Talk about other artists here (even though they all rip off Meshuggah)
#273281 by Meh
Fri Jul 01, 2011 1:35 am
Sad to see them without Portney however it's his own fault. Although I do feel sorry for him. It's sad seeing him in Beetles cover bands etc. When Halford left Priest or Dickinson Maiden you got the impression they'd be back at some point. Don't get that with DT and Mangini; he's too good a fit on every level and has given up too much.

Only half-listened to the new song once and 'meh' came to mind. Don't feel confident judging anything by the one song so I'll hold council.
#273344 by _oppuld
Fri Jul 01, 2011 12:48 pm
DevinJayLeibe wrote:All right, I have to say my piece. I had lost touch with Dream Theater anyway but I really like it when a band is in touch with fans, is open etc... Mike Portnoy pretty much ran DT completely- cited as band leader- on a management scale, not entirely musically, but that being said he is a technical musician and I'm sure he played a very big role in that aspect too. To me it felt like he had the personality, he seemed like the frontman of the band which is pretty hard to do as a drummer. La Brie kinda annoys me. The others, apart from Myung cuz he's just awesome, the others are just... Seem like average people, no spark, musicality aside, and I know that a band should be all into the music and the personality shouldn't matter, but it totally comes through. I think it is majorly affected. With Portnoy he just seems to leak passion out of his pores.

He filled in for Avenged Sevenfold's Rev, which seems like a really nice gesture to me- it didn't interfere with DT. I've been through the interviews and I've been following DT for awhile and I was always aware and really marvelled at his dedication to the band, that he ran the management, all of the fan related things- a couple friends of mine met him and were so surprised at how easy he was to talk to, little bit like our Dev here, and I feel like that's what makes 'em special, being down to earth off stage but letting it all our on stage. And he has like the largest collection of Dream T memorabilia heh! I'm not totally sure where his lyrical input was, I know what were his songs for sure and I feel they are the strongest. Some Petrucci lyrics are just cringey, and that alone kinda puts me off following DT now. I mean really the Count of Tuscany. Really. Petrucci *facepalm*

That being said I watched the vids for the hunt for a new drummer and Mangini seems really nice, seems like he has that same gusto. But he wasn't a founder, and hasn't been with the band and done as much for the band as Portnoy - his father even gave the band it's name. However the rest of DT must feel, I can't imagine what Portnoy must have felt. It just seems like after putting 200% into the band non stop for however many years he wanted to go on hiatus, have a break. Seems unfair that the band just kicked him out because it does seem like yeah they were musicians but he was so much more than just the drummer for the band. I have reservations about their future work but I am happy to see Portnoy is moving on and pretty excited to hear Adrenaline Mob, the new band he is in.


Yeah I've always thought LaBrie was the weak link of the band, especially after he lost his voice on tour some time after Awake. Myung has always seemed low key and boring to me, but the Myung tackle will go down in history.

Not to mention Beyond this Life which was the song that I think prevented SFOAM being a perfect album.

I'll reserve judgement about the decision not to let Portnoy back in the band.. band members come and go and who knows what went on behind the scenes? I do agree that he put a large part of his life into making the band into what it is today. In terms of management.. They definitely have professional management with Roadrunner and it's not like Dream Theater is a household name. Not to say that Dream Theater hasn't done some great tours with some great bands and put together some good shows and DVDs.

Re MrBean: A Change of Seasons as an album was mostly covers and the original song was good, but not great. It was perfected imo on Live Scenes From New York and that is one my favourites. I find it hard to compare the two songs. You're entitled to your opinion but it's just an average first song to an album that we'll have to wait and hear the rest of.
#273405 by mrbean667
Sat Jul 02, 2011 12:28 am
It was perfected imo on Live Scenes From New York and that is one my favourites.


Hoho, ain't that the truth.
#273420 by DevinJayLeibe
Sat Jul 02, 2011 4:59 am
I like Myung because at least he doesn't come across as stuck up and he never says anything up his own ass because he never says anything :d

I've always felt that Rudess, Petrucci, Portnoy and Myung were masters of their instruments but La Brie, yeah he is good but his voice kinda rubs me up the wrong way a lot and he only has one voice if you know what I mean, for example Devin can sound like an opera singer or a demonic hell demon. La Brie just sounds like a generic prog metal singer to me. Edit: I realise that DT kinda spearheaded prog metal so that does make sense but nonetheless, after however many years he hasn't explored other areas or taken it to another level.

Anyway I do like DT / did like/ and I don't mean to offend any fans. It's just my 2 pennies, I am a big fan of a good portion of their work.
#273426 by Lolliklauer
Sat Jul 02, 2011 7:13 am
I listened to the new songs and found them quite okay (my fav. DT-album was Train of Thought), but when it came to 6:35 (Breaking All Illusions) i immediately was turned off and decided to officialy hate Jordan Rudess playing even more from now on. This kind of "funny" piano-solo is so worn off, and in every song it has been used it destroyed everything that eventually has been some kind of emotional connection. Myung is a fantastic player and i think he is the key who holds everything together. They need to chain Rudess and cut off his solos, and LaBrie shouldn't try to sing high, then they are quite good (like in most of ToT).

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests