Originally published in Rock Style magazine 13 · 1995
A Change of Seasons review
ReviewTranslated3 min read
Translated from the original language with Google Translate, so the wording may differ from what was actually said.
Dream Theater
A Change Of Seasons (EastWest/WEA)
Rating: 2 out of 5
What? Is Dream Theater already looking back at its past? Or perhaps just its origins? One might think so. In fact, this rather strange new album seems primarily intended to reveal what that past was like and to revisit those origins. The American quintet has gathered here one original composition and a series of covers of some of the greats of their genre. ‘A Change Of Seasons’, the title track, is a 23-minute epic written some time ago and which Dream Theater hadn’t been able to – or wanted to – include on any of their albums until now. In fact, there are so many sections that one gets lost. You practically fall asleep during the intro, and things quickly devolve into (mere?) technical virtuosity. It’s not enough to have a unifying theme and simply string together sections that have little to do with each other to create a successful piece like this. These guys have probably never heard ‘The Collector’ by Twelfth Night... And then, while the band explains in the booklet that they wanted to recapture the atmosphere and sound of Images & Words, we end up with an ersatz Awake; everything here is cold, sterile... especially singer James LaBrie. Then there are the covers and the medley of Led Zep, Deep Purple, Queen, Genesis, and others. It’s all interesting, faithful to the original versions, although a bit bland... and above all, it feels like an afterthought. This part of the CD was recorded during a kind of giant jam session organized by Dream Theater, with people like Steve Howe or members of Marillion. We would have liked to have been there too...
—Jean-Philippe Vennin
Original text
Dream Theater
A Change Of Seasons (EastWest/WEA)
Note : 2 sur 5
Comment ? Dream Theater serait déjà à la recherche de son passé ? Ou, seulement, de ses origines ? On pourrait le croire. En fait, ce vrai/faux nouvel album semble surtout destiné à révéler ce que fut ce passé et à revisiter lesdites origines. Le quintette américain a regroupé ici une composition maison et une série de reprises de grands de leur monde. ‘A Change Of Seasons’, le titre, est un morceau à tiroirs de 23 minutes écrit il y a un moment déjà et que Dream Theater n’avait pu – ou voulu – placer sur un de ses albums jusque là. En fait, il y en a tellement, de tiroirs, qu’on s’y perd. On s’endort pratiquement des l’intro, et les événements tournent rapidement à la (simple ?) démonstration technique. Il ne suffit pas d'avoir un thème-fil rouge et de coller au milieu des parties n’ayant pas grand chose à voir entre elles pour réussir un morceau de ce genre. Ces gars là n’ont peut-être jamais entendu ‘The Collector’ de Twelfth Night... Et puis, alors que le groupe explique dans le livret avoir voulu retrouver l’ambiance et le son d’Images & Words, on se retrouve face à un ersatz d’Awake : tout ici est froid, aseptisé... surtout le chanteur James LaBrie. Restent les reprises et le medley de Led Zep, Deep Purple, Queen, Genesis et consorts. Le tout est intéressant, fidèle aux versions originales, quoiqu'un peu mou... et surtout trustant : cette partie du CD fut enregistrée le soir d’une espèce de jam géante organisée par Dream Theater, avec des gens comme Steve Howe ou des membres de Marillion. On aurait aimé en profiter aussi...
—Jean-Philippe Vennin