Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is the sixth full-length studio album by progressive metal band Dream Theater. It was released as a double-disc album on January 29, 2002 by Elektra Records. Excluding the A Change of Seasons EP, this is the first Dream Theater album to feature a title track.
Concept
The recording is a type of concept album wherein the five songs which comprise the first disc explore different themes of lifetime struggle, such as Alcoholism, Loss of Faith, Self-Isolation, and Death. The sixth song — that is, the 42-minute song occupying the entire second disc, separated into eight parts — explores the stories of six individuals suffering from various mental illnesses. Particularly represented are bipolar, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, post-partum depression, autism, and dissociative personality disorder. Furthermore, the title of the album may also allude to the fact that each song on the album could be seen as a different form of inner turbulence, with the six tracks making another reference to the six degrees, along with the apparent reference to the six degrees of separation. The musical styles of each section of the title track are direct reflections of the band's large variety of influences. Classical, folk, jazz and metal styles are present within the track.
Songs
- The first track of the album, "The Glass Prison", is the beginning of the Twelve-step Suite, dealing with Mike Portnoy's story of rehabilitation from alcoholism, continued in tracks on the next albums ("This Dying Soul" on Train of Thought, "The Root of All Evil" on Octavarium, "Repentance" on Systematic Chaos and "The Shattered Fortress" on Black Clouds & Silver Linings). "The Glass Prison" is composed of three parts, mirroring the first three of the twelve steps of the AA program by Bill W. for rehabilitation of alcoholics. Furthermore, it begins with the white noise that ended Scenes from a Memory, while the last track, Losing Time/Grand Finale ends with a long chord played by (synthesized) strings, which was also used as the intro to their next studio album, Train of Thought.
- "The Great Debate" is a non-partisan song dealing with the topic of stem-cell research. It was originally titled "Conflict at Ground Zero" based on the lyrics in the chorus but changed at the last minute to "The Great Debate" due to the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York City[5] (as producers John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy were actually in a Manhattan studio conducting final mixes of the album on the day in question and made the change when all of the news reports started to refer to the site as "Ground Zero"), and "Disappear" was originally titled "Move On".[5]
- In the song "Misunderstood", John Petrucci wrote and played the guitar solo, and then reversed it. He then learned how to play this reversed version, and after recording it reversed it once more. This resulted in a solo that sounded like his original solo but with a unique twist to the way the notes played.[6] His use of such a technique was predated by George Harrison, on the Beatles song "I'm Only Sleeping".
Influences
Influences for the album's writing and recording, according to the authors, include Metallica's Master of Puppets, Radiohead's The Bends (and also a Radiohead bootleg Mike brought in), Pantera's Far Beyond Driven and song "Mouth for War",[7] Megadeth's Rust in Peace,[7] U2's Achtung Baby, Tool's Ænima, Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral, Soundgarden's Superunknown, Alice in Chains' Dirt, Kevin Gilbert's Thud, King's X's Faith Hope Love and Galactic Cowboys' Space in Your Face, Béla Bartók, Rage Against the Machine's The Battle of Los Angeles, and Maria Tipo's Chopin Nocturnes.[8]
Track listing
Disc one
All music composed by John Petrucci, John Myung, Jordan Rudess and Mike Portnoy.
| Lyrics |
| 1. |
"The Glass Prison"
- I. "Reflection"
- II. "Restoration"
- III. "Revelation"
|
Portnoy |
13:52 |
| 2. |
"Blind Faith" |
LaBrie |
10:21 |
| 3. |
"Misunderstood" |
Petrucci |
9:34 |
| 4. |
"The Great Debate" |
Petrucci |
13:43 |
| 5. |
"Disappear" |
LaBrie |
6:46 |
Disc two
| Lyrics |
| 1. |
"Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence"
- I. "Overture"
- II. "About to Crash"
- III. "War Inside My Head"
- IV. "The Test That Stumped Them All"
- V. "Goodnight Kiss"
- VI. "Solitary Shell"
- VII. "About to Crash (Reprise)"
- VIII. "Losing Time"/"Grand Finale"
|
Petrucci, Portnoy
- (instrumental)
- Petrucci
- Portnoy
- Portnoy
- Portnoy
- Petrucci
- Petrucci
- Petrucci
|
42:04
- 6:50
- 5:51
- 2:08
- 5:03
- 6:17
- 5:48
- 4:05
- 6:01
|
Chart performance
Billboard 200:
- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - #46
Billboard Top Internet Albums:
- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - #1
Personnel
References
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