Images and Words
| Images and Words | ||||
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Studio album by .png){kind=small}
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Publication |
June 30, 1992 |
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admission |
October 14-December 1991 |
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| Label (s) | Atco Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, MC |
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Title (number) |
8th |
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running time |
57:15 |
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David Prater |
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Studio (s) |
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Images and Words is the second studio album by the American progressive metal band Dream Theater . On this album, the current dream theater singer James LaBrie appears for the first time. Today the album is considered a milestone in progressive metal and helped this genre to regain popularity. Images and Words does notcontaina title song, but the album title can be found in the first verse of the penultimate song "Wait for Sleep".
Emergence
After the exit of the singer Charlie Dominici in 1989, the remaining band members had about 200 potential vocal successors sing in about a year and a half until they came across an application from James LaBrie. At this time, most of the songs published on the album (examples: "Take the Time", "Metropolis Part I", "Learning to Live" and the later used "A Change of Seasons") were already written, so LaBrie at no song is named as the direct author. He was flown in from Canada and after a short jam session together he was finally hired as the group's new singer. In the new line-up, a contract for seven albums was signed with Atco Records and the recordings for Images and Words began a little later . Previously, according to drummer Mike Portnoy, the group had to pay "a lot of money" to get out of the contract and terms of the 1980s with Mechanic Records.
Publications and tour
The album was recorded in late 1991 and finally released in the summer of the following year. On Images and Words was followed by an almost two-year tour in which the Live Video Images and Words: Live in Tokyo as well as the live album at Live the Marquee were recorded (both 1993). The album was played in full at several European concerts on the Chaos-in-Motion Tour in 2007 and 2008 on the occasion of its 15th anniversary. On the greatest hit album published in 2008, the three songs "Pull Me Under", "Take the Time" and "Another Day" appeared as remixed 2007 versions. Furthermore, the album was played in full in the second half of each concert on the "Images, Words & Beyond Tour 2017" (which celebrated the album's 25th anniversary).
Single releases
"Pull Me Under"
The first song on the album, "Pull Me Under", was produced under the working title "Oliver's Twist" and ends completely abruptly at 8 minutes and 11 seconds. The text, written by Kevin Moore, contains references to William Shakespeare's Hamlet . This is written from the point of view of Prince Hamlet and shortly before the end (at 7 minutes 49 seconds) even contains a direct quote from Hamlet with the line: “ Oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt. “The music video for“ Pull Me Under ”was directed by David Roth. "Pull Me Under" was also played on the radio and MTV and reached number 10 on the US mainstream rock charts.
"Another Day"
On “Another Day” you can hear Jay Beckenstein , who is best known through his band Spyro Gyra , on the saxophone . A music video was filmed for the song, directed by Chris Painter. The song reached number 29 on the US mainstream rock chart, with the two other singles on the album reaching better positions.
"Take the Time"
The song was the last to be extracted from Images and Words and also promoted with a video shot by Chris Painter. In contrast to "Another Day" and "Pull Me Under", the single was only released in 1993. It reached number 22 on the US mainstream rock charts.
Track list
- Pull Me Under (Dream Theater / Kevin Moore) - 8:11
- Another Day (Dream Theater / John Petrucci) - 4:22
- Take the Time (Dream Theater) - 8:21
- Surrounded (Dream Theater / Kevin Moore) - 5:28
- Metropolis Pt. 1: "The Miracle and the Sleeper" (Dream Theater / John Petrucci) - 9:30
- Under a Glass Moon (Dream Theater / John Petrucci) - 7:02
- Wait for Sleep (Kevin Moore) - 2:31
- Learning to Live (Dream Theater / John Myung) - 11:30
reception
The album is still the most successful dream theater album to date and achieved platinum status in the USA and Japan . It reached 94th place in Germany, 61st place in the USA and 30th place in Japan. It gained gold status in the Netherlands. In addition to Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory , it is the group's most popular album to date. The latter is a concept album, which as a continuation of on Images and Words song "Metropolis Pt contained. 1 ”is to be understood. Despite the chosen title, the band had not yet planned to give the song a sequel in the early 1990s.
The album was also largely received very positively by fans and critics. Matthias Breusch, for example, awarded the full number of 10 points in the magazine Rock Hard and described Images and Words as a “masterpiece”, he praised the diversity of the music and the “wonderfully sophisticated and inspired instruments”. He gave the group the nickname "Gods" for this performance.
In 2007, the editorial team of the same magazine compiled their list of the best from 500 rock and metal albums. Images and Words appeared in this list at number 76. The previous album When Dream and Day Unite was even able to place itself at number 28.
Live video
In 1993, under the title Images and Words: Live in Tokyo, a concert recording from Japan from August 26, 1993 was released on VHS and in 2004 also on DVD in combination with 5 Years in a LIVEtime and contains the following titles:
- Intro
- Under a glass moon
- The Making of Images and Words
- Pull Me Under (Video Clip)
- Take the Time (Video Clip)
- Kimonos & Condoms
- Wait for sleep
- Surrounded
- Ytse Jam / Drum Solo
- Another Day (Video Clip)
- To Live Forever
- A Fortune in Lies
- Abbey Road Medley
- The Mirror / Puppies on Acid / Take the Time
- On the Road '93
- Pull Me Under
Demo version
About the band's own label Ytsejam Records, a double CD was released in 2005 as part of the "Demo Series" with the title Images and Words: Demos 1989-1991 , which illustrates the creation of the album using various demo recordings from 1989-1991. Songs that didn't make it onto Images and Words later (“Don't Look Past Me”, “To Live Forever”) were recorded, sometimes with other singers such as John Hendricks, Steve Stone or Chris Chrinton.
- Disc 1
- Metropolis - 9:26 (instrumental)
- Take the Time - 9:22 (Instrumental)
- Learning to Live - 11:09 (Instrumental)
- Under a Glass Moon - 7:24 (Instrumental)
- Don't Look Past Me - 6:25 (singer: John Hendricks)
- To Live Forever - 4:46 (singer: John Hendricks)
- To Live Forever - 4:44 (singer: Steve Stone)
- A Change of Seasons - 17:35
- Disc 2
- Metropolis - 9:15 (Atco demo)
- To Live Forever - 4:31 (Atco Demo)
- Take the Time - 7:57 (Atco Demo)
- Pull Me Under - 7:38 (demo)
- Another Day - 4:27 (demo)
- Surrounded - 5:42 (demo)
- Under a Glass Moon - 7:12 (demo)
- Wait for Sleep - 2:38 (Demo)
- Learning to Live - 11:37 (Demo)
- Oliver's Twist - 9:42 ( Pull Me Under Demo, Hidden Track)