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Dream Theater: What do you have, and do you like it?


BerkleeBill

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I really like Awake, Systematic Chaos, Train of Thought, Falling into Infinity & Images & Words. LaBrie & Rudess are the weak links for me, I can only handle the LaBrie howl for short durations, cant stand Rudess, I really liked Derek Sherinian & Kevin Moore tons better. I like the Black Clouds instrumental disc because it is minus LaBrie caterwauling. Hate Octavarium & Scenes from a Memory, they just seem too overblown & pompous sounding. I need to give A Dramatic Turn of Events another couple of listens, just got it a week ago.

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I really like Awake, Systematic Chaos, Train of Thought, Falling into Infinity & Images & Words. LaBrie & Rudess are the weak links for me, I can only handle the LaBrie howl for short durations, cant stand Rudess, I really liked Derek Sherinian & Kevin Moore tons better. I like the Black Clouds instrumental disc because it is minus LaBrie caterwauling. Hate Octavarium & Scenes from a Memory, they just seem too overblown & pompous sounding. I need to give A Dramatic Turn of Events another couple of listens, just got it a week ago.

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Quote Originally Posted by Ovid9 View Post
This.
I totally respect the ability they have. I equally have zero desire to listen to them.
Same here, more or less. And i dig lots of prog! I have one DVD of them that gets almost no play, and I have none of their CDs. Listening to them at home or in the car is annoying. And I cannot sit thru two hours of a DT show.

HOWEVER.

45 minutes of DT as an opening act for some other band can be a wonderful experience. That's just enough time to get into their intensity without getting bored by the mathematics.
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Quote Originally Posted by Ovid9 View Post
This.
I totally respect the ability they have. I equally have zero desire to listen to them.
Same here, more or less. And i dig lots of prog! I have one DVD of them that gets almost no play, and I have none of their CDs. Listening to them at home or in the car is annoying. And I cannot sit thru two hours of a DT show.

HOWEVER.

45 minutes of DT as an opening act for some other band can be a wonderful experience. That's just enough time to get into their intensity without getting bored by the mathematics.
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I got Images and Words and Awake back in the day when they came out (92 and 94, repsectively) and have to say that as a young guitar shredder wannabe back then I absolutely loved them, though hated Labrie's operatic wailings....I never did get into anything they did after Awake, but I remember woodhsedding with the tab book for it, and even though I hadn't listened to them since the late 90's, a buddy of mine were remenisching one day about bands we used to love and they came up (we were both teenage metalheads) and I pulled them up and YouTube (God only knows where the cassettes I had of them are, never got them on disc, I was a hold out of switching to CDs, it took me forever LOL) and not only did it really bring back some memories but I was also reminded of the amazing talent and compositions of the bandmembers, both as in individuals and collectively...I wouldn't listen to it now, but I can probably appreciate it even more in retrospect as a result of growing so much as a muso.

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I got Images and Words and Awake back in the day when they came out (92 and 94, repsectively) and have to say that as a young guitar shredder wannabe back then I absolutely loved them, though hated Labrie's operatic wailings....I never did get into anything they did after Awake, but I remember woodhsedding with the tab book for it, and even though I hadn't listened to them since the late 90's, a buddy of mine were remenisching one day about bands we used to love and they came up (we were both teenage metalheads) and I pulled them up and YouTube (God only knows where the cassettes I had of them are, never got them on disc, I was a hold out of switching to CDs, it took me forever LOL) and not only did it really bring back some memories but I was also reminded of the amazing talent and compositions of the bandmembers, both as in individuals and collectively...I wouldn't listen to it now, but I can probably appreciate it even more in retrospect as a result of growing so much as a muso.

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I think everything they have done from the first album up to and including Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence is good. Anything after that is hit or miss, but there's at least a few good tracks on each of those albums. I personally don't mind LaBrie's voice for the most part, but I do get a chuckle when he does the gritty, shouted vocals. He sounds like he's yelling at his kids when he does them. icon_lol.gif

This song rules hard. It's even got his angry dad vocals around the 8 minute mark! icon_lol.gif

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSX86zPnUkY

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I think everything they have done from the first album up to and including Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence is good. Anything after that is hit or miss, but there's at least a few good tracks on each of those albums. I personally don't mind LaBrie's voice for the most part, but I do get a chuckle when he does the gritty, shouted vocals. He sounds like he's yelling at his kids when he does them. icon_lol.gif

This song rules hard. It's even got his angry dad vocals around the 8 minute mark! icon_lol.gif

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Quote Originally Posted by lealand987 View Post
Band sucks

If developed muscle memory gets you revved up start watching professional darts tournaments.
Misguided opinion is misguided. It's one thing to not like the band, but to say that DT is purely technical flash is a bit ignant.
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Quote Originally Posted by lealand987 View Post
Band sucks

If developed muscle memory gets you revved up start watching professional darts tournaments.
Misguided opinion is misguided. It's one thing to not like the band, but to say that DT is purely technical flash is a bit ignant.
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The musicianship is great but it's an overdose.. they are a band of musicians who write music for musicians.. not literally but pretty much.. and it gets a bit old after a while.

But I love certain songs and riffs.. but albums as a whole or the band as a whole.. they lack the fun element IMO. Sort of like a broadway play compared to a comedy TV show. That's my own personal taste.. I could probably name 10 or more songs I like though.

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The musicianship is great but it's an overdose.. they are a band of musicians who write music for musicians.. not literally but pretty much.. and it gets a bit old after a while.

But I love certain songs and riffs.. but albums as a whole or the band as a whole.. they lack the fun element IMO. Sort of like a broadway play compared to a comedy TV show. That's my own personal taste.. I could probably name 10 or more songs I like though.

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Quote Originally Posted by Cibyl

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Yeah, I feel ya mang. Dream Theater fans are mostly idiots.

 

Interesting, if rather false, observation. Most DT fans I come across are generally intellectual people. Never met a DT fan who I could truly classify as stupid, dumb, or an idiot. Unless you're using that term to refer to the level of fanboyism displayed, in which case, I can understand. People tend to LOVE them, or hate them; not much middle ground.
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Quote Originally Posted by Cibyl

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Yeah, I feel ya mang. Dream Theater fans are mostly idiots.

 

Interesting, if rather false, observation. Most DT fans I come across are generally intellectual people. Never met a DT fan who I could truly classify as stupid, dumb, or an idiot. Unless you're using that term to refer to the level of fanboyism displayed, in which case, I can understand. People tend to LOVE them, or hate them; not much middle ground.
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Quote Originally Posted by danut View Post
I've been a fan since ACOS, love them all and yes, despite my fanboyism, I can understand how some people don't digest the extended instrumental parts, or some of Rudess's mindless solos or LaBrie's live voice.
Strangely, for me it's actually the vapid lyrical content that eventually completely turned me off starting with Scenes from a Memory.

I have Images & Words, Awake, A Change of Seasons, Falling Into Infinity, 6 Degrees of Inner Turbulence and Train of Thought.

The first three still get some play because they are actually pretty awesome music. Under a Glass Moon is AWESOME. But starting with FII the lyrics are just SO grating (the actual words, not the delivery) that I cannot get past them.
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Quote Originally Posted by danut View Post
I've been a fan since ACOS, love them all and yes, despite my fanboyism, I can understand how some people don't digest the extended instrumental parts, or some of Rudess's mindless solos or LaBrie's live voice.
Strangely, for me it's actually the vapid lyrical content that eventually completely turned me off starting with Scenes from a Memory.

I have Images & Words, Awake, A Change of Seasons, Falling Into Infinity, 6 Degrees of Inner Turbulence and Train of Thought.

The first three still get some play because they are actually pretty awesome music. Under a Glass Moon is AWESOME. But starting with FII the lyrics are just SO grating (the actual words, not the delivery) that I cannot get past them.
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I am with the "everything up to and including Six Degrees" crowd. Everything since has felt very mid-life crisis-y and too much of a reaction to modern metal stereotypes and recent influences. I think it was definitely a sign of a band running out of creative energy when Portnoy made a statement about discovering Muse and how awesome they were and then proceeded to have a borderline Muse cover song on their next album. I love Muse and it must have been very flattering to them but it was a move from innovators to imitators for DT.

I also agree with guitargod about outside influence in production, although I would go further than 'it would have been nice". Based on what i've read, Falling into Infinity had the most outside influence on the production process and I think has some of their strongest songs, but Portnoy has stated that he hated it, hence why he and Petrucci have been at the helm ever since. IMO you can't have creative processes held hostage by one or two people in the band, people only have so much creative energy. Whenever a band seems to drift off into "wtf are they thinking" territory it always seems to be because there is one or two people controlling everything and they've gotten bored/done too many drugs/listened to their wives too much. Case in point; Queensryche. icon_lol.gif

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I am with the "everything up to and including Six Degrees" crowd. Everything since has felt very mid-life crisis-y and too much of a reaction to modern metal stereotypes and recent influences. I think it was definitely a sign of a band running out of creative energy when Portnoy made a statement about discovering Muse and how awesome they were and then proceeded to have a borderline Muse cover song on their next album. I love Muse and it must have been very flattering to them but it was a move from innovators to imitators for DT.

I also agree with guitargod about outside influence in production, although I would go further than 'it would have been nice". Based on what i've read, Falling into Infinity had the most outside influence on the production process and I think has some of their strongest songs, but Portnoy has stated that he hated it, hence why he and Petrucci have been at the helm ever since. IMO you can't have creative processes held hostage by one or two people in the band, people only have so much creative energy. Whenever a band seems to drift off into "wtf are they thinking" territory it always seems to be because there is one or two people controlling everything and they've gotten bored/done too many drugs/listened to their wives too much. Case in point; Queensryche. icon_lol.gif

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