Dream Theater

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Awesome stuff. Really hope it lives up to the hype.
 
Have you seen the pictures of Mike Portnoy's kit? The majority of those cables are probably drum mics. :D
 
Smiling is a big word... He's rather chewing a gum and the photographer took the picture at this particular moment. :D

Shh, I like to imagine that this weird hybrid between a smirk and an expression of painful suffering is the elusive "Myung smile", so to speak. :D

(It's also an internal joke, I am very animated in my expression an gestures, like any proper wop should be, whereas wifey is rather inhibited and expressionless, so I tend to make fun of Myung's memetic Myungness with a certain amount of affectionate particularity)
 
Listened to the second half of my DT discography which runs from Train of Thought through The Astonishing.

I remember when it first came out I LOVED Train of Thought. I know they got made fun of for Labrie's "rapping," and going beyond homage and into plagerism territory copying Metallica and Megadeth. It's obvious it's Blackened, but I forget the Megadeth song, just remember it was off of The World Needs a Hero album. While I haven't listened to it pretty much since it came out, I really liked it, but by far the stand out is Stream of Consciousness. Brilliant instrumental.

Octavarium, originally I was really disappointed with this release. After Train of Thought I thought they would remain on the heavy track and instead gave us a mostly mellow outing. Now I LOVE it. DT, Yes, Pink Floyd all rolled into one and it's great. I'm glad I didn't give up on this one.

Systematic Chaos is one of my all time favorites it's the follow up to Train of Thought I wanted and basically got. Can't put a finger on it, but I just vibe to this album. What I recall most is watching the making of DVD and that Young doesn't appear AT ALL. There are a couple of shots of him playing bass, but it's just a close-up of his hands. Like... wtf? LOL, talk about camera shy.

I want to take a small tangent here, because while I do like the whole album, the weakest track is Portnoy's A.A Repentance song. Seeing it in the greater context of the A.A suite, it's not that bad. Also, Portnoy has gone on to say that he regretted spreading out the steps into so many songs, that after a while it felt like homework. If he were to do it again He'd just do one song with all the steps. That speaks to the tremendous task that laid ahead of him and his incredible talent to pull it off. Not only did the songs have tobe congruent with each other as far as musical/lyrical themes, but they also had to fit within the albums they were in. I do have a CD of just the AA songs (I'm sure I'm not alone in this) and it's amazing to see how they flow together as well as in their respective releases. In the case of Systematic Chaos, it's the slow song that allows the listener a break before revving back up.

Anywho, Systematic Chaos, fun times.

Black Clouds and Silver Linings. Again, nothing bad to say about this one, but I feel it lives and dies on its opener and closer. The Count of Tuscany is another one that I really connect with. Especially the lines:

[Verse 3]
Could this be the end?
Is this the way I die?
Sitting here alone
No one by my side

I don't understand
I don't feel that I deserve this
What did I do wrong?
I just don't understand

Give me one more chance
Let me please explain
It's all been circumstance
I'll tell you once again

You took me for a ride
Promising a vast adventure
Next thing that I know
I'm frightened for my life

[Outro]
"Now wait a minute, man!
That's not how it is!
You must be confused
That isn't who I am

Please don't be afraid
I would never try to hurt you

This is how we live
Strange although it seems

Please try to forgive!

Those lyrics hit at a very personal level beyond the song and still do. The album is also noteworthy as it concludes the A.A suite with Shattered Fortress. I remember a friend and I were listening to it and he recognized the musical reprisal of earlier themes in the suite and he said, "Wait? this is from a Glass Prison?" "Yup, Shattered Fortress, last song of the suite," "oh THANK GOD, about time he finished it!" And good thing he did cuz they canned his ass soon after LOL

A Dramatic Turn of Events is another perfect album for me. Just solid track after solid track and can't find a single lull. My friend who was glad Portnoy finished his AA suite was mesmerized by Breaking All Illusions. I found it... good. The last line, "Kaaaaaarma, starts the signaaaaaaal" has always rubbed me the wrong way, but aside from that perfectly fine. I guess that's the beauty of art in general, it speaks to us all, but we all respond to it differently or not at all.

Self Titled. Oh god, I promise I tried my best and after listening to it as part of the MP3 collection I burned and on its own for about a week I still have nothing to say about it. While I'm listening to it I dig it, I enjoy it, but I can't CONNECT to it like I did with previous DT releases. The only thing I remember is "through the looking glass," but only because it's an uncommon way to refer to a mirror in the U.S. It's very... British. Like, I would never say "I'm walking on the pavement, looking both ways at the zebra crossing on my way to the petrol station." For me it's sidewalk, pedestrian crossing and gas(oline) station. Aside from that... nothing.

The Astonishing is an interesting case. Like SDoIT, I HATED it at first. This time it was fine. I still don't know who these people are or what the "story is" I blame this on a couple of things. I'm not a fan of the shorter songs, I feel like just when it's finding its legs it ends and on to the next one. Also, unlike other DT albums, this particular release has the booklet glued to the middle of a three fold box, making it awkward and annoying to hold just to read the lyrics. With all other releases I could hold the booklet easily while I listened on my headphones. This time however, not really caring about song length, and having all the time to just listen while riding the bus and walking home, I felt like I was listening to it, I mean, truly listening to it for the first time and it was fine. Might grow on me with future listens.

I do not have their other releases so that's the end of my journey. Onto Apocalyptica next followed by some symphonic and power metal bands.
 
Suspended Animation is awesome. There are some really cool tracks on there that sound pretty unique for Petrucci like Glasgow Kiss and and Tunnel Vision. The Satriani-esque Curve is pretty cool too.

Did you like Terminal Velocity? That album combined with LTE 3 is some of my favorite Petrucci playing in the last decade. Also awesome to hear JP and MP together again.
 
Suspended Animation is awesome. There are some really cool tracks on there that sound pretty unique for Petrucci like Glasgow Kiss and and Tunnel Vision. The Satriani-esque Curve is pretty cool too.

Did you like Terminal Velocity? That album combined with LTE 3 is some of my favorite Petrucci playing in the last decade. Also awesome to hear JP and MP together again.
I find Suspended Animation to be much more interesting than Terminal Velocity, honestly. I think it shows Petrucci in a more creative light and the grindy aggressive (more old-school?) tones are more to my liking. LTE3 I’ll need to listen to again but it has some amazing highlights for sure.
 

Just Rudess and Portnoy doing karaoke in a cruise ship sub-basement. LOL

Good vocal performance, but still goes to show you how distinctive LaBrie's voice is (was).
 
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