into Infinity was released on September 23, 1997. In America, the album debuted at number 52 on the Billboard 200. Falling into Infinity received mixed reviews from critics and fans. In a three out of five star review for AllMusic, Jeremy Ulrey called it "the band's weakest effort since their debut." Rich Wilson has described it as "one of the patchier albums in the band's catalogue." According to Lifting Shadows, Falling into Infinity was considered a commercial failure, failing to break any new ground for Dream Theater or increase their sales despite its more commercial direction. As a result of the creative and personal tensions experienced during the album's production phase, it has been described as the band's "most difficult album", and eventually led to their demanding to be free from record label interference for all future albums. Mike Portnoy has mentioned that if Elektra Records, Kevin Shirley, and Desmond Child were not involved in the making of the album, he would have made a "completely different record". In 2007, the band released a demo version of the album reflecting Portnoy's original song arrangements and track listing, including a live rehearsal of the original "Metropolis Pt. 2". In contrast to Portnoy's comments, John Petrucci has spoken fondly of the album, and in a 2014 interview stated, "Maybe I could set the records straight: I think that’s a really big misunderstanding. The label didn’t have an influence on the album. We wrote the kind of album we wanted to write." Track listing PersonnelDream Theater:James LaBrie – lead vocals and backing vocals, arrangement John Petrucci – guitar, background vocals, arrangement Derek Sherinian – keyboards, backing vocals, arrangement John Myung – bass, Chapman Stick on tracks 1 and 8, arrangement Mike Portnoy – drums, percussion, backing vocals, harmony vocals on track 1, arrangementAdditional credits:' Doug Pinnick – additional vocals (track 7) Kevin Shirley – engineering, mixing, production Rich Alvy – engineering assistance Barbara Lipke – engineering assistance Dave Swope – mixing assistance Leon Zervos – mastering Storm Thorgerson – cover art Chart performance References Dream Theater albums 1997 albums Albums with cover art by Storm Thorgerson East West Records albums Albums produced by Kevin Shirley