Jaminbenb

Ok, starting to finds things I like...was sitting in my car waiting for my wife to walk out of work.... I'm LOVING LaBrie's singing! Three Days is nice...but his voice is really doing a nice job! Brother Can You Hear me, though...starts out like "Bring out your dead" from Holy Grail...but goes into "Bring The Boys Back Home" (more Wall sort of stuff) And I LOVE the beginning of A Life Left Behind! But still...that freaking snare drum!!!!

I haven't seen Mangina play yet but I have seen Portnoy play at least 14 times. Meh. I am sure the new Mike is better. Not sure... I like MP's stuff outside of DT. I like his stuff with Neal Morse, and Transatlantic. His DT stuff was just notes for the sake of notes in a LOT of cases, and I can't stand that balls to the wall stuff...which is why my first listen to this new album isn't sitting well with me... I'm just hoping that I can get past this snare sound. But my issue with MP was he relied upon the double bass stuff CONSTANTLY and it seemed like a lot of his fills were the same thing over and over from song to song. I just don't know enough of Mangini's stuff to comment on what he can and can't do. I haven't really liked the last two albums, so....

Portnoy is a master when it comes to reaching a perfect drum sound No...whatever engineer he's been using (and his tech who does the tuning) has it down... Whomever was MM's tech, and whomever the engineer is needs to be slapped Haha! I thought Rod was being sarcastic with his Portnoy comment. That's yet another great point. You can't blame the entire sound issue on the drummer. The engineer is also to blame. Yeah...Engineer, producer... Most engineers just listen to the drums, place the mic's and go... This stuff is just horrid sounding...

Portnoy is a master when it comes to reaching a perfect drum sound No...whatever engineer he's been using (and his tech who does the tuning) has it down... Whomever was MM's tech, and whomever the engineer is needs to be slapped

Finally got to listen to it a little in my car...maybe the first five or six tunes...right off the bat, I WILL say that listening to it "open air" and not with ear buds IS a big difference...but I will ALSO say...the drum sound is freaking HORRIBLE! Sounds like that triggered crap that they used for Images and Words...That snare sound is just grating on the ears! Doesn't anyone know how to records a snare drum so it SOUNDS like a snare drum anymore?!?!? yeeeesh! Too much gating if you ask me.... Also so far..the fact that one song sort of melds into another puts me into a "just make one big tune" kind of thing. So it's not an album to have in your "random" folder on your iPod.

Er, what? This is anything but formulaic DT. And lots of notes? Maybe relative to many other bands, for DT, this is probably their least wanky album (along with Falling into Infinity) to date, especially when you consider how much material is on this (130 minutes of music). You can count on one hand the number of times they shred on this. I agree. i'm gonna say........and some will disagree. having sat with this album for a while. this is some of the most ambitious music DT has ever made. it is anything but safe. It is Diverse........and has some of the best pure melodies they've ever written. It's amazing what they've done here. Mick As I said...it's my initial assessment, and it's been through ear buds, and incomplete. I need time with it in my car, loud and with the ability to run something back that strikes me with no difficulty. But my first impression is "eh"....

(Oops, just saw this.) I have done some kelp dives here in Monterey and they are pretty wonderful. Swimming through the kelp you feel like you are flying through a forest. I haven't been in a couple of years mostly because I am too lazy. I need to find a motivated dive buddy that will get me off my butt. (My last regular dive buddy was even lazier than me, hence the not going.) If you ever have a chance to try it you will love it! Cool...good to know... I'm planning on a trip within ththe next year or two, I have a friend that lives in Laguna Niguel that's trying to get me out, so I figure if we DO go out, we'll be ther longer than a week, and I'll make sure I get to do some Pacific diving.

That was an awesome thing! Good job Gene! RIP Dilan! Glad you got to experience that!

Welcome...you have a lot of catching up to do!

Got to listen to a little more yesterday, not much this weekend...with family, and not many are into prog metal.... Still not thrilled with it...sounds like formulaic DT, lots of notes, and epic sounding stuff from Rudess... Which pretty much puts me at a "why I don't like Rudess so much" head... I think that other than when he plays piano..it s kinda of tough to discern his playing other than the orchestral motifs all over the piece...I miss the old days when keys sounded like keys, and besides a few occasional spots, everything I've heard is "grandiose", not chops laden...and again...don't get me wrong, the man can play...but I don't like his playing in this band... If I get a road trip or weekend by myself, I'll give it a better critical listen, and see if anything strikes me.

GuP is the only one that matters.....

Are we all drunk? Yellow Tail, Beer, Gin?

Or... Your BLOATED Gonads...could be the sign of an accident....

Probably shared some good weed at one point....

That'd be an interesting band....

Maybe a few smaller venues here and there?!?! They were a theater act for the longest time, so...

We've all had this conversation before...but my biggest complaint was that they didn't do their usual, and add some "dates in the Spring" and just do another leg of a tour. I had an attitude of; "ok, they have this leg...they'll break for the fall and holidaze, then come out in February or March, and do another X-amount of dates, then have one big blow out in Cleveland or Pittsburgh" (since that's where they had the first one) You knew it had to end at some point...it's not easy music to play night after night like a lot of bands that are still out there...and they aren't the "back up band" type where they can just go out, go through the motions, but the 10 other guys and gals on stage are the ones playing MOST of the music...it's three guys, and that's it! But I really thought that after they did one part of a tour, they'd be back in the swing of things and be able to go out and do another (which it now sounds like Alex is on board with that) But if they put out another album, and DON'T tour, that's at least something, I guess. (and the fact they can find a studio near where NP lives so he can put Olivia on the school bus every day is probably the plan)

YBG, Prog section. The Yukon Blade Grinder? That was what I thought of, too! Yiddish Bond Girls? (oy vey)

That's a little more direct that some of the "reading between the lines" comments they've made...

Where'd you pull that from? must have missed that one....

I listened on headphones. It's really nice! But I am finding the DT sound rather sterile, no texture... I still really like them, but I find it hard to see them as one of the greats. But a wonderful band, and a really good album, all the same! And I think The Astonishing may improve with further listens, this is just my full initial reaction after one play. I'm in the same boat with them... I think they are talented, but they put in too many "notes for the sake of notes" which to me takes the musicality out of some of the tunes....GRANTED...they over-play because that's what's expected of them, but to me that detracts from them becoming "one of the greats"....I'm also not a fan of the revolving door musician thing... I liked the original band with Kevin Moore, and then liked what they did with Derek Sherinian...and don't get me wrong, Rudess is an amazing player...just not the guy that belongs in this band, and I can't say I like Magnini. What I've heard of the new album so far is decent, but "formulaic" DT music..they're stuff is all starting to sound the same. Once I'm able to get through the album, I'll be a little more specific on things, but what I've heard so far is "ok" and not blowing me away!

Way back when I was in high school...someone created a mural with that verse on it, and had some Hemispheres-like art on it! (that he purportedly took home and put on his bedroom wall) (wish we had cell phone cameras back then, or I would have taken a picture of it)

I thought that was the RtB kid?

Three albums that never really impressed me (except for maybe one or two songs) were Hold Your Fire, Presto, and Roll the Bones ....Presto probably has the least amount of stuff that I like, and I would not have been totally surprised if they "called it" after that run! I just remember not liking HyF, except for maybe two songs, liked the first little bit of Presto, but not much else, and after Dreamline, pretty much hated RtB! I remember buying the CD on my way to a recording class, basically got through Dreamline, and a little bit into Bravado before I had to go to the class...walked into the studio, and the rest of the guys I had class with had it on, and were all standing there with disappointed faces...The one guy said "after the first tune, it all sucks!" And as I listened to it several times after that..had to agree!.. Just could never get into it!

Interesting...I've been reading the "Art of Rush" book by Hugh Syme, and HE claims that the guy that modeled for that picture was a stock broker! (the article claims it was a waiter) Hmmmmm......