Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

This article is about the album. For the title track, see Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (song).

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Studio album by Dream Theater
Released	January 29, 2002 (2002-01-29)
Recorded	March–September 2001 [1]
Studio	BearTracks Studios, Suffern, New York
Genre	Progressive metal progressive rock
Length	96:17
Label	Elektra
Producer	John Petrucci Mike Portnoy
Dream Theater chronology
Live Scenes from New York (2001) Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002) Train of Thought (2003)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	(B) [3]
Rolling Stone	(favorable) [4]
411mania.com	[5]

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is the sixth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released as a double-disc album on January 29, 2002, through Elektra Records. It is the first full-length Dream Theater album to feature a title track. It is also their second longest studio album to date, after The Astonishing (2016).

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. ^[6]
• "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". ^[7] The band was actually in a Manhattan studio conducting final mixes of the album on the day in question. ^[8]
• Lyrics for the song "Disappear" were written by James LaBrie about the subject of death; it was originally titled "Move On". ^[7] This track is omitted entirely from the cassette edition. ^[6]
• 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 Images and Words and Falling into Infinity . Despite this, the cassette edition reduced "Misunderstood" to its radio edit version and omitted "Disappear" entirely. ^[6]
• 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:

• U2, Achtung Baby
• Alice in Chains, Dirt
• Béla Bartók
• Galactic Cowboys, Space in Your Face
• Kevin Gilbert, Thud
• King's X, Faith Hope Love
• Maria Tipo, Chopin Nocturnes. ^[9]
• Megadeth, Rust in Peace ^[9]
• Metallica, Master of Puppets
• Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral
• Pantera, Far Beyond Driven
  • (and the song "Mouth for War") ^[9]
• Radiohead, OK Computer
  • (and also a Radiohead bootleg Portnoy brought in)
• Rage Against the Machine, The Battle of Los Angeles
• Soundgarden, Superunknown
• Tool's Ænima

Track listing

Disc one

All music is composed by John Myung, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess, per the album liner notes.

No.	Title	Lyrics	Length
1.	"The Glass Prison" "I. Reflection" "II. Restoration" "III. Revelation"	Portnoy	13:52
2.	"Blind Faith"	James LaBrie	10:21
3.	"Misunderstood"	Petrucci	9:32
4.	"The Great Debate"	Petrucci	13:46
5.	"Disappear"	LaBrie	6:46
Total length:			54:18

Disc two

"Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence"

No.	Title	Lyrics	Length
1.	"I. Overture"	(instrumental)	6:50
2.	"II. About to Crash"	Petrucci	5:50
3.	"III. War Inside My Head"	Portnoy	2:08
4.	"IV. The Test That Stumped Them All"	Portnoy	5:03
5.	"V. Goodnight Kiss"	Portnoy	6:17
6.	"VI. Solitary Shell"	Petrucci	5:47
7.	"VII. About to Crash (Reprise)"	Petrucci	4:04
8.	"VIII. Losing Time/Grand Finale"	Petrucci	5:59
Total length:			42:02

Personnel

Dream Theater

• James LaBrie – lead vocals
• John Petrucci – guitars, backing vocals, production
• Jordan Rudess – keyboards
• John Myung – bass
• Mike Portnoy – drums, backing vocals, co-lead vocals (on "The Glass Prison" and "War Inside My Head"), production

Additional personnel

• Howard Portnoy – gong drum (on "The Great Debate")

Production

• Doug Oberkircher − engineering
• J.P. Sheganowski – engineering assistance
• Kevin Shirley – mixing
• Claudius Mittendorfer – mixing assistance
• George Marino – mastering
• Eugene "UE" Natasi – mastering assistance
• Dung Hoang – cover art illustration
• Ken Schles – photography
• May Redding – stylist (photography)
• JMatic – art direction

Charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [10]	73
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [11]	35
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [12]	33
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [13]	14
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [14]	2
French Albums (SNEP) [15]	17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [16]	12
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [17]	7
Italian Albums (FIMI) [18]	5
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [19]	15
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [20]	16
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [21]	12
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [22]	52
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [23]	29
US Billboard 200 [24]	46

References

1. Wilson, Rich (2013). Lifting Shadows: The Authorized Biography of Dream Theater. Rocket 88. p. 227. ISBN   9781906615581. OCLC   857966438 . Retrieved March 20, 2025.
2. Taylor, Robert (2011). "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - Dream Theater | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
3. Browne, David (2011). "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence Review | Music Reviews and News". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved August 3, 2011.
4. Worley, Gail (2011). "Dream Theater: Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on March 3, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
5. Walker, Rhett (2011). "411mania.com: Music - Dream Theater – Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence Review". 411mania.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
6. "Dream Theater - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence". Discogs.
7. "FAQ". mikeportnoy.com. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
8. Epting, Chris (September 6, 2011). "Mike Portnoy Recounts Bizarre 9/11 Coincidence". Noisecreep . Townsquare Media . Retrieved May 15, 2020.
9. "Mike Portnoy.com The Official Website". www.mikeportnoy.com.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
11. "Ultratop.be – Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
12. "Danishcharts.dk – Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
14. "Dream Theater: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
15. "Lescharts.com – Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
17. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2002. 7. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
18. "Italiancharts.com – Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
19. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN   4-87131-077-9.
20. "Norwegiancharts.com – Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
21. "Swedishcharts.com – Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
22. "Swisscharts.com – Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
23. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
24. "Dream Theater Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2025.

External links

• The Making of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence Part I on YouTube
• The Making of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence Part II on YouTube
• The Making of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence Part III on YouTube