7/13: COVER: Xanadu (Dream Theater)

Prog metal's heavyweights make a carbon copy of Rush's tragic epic, and it's amazing.

I scaled the frozen mountain tops
Of eastern lands unknown
Time and man alone
Searching for the lost, Xanadu

Honestly, this one feels like cheating. Dream Theater’s cover (found on the 40th anniversary edition of A Farewell to Kings) is such a pitch-perfect recreation of “Xanadu” that it’s truly uncanny:

So it goes with Dream Theater. They’re a lot like Rush, but even nerdier and more musically gifted.

Yet while I’m awed by the band’s technical chops, and Metropolis Part Two might just be one of my favorite concept albums of all time, I never really feel like Dream Theater has fun in the same way Rush does. Their music is always so Heavy With Import (Also Algebra) that it’s hard to just kick back and chill to.

Anyway, while this cover is entirely on the nose, holy hell does Dream Theater ever knock it out of the park. James LaBrie is probably the only man alive who can still hit those high notes, and he does them so effortlessly. So while yes, this may be a carbon copy cover, I don’t really care. It’s phenomenal. Enjoy.