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Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999)

Where the lyrics of Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory take you, and where it was really made.

The house on the back cover is a photo of the recording studio, BearTracks in Suffern, New York, which stands in for the house in the story.

Key places

Where the album was recorded (1999)

Recording site BearTracks Studios — The album was recorded at BearTracks Studios in Suffern, New York, the same studio where the band had made Images and Words. A photograph of the studio appears on the back cover as the house in the story. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory is the fifth studio album and first concept album by the American progressive metal band Dream Theater
• Released 26 October 1999 through Elektra Records
• Recorded at BearTracks Studios in Suffern, New York, the same studio where the band made Images and Words (1992)
• First album to feature keyboardist Jordan Rudess
• Sequel to the song 'Metropolis—Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper' from Images and Words
• Story follows Nicholas, who undergoes past life regression and discovers he was Victoria Page in 1928
• For the twentieth anniversary the band performed the album live in its entirety on the Distance over Time Tour
• Novel adaptation by Peter Orullian announced 24 June 2024 and released 26 October 2024 for the 25th anniversary

Background

• Fans had long asked for a sequel to Part I, but the band had not planned one
• The 'Part I' label was added by John Petrucci as a joke
• A 21-minute instrumental demo of Metropolis Pt. 2 was recorded during the Falling into Infinity sessions but did not make that album
• Motifs kept on the album include most of Overture 1928 and Strange Deja Vu
• Kevin Moore left after Awake; Derek Sherinian was fired via conference call and Jordan Rudess joined
• Portnoy and Petrucci had earlier worked with Rudess in the side project Liquid Tension Experiment
• After the commercial failure of Falling into Infinity, the label gave the band free rein over the new album, which let them finish the story
• The story became a concept album inspired heavily by the 1991 film Dead Again

Recording

• The album was recorded at BearTracks Studios, the same location used for Images and Words
• Kevin Shirley mixed tracks 2 to 8 and 11; David Bottrill mixed tracks 1, 9, 10 and 12
• George Marino handled mastering

Cover

• Cover illustration by Dave McKean
• Ken Schles provided still life photography and Andrew Lepley house photography
• Art direction and design by Lili Picou

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Petrucci, Myung and Portnoy formed the band under the name Majesty while attending Berklee College of Music.
• The band was renamed Dream Theater in 1988 after a legal challenge from a Las Vegas group also named Majesty.

Members

• Current members are John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), James LaBrie (vocals), Jordan Rudess (keyboards), and Mike Portnoy (drums), who rejoined in October 2023.
• Petrucci and Myung have remained in the band since its founding.

Career

• The band has released 16 studio albums; Images and Words (1992) is its highest-selling release.
• Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999) received high critical acclaim.
• By 2018 the band had sold over 12 million records worldwide.
• The band has been referred to as one of the "Big Three" of progressive metal, along with Queensrÿche and Fates Warning.
• A View from the Top of the World's lead single "The Alien" won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2022.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Received acclaim from various sources
• German magazine Rock Hard voted it Album of the Month and gave it a perfect score

Reappraisal

• Guitar World ranked it number 95 in its October 2006 list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time
• Classic Rock Magazine ranked it the 15th greatest concept album (as of March 2003)
• Rock Hard ranked it number 410 in The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time (2005)
• Rolling Stone ranked it number 29 in its 50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time list
• The Prog Report ranked it number 3 in its Top 50 Modern Prog Albums 1990–2015
• PopMatters critic Jordan Blum called it the greatest progressive metal work of all time
• Loudwire ranked it number 14 in its Top 25 Progressive Metal Albums of All Time list

Records

• Billboard 200 peak: number 73
• Billboard Top Internet Albums peak: number 2
• Finnish Albums Chart peak: number 6
• German Albums Chart peak: number 8
• RIAA gold certification in 2010, the band's second gold album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Four tracks from the album were played live at a Boston concert and later appeared on the Breaking The Fourth Wall DVD.
• The static that ends the album carries into the start of The Glass Prison, the first track of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.
• The album's concept is shown on a table Mike Portnoy calls Inspiration Corner, which lists the concept albums that influenced it.
• Some tracks from the album were used on the North American soundtrack of Dragon Ball Z.
• The cover art was drawn by Dave McKean, known for his concept work on Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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