Dream Theater Rules! A thread to honor the greatest band ever

[WEDGE]

*cough cough* SAVATAGE *cough cough*

Yes! Saw them on the Streets tour in Tampa, outrageous band.

 

[WEDGE]

They’re legitimately great though.

Caught them in a Vegas a week or so ago, most fun ever but you have to have a sense of humor which eliminates a large segment of the worlds population from digging them.

 

[Huggy Love]

 

[Ovibos]

I saw "Pull Me Under" late one night on 'Headbanger's Ball'.

It changed the way I viewed music in the same way as other musical moment in my life:
- My mom's copy of "Rubber Soul"
- Buying my first 45 of Duran Duran's "The Reflex"
- At summer camp, dubbing a 5th generation tape copy of "In the Court of the Crimson King"
- iTunes suggesting "The Sound of Muzak" by Porcupine Tree
- Finding Periphery's "Scarlet" on YouTube

Each medium has that one defining artist/album/track for me, apparently.

 

[Boogie]

Wow, so I’m not supposed to like DT? But they were one of only a couple bands that made me forever remember when I first heard them. First and biggest impact: EVH. Second: DT. I screamed at the radio, “wtf did I just listen to??!!”

 

[Collywobbles]

No DT thread would be complete without this.

Coarse language warning. ^^^

Love it - I only realised it wasn't quite what I was expecting when he mentioned Mr Ibanez and Michelangelo.

 

[Shawn@PRS]

They're alright. I used to love them, back during the Images & Words days, attended their concert every time they came through town, but it was at one of their shows, that it was so crowded, I decided I was never going to see them again. Too much testosterone in the room. That was the first time I went to a concert and I didn't get that hippie "we are all fans of the same music" vibe. The audience was just aggressive -- it's like someone had spiked the beer with caffeine.

So: still like them, their fans suck.

I had the same experience at a Social Distortion concert.

 

[Huggy Love]

I gotta be honest, I just threw out that meme cause it was funny, I had no exposure to DT, mostly due to the fact that I dropped off the Rock thing after the grunge era. So after taking a listen, here are my(1st time listener) thoughts on them.

The good:
-Gtr, keys, & drummer kick azz on their instruments
-Complex Return to Forever type fusion influenced songwriting & arranging on some tunes
-Good amount of improv

The bad:
-Bass player is totally overrated, the guy doesn't do much
-Their singers really svck.
-Overall I feel the Metal aspect hinders the progressiveness of this music

...... and did I say their singers really svck.

I don't know if I would've been into them if I was in this age bracket, the guitar player is a monster, but I can't see many females going to their shows so I probably wouldn't go see them. The only act with no chicks like that, that I would go to would probably be a RTF reunion show, way beyond what these kids do.

As a whole pretty good, not my cup though.

 

[garrett]

I gotta be honest, I just threw out that meme cause it was funny, I had no exposure to DT, mostly due to the fact that I dropped off the Rock thing after the grunge era. So after taking a listen, here are my(1st time listener) thoughts on them.

The good:
-Gtr, keys, & drummer kick azz on their instruments
-Complex Return to Forever type fusion influenced songwriting & arranging on some tunes
-Good amount of improv

The bad:
-Bass player is totally overrated, the guy doesn't do much
-Their singers really svck.
-Overall I feel the Metal aspect hinders the progressiveness of this music

...... and did I say their singers really svck.

I don't know if I would've been into them if I was in this age bracket, the guitar player is a monster, but I can't see many females going to their shows so I probably wouldn't go see them. The only act with no chicks like that, that I would go to would probably be a RTF reunion show, way beyond what these kids do.

As a whole pretty good, not my cup though.

I definitely agree on the singing. Always been their weakest point. Thankfully, with Mike Portnoy (drummer) out of the band now, there are no more terrible backing vocals. Maturity has definitely helped James LaBrie (lead singer) become palatable for me.

John Myung is a total beast of a bass player, actually. I used to feel the same as you until I saw them play live. He goes toe to toe with Petrucci on all those complex lines, but he blends so well into the mix he can be easy to overlook.

 

[Lee B.]

I gotta be honest, I just threw out that meme cause it was funny, I had no exposure to DT, mostly due to the fact that I dropped off the Rock thing after the grunge era. So after taking a listen, here are my(1st time listener) thoughts on them.

The good:
-Gtr, keys, & drummer kick azz on their instruments
-Complex Return to Forever type fusion influenced songwriting & arranging on some tunes
-Good amount of improv

The bad:
-Bass player is totally overrated, the guy doesn't do much
-Their singers really svck.
-Overall I feel the Metal aspect hinders the progressiveness of this music

...... and did I say their singers really svck.

I don't know if I would've been into them if I was in this age bracket, the guitar player is a monster, but I can't see many females going to their shows so I probably wouldn't go see them. The only act with no chicks like that, that I would go to would probably be a RTF reunion show, way beyond what these kids do.

As a whole pretty good, not my cup though.

This is kinda my feeling about them, too. I have a couple of their 90s albums and John Petrucci is an absolute monster of a player, but James Labrie's vocals just don't do it for me. It's not so much the timbre of his voice, it's more that (to my ear) he just seems to lack the theatricality that goes hand in hand with the concept album genre. I guess I'm just spoiled by growing up with Styx and Floyd, and hearing contemporary-to-DT prog metal singers like Geoff Tate and Jon Oliva pull that off way better.

RTF tour would be great! Heck, a tripleheader with Weather Report and MO. Felix or Tal standing in for Jaco.

 

[garrett]

Here's a great example of Myung. He sits back and plays grooves while the guitar and keys go crazy, but then he jumps into the fray when appropriate and shreds.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I can't see many females going to their shows so I probably wouldn't go see them.

http://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=44454.0

 

[Huggy Love]

Here's a great example of Myung. He sits back and plays grooves while the guitar and keys go crazy, but then he jumps into the fray when appropriate and shreds.

Complex prearranged stuff is cool but it's just that, prearranged stuff.
Fusion bands did that and then went on complex improv over changes, so in some ways it's pretty lightweight to me, and not very captivating. As for Myung, still not impressed at all with what he does, compared to the greats (Clarke, Jaco, Wooten, ... even Sheehan) not even close.

"Beast" or "bass god" don't apply here.

 

[bodia]

You’re making it worse.

Well, in that case, Paco is def getting a Barney....and you can have both at once!

 

[bodia]

My favorite albums:

Scenes from a Memory
Awake
Images & Words

If I had to pick one track I'll take this all day, every day.

I have so many....right now it's the Xanadu cover from the 40th Anniversary Deluxe Farewell To Kings release!

 

[bodia]

Aww man... I don’t wanna make fun too much. People like what they like and that’s cool.

Dream theater are a group of super talented guys, and on a positive note, nobody has ever caught HPV from listening to one of their albums.

I may have caught a case of the 4.0 GPA listening to their stuff back in the 80s!

 

[bodia]

Don’t make me start a Steel Panther thread.......

Only if you do it from the comforts of Lexxi's Mom's garage!

 

[bodia]

They're alright. I used to love them, back during the Images & Words days, attended their concert every time they came through town, but it was at one of their shows, that it was so crowded, I decided I was never going to see them again. Too much testosterone in the room. That was the first time I went to a concert and I didn't get that hippie "we are all fans of the same music" vibe. The audience was just aggressive -- it's like someone had spiked the beer with caffeine.

So: still like them, their fans suck.

Wow....all of the shows I've been to (12+) have been huge nerd fests. Not that that's a bad thing! Seriously, I've never seen a crowd like that at a DT show. Although, it sounds like that may have been some time ago?

 

[bodia]

*cough cough* SAVATAGE *cough cough*

Rule! Hall of the Mountain King, anyone!

 

[bodia]

I'm probably the only one, but Train of Thought is my favorite album. It's their least ambitious, but that's part of why I like it. It's their most solidly ass-kicking album front to back.

I'm with ya. Not my favorite, but I love ToT!