Dream Theater
Live In Budokan

December 2004
Released: 2004, Atlantic
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: JP

Year-end wrap-up: Each of the last few years to wrap up the year I have picked a theme for my reviews for December. This year due to the overwhelming number of CD’s that deserve exposure, recognition and commentary I am going to resort to quantity over quality. I usually try to give as much attention to each CD with extensive commentary however this month’s reviews (perhaps unfortunately) will be short and sweet and much more in the style of traditional magazine reviews where space restrictions are an important factor. (ie. Less detail) I apologize in advance to readers who expect much more detailed reviews. Please check the reviews archives as many of my colleagues have written excellent detailed commentary of many of these CD’s. I hope the large number of quick comments will help guide you making some of those important year-end CD purchase decisions. Happy Holidays and see you in January. JP



This is the best sounding live DT to date. And yet again it is another three disc horse-pill of prog metal. The presentation is weak this time around with a poor cover, budget packaging with discs housed in a digipak and no booklet! However there is good value with 18 songs spread across three discs (six songs each) and lots of goodies such as the obligatory keyboard solo and an instrumental medley. The standout cut is a killer version of ‘The Test That Stumped Them All’. The discs sound great, flawless as always but the crowd is surprisingly low in the mix. That can probably be attributed to the normally reserved and quieter Japanese audiences. James Labrie voice sounds a bit strained in places and on a few rare occasions not even like him at all! The ever-present tune ‘Pull Me Under’ sounds flat which is not surprising as the band have probably played it over 100 times now. A mandatory purchase for the longtime fan but perhaps the curious newcomer could start with a studio CD.