Artist: DREAM THEATER
Album: GREATEST HITS ... AND 21 OTHER PRETTY COOL SONGS (2CD)

Year: 2008
EAN/UPS: 0081227993818
Media type: CD

After recently celebrating the band’s 20-year anniversary, Dream Theater returns with its first-ever best-of collection. Spanning 1991-2005, the two-disc set contains rare single edits, B-sides and a trio of new remixes that spotlight that band’s nonpareil musicianship, complex arrangements and amazing songwriting.

Referring to Dream Theater’s first and only major radio hit, “Pull Me Under,” the compilation’s tongue-in-cheek title is a testament not only to the band’s sense of humor but also highlights the acclaimed New York-based quintet’s ability to make music and cultivate a legion of fans on its own terms, without help from radio or MTV. The collection features more than two hours of progressive hard rock from James LaBrie (vocals), John Myung (bass), John Petrucci (guitar/vocals), Mike Portnoy (drums/vocals) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards).

The collection contains three newly remixed versions of tracks from Dream Theater’s breakout 1992 album, Images And Words: the aforementioned “Pull Me Under” as well as “Take The Time” and “Another Day.” Portnoy says this album presented the perfect opportunity to give the songs a bit of a facelift. “The original mixes always sounded a bit ’80s’ to me, so we had our good friend and longtime mixer Kevin Shirley give the tracks a bit of an update to sound more like the rest of the Dream Theater catalog. The songs remain the same (no pun intended-Kevin just mixed that album as well), but there are little nuances in the tracks that I forgot were originally there, and it’s very cool to hear them again.”

The collection’s 22 songs are split evenly between two discs, which are divided into “The Dark Side” (the metallic) and “The Light Side” (the melodic). Filled with some of the band’s most sinister sounds, the first disc lives up to the billing of “The Dark Side.” Longtime fans will appreciate the abundance of alternative versions of classic tracks, including single edits of “Lie,” “Home,” and “Misunderstood.” Disc One concludes with two tracks from the band’s 2005 album Octavarium: “The Root Of All Evil” and “Sacrificed Sons.”

The second disc, “The Light Side,” spotlights the band’s melodic side and features an alternate mix of “Through Her Eyes,” a single edit of “Solitary Shell” and “To Live Forever,” a 1994 B-side from the U.K.-only single of “Lie.”

A grassroots phenomenon for 20 years, Dream Theater continues to record studio albums acclaimed for award-winning musicianship as well as artistic vision. To meet the demands of a demanding global fan base, the band also maintains an active touring schedule that regularly includes sold-out performances around the world.

Dream Theater has currently been on the road since June 2007, traveling the globe in support of their latest studio album Systematic Chaos. Their world tour will conclude with a final run throughout North America in May as they premiere their “Progressive Nation” package tour with Opeth, Between The Buried And Me, and 3 supporting.

TRACKLIST CD 1:

1. Pull me under (2007 remix) 8:13
2. Take the time (2007 remix) 8:22
3. Lie (single edit) 5:01
4. Peruvian skies 6:42
5. Home (single edit) 5:38
6. Misunderstood (single edit) 5:14
7. The test that stumped them all 5:00
8. As I am 7:14
9. Endless sacrifice 11:23
10.The root of all evil 7:16
11.Sacrified sons 9:41

TRACKLIST CD 2:

1. Another day (2007 remix) 4:25
2. To live forever 4:56
3. Lifting shadows off a dream 6:09
4. The silent man 3:47
5. Hollow years 5:55
6. Through her eyes (alternate album mix) 6:03
7. The spirit carries on 6:40
8. Solitary shell (single edit) 4:10
9. I walk beside you 4:28
10.The answer lies within 5:15
11.Disappear 6:45