Music / Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory

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Close your eyes and begin to relax. Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Concentrate on your breathing; with each breath, you become more relaxed.

Imagine you are reading a webpage about Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, a 1999 rock opera/concept album by the progressive metal band Dream Theater, which is also the band's first album to feature Jordan Rudess on the keyboards. It follows the story of a man named Nicholas and his hypnosis-induced exploration of a past life involving love and murder as a young woman named Victoria Page.

Now as I count back from ten to one, you will feel more peaceful and calm.

Ten. (click) Nine. (click) Eight. (click) Seven.

You will enter a safe place, where nothing can harm you.

(click) Six. (click) Five. (click) Four. (click)

The album is a sequel to the song "Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper", from the band's 1992 album Images and Words. Scenes from a Memory greatly expands on the story and thematic concept originally presented in the song using narrative lyrics from the points of view of multiple characters interspersed with technically and rhythmically detailed music and instrumentals.

(click) Three. (click) Two.

If, at any point, you want to read a serious, in-depth plot summary of the album, all you need to do is look at the Other Wiki.

(click) One.

Tracklist:^note Most pressings separate scenes 2, 3 and 7 across two tracks each.

1. "Scene 1: Regression" - 2:06
2. "Scene 2: Overture 1928 / Strange Déjà Vu" - 8:41
3. "Scene 3: Through My Words / Fatal Tragedy" - 8:00
4. "Scene 4: Beyond This Life" - 11:23
5. "Scene 5: Through Her Eyes" - 5:29
6. "Scene 6: Home" - 12:53
7. "Scene 7: The Dance of Eternity / One Last Time" - 10:00
8. "Scene 8: The Spirit Carries On" - 6:38
9. "Scene 9: Finally Free" - 12:00

Principal members

• John Petrucci - guitars, backing vocals
• John Myung - bass
• James LaBrie - lead vocals
• Jordan Rudess - keyboards
• Mike Portnoy - drums, backing vocals

A novelization written by Peter Orullian, who previously wrote the novelization of The Astonishing, was released in 2024 to celebrate the album's twenty-fifth anniversary.

Scenes from a Memory provides examples of:

• Adaptational Expansion: The novel significantly expands on the story found on the album.
  • Nicholas's family is added to the story. This includes his wife, Jen, his clairvoyant son Billy, and his daughter Emily, who died in a car accident in 1991. Nicholas attempting to restore Emily's last voicemail is a major plot point.
  • The hypnotherapist and the old man are given names: Andrew Beadys and Colin Murphy. Colin's character is significantly expanded on; it's revealed he was once a detective for the Metropolis PD, and he helps Nicholas unravel the mystery of Victoria's death. He is also the one who exposes Andrew's crimes.
  • The city of Metropolis and its surrounding areas is significantly expanded on. For example, it's revealed that Metropolis has its own MLB team.
  • The album ends with Dr. Beadys killing Nicholas and doesn't elaborate beyond that. The novel expands further past this, as it's revealed that Beadys is eventually arrested for murdering Nicholas.
• Album Intro Track: "Regression" is one, consisting largely of dialogue of Andrew putting Nicholas into a trance.
• Album Title Drop: The phrase "Scenes from a Memory" appears in "Home".
• The Alcoholic: Julian is a heavy drinker as well as a gambler. It's part of the reason why Victoria started an affair with Edward.
• All There in the Manual:
  • There is no indication in either the lyrics or the packaging that the Hypnotherapist kills Nicholas. It was only officially confirmed in the commentary track of a live DVD.
  • Victoria's full name is Victoria Page, and the brothers Julian and Edward have the last name Baynes. This is not confirmed in the lyrics of the album, only in the supplementary material. The novelization uses these surnames.
• Alliterative Title: The album ends with the song "Finally Free".
• Arc Words: The phrase "Open your eyes" appears many times throughout the album. The first person who says this is the Hypnotherapist at the beginning of the album, but the words are later repeated by Edward right before he kills Victoria and by the Hypnotherapist before he kills Nicholas.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Edward murders Julian and Victoria, successfully framing Julian for it. Dr. Beadys also kills Nicholas, but the album doesn't confirm that it was him. The novelization reveals that he was eventually arrested for murdering Nicholas a few months later.
• Big Bad: Edward and his reincarnation, Andrew Beadys. It is implied that the entire reason Victoria is communicating with Nicholas is to warn him that Andrew will murder him as Edward did Victoria, leading to the further implication that the whole album is part of an endless cycle of murder and rebirth.
• Been There, Shaped History: The novel reveals that Cornelius Baynes, the father of Edward and Julian, is investing money in a cartoon for a publicity campaign. That cartoon? Steamboat Willie.
• Break the Cutie: Nicholas starts as a relatively happy man and slowly is broken as he learns about Victoria's life and premature death until the point at which he breaks down crying at her grave.
• Breather Episode: "Through My Words", "Through Her Eyes", and "The Spirit Carries On" are this from a musical perspective.
• Call-Forward: Brief snippets of "Home" and "Through Her Eyes" can be heard during "Regression"
• Concept Album: The album tells a grand story about a man trying to solve a murder of his past reincarnation using hypnotherapy.
• Corrupt Politician: Edward uses his clout as a Senator to sway the newspapers into framing Julian and Victoria's deaths as a murder-suicide instead of a murder.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Edward killed Victoria, as well as his own brother Julian, out of jealousy when Victoria decided to go back to Julian.
• Dark Reprise:
  • "Through Her Eyes" can be seen as a downplayed version of this to "Through My Words". The piano part in the verses and chorus of the former make up the entirety of the latter.
  • The chorus of "One Last Time" is repeated in "Finally Free" after The Reveal that the Hypnotherapist is Edward, who killed both Victoria and Julian in their past lives.
• Downer Ending: It's heavily implied that, at the end of "Finally Free", Nicholas is killed by the hypnotherapist, who is a reincarnation of Edward, the man who killed Victoria. Confirmed on the live DVD by the band and the novelization. It honestly borders on Sudden Downer Ending the first time through, though on later listens, it's foreshadowed pretty well.
  • The novel plays this up further. Nicholas finally makes peace with Emily's death, but is murdered by Dr. Beadys soon after.
• Dreaming of Times Gone By: Both through the hypnotherapy sessions that Nicholas goes through and as a set up for the plot itself, with the dreams of Victoria being the reason he seeks out the therapist in the first place.
• Epic Instrumental Opener: "Overture 1928", though it is proceeded by a track with lyrics ("Regression").
• Epic Rocking: The album is almost 80 minutes long, spread across 12 songs, the longest ("Home") at 12:53, followed closely by "Finally Free" (11:59) and "Beyond This Life" (11:22). Other tracks that go over the 6-minute mark are "Fatal Tragedy" (6:49), "The Dance of Eternity" (6:14) and "The Spirit Carries On" (6:38).
• Fading into the Next Song: Naturally, given that it's a Rock Opera. Subverted with the transition between "Through Her Eyes" and "Home", since it's transitioning between two acts.
• Genre Shift: The last few minutes of "Finally Free" contain no music, playing out like a radio show instead.
• Gospel Revival Number: "The Spirit Carries On" has vaguely Christian-sounding lyrics (although in context, it's about reincarnation rather than going to heaven), and has a gospel choir and organs.
• Gratuitous Panning: The clock ticks at the beginning of "Regression", several parts of "Beyond This Life", the sound-effects section of "Home", and the ending of "Finally Free".
• Haunted House Historian: The old man who tells Nicholas about Victoria's murder in "Fatal Tragedy". It's described in "Strange Déjà Vu".
• Happy Ending Override: The novel ends with Nicholas making peace with Emily's death, only for him to be murdered by Andrew later that night.
• The Hero Dies: The therapist kills Nicholas.
• If I Can't Have You…: Edward ends up murdering Victoria for cheating on him with her ex-boyfriend Julian.
• Instrumentals: "Overture 1928" and "The Dance of Eternity".
• Karma Houdini: As far as we know, neither Edward or the Hypnotherapist ever face justice for their crimes.
• Kill the Cutie: Edward killed Victoria due to his jealousy towards her rekindling her relationship with Julian. The hypnotherapist, who's his reincarnation, does this to Nicholas.
• Last-Name Basis: Colin Murphy, the old man who helps Nicholas, usually goes by Murphy or Murph.
• Last Note Nightmare: "One Last Time" subverts this. The piano part at the end sounds creepy in a way, but the last chord is a happy sounding chord that sets up the next song, "The Spirit Carries On"
• Meaningful Echo: The last words of the album, uttered by the Hypnotherapist, revealing him as Edward's reincarnation as he kills Nicholas.
  "Open your eyes, Nicholas." *yelp* *static*
• Miniscule Rocking: "Regression" (2:07) and "Through My Words" (1:07)
• Murder Ballad: "Fatal Tragedy," "Beyond This Life," and "Finally Free", since they're all about how Edward killed Julian and Victoria.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: Edward ends up killing his brother Julian and Victoria for their affair.
• Mythology Gag:
  • When Nicholas goes to his first therapy session in the novel, Andrew says the opening words from the album per verbatim.
  • One sentence in the novel says that "images and words" run through Nicholas's mind. Various other tracks from the album are also said by the characters, such as Nicholas saying he's experiencing "strange deja vu".
  • The novel ends on October 26th, 1999, the same day the album released on.
• No Name Given: Names for the hypnotherapist and the Haunted House Historian are never given in the album. They are finally given names in the novel: Andrew and Murphy, respectively.
• Not Afraid to Die: In "The Spirit Carries On", Nicholas states that he doesn't fear death now that he knows that he'll be reincarnated.
  I used to be frightened of dying
  I used to think death was the end
  But that was before, I'm not scared anymore
  I know that my soul will transcend
• One-Woman Wail: At the beginning of "Through Her Eyes" and the end of "The Spirit Carries On"
• Past-Life Memories: The plot centers around Nicholas' attempts to solve the mysteries of his past life, Victoria.
• Period Piece: The novel, which was released in 2024, mainly takes place in 1928 and 1999. There are also parts that take place during the '40s and the '60s.
• Power Ballad: "The Spirit Carries On" is a slow, emotional song that starts off with gentle singing and piano, and leads to a climax with organs, a gospel choir, and a soulful guitar solo. The audience tends to do a Raised Lighter Tribute when it's played live.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: The news snippet at the end of "Finally Free" is a CNN report about the death of John Kennedy Jr. It was included to show that the modern-day sections take place in 1999.
• Reincarnation: Nicholas is a reincarnation of Victoria, and the Hypnotherapist is a reincarnation of Edward.
• The Reveal: "Finally Free". Unbeknownst to Nicholas, Edward kills his brother Julian while Julian and Victoria re-kindle their relationship (supposedly) in secret; Edward then tells Victoria to "open [her] eyes" before killing her. He plants a suicide note on Julian and then assumes his role as the witness, reported earlier in the album (in "Beyond This Life") as a newspaper column. The reason Nicholas is unaware of this is because his hypnotherapist ended the session abruptly, right when Nicholas has made peace with being a re-incarnated Victoria, so that Nicholas could not become aware of this revelation, or the fact that his hypnotherapist was a reincarnation of Edward and was preparing to kill him (again) — something Victoria was trying to warn him about.
• Record Needle Scratch: At the end of "Finally Free", a record needle scratch followed by static represents Nicholas being murdered by the Hypnotherapist, abruptly ending the album.
• The Roaring '20s: The past segments with Victoria take place in 1928.
• Siamese Twin Songs: "Regression" -> "Overture 1928" -> "Strange Deja Vu", and "Through My Words" -> "Fatal Tragedy".
• Sell What You Love: Victoria is forced to sell her mother's pearl necklace in order to get the cash to bail Julian out of jail.
• Spoken Word in Music: The album contains voice acting for the Hypnotherapist, Victoria, Julian, and Edward.
• Stock Scream: "Finally Free" uses "Screams 7; Woman, Three Screams, Exterior Close Perspective" from The Hollywood Edge Sound Effects Library, representing Victoria's screams as she is murdered.
• Triumphant Reprise: "The Spirit Carries On" contains a full-band reprise of the acoustic track "Regression", complete with a gospel-style choir.
• Uncommon Time: It shows up here and there. "The Dance of Eternity" (the notes of which are the current page image for said trope) is one of the most well-known examples of this trope with over a hundred time-signature changes in under seven minutes.
• Unfinished Business: A variant. Victoria isn't explicitly mentioned as a ghost, but she attempts to communicate with Nicholas through his dreams to get him to investigate her murder. And to warn him of his coming demise.
• Vicious Cycle: The Miracle kills Metropolis yet again.
• Villain Song: Any part sung in Edward's point of view. Examples include the second verse and second chorus of "Home" and the first verse of "Finally Free".
• Wham Line: "Open your eyes, Victoria!" Even if the listener puts it all together, it doesn't make a later line, "Open your eyes, Nicholas!", any less unsettling.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: There's no mention of who the modern-day "Sleeper" (Julian's reincarnation) is, although some theorize it's the old man in "Fatal Tragedy" (this is supported by an animated video that played during the song in 2019 anniversary tour) or Nicholas' wife mentioned in "Through Her Eyes".
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Nicholas thinks he has solved the murder of Victoria and found out the meaning of his dreams. He goes home happy, turns on some music, and is promptly murdered by the Hypnotherapist.

"Open your eyes, Nicholas."
AAH!
*VRRRRRP*—KSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHT (Cue "The Glass Prison".)