Dream Theater

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I enjoyed it. It wasn't the most amazing thing I've ever seen but it was a lot of fun. My opinion on the album pretty much stands: first half is awesome and the second half drags big time. Could've easily been a solid single album. The performance itself was great, LaBrie was fine and everyone else was in top notch form. As usual, Petrucci blew my mind. I was on Myung and Rudess' side for the concert this time so I got to appreciate them a bit more. I have to say Rudess is really the MVP of this album.

Backing tracks: The complaints are over exaggerated. First of all, there is no pretend happening, nobody is miming parts. I heard JP singing on one song, but like Knick said there are usually other tracks going with them. The backing tracks overall were also mostly mixed pretty low, it sounds like 5 guys playing for the most part. My personal preference would be for them to drop the backing tracks entirely, but I understand that isn't what DT is about. They want to be as faithful to the album as possible, which is fine, and it would be impossible to do that without some backing tracks.

BTW, if anyone thinks DT is bad, go find some live footage of Devin Townsend. I joked about Petrucci miming solos earlier but there's actually one recording of Devin doing a song with a guitar solo and the guitar solo is on the backing track! He has 3 guitarists and nobody actually plays the solo. That one still boggles my mind. It's also why I haven't bothered to see him live despite him coming through my area at least 3 times since I've been a fan. I love his work but that's where I draw the line on backing tracks.

As for the production, it honestly seemed a bit cheap. I'm not going to fault them for this because they probably did the best they could on their budget, but this thing really deserved more than that. The videos didn't really enhance the story all that much, which was a bummer. But the stage design was neat. I would love to see this sort of thing on Iron Maiden's budget.

The guitar solo at the end of A New Beginning delivered big time. It was my personal highlight.

Overall, it's a great show and I'm very glad I saw it. Makes me appreciate the album even more then I already did. Still not my favorite DT record or show, but it's a worthwhile experience for any DT fan.
This sums it up for me. The DT12 tour was better, but this was still worth seeing.

Also, after seeing Maiden just a couple weeks ago, seeing them back to back with DT was really eye opening. The performances are polar opposites. It's actually pretty funny to think I saw both bands together a few years ago. At a Dream Theater concert, everybody sits until the encore and they're quiet for the most part during the songs. The energy brought by the two bands is totally different. With Maiden, even though they bring these elaborate stage shows, the band is still the most visually captivating thing. With DT, it's like they want you to ignore them while instead focusing on the lights and the videos. Musically Maiden is much more raw, you get lots of mistakes and every show is a bit different despite the same setlist every night. DT perfects their performances down to the atom.

Both have their place for me though.
 
Forgot to mention the 50 page tour program! Half about empire; other half about rebellion. Also performance & making of photos, & discography.
 
Paramount theater (where DT played in denver last night) is on the US National registry of historic places. It was built in 1930 & only holds about 1830 people. With all the work that went into production, don't know how DT is making a profit this tour with that limited ticket sales (except on merch).
 
This sums it up for me. The DT12 tour was better, but this was still worth seeing.

Also, after seeing Maiden just a couple weeks ago, seeing them back to back with DT was really eye opening. The performances are polar opposites. It's actually pretty funny to think I saw both bands together a few years ago. At a Dream Theater concert, everybody sits until the encore and they're quiet for the most part during the songs. The energy brought by the two bands is totally different. With Maiden, even though they bring these elaborate stage shows, the band is still the most visually captivating thing. With DT, it's like they want you to ignore them while instead focusing on the lights and the videos. Musically Maiden is much more raw, you get lots of mistakes and every show is a bit different despite the same setlist every night. DT perfects their performances down to the atom.

Both have their place for me though.

Absolutely! A Maiden show is about experiencing the music with the band, a DT show is about experiencing the music from the band.

Paramount theater (where DT played in denver last night) is on the US National registry of historic places. It was built in 1930 & only holds about 1830 people. With all the work that went into production, don't know how DT is making a profit this tour with that limited ticket sales (except on merch).

I've seen a couple interviews where the band says they wanted to play this tour at "more intimate" venues around the country, old theatres and places with history and such...which I don't understand because the DT12 show in Chicago was at the exact same venue as this show (just shy of 4,000 capacity). In fact, I've seen DT 7 times, all of them in Chicago, and other than opening for Maiden they've never played a room larger than 5,000 cap.

Honestly, I know DT can sell out theaters playing "evening with" shows, but I can't help but think it would be beneficial for them to do a co-headlining tour with another band of some renown that could bring in some new audience.
 
Yea they played the same venue here as last time too.

I think dt and opeth would be a solid matchup. Or maybe Devin Townsend.
 
Yea they played the same venue here as last time too.

I think dt and opeth would be a solid matchup. Or maybe Devin Townsend.

I would love a DT and Opeth show, especially now that Mikael is focusing more on clean singing. I'm sure there are members of each audience who are not necessarily fans of both bands that would become so from such a gig.

Granted, a 100 minute show from either of those bands only averages out to about 6-7 songs each, but I'd still love to see it happen.
 
Yea, plus I think having Opeth at a DT show would bring a bit extra energy (which, I know DT isn't about that, but it's still a rock concert) and having DT at an Opeth show would allow them to stretch out their proggy side more than they have. I think Mikael has straight up said that they're obligated to do the old stuff live, which shows in their setlists, and I can't help but think he'd want to focus more on the recent stuff.
 
Granted, a 100 minute show from either of those bands only averages out to about 6-7 songs each, but I'd still love to see it happen.

You're not far off. When I saw Opeth co-headline with In Flames for 80 minutes each, the former played 9 songs and the latter had like 16. Opeth closed, and In Flames fans were actually walking out on them (even when they were playing growly stuff). Their loss.

I'm not sure how well Opeth and Dream Theater would mesh. I love them both, but one is about feel and groove while the other is more about showing off.
 
Paramount theater (where DT played in denver last night) is on the US National registry of historic places. It was built in 1930 & only holds about 1830 people. With all the work that went into production, don't know how DT is making a profit this tour with that limited ticket sales (except on merch).
In Amsterdam they played in a theatre from 1887.
 
Yea, plus I think having Opeth at a DT show would bring a bit extra energy (which, I know DT isn't about that, but it's still a rock concert) and having DT at an Opeth show would allow them to stretch out their proggy side more than they have. I think Mikael has straight up said that they're obligated to do the old stuff live, which shows in their setlists, and I can't help but think he'd want to focus more on the recent stuff.

Exactly. Mikael wants to focus more on the prog stuff and I think a tour with Dream Theater should obviously say to fans: "this is going to be rather proggy".

You're not far off. When I saw Opeth co-headline with In Flames for 80 minutes each, the former played 9 songs and the latter had like 16. Opeth closed, and In Flames fans were actually walking out on them (even when they were playing growly stuff). Their loss.

I'm not sure how well Opeth and Dream Theater would mesh. I love them both, but one is about feel and groove while the other is more about showing off.

I think they'd be fine. If Dream Theater can tour with Maiden, Opeth makes perfect sense. Opeth fans might not love LaBrie, but they'll certainly dig the instrumentals if they haven't heard them before.
 
New video:


@Detective Beauregard and I were discussing during the show: what songs do you think DT will continue to play from TA after TA tour?

Based on their choice of singles, I'll bet the only songs we ever get are Gift of Music, Our New World, and maybe Moment of Betrayal. Also, those are probably the best, concise, non-story heavy songs.
 
I think Moment of Betrayal has a good chance of sticking around. I wouldn't be surprised if they did something like a 20 minute chunk of the album for an encore maybe.
 
I think Moment of Betrayal and Gift of Music are the only obvious choices. I didn't even remember Our New World until you posted the video (which I'm glad features an increased percentage of Myung) - needless to say I think the song is quite unmemorable.

I could see them playing A New Beginning as well, if only for Petrucci's sweet solo, but I honestly don't expect anything from this album on future tours. It's meant to be heard as a whole, and playing a song here or there wouldn't really fit. Now I know Scenes from a Memory was the same story, but that album had far fewer songs, with most of them having their own distinct identity.
 
I think Moment of Betrayal has a good chance of sticking around. I wouldn't be surprised if they did something like a 20 minute chunk of the album for an encore maybe.

Condensing the album down into the amount of time actually required to deliver the plot :p

I could see them playing A New Beginning as well, if only for Petrucci's sweet solo, but I honestly don't expect anything from this album on future tours. It's meant to be heard as a whole, and playing a song here or there wouldn't really fit. Now I know Scenes from a Memory was the same story, but that album had far fewer songs, with most of them having their own distinct identity.

It's definitely meant to be heard in full, but I'm sure Petrucci and Rudess will want to keep playing some of these songs. The three I mentioned make the most sense as standalone songs, I think.
 
I think Moment of Betrayal and Gift of Music are the only obvious choices. I didn't even remember Our New World until you posted the video (which I'm glad features an increased percentage of Myung) - needless to say I think the song is quite unmemorable.

On the contrary, I think Our New World might be the most memorable song on the album. Not my favourite but it's catchy and radio-friendly, should have a decent chance of sticking around.
 
Well, now that I'm eons more acquainted with this band and now that the fourth Dream Theater survivor is upcoming, I find it a fitting time to post my top ten. Keep in mind that some of these songs are really, really close, particularly the top five. Dream Theater has safely joined my top three favourite bands, beating out others such as The Beatles (!) and Iron Maiden (!!!). They're still in my top ten, though. Anyway...better get this started.

Number 10: The Killing Hand (When Dream And Day Unite)

It's hard to explain just why I love this one so much. It was one of the first songs I heard by the band (first was Pull Me Under, second was Metropolis Pt 1) and the first thing that immediately struck out to me was the terrible production. I've grown used to it by now but the first listening experience was pretty jarring, to say the least. Now, this one is one of the true diamonds in the rough for this album but the two other songs unfortunately didn't make the top ten or the top twenty for that matter (They're Ytse Jam and Only A Matter Of Time, by the way). At first listen, there may be nothing truly special about this one, well, aside from the production and the vocals. In fact, this is the only song on the album where I fully appreciate them. The instrumentation is also great but oh, man, all of these aspects will expand greatly across this list.

This is just the start.

Number 9: Take The Time (Images And Words)

Now this one just SCREAMS early DT. It's not too fast but the instrumentation are some of the tightest they've ever done. I may not understand the lyrics but they are at least sung greatly. But this one's also fairly standard for this early era and that's what kinda holds this one back...though I still really love it. You know, it's really hard to write my explanation for loving these songs, because at times, I just do :)

Number 8: Blind Faith (Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence)

Jordan Rudess' greatest work with Dream Theater, perhaps? You could probably make a serious case for that with this song. The keyboard work here, especially the piano work are all excellent. The verses do sometime remind me of Trial Of Tears, particularly the vocal melody. But that's a song for another time. As the second song on the first disc, it really cemented disc one as my favourite one on this album.

Number 7: A Change Of Seasons (A Change Of Seasons)

Their first big sprawling 20 minute epic is also their second best...foreshadowing! This time, most of my love goes towards the absolutely brilliant lyrics by Mike Portnoy but that's not to say that it's not great musically as well. Because it is. With their new keyboardist in tow, they make good use of him here with a rocking solo after the 18 minute mark. I also have to give props to the first three minutes as it is a brilliant introduction.

Number 6: Octavarium (Octavarium)

And here's the other sprawling 20 minute epic I was talking about...just one spot higher. Now, this one is far more atmospheric which it keeps throughout but mostly in the lengthy introduction and outro to the song which recaps the album superbly. Having this monsterpiece at the end was one of the best decisions they made with this album. I also love the Full Circle section. Nice vocal interplay with Portnoy and LaBrie!

Number 5: Finally Free (Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From A Memory)

Just narrowly beating out The Dance Of Eternity, this POWERFUL closer that answers all the remaining questions on this album; how Victoria and Julian got murdered, how Edward planned it out with the suicide note and also the revelation that the Hypnotherapist is in fact Edward in a later life who does something to Nicholas (I'm pretty sure it's murder, though) while the vinyl is put off the hook, causing for a very interesting ending. While particularly story heavy, it's also very emotional which is shown immensely with the excellent chorus and the One Last Time reprise.

Number 4: Learning To Live (Images And Words)

You could probably add Wait For Sleep to this entry as a combined song because it's such a great introduction to this song. This is the final song on the album and it delivers with some of the best vocals on any Dream Theater song. The instrumental section is their second best to this day, my favourite part being the calm acoustic guitar part. And that grand finale just ends the mystical trip this song put me on.

Number 3: Trial Of Tears (Falling Into Infinity)

Now here's a one I wasn't expecting to make the top ten at all, even less expecting it to be a top three one. But repeated listenings did the trick very nicely indeed. It features some of my absolute favourite lyrics ever, presented as the "I may have wasted all those years" verse that repeats once. The instrumental section took some time to adjust to but when I did...oh, boy, I loved it.

Number 2: Metropolis Pt 1: The Miracle And The Sleeper (Images And Words)

And here it is, folks, the crux of the band's legend. I don't have very much to say about this one since so many have already said whatever I wanted to say. It's that great of an song and I can't believe that they got this masterpiece on their SECOND album, making absolute sure that it was a quantum leap from When Dream And Day Unite.

Number 1: Breaking All Illusions (A Dramatic Turn Of Events)

It's...I have no words. Quite easily one of my top five songs EVER by any band or artist.

...

I'm terribly sorry if these write-ups were horrible.
 
That's a great list, Stardust. I love most of those songs, particularly Trial, Learning, Seasons, and Breaking (aka Learning to Live pt. II).

Killing Hand is an obscure choice, but easily the best from their debut. I actually prefer the When Dream and Day Reunite version, even if LaBrie hits a few obviously flat notes. The arrangement is spectacular.

Blind Faith is one of my favorite Rudess-era songs, simply because he lays off the spacey synth crap and focuses mostly on piano. Glass Prison is my favorite on disc one, but this and Great Debate (with its interesting lyrics and Tool-ness) are almost as awesome.

I've never been a fan of Take the Time or Octavarium, though. The former is too "fun" for me, and the latter has a boring intro and too much "tuf guy" Portnoy.
 
I'm not quite sure at the moment how my top 10 looks, but I can't argue against any one of those songs, @Stardust.

I know for a fact that Blind Faith, A Change of Seasons, and Trial of Tears would definitely be in mine as well.
 
I love Blind Faith, I wish it could more attention. Probably my favorite on Six Degrees.
 
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