Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is the sixth full-length studio album by progressive metal band Dream Theater, released as a double-disc album on January 29, 2002 through Elektra Records. Excluding the A Change of Seasons EP, it is the first Dream Theater album to feature a title track. It is also their second longest studio album to date, after The Astonishing. All songs from it have been played live to date.

This article is about the album. For the title track, see Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (song).
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Cover art by Dung Hoang
Studio album by
Dream Theater
ReleasedJanuary 29, 2002 (2002-01-29)
RecordedMarch–August 2001
StudioBearTracks Studios in Suffern, New York
GenreProgressive metal, progressive rock
Length96:17
LabelElektra
Producer
Dream Theater chronology
Live Scenes from New York
(2001)		 Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
(2002)		 Train of Thought
(2003)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment Weekly(B)[2]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[3]
411mania.com[4]

Concept

The recording is a type of concept album wherein the five songs which comprise the first disc explore different themes of lifetime struggle, such as alcoholism, loss of faith, self-isolation, sanctity of life and death. The sixth song—a 42-minute piece occupying the second disc, separated into eight tracks—explores the stories of six individuals suffering from various mental illnesses. Particularly represented are bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, post-partum depression, autism and dissociative personality disorder. Furthermore, the title of the album may also allude to the fact that each song on the album could be seen as a different form of inner turbulence, with the six tracks making another reference to the six degrees, along with the apparent reference to the six degrees of separation. The musical styles of each section of the title track are direct reflections of the band's large variety of influences. Classical, folk, jazz and metal styles are present within the track.

Songs
  • The first track of the album, "The Glass Prison", is the beginning of the Twelve-step Suite, dealing with Mike Portnoy's story of rehabilitation from alcoholism, continued in tracks on subsequent albums ("This Dying Soul" on Train of Thought, "The Root of All Evil" on Octavarium, "Repentance" on Systematic Chaos and "The Shattered Fortress" on Black Clouds & Silver Linings). "The Glass Prison" is composed of three parts, mirroring the first three of the twelve steps of the AA program by Bill W. for rehabilitation of alcoholics. Furthermore, it begins with the static phonograph noise that ended "Finally Free" on Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999).
  • "Blind Faith" features lyrics written by James LaBrie about questioning religious belief. It is the second longest song for which LaBrie has contributed lyrics to date, the longest being "Sacrificed Sons" from Octavarium. It was also the first time he had written lyrics for more than one song on an album. The next time would also be on Octavarium.
  • In the song "Misunderstood", John Petrucci wrote and played the guitar solo, and then reversed it. He then learned how to play this reversed version, and he tries to mimic the reversed version live with effects. This track is in its shorter radio edit form on the cassette edition.[5]
  • "The Great Debate" is intended to be a non-partisan song dealing with the topic of stem-cell research. It was originally titled "Conflict at Ground Zero" based on the lyrics in the chorus but was changed at the last minute as news reports started to refer to the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City as "Ground Zero".[6] The band was actually in a Manhattan studio conducting final mixes of the album on the day in question.[7]
  • Lyrics for the song "Disappear" were written by James LaBrie about the subject of death; it was originally titled "Move On".[6] This track is omitted entirely from the cassette edition.[5]
  • The sixth song, "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence", which makes up the entire second CD (albeit split into eight separate tracks), is the longest song Dream Theater have recorded to date. While recording, they wanted to keep the song at 20 minutes, but more and more ideas came which resulted in the length doubling. Realizing that they would have to cut "Disappear" and "Misunderstood" to keep the album at one CD, their record label was now open for the idea of a double album, something the band had previously been denied when recording Falling into Infinity for former label EastWest. Despite this, the cassette edition reduced "Misunderstood" to its radio edit version and omitted "Disappear" entirely.[5]
  • The last chord of "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" is used to open "As I Am" on the next album Train of Thought, continuing a chain which ended with Octavarium.

Influences

Influences for the album's writing and recording, according to the authors, include Metallica's Master of Puppets, Radiohead's OK Computer (and also a Radiohead bootleg Portnoy brought in), Pantera's Far Beyond Driven and the song "Mouth for War",[8] Megadeth's Rust in Peace,[8] U2's Achtung Baby, Tool's Ænima, Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral, Soundgarden's Superunknown, Alice in Chains' Dirt, Kevin Gilbert's Thud, King's X's Faith Hope Love and Galactic Cowboys' Space in Your Face, Béla Bartók, Rage Against the Machine's The Battle of Los Angeles, and Maria Tipo's Chopin Nocturnes.[8]

Track listing

Disc one

All music is composed by John Petrucci, John Myung, Jordan Rudess and Mike Portnoy.

No.TitleLyricsLength
1."The Glass Prison"
  • "I. Reflection"
  • "II. Restoration"
  • "III. Revelation"
Portnoy13:52
2."Blind Faith"James LaBrie10:21
3."Misunderstood"Petrucci9:32
4."The Great Debate"Petrucci13:46
5."Disappear"LaBrie6:46
Total length:54:18
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
6."Solitary Shell" (radio edit)4:11

Disc two
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
No.TitleLyricsLength
1."I. Overture"(instrumental)6:50
2."II. About to Crash"Petrucci5:50
3."III. War Inside My Head"Portnoy2:08
4."IV. The Test That Stumped Them All"Portnoy5:03
5."V. Goodnight Kiss"Portnoy6:17
6."VI. Solitary Shell"Petrucci5:47
7."VII. About to Crash (Reprise)"Petrucci4:04
8."VIII. Losing Time/Grand Finale"Petrucci5:59
Total length:42:02

Chart performance
Album
YearChartPosition
2002 Billboard 200 46[9]
Singles
YearTitleChartPosition
2002 "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" Billboard Top Internet Albums 1[9]

Personnel

Dream Theater

Additional personnel
  • Howard Portnoy – gong drum on "The Great Debate"

Production

References
  1. Taylor, Robert (2011). "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - Dream Theater | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  2. Browne, David (2011). "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence Review | Music Reviews and News | EW.com". ew.com. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  3. Worley, Gail (2011). "Dream Theater: Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2011.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. Walker, Rhett (2011). "411mania.com: Music - Dream Theater – Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence Review". 411mania.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  5. "Dream Theater - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence". Discogs.
  6. "FAQ". mikeportnoy.com. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
  7. Epting, Chris (September 6, 2011). "Mike Portnoy Recounts Bizarre 9/11 Coincidence". Noisecreep. Townsquare Media. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  8. "Mike Portnoy.com The Official Website". www.mikeportnoy.com.
  9. "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - Dream Theater | Awards". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
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