Who wasn't super excited to see Mike Portnoy back with Dream Theater? I was for sure as I grew up listening to their music since Images and Words and Mike is my favourite drummer of all time. But let's talk about "Parasomnia", their 16th record and almost a concept album that, lyrically speaking is a journey into darkness to disruptive sleep-related disturbances, such as sleep paralysis and night terrors.
“In the Arms of Morpheus” opens the album in the most Dream Theater way. Sound effects (clocks!) take the listener straight to one of their masterpieces Scenes from a Memory, dark riffs (and solo) by Petrucci, signature drumming by Portnoy, catchy melodies by Jordan Rudess, and the usual solid bass by John Myung. The premises for a masterpiece are all here, but unfortunately, it's not gonna be like that. Is it all James LaBrie's fault? Partially. I keep repeating in almost every review that it's not the fact that his voice is not the same as in the golden years but more the vocal lines, which in most cases don't appeal to me like they used to do in the past (he was one of my favourite singers).
"Night Terror", for instance, in terms of vocal lines, is a mix of songs already in the discography of the band. I hear 3 or 4 old songs (but I won't tell you the titles) and the fact that his power/range is now limited, makes it weaker than all the songs in my head. Another aspect is the length of the songs. Why even the ballad have to be more than 7 minutes long? One of their best ballads, "Another Day", was 4 minutes long and there was enough time to say everything in that time, instead of stretching the song. But it's not a problem of this album only, but more of the last part of their discography.
There are many good things on the album, though. The "Night Terror" and "A Broken Man" instrumental parts are fantastic, and I like the upbeat chorus of "Midnight Messiah", the other parts of the song are a mix of other songs (I tell you only "As I am", you come up with other titles). The last two tracks are probably the best of the album: the chorus and the final solo of "Bend The Clock" (classic John Petrucci) and of the final, almost 20 minutes long, "The Shadow Man Incident". This track kind of reflects the album well, musically great but with lots of parts that could be associated with other songs (the marching snare part is "Dance of Eternity" and the cool part at minute 7 is very similar to "In the Presence of Enemies", for instance) and using the adjective "predictable" is something in antithesis with the name Dream Theater, to me. But if you are new to the band or you are not an old fan like myself, this might not be a huge deal and you will love the song, very enjoyable despite the length.
So, is "Parasomnia" a bad album? Not at all, but considering the return of Mike Portnoy, I would have expected something a little out of track and with some elements of surprise. I would have been ok also for something like Metropolis Part 3 if they wanted to use old patterns and ideas from the past. But maybe I'm too demanding because Dream Theater are one of the most significant bands in my life.
Rating 62/100
Top tracks: “In the Arms of Morpheus”, "Bend The Clock", "The Shadow Man Incident".