| Falling into Infinity is the fourth studio album by influential American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released in 1997. It was recorded in 1997 at Avatar Studios in New York, a return from their previous album, which was recorded in England. It continued the more progressive metal sound Awake started, but to much less critical and commercial acclaim. It is also the second-to-last album to feature keyboardist Derek Sherinian. LaBrie's limited vocal range after rupturing his vocal cords is shown on the album, with most of the vocals being in the lower range, in contrast to earlier releases, which were often high-pitched.
History
Despite Awake's relative success, the band was not quite happy with its darker sound, which resulted in the band going back to New York to record their new album. The record label pressured the band to write a more commercial album, much to the band's dismay. It was originally intended to be a 140-minute double album, but the record label refused to release such an album and even recruited Desmond Child to help the band re-write "You Not Me", which was originally titled "You Or Me", to make it more commercial.
Unhappy with the record label's meddling, this would be the last album to feature a traditional producer. Later albums would be produced from within due to the band's unhappy result of Falling Into Infinity. The album is also only one of the few Dream Theater albums to not feature the band's iconic font, as a result of graphic artist Storm Thorgeson's refusal to work with fonts other artists had made. The only other Dream Theater album to contain a different font is their debut When Dream and Day Unite.
Reception
Falling into Infinity has garnered mixed critical and fan acclaim. Jeremy Ulrey of Allmusic called the album a "disappointment", citing its "trimmed-down production" and the band's laid-back approach as detrimental elements to the quality of the output as a whole. Murat Batmaz of the popular progressive rock/metal review database Sea of Tranquility claimed that, while he disagreed with the overwhelmingly negative response certain fans gave the record upon its initial release, Falling into Infinity is "not DT's finest moment".
1. "New Millennium" Mike Portnoy Dream Theater 8:20
2. "You Not Me" John Petrucci, Desmond Child Dream Theater 4:58
3. "Peruvian Skies" Petrucci Dream Theater 6:43
4. "Hollow Years" Petrucci Dream Theater 5:53
5. "Burning My Soul" Mike Portnoy Dream Theater 5:29
6. "Hell's Kitchen" (instrumental) Dream Theater 4:16
7. "Lines in the Sand" Petrucci Dream Theater 12:05
8. "Take Away My Pain" Petrucci Dream Theater 6:03
9. "Just Let Me Breathe" Portnoy Dream Theater 5:28
10. "Anna Lee" James LaBrie Dream Theater 5:51
11. "Trial of Tears"
I. "It's Raining"
II. "Deep in Heaven"
III. "The Wasteland"
John Myung Dream Theater 13:07
Personnel
James LaBrie – vocals
John Myung – bass, Chapman Stick
John Petrucci – guitars, backing vocals
Mike Portnoy – drums, backing vocals
Derek Sherinian – keyboards, backing vocals
Additional Personnel
Doug Pinnick - backing vocals on "Lines in the Sand"
Chart performance
Billboard 200:
Falling into Infinity - #52
UK Album Chart:
Falling into Infinity - #163
Billboard Mainstream Rock Singles:
Burning My Soul - #33
You Not Me - #40
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