Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity (1997)

Passenger

I’ve always seen DT’s Falling Into Infinity as being the most overlooked and unappreciated contribution to the bands consistently impressive oeuvre. It was the follow-up to the eclectic masterpiece Awake (1994) excluding the A Change of Seasons EP (1995) which was Derek Sherinian’s initiation into the band, so expectations would’ve been high.

I rarely hear the album mentioned among Dream Theater fans and I just want to see what your opinions of the album are given the recent release of A Dramatic Turn of Events.

A bit about the album first. Falling Into Infinity was the first album without the priceless contribution of Keyboard Player Kevin Moore who contributed some of the finest songs the band has ever written. Also looking back on the Kevin Moore era, he seemed to reign in the band’s sound and put a focus on the songwriting aspect as opposed to some of the latter albums where Portnoy’s influence, gravitating toward a penchant for the heavy and the more ostentatious solo’s were very apparant.

Derek Sherinian’s performance here is excellent and his keyboard sound is delightfully seamless, employing a somewhat electronic approach to the Keyboards. Petrucci however is particularly restrained on this album. His performance is quite thoughtful and sometimes very powerful, employing a lot of different techniques here too and his guitar tone is just superb. John Myung has some great moments here too, even playing Chapman Stick on the opening track ‘New Millennium’. The Guitar and Bass here are quite groove orientated and there is a great dynamic between Petrucci and Sherinian on the solo parts. Also relatively restrained is the usually indulgent Mike Portnoy, which may be down to employing outside talent to produce the album in the form of Rock producer Kevin Shirley (Aerosmith, Iron Maiden).

Apparently the band was pressured by their record label to write a more commercial album, obviously much to the band's dismay. Also according to the album’s Wiki page, Falling Into Infinity 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 Hit Rock songwriter 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.

Falling Into Infinity was their last album to feature a traditional producer. Later albums would be produced by the partnership of Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci. Only hearing A Dramatic Turn of Events I think, hhmm, maybe if they had an outside producer the album would have more oomph, which I think ADTOE lacks, particularly regards Mangini’s drum performance, saying that, it’s still a superb album.

The band uses a diverse mix of styles and textures on Falling Into Infinity and although the album has a very commercial aspect to it, it still manages to showcase the versatility of the band brilliantly. You can certainly hear the band evolving on this album and I think it can stand any qualitative comparison with any of their albums.

Also and interesting to note, is the album’s artwork, as it was designed by Storm Thorgeson, of Psygnosis design fame, and it also uses a different font from other DT releases.

So where do you place Falling Into Infinity among DT’s amazing catalogue of work? Do you think it stands up among their best? What do you think of Derek Sherinian's contribution?




Here's an interview with Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinain for Finnish TV in 1997.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe-0ngV25Fg

Somnus

I think it's a decent album. I do find it a little uninspired for the most part. But it has two of my favourite DT songs in the from of Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears. Two absolutely superb pieces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZQdloRniuI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWaEC86WBuE

I liked Sherinian's style. I would have preferred him over Jordan to an extent... I feel like he has more character in his playing than Rudess, who can sound very samey. He adds a bit of flair to them live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4ids4rOegI

So overall, decent album which is definitely brought up by those two exceptional songs for me.

120_Minutes

I stopped listening to them after this album.

Passenger

120_Minutes wrote: »

I stopped listening to them after this album.

You've missed a lot of great moments then.

GLaDOS

Fantastic album imo, very underrated. Peruvian Skies is a great song.

bnt

New Millennium is possibly my favourite DT track of all, starting with that Chapman Stick tone. (I used to own a Stick, which I got because I craved that sound, though I sold it because I couldn't get on with the split hands technique.) It also has that freakishly syncopated solo section, I never knew time signatures could be so much fun. :cool:

PS: I forgot Hell's Kitchen was on this album too - another stunner. I fully agree with Passenger about Derek - he meshed so well with the band on this album. It didn't go so well live - when I saw them in London around this time, there was clearly a personality clash with James in particular. In case anyone's wondering how he got that lead synth sound, he was using a Korg Prophecy, which could produce some very gritty unnatural sounds.

Joe_Dull

I only recently picked this up, but it's proving to be a fantastic album. "New Millennium", "You Not Me" and "Hollow Years" would be my highlights. Not such a fan of "Peruvian Skies" and was very disappointed when they used up 7 minutes playing it in Leeds a few months ago...

Passenger

bnt wrote: »

PS: I forgot Hell's Kitchen was on this album too - another stunner. I fully agree with Passenger about Derek - he meshed so well with the band on this album. It didn't go so well live - when I saw them in London around this time, there was clearly a personality clash with James in particular.

Yeah, he did provide personality and a sonic depth to the songs as opposed to mere virtuosity. He's an interesting musician. I may have assumed any personality clash would have been with Portnoy as opposed to James.

Joe_Dull wrote: »

I only recently picked this up, but it's proving to be a fantastic album. "New Millennium", "You Not Me" and "Hollow Years" would be my highlights. Not such a fan of "Peruvian Skies" and was very disappointed when they used up 7 minutes playing it in Leeds a few months ago...

It's a consistant album I must say. Just put it on again now and the songs really flow in sequence quite well.

Here's a Making Of Doc, nothing too informative though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHcDPMPRbSI

spiralism

DT are a band that gives something different to each listener, lot of DT fans have different favourite albums... mine would have to be either Falling Into Infinity or Octavarium... Two of their least rated albums as well! FII really is criminally underrated, New Millennium, Peruvian Skies, Trial of Tears, Hollow Years, Burning My Soul, Just Let Me Breathe, Lines in the Sand and Take Away My Pain are vintage Dream Theater, class album!