Dream Theater

Images And Words (Atco)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (between excellent and good)

Dream Theater are a progressive rock fan’s wet dream – the band longed for by die-hard Rush fans who were appalled by Geddy Lee’s discovery of The Police. These Berklee grads’ richly textured second album, Images And Words, brings fractured and frenzied elements of early Kansas, Rush, ELP and Marillion into the Nineties by adding Metallica-style bashing and bruising.

Virtuoso guitarist John Petrucci strings the band’s twisting and turning tracks together with a bevy of complex arrangements, which evoke every Steve (Morse, Howe and Vai) and Al (Di Meola, Holdsworth and Lifeson) you can think of. Vocalist James LaBrie deserves a mention here as well, singing flowing melodies with a passionate intensity (no easy task, considering the complexity of the rhythms and overall arrangements) that arguably makes him the hottest vocalist on the scene today. This album will absolutely take your breath away.

—Michael Moses