Dream Theater

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I'm mixed on Systematic Chaos. Forsaken is one of my favorite recent DT tracks, since it's clear the band put songwriting before wanking on that one. In the Presence of Enemies is nice, Constant Motion is adrenaline-filled but sounds like a Metallica ripoff (LaBrie just can't sing like that), and parts of Dark Eternal Night are really cool (not the wanky parts). The two songs after that I never really listen to, and I talk about Ministry below.

Mosh said:
The song I like to point to is Ministry Of Lost Souls, which has a fairly nice start with some pretty melodies, some emotion can be felt, and it has the potential to be a good song. Then the instrumental section kicks in out of nowhere and ruins the entire song. It's out of place and it's boring. The song is 10 minutes too long.
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I'm glad you mentioned this since I feel the same way. The first five or six minutes are brilliant; there's so much emotion in there. But why the band felt compelled to stuff an out-of-place wankfest in there is something I'll never know. A nice feeling-infused Petrucci solo would have been just fine, but they had to ruin it. Thankfully the song gets better again after this part, but someone really needs to make an edit of it with that middle section axed.

The Flash said:
Octavarium doesn't sound genuine, most songs feel like rip offs from other bands, especially you can hear Muse in just about every song.
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So very well said. Octavarium is easily my least favorite DT album, and the unoriginality of it is a big factor. Panic Attack is decent, as are parts of Sacrificed Sons and the title track, but the rest of it screams filler. There's that Muse song on there, the U2 one, the Coldplay one... ugh. This album was a massive letdown after the excellent Train of Thought.
 
I never liked Forsaken, I'd be happy never hearing it again. There isn't anything particularly wrong with it (besides the god awful lyrics) but it's just pretty dull, like most of that album. As for Ministry, even if they did do it right, I have the feeling it wouldn't be a song I cared for much anyway.

I like Octavarium, it isn't great by DT standards, but I can listen to the whole thing and enjoy it. Probably helps having the monster title track at the end.
 
Just played Falling Into Infinity all the way through. It has some good tracks, more song-oriented structure, some real restraint and class to it...but still, "Lines In the Sand" is the best song because there are moments where the vocals are not sung by Labrie.
 
Lines In The Sand has one of the best guitar solos too. And a delicious groove. I also really like Hells Kitchen and how it segues into LITS.

I can really get into FII sometimes as long as I skip the bad songs.
 
The problem with FII is that it is incredibly inconsistent. Songs like New Millennium, Peruvian Skies, Hollow Years, Hell's Kitchen, Lines in the Sand, and Trial of Tears are excellent, whereas pretty much everything else is beyond awful.

Actually, I take that back; I really like Anna Lee. It's a well-written song that has loads of emotion.
 
Take Away My Pan isn't too bad. I've been really into that one lately.
 
Mosh said:
I never liked Forsaken, I'd be happy never hearing it again. There isn't anything particularly wrong with it (besides the god awful lyrics) but it's just pretty dull, like most of that album. As for Ministry, even if they did do it right, I have the feeling it wouldn't be a song I cared for much anyway.
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I like Forsaken because its wank factor is essentially zero; even Petrucci's solo is tasteful. Yeah, it's about vampires or something and that's weird for Dream Theater, but I've always been a music first, lyrics last kind of guy. The actual song parts of Ministry are something I always found incredibly sad, especially around the 5:00-6:30 mark. But then that vibe is almost immediately destroyed with that stupid 6/8 chugging riff which may have been okay in another song but WHY DO THEY HAVE TO RUIN SONGS LIKE THIS?!?!?!

I don't really remember Take Away My Pain, so I assumed it must be weak. I'll have to listen again, but there's a few songs on there that are beyond awful, like Burning My Soul and whatever the second track is.
 
I just listened to Awake again.

Again, some brilliant material, but Labrie's voice kills half of it. I'm really in a hate-on-Labrie kick, his voice never used to bother me as much as it does now. :S
 
Detective Beauregard said:
I like Forsaken because its wank factor is essentially zero; even Petrucci's solo is tasteful. Yeah, it's about vampires or something and that's weird for Dream Theater, but I've always been a music first, lyrics last kind of guy.
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Yea, I agree with all of that, unfortunately the song doesn't do much for me.

The actual song parts of Ministry are something I always found incredibly sad, especially around the 5:00-6:30 mark. But then that vibe is almost immediately destroyed with that stupid 6/8 chugging riff which may have been okay in another song but WHY DO THEY HAVE TO RUIN SONGS LIKE THIS?!?!?!
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Yea.

I don't really remember Take Away My Pain, so I assumed it must be weak. I'll have to listen again, but there's a few songs on there that are beyond awful, like Burning My Soul and whatever the second track is.
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Take Away My Pain is in an unfortunate position on the album. It kinda gets lost in the clutter, I too had forgotten about it until recently, which is why I've been into it lately. They were doing some stuff a bit differently both production and rhythm wise, it's an interesting experiment.


I actually think Awake is by far his best vocal performance. He really had a good sound going there.
 
It's not that his vocals are bad, they're just irritating tonally at times.

All of his quiet, ballad, soaring vocals sound amazing. It's the heavy stuff (as always) like The Mirror and Lie that suffers, even though those are both great tracks.

Overall, they're just a great band that I wish had a different singer.
 
LaBrie's voice really can be obnoxious at times. If memory serves correctly, there's a part on Awake (possibly in Innocence Faded?) where he hits some high notes that he has no business hitting. But overall Awake really is a great album, and I think his vocals on it and Images & Words are the finest in his career. It should also be noted that he is far more annoying live than I've ever heard him be on any studio album.
 
Detective Beauregard said:
It should also be noted that he is far more annoying live than I've ever heard him be on any studio album.
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You can say that again. I'm really surprised at the number of live albums they've put out, considering how annoying he can be. Granted, it's worth showing the musicianship on live recordings because the band is outstanding, but yeeeesh...
 
I don't listen to music for vocals, so I'd be very disappointed if they cut the amount of live albums they release just because the singing sucks.
 
The thing about LaBrie is that he sounds fairly pleasant in the baritone range, even live. But when he goes for those high notes he sounds like a prehistoric bird (see below), which really hurts the listener's ears (and psyche).

archaeopteryx_1.jpg


TRAPPED INSIDE THIS OCTAVARIUM!!!
 
That is all I will ever be able to picture from now on when I hear him singing...it's just so accurate!

The reason you just stated is why I prefer Dream Theater ballads, when it comes to LaBrie.
 
I decided to listen to 6 Degrees of Inner Turbulence yesterday.
On disc 1 I really liked the Glass Prison, but I didn't really like anything else. I honestly can't remember any of Blind Faith, Misunderstood, or Disappear.
The Great Debate was meh.
On the other hand disc 2 was mostly really good.
I loved the Overture, and both parts of About to Crash. War Inside My Head, and The Test That Stumped Them All are my favorites from the album. I bet they are intense live!!!
Goodnight Kiss is another meh song.
I wasn't the biggest fan of Solitary Shell or Losing Time.
I probably should listen to the album again. But as of right now I'll give the album a 7.
@Mosh what is so good about this album?
 
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