another Dream Theater thread

[nonsqtr]

These guys are great, they've got it all. Tightness, individual accomplishment, stand-up live performance, everything. This is the kind of band I want. What do you think?

[Vorago]

Ahh, another Dream Theater thread

Well, first off, great musicians, all of them.
Then, the singer I'm sorry to say this but I find him defenitely the weakest link in DT. Technically he is a great singer, but I think his voice lacks character. He is a singer that can sing alot of styles, but he misses his own sound (not to mention his awfull lyrics ) He sounds too sterile imo.

Petrucci and Portnoy are both very good musicians, but they know it, and they like to show it..I used to be more "into" DT and other "wanky" forms of music, but somehow most of that stuff doesn't cut it anymore for me..

edit; blast, forgot Myung..yeah well, great player, gets buried in the mix all too often, live he can't be heard, it has something to do with Portnoys 4 kickdrums that absorb all the bass frequencies, I think

I think Metropolis pt II is their best album, followed by Train of Thought, Images and Words (horrible production) and the first disc of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (the second was waaay to mellow imo).

Cheers.

[phxlbrmpf]

I haven't listened to much Dream Theater, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who disliked Liquid Tension Experiment, I downloaded their song "Acid Rain" a while ago and was totally put off by Mr. Petrucci's fretboard gymnastics. The "blues" solo near the end of the song sounds especially corny. Even Tony Levin, one of my bass heroes, couldn't save the song as he was barely audible.

[nonsqtr]

Originally Posted by SMASH

In hindsight, and reading the credits, I think it was all about keyboardist Kevin Moore.

Absolutely! Kevin is a genius beyond belief, and a mini-moog God. Jordan's right up there too. Where do I find players like that? I need, I need...

As far as the production, I'd agree that the earlier albums were probably a little more carefully considered. Producing that kind of stuff is tough though, it really is. I've produced "simple" stuff myself, and it's enormously more difficult than a lot of people might imagine.

IMO, even Dream Theater's "bad" stuff is good, production-wise. But that's just IMO.

LaBrie is a pretty good singer IMO. Think about doing that stuff on the road, day after day, singing your heart out every night (which he does). The best singer I could find here locally burns her lungs out after about three days of that stuff, and the level of effort is obvious, as well as the toll it takes on her physically.

Portnoy is a monster too, he's so precise it's not even funny. He's right up there with the Billy Cobham's of the world, IMO.

Petrucci is a little wankish sometimes IMO, but he's sure got some extraordinary chops, and when he gets into the groove he's pretty darn good. I'd love to hear a wank-off between him and Eddie.

And John - well, he's solid, and reliable, and talented. What more could one ask for?

[msquared]

Originally Posted by SMASH

For me Dream Theater put out progressively weaker albums (I like the first one best and think it very strong) until "Falling Into Infinity" which IMO was so awful as to be unlistenable, at which point I stopped listening.

I agree (though I slightly prefer Awake). I nearly gave up after FII but the album after that is tremendous, and more than makes up for it.

You guys, Dream Theater is unapologetically a prog metal band. Of course they are wankers. That is what they do. What's next, a thread complaining that the Roots are too "hip hop" for everyones' taste?

[page]

I like em good enough, The First two albums and Train of Thought are pretty good, but everything else is meh. I actually like LaBrie and dig most of Petruccis solos. The main thing though is the crappy lyrics, they should do like most prog bands and hire some else to write their lyrics. Like Pete Sinfield for example, hed make some Kickass DT lyrics.

[bassjamn]

I was really into a prog phase of rush/yes when i heard dream theatre on the radio here on a local san jose station(yeah that's right live radio) Must have been around 94, they were playing pull me under and I was blown away.

Soon after i bought images and words and gave it to my bro who ran the front desk and the soundsystem at a golds gym, So whenever we went to workout we got to hear dream theatre on the loudspeakers...I suppose not all people liked that

Great band, Though i prefer listening to Awake, and images and words. Metropolis pt 2 is ok....

[Sonic_Death]

Although I agree with many people on different things, one thing I disagree about is the lyrics. They may not all be up to par or even make sense, but some albums they found a good groove. Scenes From A Memory is a concept album, but I find has great lyrics and a great story, which every member of the band took a part in writing. Train Of Thought is up there as well, and their new album will hopefully be good. That's just my two cents, everyone has their own taste.

[Erlendur Már]

I don't like everything DT has done, but they are great musicians.
Hey, I'm going to listen to them right now!

[nonsqtr]

One of my favorite live recordings is "Pull Me Under" on the "Once In A Livetime" disc. LaBrie is in fine form on that one, and the drummer is all over it. Talk about tight - I'd like to find a steady group of players that could do that stuff day in and day out. Check out John Myung on that song - he really is a spectacular player.

[Norwegianwood]

Saw them live in Oslo, and it was one of the most boring gigs I've ever attended. I almost fell asleep at the same time as John Petrucci. (Or was he awake? I couldn't tell.) I couldn't hear John Myung, so can't comment on his playing. The only one who impressed me was Jordan Rudess. Way cool guy, and good playing all over. The other guys should learn something about live performances from him!