For those who like their metal served with operatic vocals and extended musical forays into the guitar stratosphere, there is no better matchup this summer than that of and Queensryche and Dream Theater. The former helped keep this '70s-flavored genre on its feet in the 1980s, submitting a string of prog-metal concept albums that worshipful fans still dissect. Though the Seattle quintet broke through with "Silent Lucidity," it wasn't able to move beyond its status of metal's most popular cult act. Clearly inspired by Queensryche's ambitious approach to music making, Dream Theater took the whole idea one step further, giving it a Berklee College of Music pedigree and submitting triple albums that crammed every nook and cranny with paradiddles, guitar squibbles and Tolkienesque prose that would perplex a Hobbit. This pairing should provide an over-the-top evening of technically proficient sonic wizardry.
