DREAM THEATER — A Change of Seasons (review)

DREAM THEATER — A Change of Seasons album cover EP · 1995 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Stooge
A Change of Seasons is an EP that set Dream Theater off in a direction that many (including myself at times) ridicule them for at times with their willingness to embrace the double-digit, epic in length song form. Having grown up listening to the likes of Yes’ “Close To The Edge” and Rush’s “2112”, Dream Theater were dying to make their own version of such tracks. This being their first real stab at it, and having taken care and around 5 years to perfect it, I think they did a wonderful job with it.

The sections really flow great into one another, contrasting from something like the second disc of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, which sounds less fluent and more like shorter songs stapled together. James Labrie’s voice is in excellent form, bringing a calming and emotional delivery that is a perfect match for the lyrical tone and musical structure. The band’s chops are well tuned to add an appropriate amount of technicality and spice to the proceedings without undermining the beauty of the composition. Of course, when performed live, they can’t resist going the extra mile in the instrumental sections, but that’s the charm of the Dream Theater concert experience.

One complaint I have is during some of the heavier passages, the sound gets a bit muddy. The cleaner passages are given much better treatment in the mix. Aside from that, I’m very pleased with the song.

The rest that follows is a series of cover songs that extend this EP to LP length. I basically consider them as bonus tracks, so they don’t play that much into how I rate this recording. Each is well performed, and I didn’t even realize they were recorded live when I first heard the EP, despite the crowd noise that kicks off “Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”.

Three of these “bonus” songs come in the form of medleys, one a blend of 2 Elton John songs, one a combination of 3 Led Zeppelin songs and the other being a wide range of rock artists. Some of their song choices aren’t the most obvious candidates for a heavily prog influenced band to cover (in particular the Elton John, Journey, and post-Hackett Genesis), but they do great justice to the originals and they blend well within the band’s sound. The one non-medley over, Deep Purple’s “Perfect Strangers”, is also a good fit.

A strong EP that’s easily worth a prog rock/metal fan’s money and time.
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