding
I need to live life
Like some people never will
So find me kindness, find me beauty, find me truth
When temptation brings me to my knees
And I lay here drained of strength
Show me kindness, show me beauty, show me truth
The way your heart sounds
Makes all the difference
It's what decides if you'll endure the pain that we all feel
The way your heart beats
Makes all the difference
In learning to live
Here before me is my soul
I'm learning to live
I won't give up till I've no more to give
No more to give
Listening to the city
Whispering its violence
I set out watching from above
The 90s bring new questions
New solutions to be found
I fell in love to be let down
Once again we dance in the crowd
At times a step away
From a common fear that's all spread out
It won't listen to what you say
Once you're touched you stand alone
To face the bitter fight
Once I reached for love
Now I reach for life
Another chance to lift my life
Free the sensation in my heart
To ride the wings of dreams
Into changing horizons
It brings inner peace within my mind
As I'm lifted from where I've split my life
I hear an innocent voice
I hear kindness, beauty and truth
The way your heart sounds
Makes all the difference
It's what decides if you'll endure the pain that we all feel
The way your heart beats
Makes all the difference
In learning to live
Spread before you is your soul
So forever hold the dreams within our hearts
Through nature's inflexible grace
I'm learning to live
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di petrucci
Oh my God!!!!!!!! Questo cd è un vero capolavoro che passerà alla storia come uno dei più bei cd progressive.
Sono extraterrestri capaci di abbinare tecnica e melodia senza alcun problema... lasciate perdere chi vi dice che sono solo tecnica e non sostanza!
Di AR (Anonima Recensori)
Come seconda canzone si ha Another Day - la quale secondo me detiene lo scettro come migliore canzone dell'intero album.
Con questo cd la band americana abbia confermato la sua dominazione nel mondo metal-progressive!!
Di Necron
Questa musica bisogna ascoltarla non con le orecchie ma con il cuore.
Sono il miglior gruppo esistente e niente mi farà cambiare idea.
Di BrianCrow
Non sempre delle parole sono in grado di commentare le emozioni che può regalare un album come 'Images And Words'.
Fidatevi questo è in assoluto un album da possedere!
Di Altra Dimensione
Tutto ovviamente rielaborato, filtrato e Theaterizzato.
Semplicemente da pelle d'oca.
