I like DT very much. However, they can be a bit boring sometimes, doing "masturbation".
They're all a bunch of top-of-the-class musicians. I can't say much about keyboards, because i don't listen to lead keyboard-filled metal often, but the others...as much as they're great musicians, they all lack both style and sound.
Now i'm dragging Maiden into this discussion
Mike Portnoy, can play virtually anything, but as he himself said, Nicko can put half as much patterns than Mike, but Nicko's will sound more technical. And that's true. Portnoy's "wild" rhythms and fills are sure exciting, but his straight playing, where the drums just do what they're supposed to do..."beat", is really nothing out of the ordinary. Nicko has that special groove, even when not doing fills on his monster set and the "crazy right foot" stuff, he sounds special.
John Myung, excellent bass player with the same Portnoy "symptom". His solo-lines are superb, as the one on Metropolis Part I, and the contemporary on Dance Of Eternity, but his straight bass playing is dull. Sound doesn't break from the mix, it doesn't carry the song, and it doesn't add to the rhythm section with it's sound and style. Like Harris' does. Last time i checked...bass guitar was considered as rhythm instrument.
John Petrucci...man that can play all styles, but doesn't have a style of his own. Actually, apart from standard schemes and patterns, you can hear each one of his guitar influences in his solos. One of my favourite solos from John is the solo from Octavarium. Dissecting that solo lead me to conclusion...that it's the most faithful copy of Adrian Smith's style and sound, 95% of it, all except the final shredding, which is the most overused metal solo pattern.
James LaBrie, the weakest link. Standard, typical, heavy metal vocalist. Has nice voice and great range, but lacks power at that range. Great voice power at great voice range...does that ring a bell? (when the bell begins to chimeeeeee....)
And when playing their video stuff, they are completely dull on the stage. Everyone except Portnoy. They're just standing (or even sitting) still, and playing. And the music has hard riffs and some decent headbanging. When i'm looking at the world-class metal guitarist, i don't want him to stand there and just play, i want that guitar to be another part of his body, the moves, the expression, the energy.
Maybe it's because they overcomplicated their music in some cases, and even they need to think what's next. I'm a very energetic player myself, and i like to "move" around a bit while playing, but if i'm playing some part that's bordering with my skills, i'm going to freeze myself still and concentrate.
In any case, DT is a great band plagued by lousy live preformance (in terms of showmanship) and lack of sound and style on all fields. Nevertheless, i enjoy them much.
My favourite albums are Scenes From The Memory and Images And Words.
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