James LaBrie's debut as the vocalist for Dream Theater ends up producing their best album in their career, with the perfect mix of songwriting technique and flashy solos from all the band members to make one of the best prog metal albums in the '90s.

The album begins with Pull Me Under, which to my knowledge, is the only hit single that Dream Theater has ever had, even getting some MTV airplay as a video.  It's incredibly catchy, with some jaw-dropping solos from keyboardist Kevin Moore and guitarist John Petrucci.  However, the song definitely does run on a bit too long, and it ends really abruptly, almost sounding like there was an accidental cutoff.

Another Day is a decent ballad that actually employs the saxophone.  It's a nice effort from the band, and LaBrie is in top form here, but I usually end up skipping this track because of how lame the lyrics are.

Then comes Take The Time, which is one of the best Dream Theater songs ever.  It's a mostly instrumental epic with lots of complex rhythms and time changes, and really shows the entire band at its best.  Recommended to everyone.

Surrounded starts off as a standard ballad, but just keeps getting heavier and heavier, with a great Petrucci guitar solo in the end, until it ends the same way it began.

Metropolis Part 1, another epic and a fan favorite, actually isn't that great.  It's fairly complex, but it's really badly put together, the individual sections don't flow into one another, and it just sounds way too forced.

Under A Glass Moon is one of the heavier songs on this album, with some of the best solos ever from Petrucci and Moore.

The next track, Wait For Sleep, is a nice little piano ballad, nothing overly complex.  I guess it's a setup for the next track.

Which is the best song on this album, and one of the best compositions that Dream Theater has done in their career.  Learning To Live, an epic unlike Metropolis Part 1, is actually very well constructed, with all of its parts flowing into one another, great musicianship from all members of the band, and lots of great keyboard and guitar soloing without sounding cheesy.  Perfect way to end the album.

So if you're a Dream Theater fan, chances are you already own this, but if not, this, along with the next album Awake, is the perfect way to get introduced to them.