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Is Dream Theater still relevant?

O

onlyclave

Oct 28, 2005
1,770
313
Seattle
#1
I've listened to the new record, Black Clouds & Silver Linings this weekend and I have to admit that I'm underwhelmed. After 25 years of doing this, have they resorted to just phoning it in for the sake of the fans who will stand in line at the record store, pay $45 to see them on "Progressive Nation" or "Gigantour" or whatever it's called this year, shell out another $50 for this record's t-shirt and then wait in anticipation of the next DVD?

I really haven't heard anything dramatically different from this band since Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. Is this the dead end road progressive rock has headed down?

I think I'll go listen to some Circus Maximus.
 
#7
Although I do like DT I do feel like from Systematic Chaos onwards that have become somewhat lazy in their writing, This new album has some good points but it's very similar to Systematic Chaos.

I think JM has also become less enthusiastic about the new material, alot of the stuff just seems like was told to follow the guitar. Don't get me wrong, JM (From WDADU -Octavarium) is my biggest influence, but new JM is very over shadowed by Michael LePond of Symphony X.
 
#8
Jordasch said:
I think I have heard one song of them, in my entire life. That was enough Dream Theater for me. They seem like the red headed step son of Dragonforce, and Motley Crue.
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There's no amount of fail in the world that would weigh equal to this statement. :eyebrow:

That's like saying Jaco was a punk bassist because he had a song named Punk Jazz. Come on! Come over?

But to reboot back to the original question, I'd say they either progressed outside what I consider progressive (but they still do) or they quit the progressiveness at all. Either way, until they bounce back to their old themselves (which might not happen)... I'll still respect them for their 1985-2002 work, without question. Yes, that includes Falling into Infinity.
 
#12
Im not a fan, thus why I can state my opinion. They are speed metal, and mid-80s corny.

Thus making them a product of Dragonforce and Motley Crue, if Crue would stoop to that level.




^^^ Thats the only thing I found enjoyable on YouTube thus far. Just not my thing, and thats cool.
 
#18
Jordasch said:
^^^ Thats the only thing I found enjoyable on YouTube thus far. Just not my thing, and thats cool.
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give this one a spin.



i doubt there would be a dragonforce if there wasn't a dreamtheater. i'm not a fanboi, but i certainly appreciate what DT did. when the only music people were listening to was nirvanna and people thought alice in chains was "metal", dreamtheater kept instrumental-oriented metal alive. they're way more relevant than anything else in the prog-metal scene, that's for sure. in fact, i'd say they really invented the label, along with, to a lesser extent, fates warning, crimson glory, and to a much lesser extent, queensryche.

i like prog metal. :eyebrow: .
 
#19
wagstaff said:
I think JM has also become less enthusiastic about the new material, alot of the stuff just seems like was told to follow the guitar. Don't get me wrong, JM (From WDADU -Octavarium) is my biggest influence, but new JM is very over shadowed by Michael LePond of Symphony X.
Click to expand...

I read in a Bass Player interview with John Myung sometime in the the early 2000's that he said he was going back to the basics in playing. This would certainly explain a lot of his bass lines on the material they've been putting out since then.

As for the "Black Clouds & Silver Linings" cd, It's alright at best. I've never been a huge DT fan. I like some of their stuff but also don't like a lot of it. There are parts on this cd that remind me of some of their older stuff, even as far back as "Images & Words" like "The Best of Times" that IMO sounded a lot like something you'd hear off "Images & Words" and there is also another song on it that reminds me of pieces of "Hollow Years" This cd also takes the predictable DT twists and turns that all their music does. I also think the guitar riff for "Welcome to my Nightmare" is quite cheesy.
 
#20
I wasnt hatin on them guys, they just arent my thing. Some of you dont like funk, so what? Thats your opinion? I wont get on you about it.

Prog metal, or prog rock. Im sorry for my ignorance on a band I dont like.
 

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