| david (galashiels) 07.09.2013 18:24 |
i have in the last few months...through my son discovered this band...........I have to say fucking epic. Dream Theater - The Count of Tuscany |
| david (galashiels) 07.09.2013 18:25 |
link |
| The Real Wizard 07.09.2013 21:00 |
This is one of my very favourite pieces of music ever recorded. Musically it's astoundingly good, but the fantasy story of mistaken identity fits the music ever so perfectly. This is their swan song with Mike Portnoy. By far, the best prog rock since Going For The One by Yes. This is true art. |
| thomasquinn 32989 08.09.2013 05:23 |
Completely awesome band. But so overwhelming that I can never listen to a full album in one go. |
| Mr.Jingles 08.09.2013 12:57 |
I tried liking Dream Theater, and I just can't get through the 10 minutes + guitar solos and excessive progressive synths. I'll give them praise for being amazingly skilled, and they are indeed musical virtuosos. I just wish they'd write songs without thinking of how to showcase their skills too much. |
| waunakonor 08.09.2013 13:38 |
I'm eagerly waiting their next album. Can't wait to start playing the brand new vinyl. A lot. |
| Thistle 08.09.2013 20:27 |
Mr.Jingles wrote: I tried liking Dream Theater, and I just can't get through the 10 minutes + guitar solos and excessive progressive synths. I'll give them praise for being amazingly skilled, and they are indeed musical virtuosos. I just wish they'd write songs without thinking of how to showcase their skills too much.This sums it up for me. I tried, too, but had a similar problem. Great musicians, but their albums are too "busy". Dumb them down for simpletons like me :p |
| The Real Wizard 08.09.2013 21:29 |
Mr.Jingles wrote: I tried liking Dream Theater, and I just can't get through the 10 minutes + guitar solos and excessive progressive synths. I'll give them praise for being amazingly skilled, and they are indeed musical virtuosos. I just wish they'd write songs without thinking of how to showcase their skills too much.The above piece is precisely an example of that. As is the entire Octavarium album. I agree, when their focus is showing off how fast they can play, their music sucks. I almost turned in my badge after they released Systematic Chaos. But thank goodness they reversed the process for the next record, which is quite possibly the best one they've ever done. Solos are good if they fit the song, not if they're an excuse to make the song a minute or two longer. They got less and less good at that over the years, but on Black Clouds And Silver Linings they seemed to balance it well. |
| brENsKi 09.09.2013 11:17 |
DT are good...very very good...but i have to admit that some of it really hurts to listen to....the over intricacy and adding detail to detail for the sake of it. i could imagine Dream Theatre being used in guantanamo bay for extricating confessions |
| waunakonor 09.09.2013 21:06 |
The Best of Times is also so beautiful, and it comes right before The Count of Tuscany on the album. That's consistency. |
| matt z 13.09.2013 01:19 |
Their label tried to "water them down" with FALLING INTO INFINITY. ... (my introduction to the band) Not a fan of the excessive synths either. But the album METROPOLIS PTII was damn near perfection. Best album I'd heard in a long time. I fell off with them soon after. Especially after delving into the early catalogue. Gotta agree with some posters here. Busy like a boring return to forever bit off EXCESS. .... fine balance between tension and release. Difference between yngwie and tasteful playing. Sometimes the dude BLEEDS notes all over everything to the point of stasis. That said. Love dream theater. Good wins out the bad |
| The Real Wizard 13.09.2013 09:48 |
matt z wrote: Difference between yngwie and tasteful playing.HAHA !! I dare you to post that on an Yngwie forum. |
| matt z 14.09.2013 06:05 |
The Real Wizard wrote:Nah. Not that interested in the guy to bother with a perspective. I'm sure there are people who hero worship the guy.matt z wrote: Difference between yngwie and tasteful playing.HAHA !! I dare you to post that on an Yngwie forum. I mean. .. with his OWN songs i guess it's cool. HE WROTE THEM. .. but I've heard his playing on sooo many bottom budget tribute albums. ... and good god..... it's like diarrhea of. .. the guitar. ALL over everything. ...... give it some space. ... jeez. If I remember his playing on a DREAM ON cover featuring RJD ... I think there are two points wheretheguitar stops.... UPDATE: my mistake. ... the DREAM ON cover is the tasteful one. ... the KEEP YOURSELF ALIVE cover was the one splattered with yngwie I think they're high fructose corn syrup soda breaks... or tamale breaks. |
| *goodco* 15.09.2013 11:33 |
Thanks fo the Q'ryche / Dream Theater tour of 2003, and comments from many good qzoners, I became a fan of the band. Yes, they overindulge at times (understatement). I toss aside many tracks to make better 'albums' for myself (as I've done with Queen, The Beatles, and others) 'Chaos' and ...'Clouds' only had about 25-35 minutes each that I care to listen to. 'Train of Thought' had 'As I Am', and 'In The Name of God', and that's it. 'Events' (minus 'Outcry' and 'Lost Not Forgotten) still gets a listen twice a month. Because of their last two tours, with a tape of 'Dream Is Collapsing' playing to a video at the beginning of the shows, I threw that one as the beginning track. Read a Petrucci interview that the new album will feature a piece with something similar as an intro. If they come anywhere close to 'Breaking All Illusions' and 'This Is The Life', it'll be a good album to me.. It won't be as great as 'Scenes', disk 2 of 'Six Degrees', or 'Octavarium', but I'll settle for pretty good. When they tour the States again, it'll be my tenth time in attendance, one more than my seven Queen and two + PRs.concerts. I really miss Portnoy at the concerts, but Mangini's personality has made the band more at ease. I don't miss MP's cookie monster vocals and the direction their last two albums together had taken. Just glad to have stumbled upon them ten years ago. . |
| The Real Wizard 16.09.2013 13:14 |
Cool, which seven Queen shows did you see? That's a good sum up of the last few years of DT. I still think Black Clouds is the best record they've done since Scenes. The more they focus on the song, the better they are. I just found most of 'Events' to be derivative metal and less progressive than Black Clouds. Long songs doesn't mean progressive. The best tracks on the last album were the two acoustic ballads and Build Me Up, Break Me Down. At the end of the day, I feel that DT without Portnoy is like Zeppelin without Page. They may appear more at ease on stage, but his presence really was the soul of the band. I thought he may have been holding them back creatively, but what I've heard since his departure is a major step backward. If anything, he knew he was on the way out and pushed them to make one of the best records they've ever made, if not THE best. It really is a strong set of songs. |
| waunakonor 19.09.2013 21:49 |
The Real Wizard wrote: If anything, he knew he was on the way out and pushed them to make one of the best records they've ever made, if not THE best. It really is a strong set of songs.THANK YOU! I love Black Clouds so much. Whenever I see people discuss best DT albums, Scenes, Awake, and Six Degrees are usually what comes up. People like saying Black Clouds is inconsistent, but I've rarely been able to get much more explanation than that. It's four epics and two more average-length songs composed seemingly to near perfection. The new album is streaming for free on iTunes with sketchy quality, but I'm not going to be listening to it because I'm waiting for my gorgeous vinyl to arrive in the mail and the beautiful FLAC downloads in my inbox. Just a few more days, now! NOTE: Scenes is in fact a very, very good album, but something about Black Clouds just clicks with me a little bit more. Let's see how the new album is, though. |
| matt z 24.09.2013 06:15 |
Will locate black clouds thanks for the discussion. Also notable. Much was said about the studio wishing to control their falling into infinity album. ... and thanks to this discussion I've found the album demos. (Allegedly were to be a TRUE reflection of their material) Thing is. .. they're not drastically different (arrangements) with the exception of metropolis pt ii (was to be included in the album) which appears as a live run through I'll be coming back here for feedback on the album Thanks for renewing my interest in the band |
| The Real Wizard 24.09.2013 12:21 |
waunakonor wrote: NOTE: Scenes is in fact a very, very good album, but something about Black Clouds just clicks with me a little bit more. Let's see how the new album is, though.Scenes is the first DT album I ever heard, and I still find it to be absolutely brilliant. That said - when I have a craving for DT, 9 times out of 10 it's Black Clouds that I listen to. The other time is usually Scenes from NY, but disc 3, not 1 or 2. |
| The Real Wizard 24.09.2013 12:22 |
matt z wrote: and thanks to this discussion I've found the album demos. (Allegedly were to be a TRUE reflection of their material)The writing session for Hell's Kitchen is epic. You hear the entire thing coming together piece by piece. |
| matt z 26.09.2013 05:00 |
Listened (not astutely) to the quite a bit of the new album. "The looking glass" sounds like a RUSH song so far. Wicked guitar soloing Interesting mix. Some sound keyboarded over like j pop |