Anyone get the new Dream Theater yet? (1 Viewer)

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

[flame suit on]

I find Peart's playing, while technically proficient, to be repetitive and soulless. He;s fast and furious, but a whole lot of his fills all sound the same to me.

Any time anyone asks me about prog rock drummers, Bill Bruford and Phil Collins leap to mind. Both drummers at their peaks had that rarest of rare drummer abilities--the ability to whisper as well as shout. Listen to Genesis' Selling England by the Pound (especially "Cinema Show") and Yes' Fragile (especially "Heart of the Sunrise").

 

[John_Bonner]

but Portnoy would struggle with certain parts of La Villa Strangiato

Not as bad as you might think. Mike played on "La Villa Strangiato" on the Working Man Rush tribute. He played with Billy Sheehan and Steve Morse and IMO it's the best track on the CD.

As far as the DT live DVD here's my pet peeve's:

1) Non anamorphic, although it does look very good.

2) No Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS. I guess with all of the extras there wasn't enough room for alternative audio tracks.

3) Choice of camera angles. There's a few times where for example Petrucci is doing a lead section, ripping up and down the fretboard, and they're showing Jordan playing backround chords, then when it's Jordan's turn to shred the camera switches to Petrucci strumming backround chords. This DVD would've been even better with alternative camera angles.

 

[Brian Perry]

Not as bad as you might think. Mike played on "La Villa Strangiato" on the Working Man Rush tribute.

Yes, but he (and the other drummers in WM) completely glossed over the "jazzy" ride cymbal patterns that Peart employed in La Villa and YYZ.

Ange,

I'm not sure what you mean by soul-less. It is true that Peart "crafts" his drumming very extensively, to the point that each fill is done differently. Each note seems to be intentional and necessary, almost as if there couldn't be any other way. While Portnoy is very creative, there are some songs where his fills are too repetitive. Take The Spirit Carries On, for example. It's not meant as a "chops" showpiece, of course, but I thought the repeating snare fill near the climax could have been varied a bit more. (Although I did like the final triplet fill.)

Again, I love both drummers (as well as Bruford and the extremely underrated Collins), so these are very minor criticisms.

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

"The Spirit Carries On" is probably a bad example in general since it's maybe the worst song DT has ever recorded.

It's just a matter of personal tastes. I have never been set on fire by Peart's playing. I hear the same 8-tom fills over and over again in their stretch of great albums from Permanent Waves through Signals. I find Rush to be a little cold in general, so that probably colors my perceptios.

 

[Mike Broadman]

I don't think I've ever encountered a band more controversial than Rush, or a drummer more than Peart. I don't even know how to react to that.
Rush fans: some people don't like Rush. Get over it.
Rush haters: there are worse evils in the world than this band. Trust me.
I personally love 'em. I never got any of that "cold" stuff that people levy against them, but what do I know?
Now, back to Dreamtheater.
My roommate can't make it to tomorrow's concert, so I have one evening to find a replacement. Anyone in the Boston area wanna go?

 

[Mike Broadman]

I just got back from the Dreamtheater concert and am unwinding from all the ruckus.
Holy canole, what a show. Not that I should be surprised- I've seen then a number of times before, but still. Wow.
Approximate set list and description:
Set 1
Glass Prison- starting the set off with strong new material.
Burning My Soul
Blind Faith
Surrounded- old school DT. They went up into the attic, uncovered some dusty old boxes, and dug an old treasure. One of my favorites, and beautifully performed. "Let light surround you..."
Fatal Tragedy- odd hearing this one outside the context of the album, but great nonetheless. Any opportunity to hear new performances of the second half of that number is welcome.
Great Debate- This song feels kind of awkward to me, but it was performed well. It's still weird seeing a rock band plugging away while tapes of embryonic stem cell research arguments are playing, though.
At the end of this tune, they jumped into the final movement of Rush's 2112, complete with Petrucci doing the "We have assumed control" line.
Take the Time- this was the thrill of the evening. In the middle of the song, they jump into the instrumental section riff of Rush's By Tor and the Snowdog. World-class drummer Mike Mangini jumps out from behind the stage and joins Portnoy behind the kit. The two of them are whaling away while Petrucci and Rudess are trading fours. Mangini and Portnoy then bust out a really long, sloppy, and terrific drum duet. Just two monsters whaling away on a huge double-kit, including the two changing their seating positions. The band came back, closing off By-Tor/Taking the Time.
Another Dimension (from Liquid Tension Experiment 2)
Scarred- another surprise oldie.
Set 2
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence- the whole damn thing. The live setting adds some "oomph" to the music. Great stuff.
Encore
Home- one of those songs I could never get enough of.
The Spirit Carries On- bring your lighter for this one.
Pull Me Under- In the middle of this final song, they bust into Master of Puppets. An easy crowd pleaser. Heck, someone's got to play classic Metallica.
After I saw them on the last tour, I didn't know how they could ever equal the performance of Scenes From a Memory. They've managed to keep themselves on that level.