Composition
Falling into Infinity is the first Dream Theater album to feature multiple songs with lyrics by Mike Portnoy. Portnoy and the rest of the band were forced to write more lyrics following the departure of Kevin Moore. All of Portnoy's lyrics were inspired by his frustration with Elektra Records: "New Millennium" and "Just Let Me Breathe" are aimed at the music industry and label, and "Burning My Soul" targets A&R man Derek Oliver. John Petrucci wrote six lyrics for the album, including those for "Peruvian Skies", which deal with the subject of child abuse. James LaBrie and John Myung each contributed one lyric, and one song, "Hell's Kitchen", is an instrumental.
In the official Dream Theater biography Lifting Shadows, author Rich Wilson described Falling into Infinity's musical style as having an "accessible nature". In his review of the album for Allmusic, Jeremy Ulrey noted of the album: "Like many other progressive bands playing difficult music, Dream Theater inevitably chose to trim down both their bombastic production and intricate songwriting for a more laid-back approach, both live and in the studio." Its writing was inspired by a multitude of artists including Elton John.
Read more about this topic: Falling Into Infinity
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