Awake (Dream Theater Album) - Reception

Reception

Awake peaked at 32 on the Billboard 200, remaining in the charts for six weeks. This would remain the band's highest-charting release in the US until 2007's Systematic Chaos. The album peaked in the top 20 in four countries. Derek Oliver, Dream Theater's label representative, considered the album to be a commercial failure. This led to the band once again working with David Prater on A Change of Seasons and to the record label putting increasing pressure on the band to make songs on their next studio album, Falling into Infinity, more commercial and radio-friendly.

In spite of the plentiful redeeming features on Awake, press reviews were generally subdued. It must of course be remembered that it was released just as the shoegazing, miserable purveyors of the fad known as grunge were taking hold. The British press in particular seemed dazzled by the work of Kurt Cobain and his cohorts, and anything that wasn't based around three chords or packed with lyrics championing depression as a lifestyle choice was in for a hard ride.

Upon release, Awake received mixed reviews. Q wrote that "fans of Marillion may well love this, and even the sceptical listener can enjoy the crunching, radio-friendly choruses of 'Scarred' and 'Caught in a Web'." Guitar World ranked the album as one of the top ten releases of the year, stating that "this shred party left me punch drunk and, for once in my life, fully Awake." Metal Hammer dismissed Awake as "musical masturbation": "Progressive rock is basically a very adolescent notion of what 'grown up' music might sound like - more notes, longer solos and, best/worst of all, convoluted concepts... Their propensity for pomposity extends to the ballad 'Silent Man', which would probably like to be Queensrÿche's 'Silent Lucidity' but in fact sounds like Stryper on a particularly pious day". The album has since sold nearly 400,000.

More recent reviews have been more favorable. Reviewers praised the album's production, noting the album is darker and heavier than previous Dream Theater releases. The musicianship of the band has been praised. Phil Carter of Allmusic highlighted Petrucci and Portnoy's performances; Metal Storm praised LaBrie and Portnoy; Murat Batmaz of Sea of Tranquility praised all the performances, but singled out Moore's contribution as "immense" and complimented him on "a lucid layer of atmosphere around built by none other than Kevin Moore." Carter ranked "Lie", "Scarred", "Caught in a Web" and "Space-Dye Vest" as the best tracks. Metal Storm praised "6:00" and the "A Mind Beside Itself" suite.

In a 1995 Guitar World interview, Chuck Schuldiner praised Awake and the band Dream Theater in general, claiming that "their music is very complex, but they definitely have hooks, which is crucial to making music listenable", citing them as an influence on the more progressive nature of his band Death's later material as opposed to the stagnant death metal scene at the time.