Published on May 18, 1999
Now that Dream Theater is arguably the most popular progressive
rock band of the day, it was inevitable that bands would start to
model their sound after Dream Theater. I know the old saying,
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, but sometimes I wish
that bands who tried to emulate the success of others would still
throw a little originality into the mix.
In the case of Dali’s Dilemma, that originality is there – in
the form of brief instrumentals that showcase the musicianship of
this band. And while their disc
Manifesto For Futurism is enjoyable, it still sounds a lot
like Dream Theater to my old ears – and that’s a shame, ’cause I
think they could do so much better following their own road.
I have no doubt about the musical talents this group possesses.
Vocalist Matthew Bradley helps to power the songs into their own
dimension, while guitarist Patrick Reyes puts his six-string
through a virtual workout during the course of this album. Drummer
Jeremy Colson and bassist Steve Reyes each throw in the complicated
chops when the moment calls for it, but never forget the key to a
band is a solid rhythm section. Rounding out the group is
keyboardist Matt Guillory, who gets a wonderful chance to show his
musical knowledge on the track “Whispers”, a mild but wonderful
surprise at that point in the album.
In fact, the two instrumental tracks on
Manifesto For Futurism, “Whispers” and “Andromeda Sunrise,”
do the best jobs of demonstrating just how good of a musical unit
that Dali’s Dilemma is. No slam is meant against Bradley, but by
removing the vocals, even for the two minute span of each song, the
natural beauty is brought out.
This isn’t to say that the tracks with vocals are bad, but when
the whole band goes at it, the end result sounds like a clone of
Dream Theater. Tracks like “Within A Stare,” “Living In Fear,”
“Ashen Days” and “Can’t You See” all follow the prog-rock
supergroup blueprint, yet a little something is lost in the
translation. Maybe it’s that we’ve heard this before?
And it’s not that Dali’s Dilemma isn’t trying, or that they’re
blatantly copying; I don’t believe either case. But they do need to
inject a little more of their own voice into the music in order to
break free from the chains of the “sound-alike” band tag and stake
out their own musical claim. Unfortunately, I can’t tell them
exactly what they have to do to achieve this. It might be a cop-out
to make this statement, but when they make that adjustment, they’ll
know it… and we’ll know it.
Manifesto For Futurism is still an enjoyable prog-rock album
that showcases a band with a lot of promise and even more talent,
and if you’re a Dream Theater fan, you’ll love this album. But
Dali’s Dilemma show in the end that there still is work to be
done.