stoopid

Why do you think this or think you know this? The suck-sess of The Astonishing would tell me to expect more of this, not less. Sadly. It sounds like wishful thinking to me. Reality likely has its own plans though. I honestly wasn't aware that The Astonishing was a commercial success until reading this response of yours. https://en.wikipedia...ter_discography When tallied it will likely match or exceed the prior two or three albums [no official count released yet]. It also became their first album to top the billboard rock charts: https://en.wikipedia...nishing#Release Keep in mind this was a double disc, a bit more expensive than typical CDs/downloads. The fact it's selling at or above prior levels further indicates it was a financial success. And the tour certainly did well(?). Looks like too much success to expect them to *need* to change direction for any reason. I'm sure the record company is hoping for more of the same. With the band speaking highly of the record and with no financial pressure we should expect The Astonishing 2. Regarding sales, isn't one double album/cd counted as two units? For example, Pink Floyd's The Wall is certified as 23x platinum, but it sold 11,500,000 copies. I know the cert levels are different for videos but wasn't sure of double discs, so I looked it up (on RIAA.org) - yes they are. But no count has been formally released, so we don't know (yet) whether the 'success' is artificial.

Why do you think this or think you know this? The suck-sess of The Astonishing would tell me to expect more of this, not less. Sadly. It sounds like wishful thinking to me. Reality likely has its own plans though. I honestly wasn't aware that The Astonishing was a commercial success until reading this response of yours. https://en.wikipedia...ter_discography When tallied it will likely match or exceed the prior two or three albums [no official count released yet]. It also became their first album to top the billboard rock charts: https://en.wikipedia...nishing#Release Keep in mind this was a double disc, a bit more expensive than typical CDs/downloads. The fact it's selling at or above prior levels further indicates it was a financial success. And the tour certainly did well(?). Looks like too much success to expect them to *need* to change direction for any reason. I'm sure the record company is hoping for more of the same. With the band speaking highly of the record and with no financial pressure we should expect The Astonishing 2. Well I can continue to enjoy other things then lol. There are no "other things," ONLY DREAM THEATRE!! lol Not even Dream Theater? You spell like a yankee.

Why do you think this or think you know this? The suck-sess of The Astonishing would tell me to expect more of this, not less. Sadly. It sounds like wishful thinking to me. Reality likely has its own plans though. I honestly wasn't aware that The Astonishing was a commercial success until reading this response of yours. https://en.wikipedia...ter_discography When tallied it will likely match or exceed the prior two or three albums [no official count released yet]. It also became their first album to top the billboard rock charts: https://en.wikipedia...nishing#Release Keep in mind this was a double disc, a bit more expensive than typical CDs/downloads. The fact it's selling at or above prior levels further indicates it was a financial success. And the tour certainly did well(?). Looks like too much success to expect them to *need* to change direction for any reason. I'm sure the record company is hoping for more of the same. With the band speaking highly of the record and with no financial pressure we should expect The Astonishing 2. Well I can continue to enjoy other things then lol. There are no "other things," ONLY DREAM THEATRE!! lol

Why do you think this or think you know this? The suck-sess of The Astonishing would tell me to expect more of this, not less. Sadly. It sounds like wishful thinking to me. Reality likely has its own plans though. I honestly wasn't aware that The Astonishing was a commercial success until reading this response of yours. https://en.wikipedia...ter_discography When tallied it will likely match or exceed the prior two or three albums [no official count released yet]. It also became their first album to top the billboard rock charts: https://en.wikipedia...nishing#Release Keep in mind this was a double disc, a bit more expensive than typical CDs/downloads. The fact it's selling at or above prior levels further indicates it was a financial success. And the tour certainly did well(?). Looks like too much success to expect them to *need* to change direction for any reason. I'm sure the record company is hoping for more of the same. With the band speaking highly of the record and with no financial pressure we should expect The Astonishing 2.

Frontier was good as well, I kept it playing after I found it. Forgot to post back. Give us a nudge when the new material hits. :)

The issue with OP's friend is they reject something based on its year of release. ALL music we hear for the first time is technically, to us, new. But when you like something to only dislike it once its year of creation is revealed... that's psychotic.

If you're just asking for historical or curiosity reasons, never mind. ;)

OP, are you listening to any current prog metal? Reason I ask is because there seems to be a never ending supply of good current bands to choose from, some rooted in an 80s/90s style and some infusing bits and pieces of earlier metal. Prog metal seems to be a relatively popular sub genre right now, lots of new albums coming out every month. Would seem like most people who are fans wouldn't be able to keep up with the new let alone be bored enough to want to dig back for the old (?).

Your friend's an idiot. I've known a few people like this. Past tense. Your friend's problem appears to be either a grossly unhealthy degree of bias or they're just plain f***ing nuts. Like bat-shit crazy, lock me up my momma dropped me as a newborn nuts. I think Northener is spot on. It becomes part of who they are, to the point they forget why they're even enjoying it in the first place and then force feed ONLY that music into their ears, even if it's unsavory (they are 'trained' after all to know how to properly listen to it long enough it finally clicks - ie - brainwashing themselves, saving you the trouble :P ).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c901NUazf3g Digging it. Another band I respect but don't go out of my way.

I need to check that out. Not a fan of DP, but have tremendous respect and think they're the kind of band (mostly rock based and super talented like Rush) that could pull this off.

I checked out Elegy... http://www.progarchives.com/mp3.asp?id=8081 Reminds me a bit of Neil Morse's stuff. I also found this example on Youtube...

I'm on the fence, which may be an underlying contributor to why I thought to post this thread. Looking to find some quality examples of rock + orchestra, 'done right'. There's a few good examples in here of 'right' and 'wrong'. lol

I didn't care for it either, which is perhaps why I conveniently chose to forget. :P

Even Trevor Horn lasted longer... Prog nerd slam.

If anyone can do it finger style, it's Ged. ;)

I know of Metalica, Dream Theater, Aerosmith, i think Led Zeppelin... how many bands have done the "night with" the orchestra thing? [studio albums would count as well]

Portnoy was the sound. Just ask him, he'll tell you. lol The truth.

Just to add to the 'poll' of bands listed... By ear (forgetting any actual mentions in public interviews by the band), the top contenders in order would be... The Police (earlier 80s) U2 (mid/later 80s) Yes (mid/later 80s) Tears For Fears (mid/later 80s) And of course there were bands like Honeymoon Suite and Mr Mister (both bands I was into before I knew about Rush) who were integrating keys into their mostly rock&roll platform in a similar way to Rush. Whether or not their airplay factored into Rush's sound would be anyone's guess. I know in an interview Ged mentions Talking Heads as being an influence entering the 1980s, but I don't really hear that translate into their sound. As much as I like TH, they're very different from most of Rush's material. The only thing I can hear them sharing are perhaps those in your face bass grooves. Ged really seemed to turn up his bass playing's groove factor on a lot of track during the 80s.

Mangini sounds extremely mechanical. Portnoy had his moments with double bass blasts that sounded like gunfire, but even he learned to add subtlety and 'swing' (for lack of a better descriptor) to his playing as time went on. Mangini might be able to execute, but there's no life behind it. I've only dabbled in drums, so I'm posting this less as a musician than as a fan. Portnoy's parts added energy, injected life into the compositions and Mangini is more akin to an elaborate drum machine. It gets the job done, but by god it's still just a friggin drum machine to these ears. :P

I love the talk he gave at shows prior to playing Routine. I related so much the first time I heard this it brought me to tears. Happy tears. ;)

I think you misunderstood what Mr. Not was saying. He didn't mean he disliked everything they recorded before Mangini joined. He's talking about not liking the last few albums before Portnoy left. No, I didn't misunderstand. What seems to be lost is how long MP has impacted this band's sound. It wasn't just one or two albums. He's been involved the entire time, sometimes heavily, and more heavily as time went on.

Portnoy is/was a very active songwriter in the band, musically and lyrically. The element he brought to the band was one of the underpinnings to the music that made DT what it became. For anyone to say "Portnoy influenced the band's direction in a way I didn't like much leading up to his leave" is really saying "I didn't like Dream Theater before the new drummer arrived". I am on the other side of this spectrum, I became a fan when Images and Words was released and now don't listen to them hardly ever (and only listened to the Mangini albums out of obligation after they're released, only to be shelved due to lack of interest). I'm not blind (or deaf) and will gladly list all the DT songs pre-Mangini I don't enjoy, but notice I say SONGS. Not entire, back to back to back albums. So Portnoy's absence has, for this DT fan, made ALL the difference. It's even soured me to the band in general. Without new music to get excited about I'm forced to focus my time and attention elsewhere. Mr Not, sorry to say, does NOT know what they are talking about [at best their thinking is contradictory]. And this seems like a thought I've had more than once reading their posts on this forum.

Why do you think this or think you know this? The suck-sess of The Astonishing would tell me to expect more of this, not less. Sadly. It sounds like wishful thinking to me. Reality likely has its own plans though.