Falling Into Infinity
梦剧场合唱团 / 万劫不复
1988年成立于美国东岸的前卫重摇滚乐团Dream Theater早期乐风受到trash rock的影响，并没有获得大量乐迷的支持，也因此1989年的首张专辑“When Dream And Day Unite”发表之后主唱Charlie Dominici随即离去。不过这支由一群同在一个音乐学校认识的乐队，并没有因此消声匿迹，新主唱James Labriel 加入后，该团在歌曲的创作及乐器的搭配上，明显进步许多。1992年的专辑“Images & Words”不仅成功地打响Dream Theater名号，同时更奠定他们在前卫摇滚金属乐界的地位，更赢得“90年代最佳前卫金属团(Progressive Metal)”的封号，也由于Dream Theater的出现，带起了台湾金属迷接触Progressive Metal的风气。
在3张专辑及一张EP的傲人成绩后推出97年新专辑“Falling Into Infinity”。当中Dream Theater依然秉持着前卫的乐风、超凡的演奏技巧，明确的表现Dream Theater Style，并有Desmond Child与King's X的Doug Pinnick跨刀。
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 clich茅s. This brazen attempt to woo a more mainstream audience has resulted in the band's weakest effort since their debut.