Dream Theater: Score-20th Anniversary Celebration (DVD)

20 years, I cannot believe that it's been twenty years since the band Dream Theater started out and brought the world a wondrous mixture of Progressive Rock and Heavy Metal. This DVD release helps the band commemorate the special occasion where they closed out the Octavarium tour at New York City's venerated Radio City Music Hall in front of a completely sold-out audience. The show, which ran close to three hours found the group delivering a solid set of material that included some classic numbers as well as complete renditions of their longer compositions such as "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" and "Octavarium". If you were one of the lucky people who attended the concert, you will remember being blown away by the presentation of the Octavarium album especially since it was done with the accompaniment of a full orchestra. There are many bands have used this idea in the past but there are few who have been able to pull it off as effectively. Dream Theater is one of those bands that does it with an outstanding result and makes it look easier to accomplish than it possibly could be. As the band plays there are visual images shown behind them on screens which are a little easier to enjoy on the DVD for depending on where you sat during the show stuff like this is sometimes difficult to see. The whole of DVD one contains the concert while the second features all the bonus footage and content.

Bonus Features: DVD 2 features all of the bonus footage and includes a 20th Anniversary Documentary, Octavarium Animation, as well as performances of "Another Day" (Tokyo 1993), "The Great Debate" (Bucharest 2002), "Honor Thy Father" (Chicago 2005). I have to say that I loved the documentary the most for not only is it done by the band members themselves, but they take you back to some of the locations in person and not just in photographs. It's great to see the band outside of an old rehearsal room as they exchange commentary on how this group began and started coming up with material. The groups original singer Charlie Dominici as well as keyboardist Derek Sherinian offer some additional dialogue to the piece making it all the more relevant. Vintage performance footage of the band when they were called "Majesty" and had other members as well is showcased and should prove interesting to the fans of the group today. Mike Portnoy also made sure to dig deep into his personal archives for the three other live clips.

This is a great DVD not only for fans of Dream Theater but also for fans of good concert performances. When some of the features were announced I remembered seeing some fans cite dissatisfaction in the "limited" amount of bonus footage and I feel this needs to be commented on. Dream Theater played this concert in April and now only four months later it is in the hands of their fans. You cannot argue the turnaround time with this band, especially while fans of KISS and Metallica find themselves waiting for years for new DVD and Audio material in most cases. The guys in DT surely give their fans a lot and for that they should be greatly appreciated. Congrats guys, here is to the beginning of the next 20 years.

Track Listing
1. The Root Of All Evil
2. I Walk Beside You
3. Another Won
4. Afterlife
5. Under A Glass Moon
6. Innocence Faded
7. Raise The Knife
8. The Spirit Carries On
9. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
10. Vacant
11. The Answer Lies Within
12. Sacrificed Sons
13. Octavarium
14. Metropolis

Added: August 26th 2006
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score:
Related Link: Dream Theater Website
Hits: 3866
Language: english

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