Dream Theater: Greatest Hit (... & 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)
Ciro Hiruma 
Who could imagine?
At first, it seems a joke. A Dream Theater's Greatest Hit? A band with a hit over 21 songs really cool? How to gather the best compositions of a group filled with compositions of long-term and conceptual album that can only be fully understood in its entirety?
The surprise is that the collected works. There will be controversial? There is no doubt that the aficionado 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, accustomed to hearing the songs in full.
Another detail: the collection covers the period 1991-2005, we could 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 are 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, and eclectic).
The main attraction is due to the remix versions of producer Kevin Shirley for "Pull Me Under," "Take The Time" and "Another Day", produced at the request of Mike Portnoy. According to the drummer, the songs were sounding too much in the style 1990s. The idea paid off, the remixes have a superior sound quality, unprecedented reveal nuances of instruments and shows the band with more ease, as should be the original sessions.
Greatest Hit comprises two CDs and each represents a distinct personality of the band:
The Dark Side
The heavier side and obscure. There are the epic "Home", the sequences more thrash, "The Root of All Evil," "As I Am" and "Lie." And two major raids that show the progressive style: "Misunderstood" and "sacrified Sons" .
It is curious to hear 'Peruvian Skies, "Falling Into Infinity, a tune that begins with influences from Pink Floyd and subtly enters the pace and weight of Metallica. For his part, "Pull me Under" and "Take the Time" numbers are almost mandatory in a collection of Dream Theater.
The Light Side
It begins with the more pop 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" is 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 this history of plagiarism, it is just influence.
"I Walk Beside You" is one of several songs from Dream Theater, referring to U2 style. And two essential moments of the Scenes of a Memory CD could not miss: the ballad "Through Her Eyes" (different mix version) and "The Spirit Carries On".
To finish the light side, "Disappear" is a surprise and one of the strangest songs in the band, grim, heavy and with an unconventional way.
Anyway, Greatest Hit (... & 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) is a nice introduction to the history of the band, but is far from presenting its full potential. It is ideal for those wanting to know their music. And goes to show that the title is more a heavy progressive reference marketing than it is a musical style. And the concept worked so great for many bands, so the financial side. Dream Theater is much more than this collection.
