Beyond This Life

''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 on October 26, 1999, through Elektra Records. It was recorded at BearTracks Studios in Suffern, New York, where the band had previously recorded their second studio album, ''Images and Words'' (1992), and the EP ''A Change of Seasons'' (1995).

The album is the sequel to " Metropolis—Part I: 'The Miracle and the Sleeper', a song featured on the band's 1992 album ''Images and Words''. It was the first album to feature Jordan Rudess on keyboards.

For the album's twentieth anniversary, the band performed the album live in its entirety throughout the Distance over Time Tour (as documented on '' Distant Memories - Live in London'').

On June 24, 2024, it was announced that the album would receive a novel adaptation, with Peter Orullian as the author. It was released on October 26, 2024, coinciding with the album's 25th anniversary.

History

Fans had previously requested a sequel to the song "Metropolis—Part I" from ''Images and Words'', but the band had not yet been able—nor had they originally intended—to make one. The "Part I" was added by Petrucci as a joke. During the sessions for '' Falling into Infinity'' (1997), the band recorded a 21-minute instrumental demo of "Metropolis Pt. 2" (which Mike Portnoy later released via his YtseJam Records site along with the other ''Falling Into Infinity'' demos), but this did not make it onto the album. The demo, which included several musical references to "Metropolis—Part I" and featured many motifs that would later appear on ''Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory'' (most notably the majority of "Overture 1928" and "Strange Deja Vu" and parts of "The Dance of Eternity" and "One Last Time"), was, however, significantly different from the finished album version in most parts.

At some point during the mixing sessions for their 1994 album, ''Awake'', keyboardist Kevin Moore left Dream Theater. Accordingly, they held auditions for keyboardists. Initially, Jordan Rudess played one concert with them on September 9, 1994, but he was not yet considered a full-time member due to commitments to another band, the Dixie Dregs, and his job at Kurzweil Music Systems. Once more, they held another round of auditions for keyboardists, and in October 1994, they selected Derek Sherinian as a touring keyboardist, then promoted him to full-time member in February 1995. His time in Dream Theater yielded an EP (''A Change of Seasons''), one studio album ('' Falling into Infinity''), and one live album (''Once in a LIVEtime''). Sherinian provided synth work for the "Metropolis Pt. 2" demo recorded during the sessions for ''Falling Into Infinity''.

While Dream Theater had to promote that album with Sherinian, their drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci had a side project named Liquid Tension Experiment, which also included bassist Tony Levin and returning session keyboardist Jordan Rudess.

Portnoy and Petrucci then convinced bassist John Myung and singer James LaBrie to have Jordan Rudess join, and Derek Sherinian was fired from Dream Theater via conference call. (Portnoy and Petrucci have stated that while it was an uncomfortable and unattractive situation, they did not want to ask Derek to fly from Los Angeles to New York only to be fired.)

After his departure, the band returned to BearTracks Studios in Suffern, New York, to record their new album, the same location where ''Images and Words'' was recorded (a photograph of BearTracks is featured on the album's back cover, meant to represent the house in the album). After the commercial failure of ''Falling Into Infinity'', their record label gave the band free rein over the direction of their new album, which led the band to finally finish the story. The final version of the story became a concept album, dealing with the story of a man named Nicholas and his discovery of his past life, which involves love, murder, and infidelity as Victoria Page, and as such was heavily inspired by the 1991 film ''Dead Again,'' more so than "Metropolis—Part I".

Following the album's release, the band embarked on an extensive world tour, and at a show in New York City, they hired actors to perform the narrative elements of the album while they played. The performance was recorded and released in 2001 as the '' Metropolis 2000'' live DVD. In 2011, the album was released on LP for the first time to celebrate Record Store Day. In 2019, the twentieth anniversary of the release of ''Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory'', Dream Theater performed it live in its entirety alongside material from their fourteenth studio album, '' Distance over Time''. The ''Distance over Time'' tour was documented as well and released in November 2020.

Synopsis

Act I

''Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory'' opens with Nicholas, a troubled man undergoing past life regression

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