Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory

梦剧场合唱团 / 一个记忆的场景

蛰伏两年于1999年的新专辑“Scenes From A Memory”被喻为媲美“The Wall”或“Tommy”般的重要概念式专辑，这张由Metropolis Part 1 (The Miracle And The Sleeper)(这首歌出自1992年专辑“Images & Words”)衍生的钜作，主要探讨轮回及是否有来生这个每个人都存疑的宇宙之秘。故事的主人翁Nicholas由于每晚辗转反侧为他的梦境所苦，于是经过催眠来到他的前世，发现他竟是一位名为Victoria少女的灵魂转世，由于与一对兄弟(这对角色即源自Metropolis Part 1)卷入一场三角恋爱而被谋杀…。主唱James Labrie类似Europe合唱团主唱Joey Tempest细腻的歌声与新键盘手Jordan Rudess的演出加上每首歌曲之间采不间断的连续方式一气呵成，确实有着重金属音乐剧般宏大的架式。“Scenes From A Memory”不论音乐性与故事性而言都值得乐迷等待两年之久，也肯定是他们历年来最佳的作品。

Mike说：“我们一直想创作一张概念专辑。我最喜欢的专辑都是概念导向：Pink Floyd的【The Wall】、The Who的【Tommy】、Queensryche的【Operation Mindcrime】，这些专辑对我的影响都很大。”John Petrucci选择了故事主题：“我们所面临最大的挑战是要写够有趣的歌来完成整张专辑。我们选择了轮回转世这个主题，藉此满足我们对轮回的好奇心，几乎每个人都对这种现象有兴趣。”故事围绕着一个名为尼可拉斯的人物打转，根据Mike的说法，“他每晚都做到有关前世的梦。”心理治疗师使用倒退治疗法来治疗尼可拉斯，发现他的确是一个名叫维多莉亚的女孩所投胎的，维多莉亚是活在世纪初的人。

当尼可拉斯进一步调查他的前世时，他发现维多莉亚是被谋杀的，在她悲剧性的死亡之前，她与她的两个兄弟有神秘的三角恋情，因此活在欺骗和谎言中。这两位兄弟是挑选自Metropolis Part I的角色。

John接着说，广泛地研究轮回转世帮助乐团订定出故事发展方向。“我们发现，所有的宗教都相信人死后会在世上遗留某种形式的灵魂。专辑中我最喜欢的歌曲是The Spirit Carries On（灵魂仍存在），在这首歌里，主角问及我们从哪里来，又将往哪里去，很有福音味道，我们甚至还用了唱诗班。当主角了解到，我们的灵魂确实会留存在世上，他终于恍然大悟。”专辑中另一首重要的歌，是具启发性的Beyond This Life，它描述的是维多莉亚悲剧性的死亡，John说：“就如同在看1920年有关她的谋杀案的报导。”

【Scenes From A Memory】在纽约的Bear Tracks录音室录制，Dream Theater的经典专辑【Images & Words】和【A Change Of Seasons】(季节变化)同样也是在这间录音室录制。John解释道：“这张专辑最特别的一点就是我们头一遭在录音室写歌，事先没有录制试听带，我们希望专辑能有新鲜的感觉。”

John说：“这张专辑最大的挑战是要收录能独立出来的歌，我想我们办到了。”Mike赞成John的说法：“我们成熟了许多，但我们仍保有最初的原始元素。我们对举行“Scenes From A Memory”的现场演唱会感到很兴奋，因为故事本身的戏剧性是多么的丰富，而Jordan的加入也创造出无限可能。我们要继续进步，假如要说Dream Theater最大的特色，那就是我们绝不怕冒险尝试。”

Dream Theater希望能更加随兴的欲望也是Mike和John在两张【Liquid Tension Experiment】专辑中，与Jordan Rudess合作的结果。团员们非常喜欢Rudess和他的演奏，于是便延揽他成为Dream Theater的一员。John说：“无疑地，他是跟我们合作过最有才华的键盘手之一，他在这张专辑中占有非常重要的地位。”Dream Theater也邀请了Kevin Shirley（曾与史密斯飞船和黑乌鸦合唱团合作）做专辑的混音工作。John说：“我觉得【Scenes From A Memory】需要强而有力的摇滚味，Kevin知道如何从乐团身上汲取能量。”

Rudess为Dream Theater十多年来的出色乐风添加关键性的一笔。这个乐团于1980年代末在纽约长岛成立，很快地在全球吸引众多歌迷。Dream Theater的歌迷一向是摇滚乐界最忠诚的一群，他们成立了一个资讯丰富的网站，让世界各地的歌迷能同步知道乐团的最新消息。

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Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory is the fifth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released in 1999. It is a concept album that deals with the story of a man named Nicholas and the discovery of his past life, which involves love, murder, and infidelity as Victoria Page. It was recorded at BearTracks Studios in New York, where the band had previously recorded their second studio album Images and Words (1992) and the EP A Change of Seasons (1995).

The album is the sequel to "Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper", a song previously featured on Images and Words. It was also the first album to feature Jordan Rudess on keyboards, and was the last album for which John Myung wrote lyrics until their 2011 album A Dramatic Turn of Events.

In the late July 2012, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory was voted as the number one all-time progressive album in a poll conducted by Rolling Stone, beating Rush's 2112 and Close to the Edge by Yes.

(wiki)

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by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Dream Theater is almost aggressively out of fashion in 1999. Few bands subscribe to their dense blend of progressive rock and post-Halen metal, and those that do usually don't have major-label contracts, the way Dream Theater does. There was a point where they tried to straighten out their sound somewhat, as they flirted with straight-ahead, laid-back metal on 1997's Falling into Infinity, but with its 1999 studio sequel, Scenes from a Memory, Dream Theater delves straight into old-fashioned prog rock. Scenes from a Memory is an unabashed concept album, told in two acts, about the 1928 murder of a young woman and how a modern man is haunted by the crime. A convoluted, difficult tale is told in a convoluted, difficult fashion, with no less than four tracks clocking in at well over ten minutes and three others ranging from 6:30 to 8:50. Clearly, this is intended as some sort of masterwork, and what's remarkable is that Dream Theater comes close to creating a masterwork with Scenes from a Memory. The album plays more like a suite than a collection of individual songs. At times, that means the album can bog down slightly in its own flights of fancy and long instrumental sections, but concentrated listens reveal the intricacies of the song structures and the musicianship. Occasionally, it can seem as if James Labrie oversings, but that's a minor point -- the overall end result of the album is quite impressive indeed.