Why Dream Theater....

linthat22 · #1 12-13-2005, 08:50 PM

Suck now (not looking for a flame war)

I have to say when I first got into Dream Theater they were fresh and inspiring. You can't tell me that when you first heard Pull me Under you weren't hooked? It seems ever since the...and I'm stretching on this one...Change of Season album, the rest have been crap.

I'm not talking about how talented the musicians are, because I thinks known that they are way waaaay talented.

I'm talking about good songs. I gave Dream Theater a break after the tripe album Falling Into Infinity. That album was horrible. So the next album I bought was Six Degrees of Inner Turbulance. I heard great things about this album and I was thinking this has been what I've been waiting for, but alas I was sorely disappointed. To me, the song ideas seemed like rehashed ideas of other bands and that they were trying to be epic in each song.

After that I gave up on Dream Theater, never even looking into Metropolis part 2, eventhough I really wanted too, but afraid I'd be disappointed again.

For me their last good studio album was Awake. The songs were good, they had great structure and awesome hooks, it wasn't a total self indulgence or mindless nutless howling.

On the other hand I loved the solo album of Petrucci.

Have my tastes changed that much? Or have Dream Theater changed from what they once were? I know bands to stay constant, but that spark that they once had seems to be gone. Dare I say that spark was originality?

kennydoe · #2 12-13-2005, 09:15 PM

Congratulations on growing up.

I've said it before and i'll say it again...Dream Theater is the musical equivalent of an epileptic seizure. It's not a band...it's a medical condition.

Gimme some Stevie Wonder any day.

~K

JESTER700 · #3 12-13-2005, 09:19 PM

I'm pretty much with ya, though I haven't listened to the latest one, and I think you SHOULD listen to Scenes from a memory; THAT was the last great DT album, IMO.

Still, nothing matches I&W...

vette6600 · #4 12-13-2005, 09:53 PM

i've got all their studio releases and like all of them except falling into infinity. their latest releases had labrie doing some annoying screaming vocals here and there, but thankfully, the newest(octavarium) doesn't feature that at all. i've argued with someone before about dt's music being a "seizure" so im not gonna get into to that again, let's just say that i'll kindly disagree.

btw, have you checked out liquid tension? its petrucci, rudess, portnoy, and tony levin. awesome stuff, all instrumental.

fleeeep · #5 12-13-2005, 11:03 PM

Funny Thing is, I'm a huge DT fan especially the earlier stuff but I loved the Falling into Infinity Album.
I think it's gotten a bad rap because it's a bit different to their usual style, i.e more commercial, like the RHCPs album One hot minute, the "harcore" fans didn't like it.
Scenes from a memory is a masterpiece and i think the best display of what Dream Theater are all about.
Bands and Musicians grow and evolve you can't expect them to repeat your Favourite album for ever.
Their writing and playing on their 1st album WDADU show's their youth, ambitious and over the top. where as they've matured over the years and focused in on what they do best.
They themselves are more intersted nowadays with writing good songs then with impressing musos with crazy over the top playing, although they still manage to do that also.
So take each album for what it is, a moment in time of their musical life. don't say that it's crap just coz it's not just like your favourite album.

marianozz · #6 12-14-2005, 06:14 AM

I like most of it, i love the Moore era, i love ACoS and i like most of Falling into Infinity... Scenes is just perfect...

Then it goes down, i dont like 6 Degrees cd1 (i love cd2), and Train of Thought is "bleh..."

Octavarium kinda picks up tho, not quite there yet with the old stuff, but still pretty fun to hear...

eviltwin · #7 12-14-2005, 06:28 AM

Hmmm, just another discussion like the ones we've seen about just about every other band...

Why on earth would DT want to make the same album over and over agian? just because fans from their early days think their best stuff was in the past, doesn't mean they have to keep repeating themselves? You need to change in order to progress and DT are progressive metal.

pawel · #8 12-14-2005, 08:25 AM

I listened to most of their albums at some point, but nothing matched Awake, which IMO is a truly good album, and it's going to stay the only one I own.

fettouhi · #9 12-14-2005, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennydoe

Congratulations on growing up.

I've said it before and i'll say it again...Dream Theater is the musical equivalent of an epileptic seizure. It's not a band...it's a medical condition.

Gimme some Stevie Wonder any day.

~K

Everyone keeps saying, Oh that John Petrucci he's so talented and he can play anything. To me at least it seems like he can shred through anything but so can Bellas, Malmsteen etc.

Regards

André

toshiro · #10 12-14-2005, 09:32 AM

Two words for Dream Theater fans:

Sun Caged

(Look them up.)

kennydoe · #11 12-14-2005, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fettouhi

Everyone keeps saying, Oh that John Petrucci he's so talented and he can play anything. To me at least it seems like he can shred through anything but so can Bellas, Malmsteen etc.

Regards

André

I take no issue with the playing ability of the members of DT. They're absolutely amazing musicians who have taken their craft far beyond where most musicians stop.

It's the music that they create despite this ability that i take issue with.

Say you have an incredible vocabulary...you all the big 10+ letter words, plus a few shorter but still obscure words....do you throw intersperse them in a conversation or do you use as many of those words as possible all the time?

If you chose the latter, people are going to call you pretentious, pompous and verbose (oh my) and probably won't want to listen to you. yeah, you have a great vocabulary...but who'd want to hear it constantly? That's how Dream Theater is for me.

on the other hand, if you talk like a regular person and are able to convey emotion with simple words, while occasionally using big words like 'intersperse' to make your point, people are much more likely to listen, 'hear' and digest what you're saying without 'zoning-out'.

That's all I'm sayin'.

~K

vy100 · #12 12-14-2005, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JESTER700

you SHOULD listen to Scenes from a memory; THAT was the last great DT album, IMO.

+1, IMO too

**jemaholic** · #13 12-14-2005, 11:01 AM

John is a great shredder- but can't play his way out of a paper bag with Blues.
Watch the DVD of Scenes and I think track #10 has a black woman with a phenomenal voice skattin blues lines while John is "answering" back on guitar.
Sad.
Sad.

Clinically, he's a great surgeon, but feeling-wise- he's killed the patient.

I enjoy watching Myung MUCH more than JP. He's an F'n monster.

-Jemaholic

**jim777** · #14 12-14-2005, 01:08 PM

Last Summer I saw Dream Theater open for Yes. Dream Theater came off as a very talented group, with some decent tunes, and Yes came off like gods. The difference between the two sets was immense. I can listen to both, but Dream Theater is carried by the folks who like their musicianship. Musicians for the most part don't buy DT disks for the songs, they buy them to hear John and Mike and John go off. They've been buying the DT disks for years hoping there would be listenable material on them, but knowing there will be solos to learn and tabs to hunt for in the future.

**jemsite** · #15 12-14-2005, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennydoe

Congratulations on growing up.

LOL.

Sadly, it probably does sum up the conversation pretty well. The w@nkery and technical stuff fades while musicality tends to shine over time. This is not restricted to Dream Theater... glen