Dave Ling reckons you’ll have to get up early in the morning to find a better Prog Rock album than the new Dream Theater release!

Dream Theater

Awake (EastWest 7567 901 262)

One cursory listen to ‘6:00’, the opening cut on Dream Theater’s long-awaited third studio album, will tell you everything you need to know. Just two minutes is an it’ll take to leave you in no possible doubt as to whether you can be into this band or not. You will know if they are, in fact, an aural orgasm or the Devil incarnate. ‘6:00’ pulsates with vast crescendos of powerful sound; razor-sharp guitars, some breathtakingly rustic Keith Emerson-style Hammond organ, vocals that effortlessly flit between a banshee wail and a rougher tougher, almost Industrial rasp.

Frontman James LaBrie – a lone Canadian in a band of Long Island, New Yorkers – recently revealed that during the sessions which spawned the quintet’s last studio album, 1992’s Images And Words, he had experimented with some far harsher tones, only for the producer to foolishly omit them in the final mix. There’s no mistaking the progression this time, LaBrie handles the heavier stuff effortlessly and still manages to sound like George Michael on the wistful acoustic ballad ‘The Silent Man’!

Yeah, in vocal terms, Awake is a way more diverse album than anything the band have attempted before. It’s also their heaviest further emphasising the raunch that has been evident on past tracks like ‘Pull Me Under’. Dream Theater have never liked being described as Progressive Rockers – pretty naïve when you play 20-minute songs and your drummer thinks he’s the natural successor to the crown of Rush’s Neil Peart. But although this mighty 75-minute collection is suitably Pomp-tastic and pretentious, John Petrucci throws in enough heavy duty axework to make even Yngwie Malmsteen gawp with jealousy. Listen to the start of ‘The Mirror’ and tell me it ain’t as heavy as anything on the last couple of Pantera albums. But while Petrucci’s solos are about as understated as the average million dollar Schwarzenegger blockbuster, he also appreciates when to take a backseat to the lush melodic keyboard contributions of the sadly departed Parp King, Kevin Moore.

Put simply, if you liked Images And Words, you’re gonna adore Awake’. It’s crammed full of stunning playing ‘n’ gobsmacking vocals, plus it’s got bucketloads of sensational material. The grandiose ‘Caught In A Web’ is quintessential Dream Theater, featuring a typically soaring vocal line from LaBrie. A fantastically ambitious trilogy that combines ‘Erotomania’, ‘Voices’ and ‘The Silent Man’ proves that DT have nothing to fear from Queensrÿche, who were enjoying a long vacation while the success of Images And Words took everybody by surprise.

Only Dream Theater could end an album with a tune about somebody who falls madly in love with a photograph of a model in a fashion magazine, and all the inner mental tension and angst such a sad development would inspire. In Awake, they’ve made a platter that should win them new fans without compromising their much-valued integrity. It’s definitely heavy enough and undoubtedly their most adventurous work to date. However, one harbours the suspicion that it’ll still be way too complex for the average Metallica meathead.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (between ‘Absolutely Essential!’ and “Buy Or Die!’)