Dream Theater: Greatest Hit (... & 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)
Hiruma Cyrus 
Who could imagine?
At first, it seems a joke. A Dream Theater Greatest Hit? A band with a hit over 21 really cool songs? How to gather the best compositions of a group full of compositions and long-term conceptual album that can only be fully understood in its entirety?
The surprise is that the compilation works. Controversy will exist? There is no doubt that the fan of the band will feel the absence of several songs, large suites are gone. And the addition of single edit versions will not satisfy many fans used to hearing the songs in full.
Another detail: the collection covers the period 1991-2005, we call it "The LaBrie Years" because it leaves out precisely the debut album, When Dream and Day Unite, with Charlie Dominici on vocals. With this, they will be classics such as "Fortune in Lies", "Ytse Jam" and "The Killing Hand".
The cover follows the same proposal amusing and ironic title, closely resembles an advertisement created in the 1950s, completely different from the conventional style of the band (say, in passing, very eclectic).
The main attraction is due to the remix versions of producer Kevin Shirley to "Pull Me Under," "Take The Time" and "Another Day", produced at the request of Mike Portnoy. According to the drummer, the songs were sounding style in excess in the year 1990. The idea worked, the remixes have a superior sound quality, reveal nuances unprecedented show of the band instruments and more naturally, as should be the original sessions.
Greatest Hit is composed of two CDs and each represents a distinct personality of the band:
The Dark Side
The darker and heavier side. There are the epic "Home", the strings more thrash, "The Root of All Evil," "As I Am" and "Lie." And also two large raids for evidence of progressive style, "Misunderstood" and "Sons sacrified" .
It is curious to hear "Peruvian Skies" Falling Into Infinity, a tune that begins with Pink Floyd influences and subtly get into flow and weight of Metallica. In turn, "Pull Me Under" and "Take the Time" is a collection numbers almost required of Dream Theater.
The Light Side
It begins with the poppier side of the band, as shown by "Lifting Shadows off a Dream," "The Silent Man" and "Hollow Years". A curiosity is the rare track "To Live Forever", which served also for the listening tests James LaBrie.
"Solitary Shell" has the familiar references to the keyboards of Rick Wakeman in Yes (Listen And You and I) and base guitar Sollsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel. Forget the story of plagiarism, is just influence.
"I Walk Beside You" is one of several compositions of Dream Theater, referring to the U2 style. And two essential moments of the CD Scenes of a Memory could not be missing: the ballad "Through Her Eyes" (different mix version) and "The Spirit Carries On."
To finish off the light side, "Disappear" is a surprise and one of the strangest band's compositions, gloomy, heavy and with an unconventional way.
Finally, Greatest Hit (... & 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) is a nice introduction to the history of the band, but is far from presenting their full potential. It is ideal for those wishing to know their music. It goes to show that the title is more a heavy progressive reference that properly marketing a musical style. And the concept worked so great for many bands, the financial side. Dream Theater goes far beyond this collection.
