There isn't anything on this album that you couldn't find somewhere else before, but at least now it's sanctioned by the band and there are a couple of extra things that make it worth the purchase. The best part for me was the liner notes: Mike providing a small yet interesting back story to every song. For example, I had no idea that Particle E. Motion (which I first heard on the InstruMENTAL II bootleg as "Stars") was the very first piece the band recorded on Mike's first recorder. I also had no idea that "Light Guitar Piece", also first heard on InstruMENTAL II, was actually titled "The Saurus", and "Long Island Sound" is called "The School Song". Never trust a bootleg.

Also, as Mike puts it: "It is interesting to hear on these first batch of Berklee demos, how we sounded as a power trio". John Myung and his bass take a much larger role in these songs as opposed to his "less is more" approach to current DT material. In fact, in a lot of these songs, the bass is more of a lead instrument with the guitar playing a secondary role. I think part of that is the guys making do with what they had (or didn't have, in the case of keyboards), but I think it might also be partly due to the influence of bass-heavy bands from the late 70s and early 80s that may have faded when the band entered the 90s. This influence definately shines on a lot of this material, and I have to say these 3-piece versions are a lot better than some of the re-workings of the late 80s Collins/Dominici eras. It makes for much ballsier, rockier music without the softer keyboard sounds poofing everything up. On the downside, there aren't any of the crazy unison solos we've all grown to love. But the good makes up for the bad, and the first half of the album is interesting from a historical point of view, but it's also good music to listen to by it's own merit.

Now, if this album will be your first experience with anything other than studio album Dream Theater, I hate you and you don't deserve to live. But let me go through and let you know basically what you're in for anyway.

Particle E. Motion - Nothing special, just a small introductory piece with a cool guitar solo-ish type thing.

Another Won - I have no doubt that this would fit right onto any Dream Theater album and not be thought of as anything less than a highlight. Surely something like "Burning My Soul" could have made way for this song. It's a fast, agressive, bass-driven rocker to which you can't help but bang your head.

The Saurus - An awesome little bluesy guitar ditty. According to liners this was just an idea thrown on tape... well, this band's "thrown together ideas" are far better than most 'serious attempts' at music by any other band on the face of the earth. I shudder to think what would happen should these guys actually concentrate on making something special. Oh wait, that's right... it's called A Change of Seasons.

Cry For Freedom - This is similar to Another Won... lots of bass, bang-your-head rockiness, and a weird name. Not as good as a lot of the other early Majesty songs, but still pretty sweet. Would be (and is) much better with vocals to add another element and not make it so similar the whole way through. The ending guitar solo is one of JP's best of the time.

The School Song - This has a lot more of an early Black Sabbath feel to it, but mixed up a bit with the signature Majesty sound. As Mike says in the liners: "The middle section is soooo Iron Maiden". It soooo is.

YYZ - I have to say I'm biased about this song... it's the song that got me into Rush and to this day is still my favourite. I don't think Majesty's version is necessarily 'better' than the original, but it's a nice alternative... a LOT faster and more 'metal'. Also the keyboards sound like they came out of my $50 Casio C100.

The Farandole - I haven't heard the original version of this piece, so I can't really comment on it.

Two Far - Personally this is my least favourite of the full-length originals of the time. I'm not quite sure why, and I'm positive that you will probably disagree with me, so I'll just leave it at that.

Anti-Procrastination Song - What can you say about this song?!

Your Majesty - In 2002 the current DT line-up confirmed my thoughts that this should have been on an album. They played it for the first time since I was 3 years old in thanks to the French DT Fan Club, and it kicked so much ass I could ignore the poor audio quality of the hurried MP3 bootleg. This, like Another Won, could have easily taken the place of one of a number of songs to appear on later DT albums. That's not to take away from any of those songs, I just love this song that much.

Songs 11 through 17 - The boys having some fun with the recorder. There were previously available on the InstruMENTAL III bootleg as a single track entitled "7 mini guitar songs".