Dream Theater

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Depends on what you mean by religious lyrics. If you mean something with a clear religious message like Spirit Carries On then yea, those tend to be cheesy. Paradise Lost by Symphony X is mostly about the story of Adam and Eve, and I thought it was well executed. Given the Symphony X-esque titles on Illumination Theory, I hope that's the route they take. With maybe a neo classical edge to the music. That's a style that DT hasn't really explored yet.
 
Mosh said:
Depends on what you mean by religious lyrics. If you mean something with a clear religious message like Spirit Carries On then yea, those tend to be cheesy.
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That's exactly what I mean. Hopefully JP won't be too damn liberal literal about the subject.
 
I got excited when I saw his name as well. Eren is really talented. Hopefully he'll have a great career, I doubt there's a Turkish rock musician known worldwide, he might be one.
 
We've got track lengths:

1. False Awakening Suite – 2:42
2. The Enemy Inside – 6:17
3. The Looking Glass – 4:53
4. Enigma Machine – 6:01
5. The Bigger Picture – 7:40
6. Behind The Veil – 6:52
7. Surrender To Reason – 6:34
8. Along For The Ride – 4:45
9. Illumination Theory – 22:17

Looks good, glad to see they're toning down the long songs. Shortest album since ToT I think!
 
FYI Mosh, that link only works for the USA. Country specific links are automatically provided on the band's website.

After one listen I think it's ok, but not really how I like my Dream Theater songs.
 
I honestly think it's a dull song except for the intro riff. Sounded very skippable at first listen. Hopefully it's the worst song on the album.

By the way I HATED the guitar sound.
 
I'm gonna have to disagree here, I loved it. Its extremely heavy. This album might be a Train of Thought part 2
 
Definitely reminiscent of my favorite DT album, Train of Thought. I love that cluster of evil riffs starting around :27 secs, Petrucci is putting that seven string to good use. The keyboards sound oddly out of place during the first bit of the verse, like the mix is too high, but I really like the bouncy pattern after the chorus. LaBrie isn't annoying me here, so that's always a plus.

Petrucci's solos are really cool, especially the first one, but Jordan's sound out of place. That patch is terrible.

The Flash said:
By the way I HATED the guitar sound.
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Agree 100%. And judging from the waveform, we might be looking at a Rick Rubin-style mastering...
 
I like this song a lot more than On the Backs of Angels. It has energy and some good melodies, which is refreshing for Dream Theater. The mix is also a lot better than the previous album, even if it seems too loud; you can at least hear all the instruments clearly (drums were too low on the last one).

There's some decent riffs in there; nothing too amazing but still solid. And Petrucci really sounds great on the solos. I just wish they'd write songs that feature more of Myung doing cool stuff and not being pushed in the background so much. Regardless, this is a decent song with the wank kept to a minimum, which is always a plus.

MrKnickerbocker said:
Petrucci's solos are really cool, especially the first one, but Jordan's sound out of place. That patch is terrible.
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That's nothing new. Every solo he does sounds like a chimpanzee masturbating in outer space. See 4:43 and 4:51 for examples.
 
After letting it sink in for a couple weeks, I think it's a cool song. Aggressive yet still melodic, decent lyrics, instrumental section isn't overbearing. Really love the groove by Mangini, drum mix is much better but the cymbals are a bit undefined. The stream sucked but the version on spotify and iTunes is much better, I imagine the CD version will sound a bit better. After reading the reviews it sounds like the rest of the album is more varied and cinematic but with a dark vibe throughout, which sounds really cool.

I'm not really a fan of Jordan's solos either. I don't really like his tones and most of his solos come out as a random onslaught of notes. He's got a lot of strong points elsewhere though. As far as solos go, I think Derek was/is the best, I also really liked his sounds and how he frequently went with a plain piano, which is almost always better than a synthesizer.
 
Detective Beauregard said:
That's nothing new. Every solo he does sounds like a chimpanzee masturbating in outer space. See 4:43 and 4:51 for examples.
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Thank you for that image...

Mosh said:
After letting it sink in for a couple weeks, I think it's a cool song. Aggressive yet still melodic, decent lyrics, instrumental section isn't overbearing. Really love the groove by Mangini, drum mix is much better but the cymbals are a bit undefined. The stream sucked but the version on spotify and iTunes is much better, I imagine the CD version will sound a bit better. After reading the reviews it sounds like the rest of the album is more varied and cinematic but with a dark vibe throughout, which sounds really cool.
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I'm up for dark vibes! That's the reason I like ToT so much. The majority of their albums are just a little airy for me, which sounds like a weird description, but makes sense in my head.
 
Yea, there's a list of theaters out already. Nothing close to me though, wish they'd just release the DVD already.
 
Mosh said:
I'm not really a fan of Jordan's solos either. I don't really like his tones and most of his solos come out as a random onslaught of notes. He's got a lot of strong points elsewhere though. As far as solos go, I think Derek was/is the best, I also really liked his sounds and how he frequently went with a plain piano, which is almost always better than a synthesizer.
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He rarely plays with emotion in solos; it seems like his sole goal is to show off. We get it, Jordan -- you're really damn good. I greatly preferred Moore and Sherinian, as well; it's a shame the latter only had one album with the band. If you ask me, they started to go downhill once Jordan joined; songs became less emotive and more like a circus of showoff sections.

MrKnickerbocker said:
Thank you for that image...
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Hey man, I call it like I hear it.
 
Yea, he completely butchers the solo to Take The Time nowadays, which should be a crime. The original Moore solo is one of the best. He might feel out of place in a Metal band though and maybe feels like he needs to do the flashy solos. I say that because some of his improvisations on youtube (and even on some of his guest appearances) are really good and have a lot of emotion. Even stuff like his little solo at the beginning of One Last Time. He's not much of a metal guy either; he hadn't even heard Number Of The Beast before Portnoy decided they were going to cover it.
 
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