Sunday, June 12, 2011

Thoughts on Dream Theater lately

"I have a theory when it comes to Dream Theater: that they put out an absolute masterpiece (the first being ‘Images & Words’) but then have to go through two album cycles to recharge their batteries to their full potential again. For ‘Black Clouds & Silver Linings’ to follow this pattern, I would expect it to be anything from great to mediocre, though of course bucking the trend should never be out of the question. Things start off very nicely with the bulging goliath ‘A Nightmare To Remember’ and the rest of the album certainly ticks all the boxes. We’ve got the stock yet strangely appealing modern DT riffs, the expansive instrumental workouts and the astronomically high notes-per-minute count. Whilst still fairly dark and heavy, the Portnoy-speared ‘METUL!’ douchebaggery found on a lot of ‘Systematic Chaos’ has cooled down and left more room for traditional proggy sounds, particularly on ‘The Count Of Tuscany’ and ‘Wither’. "


Review from UG about their last album. They're scheduled to release something pretty soon in , I forget what it's called, but I do think that it'll be pretty decent. It'll be strange without Portnoy on it though. I do agree with that last part of the view that kind of talks shit about Systematic Chaos. In my opinion it just tries way too hard to be heavy metal-esque despite the fact that they're really just prog metal/rock. I'm really looking forward to hearing some of their new material though. It's all completely out of the wing of Portnoy who was really their main songwriter previously, and I'd like to hear what's come out of the other band members for once. Even Myung, who's basically not real.

27 comments:

  1. Hmmm. I've been kinda thinking the same thing about dream theater.

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  2. I guess we will see how having Mangini in the band will affect their music. Should be interesting nonetheless.

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  3. This is a band that I've been meaning to check out for over ten years and never got around to it. I'm going to get hold of some of their stuff now, thanks for the reminder!

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  4. Never heard of them, need to check them out.

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  5. Good stuff.
    Followed, brother.
    Hit me back

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  6. Seems pretty cool. I might check it out later.

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  7. Dream Theater used to be a favorite band of mine. Sadly I've started liking stuff like Justin Bieber and Katy Perry lately. But I did happen to listen to Octavarium today. I love that song. So long and epic and the orchestral ending after the climax is so beautiful and rewarding. Scenes of Memory is probably my favorite album of theirs.

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  8. Never heard of these but will def check them out!
    good post man
    +followed

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  9. I don't really like these guys.
    I'll look into some more good music though.
    Followed, brother
    Hit me back

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  10. Gotta say never listened to Dream Theater but, thanks to this post, I checked them out and loved the sound. Thanks!

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  11. i think that they are good in their way

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  12. It happens with most bands. They have like 5-10 years where they aren't popular, and have all the time they want to write and imagine songs. They collect a good group of songs, pick the best, and use them on their "breakout" album. Then they'll think of two or three new ones, and fill those with the remaining original collection to fill their next one or two albums, then if they don't get a great year in song writing, they are done for.

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  13. Good stuff & good luck with the blog. Following.

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  14. I dont like em too much but well good post :D
    Following

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  15. Dream Theater... Hmmm never heard or them. I'll check them out now!

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  16. I have not hear much of dream theatre but i have heard their Zeppelin cover. I enjoyed it quite a lot!

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  17. I never was a Dream Theater fan. They just like to masturbate guitars. :P

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  18. Looks like i need to check these guys out, great post!
    followed

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  19. My all time favourite band. Saw them live last year. I agree that BCaSL is a weaker album but it's still awesome, just not so much by DT standards. I think that the next album will be epic!

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  20. Great post! Can't wait for future posts :D

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  21. I still think it's crazy they ditched their drummer

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  22. I think this theory is applicable to a lot more bands than just Dream Theater :).

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  23. Never heard of this.. but very interesting and i will certainly keep checking back for updates!

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  24. Thanks for sharing this. Will take a look :D

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