"The basis of the story is as follows: Nicholas, going through regression, discovers that he was a woman named Victoria in a past life who was murdered, and she is trying to show him who that murderer was. The story of the album shows that Victoria was pulling away from her lover Julian, and began an affair with his brother Edward. According to a newspaper article and eyewitness Julian murdered Victoria and then himself, but Nicholas begins to doubt this. He also realises he must solve this or never be able to move on with his own life. Nicholas believes he has solved the mystery, where Julian begged Victoria to forgive him, and when she didn’t, he killed both her and Edward and acted as the eyewitness. Nicholas, believing he is now free, bids farewell to Victoria’s memory, even as she tries to call him back.

The story then cuts to Edward’s perspective, which sees Victoria looking to reconcile with Julian, and Edward instead killing them both, and becoming the eyewitness. Back in the present, Nicholas is followed home by the hypnotherapist who it turns out is the reincarnation of Edward, and Nicholas is startled by a request to ‘open his eyes’, before he is murdered, thus closing the circle once again.

Sounds confusing? Perhaps. As it turns out, there is a book being released in time for this 25th anniversary of the album’s release that relates the tale, so perhaps you could read that and see if it does the story more justice than me".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes from a Memory” by Dream Theater, the band’s 5th studio album released 25 years ago this week, on today’s episode where its “what a pleasant nightmare and I can't wait to get there again” on Music from a Lifetime.