Dream Theater - Under a Glass Moon
Dream Theater - Constant Motion
Dream Theater - On the Backs of Angels
We’re on to your agenda
The dead-end road to nowhere
Dream Theater - A Nightmare to Remember
I keep listening to the new album and Mangini keeps growing on me, but then I listen to something from an earlier album and it’s like, “Oh, yeah, that’s why I miss Portnoy.”
*Sigh*
Dream Theater - Finally Free
7:07 - 10:34 really makes me miss Mike Portnoy being in this band.
What an amazing show this would have been to be at. A three-hour gig just of DT. They performed Scenes from a Memory in its entirety for a live recording and DVD and did two more hours worth of material after that. Portnoy actually collapsed after the show from dehydration.
Who plays better live than this? (And by better, I mean studio quality, not energy or performance.)
Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Today’s #themesong is “desert island song.” I had answered this question for another meme some time ago, so this was actually easy for me. Had it been dessert island song, it would have been a bit more difficult to answer, though.
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is the entirety of disc 2 from the album of the same name. Disc 1 is comprised of individual, unrelated songs, but the second disc is this massive song broken down into different parts. I don’t think it’s the best thing Dream Theater has ever done, but it’s complex, eclectic and an amazing piece nonetheless.
Dream Theater - Breaking All Illusions
OK, my initial “do not want” is weakening based almost solely on the strength of this track. Especially the guitar part starting at 7:11.
Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
One word review: Anemic.
A bit more detailed: First, let me say that it almost always takes me a while to warm up to new albums. In fact, the stuff I like immediately is usually the stuff I don’t like in the long run and the stuff it takes me weeks to get into is the stuff I latch on to for life. Now, this isn’t always true, but it’s an 80-percent truth that applies to most music.
You have no idea how much I wanted this album to eviscerate me. It just doesn’t. The album just lacks teeth. There are a lot of reasons for this. First, the mix kills me. While everything is perfectly clear and presented with authority - EVERYTHING is ALWAYS clear and presented with authority. The instruments blend and nothing rises to the surface - often. I’ll offer this early caveat - there are some very stark exceptions to this rule. We’ll touch on them later. Back on point, keyboards and guitar combine into a vanilla sludge on top of Mangini’s pounding rhythms. Which brings me to …
Second, Mangini is no Portnoy. I love, love, love Mangini’s playing. Watching the audition videos you can see he utterly nails Portnoy’s licks. But listening to this I am missing those counter-timed beats that Portnoy threw in, the typical snare/hi-hat combo of 4/4 playing gets old and that was one of the things I always loved about Portnoy. Mangini just seems to rely a bit more on the typical rock drummer beats than Portnoy and it shows.
Third, every song just seems to blend together. This has a lot to do with the mix, but without the spacing between songs, I had trouble telling when one song ended and the next began. I also think this has something to do with similar beat patterns showing up in the songs.
Fourth, there are few strong vocal melodies. Something that really made DT’s best albums their very best were recognizable melodies that brought you back from the extended musical interludes. Here there’s far less of that and far more, “Oh, he’s singing again” moments.
Now, for the notable exceptions.
Track 3, Build Me Up, Break Me Down, is a kick-ass tune. Though somewhat derivative of some modern metal bands (Disturbed and Avenged Sevenfold come to mind), they manage to shift the tune into their style quickly. Probably the heaviest track on the whole album.
Track 6, Outcry, in spite of a really stupid-sounding screechy almost-scratching thing in the intro, really comes into its own when LaBrie starts singing. The closest to a strong melody of any track. It also has a really good musical interlude.
Track 8, Breaking All Illusions, is my favorite track off the entire album. Great intro, some of the best singing (though missing the melody like I mentioned earlier) and the best instrumental breakdown on the album.
Overall, I give this entry a C+ (against other DT albums, that’s like an A+^100 against almost anyone else though).
Dream Theater - Octavarium
Today’s #themesong is “usual suspects.” I’m applying this in the “band I’m most likely to post at any given time” kind of way, and that pretty much means Dream Theater.
Dream Theater - The Spirit Carries On
Today’s #themesong is “hey girl’s name.” This isn’t the most obvious choice, but the first thing that came to mind was the Stones’ Angie and I really wasn’t interested in posting that (even though it was a karaoke favorite when I was on Okinawa).
This song, this entire album, deals with a guy who’s possessed by the spirit of a young girl who was murdered and he’s trying to suss out the mystery of her death. Her name is Victoria, mentioned in this song, and that’s also the name of an immediate family member so every time I play this song in her presence she’s all, “Hey!”
Dream Theater - Stream of Consciousness
Today’s #themesong is over eight minutes long. I could pretty much point to 90 percent of Dream Theater’s songs but this is the first one that came to mind. I like to think of life this way - one long stream of consciousness.
Dream Theater - Solitary Shell
Today’s #themesong is “mixed nuts.” There were two ways to go with this - serious or funny. I chose serious. This tune hits on the subtlety of mental illness in a way I think everyone can relate. I think it’s a common thing to think about - “What if I’m crazy? How would I know?” - and this song shows that degeneration in a poignant way.
If I’d gone zany I was going to choose We Wish You a Merry Christmas as performed by the Jingle Dogs and Cats because it was used in the movie Mixed Nuts and always drove my cats insane every time we watched that movie.
