Dream Theater Week On Maidenfans (November 12-November 18)
- Thread starter Mosh
- Start date
I've said it on here before: Dream Theater is a band I should like.
I respect their ambition and technical ability, but I've generally found their vocal melodies weak and their hooks few.
I'm going to use this thread as the launch pad for one final effort. Sell me.
After a handful of attempts, only two songs have ever clicked for me.
I like Count of Tuscany and suspect I could love it if I ever took the time to appreciate it fully.
But I don't want to be tossed into the deep end of 20-minute songs right away.
Start with Pull Me Under — it's a great song and exactly my type of music.
From there, what would you recommend next?
I respect their ambition and technical ability, but I've generally found their vocal melodies weak and their hooks few.
I'm going to use this thread as the launch pad for one final effort. Sell me.
After a handful of attempts, only two songs have ever clicked for me.
I like Count of Tuscany and suspect I could love it if I ever took the time to appreciate it fully.
But I don't want to be tossed into the deep end of 20-minute songs right away.
Start with Pull Me Under — it's a great song and exactly my type of music.
From there, what would you recommend next?
I'd have to think about that. I lean toward Awake, which was my first album, and a good combo of prog and metal, without getting too crazy with the prog stuff. I'm gonna write a blurb on that album soonish, perhaps tonight, maybe see if anything I describe about it sticks out to you.
I'm not good with recommending individual songs, especially with DT. I just got Awake and kinda went from there. I also spent half a year with Awake before checking anything else out, and even then I didn't really "know" it yet.
I'm not good with recommending individual songs, especially with DT. I just got Awake and kinda went from there. I also spent half a year with Awake before checking anything else out, and even then I didn't really "know" it yet.
Awake: My first Dream Theater album, and tied with Six Degrees for top album. Like Flash said, Images and Words didn't deliver in the atmosphere department, but this one does, and it's an awesome atmosphere. Here the band takes a darker, heavier direction. In place of many insane keyboard/guitar unisons and impossible to follow structures are moody interludes and dynamic buildups. This album has more rockers and the long songs are long for a truly good reason. Nowadays, DT fills up a song with tons of instrumental wankery and every song ends up being 8 or more minutes. On Awake, the long songs are more than just wanking, they have different sections and take the listener on a journey. It's a really good balance. If you want rockers, there's 6:00, The Mirror, Caught In A Web, and Lie. If you want prog, there's Erotomania, Voices, and Scarred. The latter being one of my absolute favorite songs, it brilliantly combines prog and emotion, making a really epic song. The album is also pretty interesting thematically. I think it's got the best lyrics on a DT album. It's dark, it's moody, and it's powerful. It's Dream Theater's X-Factor.
The album ends on a weird note, with a song that is unlike any other in their catalog. Space-Dye Vest is a song almost 100% written by keyboardist Kevin Moore. As this would be his final album with the band, it's his swan song. A song so closely related to him that the band has never played it live. Despite its uniqueness, it fits right in with the album, and makes for an excellent closer. By the way, if any of you like this song, check out Kevin's solo project, Chroma Key. The album Dead Air For Radios is amazing.
The album ends on a weird note, with a song that is unlike any other in their catalog. Space-Dye Vest is a song almost 100% written by keyboardist Kevin Moore. As this would be his final album with the band, it's his swan song. A song so closely related to him that the band has never played it live. Despite its uniqueness, it fits right in with the album, and makes for an excellent closer. By the way, if any of you like this song, check out Kevin's solo project, Chroma Key. The album Dead Air For Radios is amazing.
Falling Into Infinity: The most controversial DT release. The band wanted to make a double album, the record label wanted a more commercial release. Songs got edited, outside producers and writers were brought in, and the album ultimately disappointed many fans. With that said, I don't really think that it is a bad album, and some of the changes were good. Making Hell's Kitchen its own song, instead of the middle portion of Burning My Soul, was an excellent idea. Getting Desmond Child to help write You Not Me, on the other hand, was not. This album is a mixed bag. The epics showcase the band at their best, and it has good moments throughout, though there is a lot of bad stuff too, and some of it is absolutely horrible. My two favorite songs would probably be the ballads, Anna Lee and Hollow Years. Great songs.
Definitely one to listen to at some point, but stay away until you've at least heard I&W, Awake, and Metropolis 2.
Definitely one to listen to at some point, but stay away until you've at least heard I&W, Awake, and Metropolis 2.
Vap
Ancient Mariner
The heavy metal or not discussion: DT is progressive metal. That's a subgenre of (classic) heavy metal, the main genre. Also a subgenre of progressive rock.
As for DT, I've heard these albums: Images And Words, Awake and Scenes From A Memory plus songs from other albums. Awesome stuff. Sometimes I think the music feels too much like instrument sport. These are my favorite songs: Ytsejam, Metropolis Part I, Learning To Live, Scarred, A Change Of Seasons, Beyond This Life, Octavarium. I have to dive deeper in to their stuff sometime.
As for DT, I've heard these albums: Images And Words, Awake and Scenes From A Memory plus songs from other albums. Awesome stuff. Sometimes I think the music feels too much like instrument sport. These are my favorite songs: Ytsejam, Metropolis Part I, Learning To Live, Scarred, A Change Of Seasons, Beyond This Life, Octavarium. I have to dive deeper in to their stuff sometime.
Metropolis Part II: Scenes From A Memory: The concept album. Many people consider this the band's best album after I&W, some even call it the band's best album. It's definitely an awesome album and includes all the elements that have made the classic concept records so good. I personally don't care for the lyrics too much, but the story itself is good, and contains some good twists. Of course, it also delivers musically. This is the first album with keyboardist Jordan Rudess, and that guy is an amazing player. Songs like Beyond This Life, Overture 1928, and The Dance Of Eternity showcase the band's technical prowess, with every player in top form. Definitely an album worth listening to, and it should be taken in as a whole, as the entire thing is greater than the sum of its parts.