10 Most Overrated Metal Albums Of The 90s

The preeminent kings of turning an interesting idea and stretching for 8 1/2 minutes, prog icons Dream Theater are what happens when you take your Grade 5 piano certification a bit too seriously.

Their first album to feature Scooby-doo villain-lookalike James LaBrie on vocals, 'Images and Words' is seen as the commercial breakthrough for the Boston natives and features their biggest hit, "Pull Me Under".

While it does drag on a fair old while, it is still a technical showcase of the band's ability to modernise the eccentric sound of 70s prog in the same vein as Jethro Tull, Rush and King Crimson, with a more powerful set of vocals to go with it, thanks to LaBrie's power metal-esque delivery.

And while there are good ideas throughout the album, they're hard to notice in between the 45 years of guitar and keyboard solos.

Why, of all things, the band chose to bring convoluted keyboard solos back from the dead remains a mystery, and while John Petrucchi's fretboard sodomy may be impressive, the start-stop delivery of soloing and an actual song feels like being stuck in rush hour traffic with a wasp nest.

The awe from the musicianship wains almost immediately, and you're left in a never-ending arpeggio apocalypse.