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List Price: $24.98 | | Label: Wea/Elektra Entertainment
Salesrank: 4456
Released: January 29, 2002 |
| Our Price: $10.04 |
| Used Price: $8.00 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Editorial Review:
Dream Theater's latest 2 CD studio epic, produced by drummer Mike Portnoy & guitarist John Petrucci. Elektra Entertainment.
Description of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence:
Never a band to do things by halves, Dream Theater here delivers a two-disc extravaganza with a title track that clocks in at a prog-tastic 42 minutes. Very much in the style of its 1999 studio predecessor, Scenes from a Memory, the "Six Degrees" piece, which occupies the entire second disc, is divided into eight movements beginning, of course, with the overture. It's meaty stuff, though musically it alternately noodles and thrashes about in a somewhat haphazard manner while singer-lyricist James LaBrie's struggles to make an impression over the stunning instrumental onslaught. The first disc serves up five pieces averaging about 10 minutes each that hearken back to the grungier sound of 1994's Awake. The result is an album that fulfills fans' expectations. These guys have found a formula and they're sticking to it. --Mark Walker
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence Reviews:
The possible pinnacle of DT's transcendance 
2008-07-09 - I fail to see how anyone can say images and words is better than this album. I love the original DT as much as the next fan, but I actually feel everything after Awake almost outdoes anythign previous, especially this album and Scenes From a Memory. I'm not absolutelly in love with the 2nd concept cd in this set, but it has its moments. That said, the first cd with five nice, long DT style prog tracks is surelly some of the best in their catalogue. I honestly don't know why everyone wants to compare all their later cd's to Images and Words and Awake...those two albums just don't compare at all.
I don't like writing a huge review about every track or anything to that degree, so all I will say is that, if you loved the Scenes... album, you will love this as well. This album quite possibly had the best production of any of their cd's as well. The second cd is somewhat weird at times and depends heavily on keyboards and unique melodies unlike most of their other cd's. The lyrics and whatnot are remeniscent of Scenes... in their context, but still different. I'm into DT for the guitar playing and killer drumming and their isn't too much of this except on about three of tracks on it, but, in the classic DT style, they never fail to impress even when giving you only a small snipet of their classic trademark progressive jamming.
Bottomline: You need to own this album if you like DT at all. Hell, even if you don't like DT and are reading this, get off your rump and buy a copy, sit back and prepare to be astounded.
Ahhh, That's more like it.
2008-05-22 - Just as technical as the last two which I didn't care for.
DT got it right this time around.
Very long, techincal songs.
But unlike the last two discs.
VERY memorable songs.
An instant classic and a must have for DT fans.
Masterpiece
2008-05-16 - As a new fan to Dream Theater, having only listened to them for a few months now, I'm beginning to enjoy the works of Awake, Scenes From a Memory and Octavarium. However, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence became one of my favourite records from the very first listen. I've come to appreciate Dream Theater for they're epic masterpieces, and here, they truly deliver. Disc 1 is solid - not flowing as one quite so well as Awake does but still brilliant. However, it is the 42 minute long title track that possesses a whole disc for itself which shows Dream Theater at their finest. The epic is broken up into 8 parts, though you would never listen to it out of order or just one part at a time. 40 minutes has never flown by faster than when listening to the second disc.
Like a vampire near the neck, this album will give you chills!
2008-03-28 - This is one of Dream Theater's greatest. Disc one is more of a Train of Thought type metal sound. (I know, Train of Thought came after) Disc two is my favorite. The songs blend seamlessly together and it listening to one track is impossible. You will want to hear them all in a row after hearing one. Just a great album all around!
3.5 stars, a bit too ambitious 
2007-07-07 - Like most other Dream Theater fans, I was practically foaming at the mouth when the band announced that their follow up to 1999's Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory would be a double album. It turns out that Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence would feature one disc containing 5 individual songs, and a second disc containing one epic song.
Disc 1 is by far my favorite of the pair, as it contains some really fantastic songs.
The Glass Prison is the first in a series of songs that conceptualize the 12 steps of the Alcoholics' Anonymous program. Beyond having a cool concept, it is a heavy-hitting metal track, which is a refreshing change from SFAM's overwhelming "progginess". Almost instantly it became one of my favorite Dream Theater songs, and one that I wish the band would use to open every single live performance.
Blind Faith is another great track. It's less intense than the Glass Prison, alternating between relaxed and upbeat, particularly during the instrumental passages. The chorus is a bit jarring, but during the verses James LaBrie's warm vocals are like another instrument enhancing the song's already great melodies.
I like the idea and lyrics behind Misunderstood, but I wish this were either a shorter or faster-paced song. James lays down another great vocal performance, but the pace of the song is just too slow for a 9-minute track.
For all its focus on both sides of the stem cell issue, The Great Debate just comes across as "Dream Theater does Tool", and that's just not a good thing. 13 minutes of Tool-style vocals and clips from news programs make this easily the worst song on this disc.
Disappear is an interesting enough song with a strong Radiohead influence. I don't love it or hate it, and it does serve as a nice transition to the second CD.
Disc 2 features the 42-minute epic title track, broken into 8 chapters, each of which (save for the Overture) deal with a different aspect of mental illness. This disc features everything great about progressive music - lengthy song structures, intricate instrumental work, and an interesting concept. It also features everything negative about progressive music - self-indulgent instrumental passages, artistic pretension, and yes lengthy song structures. I can't help but compare it to Dream Theater's previous epic song, A Change of Seasons. 6 Degrees comes across as a group of individual musicians screaming "look at me, look at me!" A Change of Seasons is an actual SONG, and a damn good one at that. It's tight, focused, and when it ends you're left panting for more. There are some impressive moments (About to Crash and Solitary Shell come to mind), but as a whole it just leaves me cold (and checking my watch).
It's funny, but I've seen quite a few reviewers here who share my opinion of this album, and none of us can bring ourselves to give the album the three stars it probably deserves. It's as if associating Dream Theater and a 3-star rating will cause our brains to melt. Well, disc 1 is worth at least 4 stars, and you have to grant disc 2 at least 3, so I'll round up and call Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence a 4-star effort. If they had added a couple of tracks from disc 2 to the first disc and called it quits, I'd probably be hailing this as one of Dream Theater's best efforts.
