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 for rehabilitation of alcoholics. Furthermore, the track begins with the same 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.
- "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". The band was actually in a Manhattan studio conducting final mixes of the album on the day in question.
- Lyrics for the song "Disappear" were written by James LaBrie about the subject of death; it was originally titled "Move On".
- 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
Disc two
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
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"|Chart (2002)
!scope="col"|Peak<br>position
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!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
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