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Dream Theater


Dave

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I have seen Dream Theater mentioned here several times under different topics. This is a band that I have only fairly recently come to appreciate. While I don't think that newer prog. rock bands can replace the rich history of ones like Rush, it does my heart good to see the effort out there, and such a good effort it is. DT certainly has their own new and unique sound while paying homage to the past at the same time.

 

In truth, I find their production to be top notch in sound quality for both the studio and final CD masterings released to the public. I only wish I could say the same thing about the last few Rush recordings. Whoever is in charge of their marketing is not doing them any favors.

 

Dave

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i've seen several people here keep saying that Dream Theater is just trying to be rush, and personally i think that's complete bulls***, Dream Theater are VERY original. and people also say "well they're not really prog, they just shred all the time" but obviously those people have heard songs like "The Dance of Eternity" and "Honor thy Father" and "Pull Me Under", which are all definitely progressive songs and aren't completely just shredding. Pull Me Under has a main solo, and a couple other shreds but seriously there are tons of other riffs and parts to the song that are well written and prog and not just shredding. The Dance of Eternity and Honor they Father have pretty much NO big solos in them, and they are very progressive songs. and even the song WITH tons of shredding also have tons of other stuff to them that make them progressive and excellent.

 

Dream Theater is one of my all time fav bands and i'm glad to see that you, dave, have a better opinion of them than most people at this forum.

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Tried as I may, I actually put some effort into listening to Dream Theater. I tried to appreciate their music, but I just couldn't. I find their music so soulless and boring. I guess they're just not my cup of tea.
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Vapor Trails is an excellent, excellent piece of work. However, the recording is also very, very bad. It is not just the massive compression of the final CD release, but the overall studio recording as well. These guys are far better than those trusted with their final product allow us to know. I really hope this trend turns around. It is hard for me to understand why a band like Rush that is so technically excellent and careful with all that they do would allow this to happen.

 

Dave

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I like Dream Theater, and I love Liquid Tension Experiment. LTE are 3/4 DT members in an instrumental band with Tony Levin (King Crimson) on bass. I do think that Rush completely blow them out of the water though.

 

Dream Theater seem to be dying though, their newest release "Octavarium" is not only not progressive, it is pretty bad. The only good song on the album is the title track.

 

Most people don't like them because they "have no soul", but I think just have kind of a... different type of soul. If that makes any sense.

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QUOTE (sfuentes @ Jul 10 2005, 11:28 PM)
Tried as I may, I actually put some effort into listening to Dream Theater. I tried to appreciate their music, but I just couldn't. I find their music so soulless and boring. I guess they're just not my cup of tea.

Me, too. The vocals are stretched to the point of being... well, stretched. And the lyrics seem stretched as well. I really, really tried. They left me thinking, "Ok....?" No offense, guys. But, what is the big damned attraction? confused13.gif

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QUOTE (Mustard Death @ Jul 11 2005, 12:07 AM)
I think the lyrics from the album "Images and Words" are very good. But after that and the album Awake, lyrics were all downhill... The lyrics from the Octavarium album SUCK!

Funny you should say that, because Kevin Moore left after Awake and he was writing the more "traditional" (i.e. bleeding-heart the-girl-doesn't-like-me-I'm-in-oblivion) lyrics. That being said I thought Moore was a great songwriter but he was obviously at odds with the band in a lot of ways (ever read his political rants over at Chroma Key's forums... or those of the fans?). Probably best he left and I haven't liked any Chroma Key stuff since Dead Air for Radios but to be honest, I haven't liked much anything that Rudess has done in DT, except for on Octavarium... while it's not the best DT album ever, he seemed to experiment a lot more with old analogy sounds and sequencers and what-not, gave it a very unexpected flavor. I was getting sick of him doing the Emerson-Lake-and-Palmer hoity-ho we're-going-on-a-quest crap every time he touched the keyboard. Rudess is the John Popper of prog keyboardists - every solo he plays is basically the same, and it's just a bunch of unconnected notes played really really fast in some odd mode that someone with a PhD in Boring Music said was cool.

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I tried to get into DT as well. I listened to I&W and Awake a number of times, and it just wasn't happening. No doubt they can play, but there really is something missing from the stuff I listened to. I won't use the LaBrie argument, because that's like people using the "Geddy Lee's vocals" argument for why they don't like Rush. Shredding for the sake of shredding doesn't always work, and DT proves this quite well. (Well I guess that's another argument people use for why they don't like Rush.) But there is a mood of sadness to their stuff, and in moderation that's okay, but I really think they overuse it. The sadness thing polluted the airwaves in the 90s. Overuse of the mood of sadness and merely shredding for the sake of shredding are two of the most self-indulgent forms of musical expression I know of. And that sums up DT: self-indulgent.

 

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I would just like to say that I LOVE Dream Theater and have for many years smile.gif

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/Cymbaline69/3Hosers.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/Cymbaline69/DreamTheater.gif

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I too have tried to get into them & just can't. I even went to see them with Yes hoping it would spark somethine, but it didn't. It was actually oneof hte most boring shows I have ever been to. They were not into the performing at all. It was like we were watching a rehearsal & the band had no idea anyone was watching them.
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QUOTE (Digital Man @ Jul 18 2005, 10:45 AM)
I too have tried to get into them & just can't. I even went to see them with Yes hoping it would spark somethine, but it didn't. It was actually oneof hte most boring shows I have ever been to. They were not into the performing at all. It was like we were watching a rehearsal & the band had no idea anyone was watching them.

yes.gif exactly my sentiments

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QUOTE (Test4VitalSigns @ Jul 19 2005, 01:16 AM)
QUOTE (Digital Man @ Jul 18 2005, 10:45 AM)
I too have tried to get into them & just can't.  I even went to see them with Yes hoping it would spark somethine, but it didn't.  It was actually oneof hte most boring shows I have ever been to.  They were not into the performing at all.  It was like we were watching a rehearsal & the band had no idea anyone was watching them.

yes.gif exactly my sentiments

yes.gif goodpost.gif

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QUOTE (PuppetKing2112 @ Jul 11 2005, 04:37 PM)
QUOTE (Mustard Death @ Jul 11 2005, 12:36 PM)
Don't player hate on me, player hate on somebody else!

Yo...yo yo...I'm a gangster...where my dogs at? Bark with me if you're my dog...yo yo yo

No man, you gotta spell it right homie. D O DOUBLE G IT'S THE SHIZNIT YO. wacko.gif

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QUOTE (Mustard Death @ Jul 10 2005, 11:58 PM)
I like Dream Theater, and I love Liquid Tension Experiment. LTE are 3/4 DT members in an instrumental band with Tony Levin (King Crimson) on bass. I do think that Rush completely blow them out of the water though.

Dream Theater seem to be dying though, their newest release "Octavarium" is not only not progressive, it is pretty bad. The only good song on the album is the title track.

Most people don't like them because they "have no soul", but I think just have kind of a... different type of soul. If that makes any sense.

I loved all their albums up to and including Scenes From A Memory. They've really gone down hill since then. However, I quite like Octavrium. I got tickets to see them in Newcastle in June.

 

I also thought the 2 LTE albums were brilliant.

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