Review Summary: A more refined, well-thought session of Dream Theater's musicians... but is over thinking the music also a problem?
Liquid Tension Experiment, Vol. II
Magna Carta, 1999
Lineup:
Guitar:John Petrucci
Bass:Tony Levin
Drums: Mike Portnoy
Keyboards: Jordan Rudess
As many people already know (but a lot don't, anyway) Liquid Tension Experiment is the bastard child of Dream Theater: The top-notch musicians from this Progressive Rock band, decided to take out of the game their fellow partners James LaBrie and John Myung, and replace the last one with Tony Levin, A less recognized (and less of a shredder) Bassist for both of their albums, But he's a great bassist nonetheless, as he has toured with bands like King Crimson, and stick with no vocals: Just the instruments.
I have both albums, and you certainly notice a pattern here: The time spent in the studio (almost twice than the time for the first one) Truly shows in this album, as it is less jam-driven, and more concrete and centered. Many people dislike this particular side of the album, Despite it's the main reason I seem to like it.
But ahead with the song by song structure:
Acid Rain (6:36) - A straight forward hard song. This song was the first one I ever heard by this band, and thought "wow. This guys are really talented". But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Starts with the main riff by John Petrucci, Followed shortly by Rudess and Portnoy, showing their skills every possible time. Around 1:46, the tempo changes and Portnoy is left on its own, but the rest follow shortly. Song keeps growing in force and sound, and a little solo by Levin 2:52 shows. Not to shabby, but a good change, just for variety's sake. A lot more shredding comes by every member, but around the end of the song, interest just falls apart due to the repetitiveness, and probably the insane shredding gets annoying. But nonetheless, a great song.
4.5/5
Biaxident (7:41) - A happier, less aggressive song. Rudess takes the lead on his piano with a great tune, and the rest of the band accompanies with slow, yet
ad hoc instrumentation. Around 1:49 the songs gets a better mood, as happy, but flows better, and Petrucci takes the lead again. The riff of the song reminds me of and island for some reason. around 3:02 Rudess returns to the lead, still with piano-sound, but soon the main riff comes back, and an amazing solo around 3:38. Around 4:16, an old-western style piano comes in, adding a much more relaxed mood to the song. At 6:50, tempo rises and the song really reaches its peak. Much more consistent song than the first track, therefore, more enjoyable.
5/5
914 (4:01) - Starts with drums and bass, playing a very simple riff. I read somewhere it had something to do with a car, but I'm not entirely sure. Remind me a little of Osmosis from the first album, The most jam-like song of the album, and certainly a filler. A lot of Rudess leading the song, but almost no Petrucci audible. Certainly a let-down from the first tracks, yet a little enjoyable.
2/5
Another dimension (9:50) - Now we're talking. This is my favorite track of the whole album. Starts slowly, Petrucci playing a few notes here an there, but the sogn gets off at 0:40, with Levin playing a bass line, soon followd by Petrucci and the rest of the gang. At 1:38 the main Rudess tune starts, and the song ends with it to. Around 2:30, both guitar and keyboards switch between each other the lead, finally beaten by Petrucci, who delivers some crazy runs and good solos. Main Keyboard tune starts again, and at 4:15 the tempo and the feeling of the song changes again, to a more aggressive, up-tempo beat. Song remains in this mood, but changes around 5:29, with a more relaxed beat. At 6:21, some accordion starts with a more gipsy feeling, and then sets to some classic guitar. After that, the main keyboard tune returns, to wrap up the song. Genious.
5/5
When the water breaks (16:57) - The behemoth of the album, but also the song that has the most recognition around, I think. Starts with a baby crying, AS the title says, The sensation if reaching this world, coming from a warm environment, Prefectly reached with a piano intro, then exploding with guitars and drums attacking violently. At 1:03, Guitar tales the lead, with some great soloing, but stops at 1:54 then builds up again, And another solo comes around minute 3, as Rudess grabs the lead soon. Around 5:00 the song seems to get a little lost in soloing, but a really cool drumming comes in soon to save it (for me at least). Songs stays in the same for the next few minutes, with a mix of leads by Rudess and Petrucci that make it diverse, but at 8:20 a change of moods (and tempo) saves the day again, making the song, once again, entertaining. Another shared lead by Petrucci and Rudess, until around 10 minutes or so, Petrucci grabs the lead and continues soloing, very power-metal esque, Then Rudess going for and 80's rock type of playing. Another change come at 12:47, where the baby cries again, and the mood and tempo up-lifts to a more powerful style. Another solo comes around 13:30, and at 14:30 a more relaxed, style comes, making the song interesting, ad at 15:20, the last breath of the song, the song just grows to infinite and finishes with the first riff some other stuff, and the best finish a song could ever have. Ever. You havce to listen to it to know what I'm talking about. It may seem biased, but the sudden change of moods, tempos, styles, time signatures and such, make it a great song, And it's just hard to mantain interest through 16 and so minutes, so let's hand it a
5/5.
Chewbacca (13:35) - After WTWB, anything would sound boring, or incomplete. But Chewbacca starts a little like
914, Except the Song itself is a little less structured. Stars slowly, then 914-esque, and some soloing by Petrucci and Rudess, and a mix of both together. Then it's just Rudess using note benders and then Petrucci out of nowhere soloing. Portnoy seems to play a lot of the same in this song, and some random beats, At 4:28, the song kinda wants to go somewhere different, but All there's left to it is back to the soloing by Petrucci and Rudess. At 5:15, Tempo slows down, only Portnoy audible, and some noise gate sounds on the guitar, and everything just stops, and remains on that stage. Think of
The Mars Volta in some moments of
De-loused at the comatorium. That kind of sudden stops, that seem to lead nowhere. In this case, it certainly leads nowhere, just some funky bass line at 8:58, and some drums helping it. Then starts an Osmosis-like feeling to it, more jungley, more funk to it. A good change to the rest of the action, but not enough to make this song a classic. The riffs keep building up and action come back around minutes 10-11. It finishes up nicely, though, but the damage has already been done. The song itself doesn't allow both changes of moods. It's either too fast, or too slow, and both can't really coexist, At least in my books.
3/5
Liquid dreams 10:50 - A slower, more moody song. What Chewbacca couldn't achieve, this song achieves it much better. There's just Rudess playing piano, kind of like Classy restaurants, that kind of mood, Relaxing. Mellow. The other instruments come along nicely, they don't go crazy as they could go. A little faster beat comes at 2:10, but it doesn't ruin the whole mood of the song. An electronic thing comes in around 5:00, changing the song style slightly, then the Jungley mood comes back, suddenly attacked by Rudess and his trademark distotion keyboards, growing up speed. Petrucci stays rather calm in the song, at time hardly audible, and Rudess pretty much leads this song. Great song, but not as perfect as others.
4/5
Hourglass 4:25 - A great way to end an album. Just Petrucci and Rudess, the stars of the album, playing an amazing semi-acoustic, mellow, beautiful song, that just bring out all the emotions possible. There's no change of passes, moods, tempos, key signatures. Nothing. Just beautiful music. Both Petrucci and Rudess shine in this part, showing that they're not just incredibly good wankers, but also incredible mood-setters. Amazing song.
5/5
PROS:
+ Amazing technicallity
+ More concrete than the past album
CONS:
- Senseless wanking at times
- Filler tracks could have been better
All in all, a great album indeed. The spontaneity of the first album, for many, is lacking in this one, but to me, this one is just great. Other than the 2 filler tracks I could find, The rest of the album is just genious, and as the last track shows us, There's more to DT line-up than senseless wanking. A great album, though, but just a few steps from being perfect.
