| Falling Into Infinity | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cover art by Storm Thorgerson |
||||
| Studio album by Dream Theater | ||||
| Released | September 23, 1997 | |||
| Recorded | June 2–July 30, 1997 Avatar Studios, New York |
|||
| Genre | Progressive metal, progressive rock | |||
| Length | 78:12 | |||
| Label | EastWest | |||
| Producer | Kevin Shirley | |||
| Dream Theater chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Metal Storm | [2] |
| Metally | [3] |
| Sea of Tranquility | [4] |
Falling Into Infinity is the fourth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released in 1997. It was recorded in 1997 at Avatar Studios in New York. The album continued the more progressive metal sound of Awake, but to much less critical and commercial acclaim. It is also the only studio album to feature keyboardist Derek Sherinian, aside from his collaboration on the previous EP A Change of Seasons (1995). This is the only Dream Theater album to date besides "When Dream and Day Unite" that does not feature the Dream Theater name written in its signature font. [5]
One of the first pieces of music Sherinian brought to the band during the writing sessions were the opening solo and main riff to "Lines in the Sand". Sherinian still plays it during his live shows with Planet X and for his solo career to this day. James LaBrie's limited vocal range after rupturing his vocal cords is shown on the album, with most of the vocals being in the lower range, in contrast to earlier releases which were often high-pitched.
Contents |
Despite Awake's relative success, the band was not quite happy with its darker sound, which resulted in the band going back to New York to record Falling Into Infinity. Their record label pressured the band to write a more commercial album, much to the band's dismay. The album was originally intended to be a 140-minute double album, containing a 21-minute sequel to "Metropolis, Pt. 1" from Images and Words, but the record label refused to release such an album and even recruited Desmond Child to help the band re-write "You Or Me," which became "You Not Me" with edited lyrics and chorus, and an abridged guitar solo. "You Not Me" does however retain a musical reference to the song "Raise the Knife" which was originally intended to be on the album. This is found in the melody line played by the keyboard in the latter half of the song.
The band was unhappy with record label interference, and Falling Into Infinity would be their last album to feature a traditional producer. Later albums would be produced by the partnership of Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, due to the band's experience with Falling Into Infinity. Despite the album's lukewarm reception, Portnoy liked a few songs on the album, namely "Just Let Me Breathe," "Lines in the Sand" and "New Millennium".[6]
This is also one of three Dream Theater albums not to use the band's iconic font on the cover (the other two being When Dream and Day Unite and Once In A LIVEtime), because of graphic artist Storm Thorgeson's refusal to work with fonts created by other artists.[7]
All music composed by Dream Theater.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "New Millennium" | Mike Portnoy | 8:20 |
| 2. | "You Not Me" | John Petrucci, Desmond Child | 4:58 |
| 3. | "Peruvian Skies" | Petrucci | 6:43 |
| 4. | "Hollow Years" | Petrucci | 5:53 |
| 5. | "Burning My Soul" | Portnoy | 5:29 |
| 6. | "Hell's Kitchen" | (instrumental) | 4:16 |
| 7. | "Lines in the Sand" | Petrucci | 12:05 |
| 8. | "Take Away My Pain" | Petrucci | 6:03 |
| 9. | "Just Let Me Breathe" | Portnoy | 5:28 |
| 10. | "Anna Lee" | James LaBrie | 5:51 |
| 11. | "Trial of Tears"
|
John Myung | 13:07 |
UK Album Chart:
Billboard Mainstream Rock Singles:
As the band were unhappy with the record label's influence over the original production, in 2007, Mike Portnoy released Falling Into Infinity Demos 1996-1997 through his own label, YtseJam Records[1]. In the liner notes Portnoy states: "these demos show our true artistic representation of these songs".
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||