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Dream Theater: Falling into Infinity

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: East-West Records
Released: 1997.09.23
Time:
 78:12
Category: Progressive Rock
Producer(s): Kevin Shirley
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.dreamtheater.net
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2016
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] New Millennium (Dream Theater) - 8:20
[2] You Not Me (Dream Theater/D.Child) - 4:58
[3] Peruvian Skies (Dream Theater) - 6:43
[4] Hollow Years (Dream Theater) - 5:53
[5] Burning My Soul (Dream Theater) - 5:29
[6] Hell's Kitchen (Dream Theater) - 4:16
[7] Lines in the Sand (Dream Theater) - 12:05
[8] Take Away My Pain (Dream Theater) - 6:03
[9] Just Let Me Breathe (Dream Theater) - 5:28
[10] Anna Lee (Dream Theater) - 5:51
[11] Trial of Tears (Dream Theater) - 13:06
         I. It's Raining
         II. Deep in Heaven
         III. The Wasteland

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


James LaBrie - Lead & Backing Vocals, Arrangement
John Petrucci - Guitar, Background Vocals, Arrangement
Derek Sherinian - Keyboards, Backing Vocals, Arrangement
John Myung - Bass, Chapman Stick on [1,8], Arrangement
Mike Portnoy - Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals, Harmony Vocals on [1], Arrangement

Doug Pinnick - Additional Vocals on [7]
Desmond Child - Arrangement

Kevin Shirley - Engineering, Mixing, Producer
Rich Alvy - Engineering Assistance
Barbara Lipke - Engineering Assistance
David Swope - Mixing Assistant
Leon Zervos - Mastering
Sam Brooks - Design
Peter Curzon - Design
Storm Thorgerson - Design
Tony May - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1997 CD EastWest Records America - 7559-62060-2
1997 MC EastWest Records America - 7559-62060-4
2014 LP Enjoy The Ride Records - ETR-62060

Recorded in June-July 1997 at Avatar Studios in Manhattan.



Like many other progressive bands playing difficult music, Dream Theater inevitably chose to trim down both their bombastic production and intricate songwriting for a more laid-back approach, both live and in the studio. The result, Falling Into Infinity, is something of a disappointment. Never before have the band's influences been worn so openly on their sleeves, which translates into a derivativeness that undermines much of the material on this album. Guitarist John Petrucci's solos sound like cloned Steve Vai more often than not, which stands in direct contrast to his groundbreaking work on earlier platters. James LaBrie, though gifted with a strong, bellowing voice, has a range too limited to properly convey the emotive resonances of the lyrics: he's either singing in a soft whisper on the gentler passages or yelling at the top of his lungs during heavier moments. Subtler shading is needed before he can properly be classed in the same league as Robert Plant or even Steve Perry. New keyboardist Derek Sherinian gives the best performance on Falling, establishing himself as an accomplished musician and songwriter without blindly following in his predecessor's footsteps. Unfortunately, his presence fails to turbo-charge the rest of the group, who turn in a halfhearted creative effort under the direction of new producer Kevin Shirley. Most of the songs here rely on the same device to build tension: a bold riff is repeated while the drums quicken pace and crescendo in volume beneath the rhythm. In addition, the "progressive" songs are relatively subdued compared to earlier efforts, particularly "Trial of Tears," which drags on for over 13 minutes with little hint of either songwriting ingenuity or instrumental virtuosity. "Hell's Kitchen" and the middle of "New Millennium" prove Dream Theater haven't forgotten their roots, but elsewhere they're content to trot out standard AOR clichés. This brazen attempt to woo a more mainstream audience has resulted in the band's weakest effort since their debut.

Jeremy Ulrey - All Music Guide



This album is considered to be a waste of money by most fans, but it is probably tied with Images and Words as my favorite Dream Theater album. Some of it does sound slightly commercial, but when you are a progressive metal band, there really isn't such a thing as being commercial. Most people's problem here is that the album is nearly half ballads. IMO these are some of the bands most spiritual and enjoyable songs.

New Millenium starts the album off on the right foot. A very up-tempo track with an extremely catchy feel to it throughout. This is one of the few heavier tracks on the album, but captures the power that James LaBrie is capable of singing with.

You Not Me is sort of one of the bands heavier ballad type songs. Probably my favorite off of the album. Containing very harmonic vocals and backing vocals, along with excellent lyrics makes it an all around great song.

Peruvian Skies is a bit of a disappointment. I've never really been able to get into this song. It does have some nice bass work, but it just seems to lack emotion. IMO the worst song on the album.

I am confused as to why Dream Theater made a video for this song. It is a very heart-felt song, but sounds kind of sappy at times. Pretty nice lyrics, but doesn't sound like something the band should make a habit out of doing. Its a pretty decent song, but hearing modified versions of it won't make me or too many other Dream Theater fans happy.

Burning My Soul is where Dream Theater gets back to their basic ass-kicking formula of old. Without a doubt, the absolute heaviest song on this album. Very doomy, has a sound unsimilar to any other of the bands songs, but it I would be very please to hear songs this damn good in the future from these guys.

Hell's Kitchen is the basic Dream Theater instrumental. Has a bit of an Erotomania feel. Not a bad song, but they have better instrumentals than this. I am glad that they decided not to drag this on though for any longer than they have to. Dream Theater, as UltraBoris puts it, has been known to wanker for the sake of wankering at times, and luckily they don't do it here.

Lines in the Sand is probably the bands longest song ever that doesn't show any really exceptional musicianship. Most of the lyrics here are sang by King's X's Doug Pinnick. This sounds more like a King's X song than one for Dream Theater, so I'm not really too big of a fan of it. Its just too long, and rather uneventful.

Take Away My Pain IMO is by far the band's greatest ballad. Its amazingly emotional, and beautifully written. I believe its supposed to be about the death of John Petrucci's father, and it inspired him to write some magnificent lyrics. My only complaint here is that the guitar solo isn't long enough, it's absolutely amazing, it just ends way too soon.

Just Let Me Breathe is a bit of a corporate song. It contains all of the anti-MTV elements of alot of bands and the fact that they even acknowledge the existence of MTV and the deaths of Shannon Hoon and Kurt Cobain make this song worse than it already is. Not bad musically, but not much lyrically at all.

Anna Lee sounds rather popish, but I still rather like it. IMO it sounds like something that Pink Floyd would have done. The way that LaBrie sings on this track reminds me much of Floyd. Once again another song that is very uncharacteristic of Dream Theater. This song however is rather nice lyrically, but lacks really any musicianship.

Trial of Tears honestly does not seem like a 13 minute song. This track probably displays James LaBrie's voice at its best. Its a pretty nice way to end the album.

My mainly complaint about this album, like many others is the restricted drumming of Mike Portnoy, he is not really allowed to do what he is capable of here. All of the other Dream Theater elements are still here though, and I still believe that this is an album worth having.

PowerProg_Adam, February 23rd, 2003
© 2002-2016 Encyclopaedia Metallum



“Falling Into Infinity” is a very unique Dream Theater album for many reasons. It is the only full length with Derek Sherinian on keyboards. It’s the only studio album that does not have the classic Dream Theater logo. It’s the only album produced by Kevin Shirley, who did go on to mix their next few albums. The album came at a time when the band was forced to change directions, due to both internal and external forces.

Following the recording of their classic “Awake” album, original keyboardist Kevin Moore abruptly quit the band. Kevin was key to not only the sound of the first three albums but he also was one of the main lyricists. As a bit of a stop-gap the band released the “A Change of Seasons” EP featuring an updated version of the title track. Since Kevin co-wrote the song, it still was nothing new to the new lineup which now had Derek Sherinian on keys.

The band began writing for the album in 1996 and recording demos. The record company was not all that interested and didn’t even allow the band to start recording the album until 1997. Considering the momentum that the band had, this was only the start of the problems. Kevin Shirley was brought into produce them as well. While he was great at engineering Rush albums at the time, his idea that Dream Theater should sound like Deep Purple was misguided to say the least.

Shirley listened to the 1996 demos and decided that many of the earlier songs like “Raise the Knife” and “Where are You Now” were not good enough. He also asked the band if he could give the song “You or Me” to his friend and renowned songwriter Desmond Child to see if he could do anything with it. Shirley also pulled apart the song “Burning My Soul,” extricating the instrumental section and having them write a new song, “Hell’s Kitchen,” with it. Add in that he decided that the ballad arrangement for “Take Away My Pain” was “too 80s” and turned it into a strange calypso beat driven song.

Some of his ideas worked and some did not. I am sure many people piss all over the revamped “You Not Me” just because it has Desmond Child’s name on it and it is catchy as hell. The bottom line for me is that the song sounds great with those changes. Pulling out “Hell’s Kitchen” was a good idea too because it created one of the band’s best and most underrated instrumentals.

On the downside, Shirley’s idea to change the arrangement of “Take Away My Pain” removed all of the song’s emotion which was critical to it. He also dismissed great songs like the ones mentioned plus “The Way It Used To Be,” the driving “Cover My Eyes” and the incredibly unique “Speak to Me” which still sounds like nothing the band has ever done! All of these tracks were good enough to be on “Falling Into Infinity” and probably should have been, along with the original demo version of “Take Away My Pain.”

But what about the rest of the music that made it to the album? Many of the songs show the band experimenting with different sounds and ideas. It wasn’t just Kevin Shirley pushing the band to try new things. Without Kevin Moore, the band’s power structure was changing. Mike Portnoy was writing more lyrics and trying to be more involved with arranging the music.

5.+Dream+Theater+3rdDerek Sherinian was not Kevin Moore. This is not a knock on him, just a fact. His intro part to “Lines in the Sand” was nothing like the band had done before. It sounded more like the band U.K. Derek’s playing was more based in jazz and improv which was something Dream Theater was not really about. Derek’s keyboard sound was heavier and dirtier as well. This gives the whole album a different feel and it was something that his predecessor Jordan Rudess continued to use.

The album really has a ton of variety on it. From the 80s era King Crimson-ish “New Millenium” to the acoustic driven, hit single that should have been “Hollow Years,” the album was very much about each song being different from each other. Let’s not forget it also has one of the band’s most popular songs “Peruvian Skies” plus the amazing epic “Lines in the Sand” which features King’s X frontman Doug Pinnick on guest vocals. If you have a section that should sound like Doug Pinnick singing, get Doug Pinnick.

But the album also has some tracks that are less than perfect, which when you consider all those songs by passed by Kevin Shirley, it makes you wonder what could have been. “Anna Lee” was Sherinian’s contribution and while it’s a nice Elton John meets the Beatles kind of thing, if they had left “Take Away My Pain” as it was, there was no need for this ballad. The closing track “Trial of Tears” is a great song for the most part but the jam section in the middle shows that Sherinian was more of a “jam” guy who had an improv style versus being insanely technical. Sherinian would go on to become more technical but at the time he wasn’t. [Editor’s note: since people needed me to explain this section in detail, I added to it.] It’s kinda underwhelming compared to all the other epic songs in the band’s catalog.

Lyrically as I said, Mike Portnoy decided to step up to fill the lyrical void left by Kevin Moore. Considering how lunk-headed Portnoy’s lyrics for “Just Let Me Breathe” are, maybe getting more from John Myung would have been wise. Unfortunately, this was the point where all of that was to change going forward. Portnoy made a rule that you had to write your own melodies for your lyrics or you couldn’t write any lyrics. This meant that JM was going to be shut out, which was probably the idea anyway.

As a whole, “Falling Into Infinity” is a brave and experimental album and far more progressive than the one-dimensional “Train of Thought.” For all of it’s flaws, the songs are incredibly strong which considering all that was going on with the label and the band, it’s a testament to what this band could do. But what could have been?

Had the other songs been included or some of the weaker tracks from the album been cut, I think this album would be considered one of the best that Dream Theater ever did. Also, as silly as it sounds, if the band had stuck to their traditional logo, it might not have pissed off the traditionalists (raises hand) at the time! The bottom line is that while this album is overlooked by some fans when counting Dream Theater’s best albums, for me it has way too many great things about it to be forgotten!

progmanrob, August 4, 2015
Progressive Music Planet



Falling Into Infinity is the fourth studio album by American progressive metal/rock band Dream Theater, released on September 23, 1997 through EastWest Records. It is the band's first and only studio album to feature keyboardist Derek Sherinian following the departure of Kevin Moore in 1994. Falling Into Infinity was produced by Kevin Shirley. Due to the band's reluctance to follow record label's demands for a more radio-friendly album, the album's writing and pre-production phases were stressful periods for the band, and at one point almost led them to retire. It was recorded in June 1997 at The Power Station (now Avatar Studios) in Manhattan, New York. A commercial and critical failure, the album led to the band demanding to be free from record label interference for all future albums.

Following a brief tour in support of the A Change of Seasons EP, Dream Theater entered Dream Factory Studios in East Rutherford, New Jersey in early 1996 to begin writing material for a new album. It was their first time writing with keyboardist Derek Sherinian, who replaced Kevin Moore in 1994. Around this time, Elektra Records was exerting pressure on the band to write concise, radio-friendly songs. Consequently, creative conflicts arose, with John Petrucci accepting the label's plea for change and Mike Portnoy fighting against it.

For over a year, Dream Theater wrote songs without being given permission to record them, and at one point became so frustrated that they considered retirement. In March 1997, the band were finally given the go-ahead to record the new album with Kevin Shirley producing. By May, the band had enough material for a double album, but was told to keep it to one disc for budget reasons. As a result, certain songs were not included on the final cut of the album, including "Raise the Knife", "Where are You Now", "Cover My Eyes", "Speak to Me", "The Way It Used to Be", and "Metropolis Pt. 2", the latter of which was later expanded into its own album, with the rest being included on the 1999 fan club CD "Cleaning Out the Closet". Shirley made significant alterations to some of what was left on the album; most notably, he took the middle section out of "Burning My Soul" and turned it into what would become "Hell's Kitchen". Shirley also recommended that the band work with Desmond Child to re-write "You Or Me", resulting in Petrucci being flown down to Florida to work on the song with Child. Following the sessions, the song became "You Not Me".

Actual recording for the album began on June 2 at The Power Station (now Avatar Studios) in Manhattan, New York City. In contrast to the difficult writing and pre-production stages, the band considered the recording sessions trouble free and enjoyable. The album, titled Falling Into Infinity, was completed on July 30. Originally, Petrucci and Portnoy wanted to call it Stream of Consciousness, but the rest of the band rejected the name because they felt it was too pompous (although the phrase "Stream of Consciousness" is found in the song "Lines in the Sand"). Its eventual title was proposed by Petrucci, and its cover art was designed by Storm Thorgerson.

Falling Into Infinity is the first Dream Theater album to feature multiple songs with lyrics by Mike Portnoy. Portnoy and the rest of the band were forced to write more lyrics following the departure of Kevin Moore. All of Portnoy's lyrics were inspired by his frustration with Elektra Records: "New Millennium" and "Just Let Me Breathe" are aimed at the music industry and label, and "Burning My Soul" targets A&R man Derek Oliver. John Petrucci wrote six lyrics for the album, including those for "Peruvian Skies", which deal with the subject of child abuse. James LaBrie and John Myung each contributed one lyric, and one song, "Hell's Kitchen", is an instrumental. As is the case with most Dream Theater albums, the songs were given working titles during production; for example, "Lines in the Sand" and "Burning My Soul" were originally called "Cat's Tail" and "Carnival of Clams", respectively.

In the official Dream Theater biography Lifting Shadows, author Rich Wilson described Falling Into Infinity's musical style as having an "accessible nature". In his review of the album for AllMusic, Jeremy Ulrey noted of the album: "Like many other progressive bands playing difficult music, Dream Theater inevitably chose to trim down both their bombastic production and intricate songwriting for a more laid-back approach, both live and in the studio." Its writing was inspired by a multitude of artists including Elton John.

Falling Into Infinity was released on September 23, 1997. In America, the album debuted at number 52 on the Billboard 200. In a three out of five star review for AllMusic, Jeremy Ulrey called it "the band's weakest effort since their debut." Rich Wilson has described it as "one of the patchier albums in the band's catalogue."

According to Lifting Shadows, Falling Into Infinity was considered a commercial failure, failing to break any new ground for Dream Theater or increase their sales despite its more commercial direction. As a result of the creative and personal tensions experienced during the album's production phase, it has been described as the band's "most difficult album", and eventually led to their demanding to be free from record label interference for all future albums. Mike Portnoy has mentioned that if Elektra Records, Kevin Shirley, and Desmond Child were not involved in the making of the album, he would have made a "completely different record". In 2007, the band released a demo version of the album reflecting Portnoy's original song arrangements and track listing, including a live rehearsal of the original "Metropolis Pt. 2".

In contrast to Portnoy's comments, John Petrucci has spoken fondly of the album, and in a 2014 interview stated, "Maybe I could set the records straight: I think that’s a really big misunderstanding. The label didn’t have an influence on the album. We wrote the kind of album we wanted to write."

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