Todem

We don't know what's going on though. So we can't say it's a dick move or not. Terrible timing for sure but maybe life threw some stuff at her and she needs to take care of it. Yeah - seems like a hasty decision when the band is on the cusp of bigger things. All things being normal, you don’t bail on a band that’s got shows booked and an album coming out. Do the shows and then split. I think Rocky is perfect for the band and I’m disappointed. She sounded like a female Geddy! She did it tastefully too. It’s big shoes to fill The split was amicable. I know we all don’t want to speculate.....but I have been in a few very serious original projects in my life too.....and things happen. In this case my gut feeling is telling me a few things. The rigorous touring and traveling maybe gave Rocky some pause. But I also think the biggest factor for her was her own musical path. She is just 26 years young and saw the fan base of YYNOT was pretty much late 40 and 50 somethings who love Rush. Dad Rock. She has a lot of other influences and I can feel a different path for her musical journey. And I totally understand that. She needs to find her “thing”. There is a lot of vocal talent in our country that can be recruited if they are a progressive music lover, want to step into a band with a well established fan base and some serious chops.....I don’t think they will have too much trouble finding an older (but not too old) new voice. And who knows....maybe they go with a male for the next album. Or not. I am already looking forward to the next album. The new record is really solid (Light and Shade).....but it definitely took a more melodic vocal focused path. Some incredible gems on the album (The Mask, Fall From The Sky, Burning Bridge and Firefly for me are the real stand outs). But it is my least favorite of the three albums now that I have really given it a ton of spins. The production feels more restrained, especially with the rhythm section in terms of where it is in the mix. I really enjoy it....but for me not their strongest work front to back. That would belong to the debut. Resonance is sonically the best....the sound and production on that album is simply delicious. Everything sounded crisp, thick and the drums were recorded amazingly well. And so much strong material on Resonance.....The debut and their 2nd album are really close for me. Each album has it’s own character and flavor which is the sign of a great progressive rock band. Each album definitely has a unique mood and sonic feel. I love that.

Billy writes all of the vocal melodies and lyrics. Patty is on board for the live shows we had already booked. What happens from there remains to be seen, but YYNOT will continue! Tim, the Funky Biscuit shows were simply fantastic. My son and I had a fantastic time and all of you were very gracious with your time with the fans. I have zero doubt the band will land on their feet. So much music left to create and I am looking forward to the future. This is a sudden and tough set-back but there is so much talent in this world......you guys will find the right fit.

Tampa Show......we are going to that one for sure.

1. Rush 2. Van Halen 3. Porcupine Tree 4. Led Zeppelin 5. Pink Floyd 6. Queensryche 7. Iron Maiden 8. The Black Crowes 9. Dream Theatre 10. Dio 11. U2 12. Yes 13. Kiss 14. Whitesnake 15. Dokken 16. Ozzy 17. Black Sabbath 18. Soundgarden 19. Alice In Chains 20. Radio Head 21. Jeff Buckley 22. Queen 23. Avenged Sevenfold 24. Candlebox (1st 5 albums only) 25. The Doors

I see no comparison between this and Octavarium since half that album stinks and A View is consistently very good beginning to end. Lol I don't mean quality wise, I mean like, tone, feel, a little bit of structure. You've got your 20 minute epic to close it out, your heavy and mildly chaotic extended length opener, Transcending Time is kinda the I Walk Beside You of the album. Answering The Call reminds me a lot of Panic Attack and Never Enough. Invisible Monster correlates to the slightly darker but rather pop structured tone of These Walls. These aren't quality correlations, just like mood, atmosphere, intent sort of correlations. Obviously Octavarium has its own world its living in, but I think AVFTTOTW lives in a rather similar space. The production also reminds me a bit of it, much rounder drums, almost wetter, and lots of deep hues on the chugging, with Jordan having some similar kinds of keyboard tones. I'm not really seeing that other than maybe timbre. Jordan seems to be allowed do a bit more which I've always thought was a good thing. In fact, my favorite Jordan albums are Six Degrees, Octavarium and The Astonishing. It may be Jordan's more active role I'm latching onto. I'm listening again right now. Answering The Call still reminds me a lot of Panic Attack and Never Enough. Never Enough is a bad song though. Answering The Call is awesome. It would be funny if when they were writing the album they thought "what if Never Enough was a song people actually wanted to hear?" and Answering The Call was what they came up with. The intro to The Alien reminds me more of Panic Attack. Oh I like Never Enough a lot. I definitely see what you mean though about the intro to The Alien and Panic Attack. The lyrics for Never Enough really bring it down for me. I have no interest in a grown man writing lyrics that sound like a whiny teenager. The same with I Walk Beside You. I don't listen to Dream Theater to hear pop tunes. We have Phil Collins for that stuff. I think they aren't the best fit for DT, but they still make it work. I think the real sin with Octavarium is they sound too much like the artist's they're taking "inspiration" from. Like, Never Enough and Panic Attack especially are blatant Muse ripoffs. You can even pinpoint the exact parts of the exact songs they were copying! But, given how much I love those Muse songs, and given DT does add extra virtuosic musicianship to the equation that Muse doesn't match, I do still get a lot out of the DT songs. Like the blatant Gilmore ripoff Mike Petrucci does on the album closing epic? LOL. I mean....I love that song....but all I think about is Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Like it is.....a “Hey I loved Pink Floyd and this is my tribute to Gilmore”. Sure, but I think you're mixing up the current guitarist and the old drummer, lol. Man......a senior moment if there was ever one. John P......LMFAO. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Mick I relistened to DT for the first time in years today and it was really really good... like... maybe the best Mangini era album good... I'm so conflicted anymore! I LOVE the self titled so much it hurts, lol it's SUPER good. i'd never even put distance anywhere near the self titled's orbit. it has a slight AOR flavor going for t too. i said the new one was my fav mangini era but no it's Self titled first all the way. Mick I saw them on that tour and all the new stuff got a great reaction. That's definitely an album most fans seem to love. I still remember the huge roar from the crowd when they started Illumination Theory. You would have thought it was an old favorite going by how they responded after the opening notes. Surrender To Reason may be one of my all time favorite DT songs and they have never played it live. Please......pull that gem out. AMAZING SONG. DT is a fantastic Album.....the only thing that still makes my skin crawl a little is that god awful snare drum sound. And I think it has a lot to do with Mangini probably recording all hs drum parts remotely and I think they learned....they all need to get into the studio together and make an album to have that synergy going and also not letting the sonic quality get away from them. The new album sonically is brilliant. And DoT was also really good. Production with this band is critical with so much going on. It is why we were so critical with Rush when they released Vapor Trails.....and CA also was too muddy in retrospect. Anyway getting off track. I am pumped for the tour. We have front row John P side in Tampa and I pray we get a very diverse set of deep material along with most of the new album. Transcending Time......PLEASE PLAY THAT SONG.

I see no comparison between this and Octavarium since half that album stinks and A View is consistently very good beginning to end. Lol I don't mean quality wise, I mean like, tone, feel, a little bit of structure. You've got your 20 minute epic to close it out, your heavy and mildly chaotic extended length opener, Transcending Time is kinda the I Walk Beside You of the album. Answering The Call reminds me a lot of Panic Attack and Never Enough. Invisible Monster correlates to the slightly darker but rather pop structured tone of These Walls. These aren't quality correlations, just like mood, atmosphere, intent sort of correlations. Obviously Octavarium has its own world its living in, but I think AVFTTOTW lives in a rather similar space. The production also reminds me a bit of it, much rounder drums, almost wetter, and lots of deep hues on the chugging, with Jordan having some similar kinds of keyboard tones. I'm not really seeing that other than maybe timbre. Jordan seems to be allowed do a bit more which I've always thought was a good thing. In fact, my favorite Jordan albums are Six Degrees, Octavarium and The Astonishing. It may be Jordan's more active role I'm latching onto. I'm listening again right now. Answering The Call still reminds me a lot of Panic Attack and Never Enough. Never Enough is a bad song though. Answering The Call is awesome. It would be funny if when they were writing the album they thought "what if Never Enough was a song people actually wanted to hear?" and Answering The Call was what they came up with. The intro to The Alien reminds me more of Panic Attack. Oh I like Never Enough a lot. I definitely see what you mean though about the intro to The Alien and Panic Attack. The lyrics for Never Enough really bring it down for me. I have no interest in a grown man writing lyrics that sound like a whiny teenager. The same with I Walk Beside You. I don't listen to Dream Theater to hear pop tunes. We have Phil Collins for that stuff. I think they aren't the best fit for DT, but they still make it work. I think the real sin with Octavarium is they sound too much like the artist's they're taking "inspiration" from. Like, Never Enough and Panic Attack especially are blatant Muse ripoffs. You can even pinpoint the exact parts of the exact songs they were copying! But, given how much I love those Muse songs, and given DT does add extra virtuosic musicianship to the equation that Muse doesn't match, I do still get a lot out of the DT songs. Like the blatant Gilmore ripoff John Petrucci does on the album closing epic? LOL. I mean....I love that song....but all I think about is Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Like it is.....a “Hey I loved Pink Floyd and this is my tribute to Gilmore”.

In my brief review the one thing that really stood out from the get go was how good Mangini played on this album. Clearly his best since joining DT for my taste. Diverse parts and phrasing 100%. It felt like he finally really had a big hand in the writing process and his drums sonically have never sounded better than on this new album.

I am a bonafide Halloween junkie. I liked Halloween Kills much better on my second and third viewing.....but there were a few things I loathe about it. Anthony Michael hall was a total miscast and I hated Tommy Doyles portrayal in this film. The entire hospital scene was just terrible. Everything else was damn good and man was this a brutal film. I am looking forward to Halloween Ends next year. Halloween 2018 was excellent my third favorite in the entire series. This one was not in that movies league but it was an obvious middle entry into this new trilogy. My rankings and I don’t include Halloween III (I love Halloween III big time but it is not Michael Myers so I view it as it’s own stand alone Carpenter Film). Halloween 1978 Halloween II Halloween 2018 Halloween 4 The Return of Michael Myers Halloween 5 The Revenge of Michael Myers Rob Zombies Halloween Halloween H2O Halloween Kills Halloween 6 Producers Cut Halloween Resurrection (awful but hilarious) Rob Zombies Halloween 2 (the pits. Such a trashy movie and just a huge let down to his reboot which was excellent)

You Rally Got Me just edged out Where Have All The Good Times Gone. It just had just a massive amount of energy and that Brown Sound is so damn good....Eddies riffing between verses...yeah. 1984 is my favorite Cover from them. Look....90% of their album covers were bland as hell and not creative. But 1984 was so distinctive with the baby angel smoking a cig.....totally Van Halen.

They really have become their own band. My son and I saw them down here at the Funky Budda in Boca Raton and stayed for both sets. We met Billy, Tim, Rocky and Mike and they were extremely gracious and super people. While their Rush covers are incredible.....their original music is even better. I am awaiting my signed copy of the new CD as well. I loved their first two albums as well. Great band, great people.

Yes, Answering The Call has been my favorite from the first listen and continues to be. Oh yes....that riff......evil man. I love it.

My top 5 songs.....and the album is great BTW. Really enjoying it. 1. Answering The Call 2. Transcending Time 3. Obey Your Master 4. Invisible Monster 5. A View From The Top Of The World

He posted on Instagram or Facebook, #ivemovedon It seems like he wasn't asked to be a part of the band. That really stinks. He was great with them.

8 of his 10 are in my top 10. PeW Hemi MP Signals PW P/G 2112 AFTK HYF

That is a bummer. He was great with them. Surprising too. He opened for Steven on his Hand Cannot Erase Tour (Saw that tour and it as amazing).

Right there with you. The Wall has become.....overrated over time? As a whole I never listen to it. I listen to the strongest songs.....and leave the rest behind these days. The Division Bell......oh my....Gilmore’s tone....that’s all. Dreamy.

I actually did not hear that. I heard a return to FoABP and Nil Recurring. The production and mix is thick. Also I clearly hear Luminol before it ever happened in that bass tone! I love the tune big time. Great groove, and such stellar production as expected. Gavin is a beast. I do enjoy The Incident. A very dark and moody album. But not my top from them. I need to be in a certain mood on a long drive as it needs to be heard front to back to be experienced proper.

Exactly how I have them too. I really enjoy the new album. Some sizzling songs. But overall it lacks the great melodies which I always prefer. Distance Over Time is pure gold in that regard as well as the Self Titled. Hence why I agree 100% with your rankings. The mix and production on the new record however is their very best in the Mangini era. Another ear observation is this is clearly Mike Mangini’s best playing and drum work since he joined the band. He finally sounds like he had a clear and focused hand into what he wanted to do song wise with his drumming. I love it. My song rankings: 1. Answering The Call - This is clearly for me the best song top to bottom. Incredible riff, great chorus, just a banger. 2. The Alien - A rip roaring DT romp. Concise and focused. The entire band is featured all over this song. 3. Invisible Monster - Ahhhh there is the melodies we love. Cleary a single. 4. Transcending Time - Rush all over this gem. Also the melodies.....serve the song. 5. Awaken The Master - This is the real epic IMO. A wonderful journey of moods in one song under 10 minutes. 6. A View From The Top Of The World - Not their best epic....not even close...but it is good. 7. Sleeping Giant - Need more time with this one. Not a bad track on the album. It is a good DT record no doubt. But lyrically not their strongest and melody it does lack overall. Still.....increible playing and production makes up for it’s shortcomings on the overall songwriting front. Distance Over Time and Self Titled are the pinnacle of their song writing prowess in terms of riffs and melody uniting to make incredible DT songs. 7/10 - A good album.

The song is outstanding. So happy they are back. Already pre-ordered both the limited edition 3LP box and 3 CD/BD box. No doubt we will see them on their North America Tour.....no doubt.

The top 3 are outstanding. I lose some of you on Killers and iron Maiden.....simply never liked those records at all. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and Somewhere in Time would replace those for me easily to round out the top 5. And Senjutsu is now easily my favorite Prog era Maiden record.

Looking forward to diving in!!!

Huge fan of Ghost. We saw them back in 2018.....tremendous show.

I listened to Bloodline very recently.....man has he come a long way from that album. But Bloodline has some sizzling tunes too!!! I need to check out more of his stuff. Brilliant guitar player.

Agree with the exception of Mary J.....for the love of god....talk about hype and overrated....she is awful.