Review of Falling Into Infinity by Dream Theater

Falling Into Infinity is a bit softer than the music on some of Dream Theater’s other albums, but it does get a little heavy on the song “Peruvian Skies.”  Other highlights include “Hollow Years,” “Lines in the Sand,” and” Take Away My Pain.”  Detractions include “You Not Me,” and “Burning My Soul.”  However, overall Falling Into Infinity is a tremendous album.

Rated in order:

Five Stars, 1.  Dream Theater by Dream Theater

Five Stars, 2.  Awake

Five Stars, 3.  Octavarium

Five Stars, 4.  Images and Words

Five Stars, 5.  A Dramatic Turn of Events

Five Stars, 6.  Systematic Chaos

Five Stars, 7.  Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory

Five Stars, 8.  Train of Thought

Five Stars, 9.  Falling Into Infinity

Four Stars, 10.  When Dream and Day Unite - Get the "Official Bootleg - When Dream and Day Unite."  It is far better.

Four Stars, 11.  Black Clouds & Silver Linings

Four Stars, 12.  Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - Get the totally awesome "4 Degrees of Radio Edits," and/or "Score" instead.

***** The Thirteen Petalled Rose by Adin Steinsaltz – History Should Remember This Work Fondly

After reading this book, I definitely have to concede that it deserves a spot among my top 10 most favorite books though admittedly it is not #1.  Steinsaltz is probably the Maimonides of his generation.  The words of The Thirteen Petalled Rose exude like a magnificent display of fireworks.  However, The Thirteen Petalled Rose is a very difficult book.  Adin Steinsaltz is not easy reading.  I would say that it is his precision that makes this work difficult to comprehend in the same way I felt The Essential Talmud was difficult to comprehend.  I guess that much does not need to be said, for those are the people who will purchase this book, take a crack at reading it, become frustrated, and put it down.  Given the popularity of Kaballah, that is how the author will get much of his funds.  However, I don’t believe that was his mission at all, for as we know, not all pennies are created equal.

I wanted a hard copy of this work because I knew from the other rave reviews of this work that I wanted to have a printed copy of it, rather than just an electronic book.  If someone spots this book on my shelf, and has heard of it, I think it seeing its presence will possibly spur great conversations.

That I was able to read it, and benefit from it is probably due to all those countless hours I have toiled in Tanya study.  Otherwise, I may have become overwhelmed.  Additionally, The Thirteen Petalled Rose should not take the place of daily Tanya study though it has some information that the Tanya does not, and it is key information, especially since I can’t consider myself frum from birth.

*** Spock’s Beard by Spock’s Beard – Not Technical Enough To Draw My Praise

If an album is a good technical album, like any progressive rock album should be, you should be able to listen to is far more times than this one.  The song that says, “Photographs and fallen leaves,” I have to admit was very catchy to me at first.  However, like the rest of the songs on this album, they are only worth a moderate amount of listens and then you might as well dispose of the album.  True, I was captivated at first, but unlike some other prog rock bands like Rush, Queensryche, and Savatage, I did not get much more than a fizzle of solid enjoyment from this album.

* Gentle Hearts by Greg Howe, Tetsuo Sakurai, Dennis Chambers – I Guessed a Winner, But…

This album does have some decent chops, and is not a total loss.  However, I recommend that folks look elsewhere, as there are a gazillion albums with decent chops (more than one could hope to digest in a lifetime).  Usually, both Greg Howe and Dennis Chambers are artists that never fail to produce greatness, but the album only has one song that is good, while it has several songs that range from mediocre to terrible.  Thus, since there is so much else out there that is good, I advise overlooking this one.

*** My Life by Bill Clinton (audiobook) - Some Contradictions and a Deplorable Delivery

Clinton paints a complex picture full of out of the box predicaments.  Much of it is lacking.  Clinton is not eager to forgive the Republicans, though he embraces humanity in its sinful nature, which is not a contradiction until Clinton adds that he does this in order to form a more perfect union.  Put 1 and 1 together and he might have well just say, “I, myself, am a sinner.  I don’t forgive sinners for the sake of unity.”

His delivery is charismatic, but also predictable in the same way as that of Martin Luther King.  Nearly every sentence starts with a low note, quickly rises and then trails to lower pitches, with occasional rises on the downward trail.  At one time, I fell asleep listening to this incessant pattern over and over.  A typical delivery of Clinton goes as follows (I made up the words), “I (low tone) found (middle tone) some (high) hope (high).  Then (middle), the Republicans (middle) attacked my character (low), and (middle) the hope (low) went away (lowest tone).”

**** Whargoul by Dave Brockie – A true testimony to the power of Jesus.

The main character, “Whargoul” heads straight for gore very much the same way a soldier’s courage might drive him straight to the center of wartime conflict, such that this book satirically delves into the seemingly amoral nature of being a soldier through satire in the same way that The Prince by Machiavelli delves into the amorality of politics.  This book crosses the line between the sacredness and profanity of wartime killing, and immorality that often reportedly happens during war.  The book often reverses and confuses right and wrong in an environment where discernment is next to impossible because of immersion in gore similar to the Garden of Eden in Genesis.  Whargoul, knowing nothing but gore, first innocently engages in immorality for lack of discernment, sometimes concluding what he has done is wrong, but that he did the immoral thing because he learned wrong before right.  Whargoul has no parents, which similar to Adam.  Whargoul rapes, which is similar to Genesis: “This is bone of my bones.”  Whargoul eats a baby, which is similar to eating the forbidden fruit Genesis.  Then, Whargoul murders, which is similar to the Genesis story of Cain, and his life is cursed and bitter toward God, similar to the curse of Cain. As in the song off GWAR’s Ragnarok album goes, Whargoul is, “Uncool,” in the way that Machiavelli’s Prince, is not cool.  Finally, at the end Whargoul becomes a Christian.

*** Gretchen Goes to Nebraska by King’s X – Good, but There Are More Complex Prog Rock Bands.

I favor what is more complex, just as a matter of personal preference.  I think King’s X are  good band, and though you probably won’t love them, they won’t disappoint you either.

When I listen to this album I can’t help but think that King’s X is incorrectly billed.  To me, King’s X does not seem like a Prog Rock band.  The music comes up just shy of why I would deem as Progressive Rock.  When I think of Prog Rock, names that come to mind are Rush, Dream Theater, Planet X, Queensyrche, and Ring of Fire.  There is no way that this album is in the same league as what those bands and several others regular output.  That actually might be a plus for King’s X, because sometimes complex music can be exhausting to listen to.  That said, compared to what you are likely to hear on the radio, King’s X is probably more complex than what the local rock station will consistently play.

I don’t hear anything different from King’s X and many other bands that are just considered to be rock.  Take for instance maybe the Dave Matthew’s Band, Chicago, or Steely Dan.  They aren’t billed as progressive rock, even though there music is superior, in my opinion to King’s X.  For example, I estimate the complexity of this band as slightly above or at the level of the rock band AC/DC.  I’ll also add that they rock fairly hard.

This makes me suspicious that this band was billed as a progressive rock band instead of a rock n’ roll band because corporate America correctly estimated that this is a way that they could achieve more sales, all the while not offending anyone, and filling a very small niche, which might be termed a Pseudo Progressive Rock.  That is, there is a gazillion Indie bands, but there aren’t so many Prog Rock bands, and that is probably because many musicians prefer to play jazz and classical to rock, especially from the generations King’s X appeals to.

As a general rule those that like progressive rock in my experience have a much more voracious appetite for music, and would be more likely to give a band that they had never heard of a chance, even though they had never heard them before.  Unfortunately, I have yet to hear of a radio station that specialized in Progressive music, and it is such that this whole genre while at the national level, is virtually what many would call underground.  That is, while the market is saturated with Indie rock bands and has been for some time; it is not saturated with Progressive Rock bands, and though the number of Progressive Rock fans are far outnumbered by Rock fans, there is a market for bands that can sneak in under the billing of being a Progressive Rock band, and be more likely to make a living through a marginally questionable categorization.

This is a trend that I feel is quite common in music.  For example, Stratovarious is billed as Progressive Power Metal, but realistically there is hardly any difference from them and bands like Hammer Fall that don’t  claim to be progressive and play “Power Metal,” and the same is true that Stratovarious as a Progressive Rock band fails to achieve the complexity of Metallica, Slayer, or Megadeth when they are playing speed metal. 

**** Madness by Tony MacAlpine – Better Than What I Usually Hear On the Radio Waves

This album is much in the style of Joe Satriani.  However, it is better.  MacAlpine’s skills are nothing short of astonishing.  It is difficult to describe why, except that the musicians seem to be more in synch.  I would definitely say that though the drums on Madness are reminiscent of whoever drums for Satch, but they are generally more complex and also boldly unafraid to be assertive than what Satch allows his drummers to play.  I wouldn’t be surprised if MacAlpine counted Satch as one of his favorite musicians when he crafted this album.