Dream Theater - Disappear

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is the sixth full-length studio album by progressive metal band Dream Theater. It was released as a double-disc album on January 29, 2002 by Elektra Records.

Influences

Influences for the album's writing and recording, according to the authors, include Metallica's Master of Puppets, Radiohead's The Bends (and also a Radiohead bootleg Mike brought in), Pantera's Far Beyond Driven and Mouth for War[1], Megadeth's song Holy Wars... The Punishment Due[1], U2's Achtung Baby, Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral, Soundgarden's Superunknown, Alice in Chains' Dirt, Kevin Gilbert's Thud, King's X's Faith Hope Love and Galactic Cowboys' Space in Your Face, Béla Bartók, Rage Against the Machine's The Battle of Los Angeles, and Maria Tipo's Chopin Nocturnes.[2]

Concept

The recording is a type of concept album wherein the five songs which comprise the first disc explore different themes of lifetime struggle, such as Alcoholism, Loss of Faith and Death. The sixth song — that is, the 42-minute song occupying the entire second disc, separated into eight parts — explores the stories of six individuals suffering from various mental illnesses. Particularly represented are bipolar, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, post-partum depression, autism, and dissociative personality disorder. Furthermore, the title of the album may also allude to the fact that each song on the album could be seen as a different form of inner turbulence, with the six tracks making another reference to the six degrees.

The musical styles of each section of the title track are direct reflections of the band's large variety of influences. Classical, folk and metal styles are present within the track. Additionally, certain parts of the track are direct nods to specific songs from influential artists. The main theme, which appears in the "Overture", at the end of "Goodnight Kiss," and in the "Grand Finale," bears an unquestionable resemblance to Kansas's "The Wall" from their Leftoverture album. "Solitary Shell" is a nod to Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" both in name and in musical style. Also, parts of "Solitary Shell" bear strong resemblance to Billy Joel's song "The Entertainer," mainly because of the unique synth-organ which sounds alike in both songs, played over acoustic guitar.
[edit] Songs

* The first track of the album, "The Glass Prison," is the beginning of the Twelve-step Suite, dealing with Mike Portnoy's story of rehabilitation from alcoholism, continued in tracks on the next albums ("This Dying Soul" on Train of Thought, "The Root of All Evil" on Octavarium, "Repentance" on Systematic Chaos and "The Shattered Fortress" on Black Clouds & Silver Linings). "The Glass Prison" is composed of three parts, mirroring the first three of the twelve steps of the AA program by Bill W. for rehabilitation of alcoholics. Furthermore, it begins with the white noise that ended Scenes from a Memory, while the last track, Losing Time/Grand Finale ends with a long chord played by (synthesized) strings, which was also used as the intro to their next studio album, Train of Thought.

* The Great Debate is a non-partisan song dealing with the topic of stem-cell research. It was originally titled "Conflict at Ground Zero", and "Disappear" was originally titled "Move On".[3]

* In the song "Misunderstood," John Petrucci wrote and played the guitar solo, and then reversed it. He then learned how to play this reversed version, and after recording it reversed it once more. This resulted in a solo that sounded like his original solo but with a unique twist to the way the notes played.[4] This technique was originally developed by George Harrison, on the Beatles song "I'm Only Sleeping".

Track listing
Disc one

All music composed by John Petrucci, John Myung, Jordan Rudess and Mike Portnoy.
No. Title Lyrics Length
1. "The Glass Prison"

* I. "Reflection"
* II. "Restoration"
* III. "Revelation"

Portnoy 13:52
2. "Blind Faith" James LaBrie 10:21
3. "Misunderstood" Petrucci 9:34
4. "The Great Debate" Petrucci 13:43
5. "Disappear" LaBrie 6:46
Disc two
1. "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence"

* I. "Overture"
* II. "About to Crash"
* III. "War Inside My Head"
* IV. "The Test That Stumped Them All"
* V. "Goodnight Kiss"
* VI. "Solitary Shell"
* VII. "About to Crash (Reprise)"
* VIII. "Losing Time"/"Grand Finale"

Petrucci, Portnoy

* (instrumental)
* Petrucci
* Portnoy
* Portnoy
* Portnoy
* Petrucci
* Petrucci
* Petrucci

Petrucci, Myung, Rudess, Portnoy 42:04