A Change of Seasons

One of my favorite Dream Theater albums (ok so they are all my favorite give me a break), A Change of Seasons is more of an EP than an actual album. The album contains one main song "A Change of Seasons" which is only 23 minutes long. The next four songs are all covers of famous songs by famous people, Imagine that. "Funeral For A Friend - Love Lies Bleeding" originally by Elton john. "Perfect Strangers" by Deep Purple. "The Rover - Achilles Last Stand - The Song Remains The Same" a medley of Led Zeppelin songs. The song "The Big Medley" is a bunch of songs by Pink Floyd, Kansas, Queen, Journey, and others put into one.
The main song on the album, "A Change of Seasons" was written by Mike Portnoy (drummer) and the lyrics are based on his own life. The song is split into seven different parts and each one is supposed to represent a different part of a season. The first part, The Crimson sunrise, is an instrumental. It then moves onto Innocence where there is a man who lived a happy life and is now depressed. The next part Carpe Diem is based off Portnoy's father tell him before he passed away due to cancer. In this part of the song the man from the previous part is supposed to be recovering only to be struck by tragedy.
The next part, The Darkest of Winters is an instrumental. After the next couple of sections, we reach the end of the song The Crimson Sunset. In this part the man from the beginning is explaining to his son what his dad told him. The intro repeats here from the beginning signifying then end of his life and the start of his son's.