With Dream Theater's second album, the band really hit it's stride, creating their breakout hit and the album that would forever put them at the forefront of the progressive metal scene. With new vocalist James LaBrie, the band now has a cohesive vocal sound more attuned to their music. The album opener, Pull Me Under, is vastly different than anything that came on the first album, and sets the stage for an even more complex and epic album. There are still some remnants of "80's cheese" here, but much less so than previously, mostly due to vocals that are less glammish and more operettic.

The highlights include the 9 minute epic Metropolis, the "other" epic Learning to Live, the piano ballad Wait for Sleep and the crunch heavy Under a Glass Moon. This is probably the bands softest work, and the closest to being like their biggest influence, Rush. For fans of progressive rock who are looking to get into Dream Theater or Prog Metal in general, you couldn't pick a better starting point than Images and Words.