Had I not listened to Metropolis part 2 the title for this review would be absolute perfection.
An amazing album, i cannot understand why some dream theater fans dislike it, in my opinion in the presence of enimies is the best song dream theater have recorded, 26 minutes of bliss and the intro is just epic (an over used word but it really applies to this song).
This album is a must for any dream theater fan and an excellent place to start your collection if you are new to the band........
Stop reading and buy it!

I recently got the Awake album by Dream Theater because I heard the song Voices somewhere and I absolutely loved it. Apart from the fact that Dream Theater are generally one of the most awesome bands I've ever heard, I crave skill...this band has more amounts of skill than I've ever seen. Their singer has such a huge vocal range, their keyboardist, bassist, drummer, guitarist, they are ALL amazing at what they do and I can never fault anything they ever have ever done. Every song seems unique and this album shows the world just exactly how great Dream Theater are...I also don't understand how they have the brain power to write songs which are anything higher than 10 minutes long...also check out Octavarium...24:00 long...J E S U S

All in all...Dream Theater are amazing and this album completely rocks...end of!

I completely missed out on Dream Theater until I bought this album a year ago and all I can say is wow. There is so much going on - every track has a unique appeal. Kind of like Metallica mixed with Pink Floyd and a bit of Muse in places. Some tracks like 6 and 7 are beyond criticism. I bought the entire back catalogue on the strength of this album. Please buy it NOW