One of the best albums of all time
J. Dooley | Baltimore, MD | 09/06/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Forget Scenes from a Memory. Forget Images and Words. Awake is Dream Theater's best album and one the best albums of all time, period. As a concept it is seamless. The production is excellent. The lyrics and vocals are beautiful. The musicianship is top notch, as opposed to the shredding Dream Theater have been prone to in their later releases.
The balance between the heavy and the soft stuff is perfect. Each track is a masterpiece in its own right. This is Dream Theater at their artistic peak. I've seen them live twice, but unfortunately they haven't played any cuts from Awake. "Voices," "The Mirror," and "Lifting Shadows off a Dream" are all favorites of mine, but honestly the band could play the whole album live and receive no complaint from me."