Warthur One three-CD live album is a tall order, though a great achievement if you can pull it off. Putting out two is a bigger challenge, though if you've got a weighty enough back catalogue you can pull it off. Three? Now you're pushing it.

Dream Theater do, however, bring something extra to the table on Score to help it stand out. Live Scenes From New York, of course, had the benefit of being built around the Scenes From a Memory concept album; Live From Budokan didn't have a uniting theme and so I felt was a shade weaker, though the strength of the material and quality of the performances carried it. Here, they're performing in conjunction with the almighty Octavarium Orchestra, who kick in on Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence at the start of disc 2 and add an extra symphonic kick to the material from then on out.

It also helps that since Budokan the band had put out the rather excellent Octavarium, which provides a good chunk of material here (nearly an hour's worth, in fact). In addition, the band don't go out of their way to fill every disc to the brim - in fact, this is a shade over two and a half hours, which makes it shorter than Live Scenes or Budokan while still being a fairly epic workout. Finally, as the title implies the concert was recorded on the band's 20th anniversary tour, so they go out of their way to pull out some deep cuts from the early days, including a live rendition of Another Won - a track which had previously languished in the Majesty demo archives. (Another rarity here is Raise the Knife - an out-take from the Falling Into Infinity sessions, here to represent that stage of the band's evolution rather than the more familiar Falling Into Infinity tracks.)

Disc 1 sets the tone with the band playing by themselves prior to introducing the orchestra, with a thunderous, booming sound which fits the material nicely, whether you are talking about some of the classic 1980s prog metal-with-light-thrash-influence of the oldest tracks or the Muse-esque touches incorporated into the Octavarium sound, whilst the remaining discs use the orchestra to excellent effect. On the whole, it still feels like a bit of a marathon, and a bit too conscious of an attempt to repeat the magic of Live Scenes From New York, to earn a full five stars; I don't think you can catch lightning in a bottle twice like that, at least not consciously. That said, it comes very close.

martindavey87 They did it in 2000 with ‘Live Scenes from New York’, and again in 2004 with ‘Live at Budokan’, and come 2006, Dream Theater are at it once more, trying to outdo themselves with ‘Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour’, another three-disc live album that shows the kings of progressive metal at their very best.

“So what makes ‘Score’ any different?” you ask... allow me to explain.

‘Live Scenes...’ was focused around the ‘Scenes from a Memory’ album and a multitude of big, prog epics, while ‘Budokan’ had an abundance of heavier, more energetic and varied material. Interestingly, with the exception of a few songs, both albums had different sets, and this continues with ‘Score’. Based around the ‘Octavarium’ album and a retrospective look back at the bands career in chronological order, there is, once again, a varied set here which is different than previously.

With a fantastic production (this almost sounds like a studio release, at times), and superb performances (c’mon, it’s Dream Theater), ‘Score’ is over two hours of prog greatness. With such epics as ‘Octavarium’, ‘Metropolis’ and ‘Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence’ in its entirety, as well as often overlooked tracks such as ‘Afterlife’, ‘Innocence Faded’ and ‘Vacant’, there’s a well-rounded set here. And ‘Another Won’ and ‘Raise the Knife’, both previously unreleased on studio albums, are welcome and popular additions. There’s the “Octavarium Ochestra” in there too, which has fans raving. Though to be honest, I find their contributions a bit lacking, especially when Jordan Rudess could perform most of this on his keyboard by himself.

Overall however, ‘Score’ is another live success for Dream Theater. While ‘Live at Budokan’ remains my favourite, this, along with ‘Live Scenes from New York’ completes the perfect live album trilogy, and is a highly recommended addition to any prog collection.

AtomicCrimsonRush This 3 Cd package is jammed full of incredible prog metal from virtuoso masters Dream Theater. It is perhaps better seen with the DVD but this music still stands up on its own merits. The setlist spans the 5 year history with a symphonic orchestra augmentation. It is interesting the way the orchestra blends into the metal sound, similar to the Metallica S&M concert, or indeed Kiss Alive IV. It is always of interest when metal meets symphony. It opens with some deadset oddities such as The root of all evil, I walk beside you, Another won and Afterlife. It isn't until Under A Glass Moon that it really takes off showing the power of that brilliant track and Petrucci's amazing guitar solo. Later we are treated with The spirit carries on and the entire suite of Six degrees of inner turbulence; absolutely flawless and indispensable on the live stage. After an ovation the band belt out Vacant, The answer lies within, Sacrificed Sons and the masterpiece epic Octavarium that is quintessential to the band. The Encore: Metropolis Pt. 1 is a brilliant way of ending the concert to a rapturous crowd.

This is a fantastic concert accompanied by masterful orchestration. A must for all DT fans and I highly recommend the DVD for the full impact of this incredible performance.

progshine OK, this is a great surprise for me! Really! I am not a fan of live albuns, I prefer the studio ones.

But this album (recorded with the 'Octavarium Orchestra', specially in Six Degree Of Inner Turbulence suite) have a wonderful selection of songs (good to hear the songs from the first albuns of the band with a nice sound).

Just one things bothers me here (that's why they don't have a 5 stars), why we don't have ANY song from Falling To Infinite? I know they're no happy about that album, but hey 'New Millennium' 'Burning My Soul' and 'Trial Of Tears' are great songs.

Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence played in it's whole? AMAZING! And Octavarium too!