Dream Theater – ‘Lie’ (EastWest)

The most successful single off last Dream Theater album Images And Words was the radio edit version of ‘Pull Me Under.’ With that in mind, it only makes sense to expect that new album Awake features shorter, heavier songs, right? Wrong. If anything, Awake (produced by John Purdell and Duane Baron) is even more complex than Images – but it is more aggressive. Songs like ‘Mirror,’ ‘6:00’ and first single ‘Lie’ combine the band’s newfound sense of aggro-crunch with their natural instinct for melody. The result? Dream Theater reach a new level of sonic density. This one’s a winner.

—MM