Dreamtheater

[Appelmoes??]

Applemoes.....Who is Charlie D?  I was talking about James LaBrie.

Charlie D. is the first singer DT had.

[Deenfan]

D for Dominici. I actually liked his voice. Reminded me of Geddy Lee, and that way gave me good vibes.

[elisabeta]

It's fun to see that you guys enjoy DT's last album. I've been around to some DT related forums, and it seems like all the "hardcore" DT fans do is complain about it.. The bands influences are to obvious, it's not "prog" enough, it's not heavy enough, it's too heavy, James don't sing good enough, etc etc. It can get annoying cause it's often obvious that they haven't really listened to it.
I for one think change is good. Ok, my favourites are the old albums like Images & Words and Awake, but can you imagine how boring it would be with 8 albums just like that? They still make great music, and James' singing only gets better with the years, something that the last tours have proved.

My advice would be to go see them if they're close by

[maddox]

It's fun to see that you guys enjoy DT's last album. I've been around to some DT related forums, and it seems like all the "hardcore" DT fans do is complain about it.. The bands influences are to obvious, it's not "prog" enough, it's not heavy enough, it's too heavy, James don't sing good enough, etc etc. It can get annoying cause it's often obvious that they haven't really listened to it.
I for one think change is good. Ok, my favourites are the old albums like Images & Words and Awake, but can you imagine how boring it would be with 8 albums just like that? They still make great music, and James' singing only gets better with the years, something that the last tours have proved.

My advice would be to go see them if they're close by

To be honoust, i had the same doubts when i first heard Octavarium. But later on after a few more spins, i really enjoyed the album, except for two songs, which are still my least favourites ( The answer... and I Walk... ). I agree with you that people tend to compare the last album with the ones before, but it's a natural thing, i guess. Expectations grow with every album, especially when the ones before are really good. In my opinion, Octavarium is a great album, but surely not their best.

And for your advice? It's a great advice. 

MAD. 

[Deenfan]

Well, I've given up on them since they don't write good songs anymore. Didn't see that reason listed in your post, so I just had to...

[Constable Hogweed]

I think "Threshold" do the prog metal thing far better. Dream Theater tend to blind me with the virtuoso science of the thing, and tend to lose the most important thing..........The strength of the song.
Dream Theater are probably better musicians, but Threshold are better songwriters IMHO!

[Appelmoes??]

I think "Threshold" do the prog metal thing far better. Dream Theater tend to blind me with the virtuoso science of the thing, and tend to lose the most important thing..........The strength of the song.
Dream Theater are probably better musicians, but Threshold are better songwriters IMHO!

In that case, I think DT are more of a band then Threshold are. The DT members all write the songs, while in Threshold's case are just a few persons responsible for the music, the lyrics are (nowadays) written by a "non-bandmember".

But I like the lyrics from both bands, yet Thresholds tend to keep on making political statements with entire albums, while DT just do that only now and then.

Both bands have their +'s and -'s

[Constable Hogweed]

Until recently, Groom, West, Jeary and Midson were responsible ( On varying tracks ) for the songwriting in the Threshold camp, that only leaves the vocalist as the uninvolved one. 

We shall have to see how involved Steve Anderson becomes in the future!

[johninblack]

Until recently, Groom, West, Jeary and Midson were responsible ( On varying tracks ) for the songwriting in the Threshold camp, that only leaves the vocalist as the uninvolved one. 

We shall have to see how involved Steve Anderson becomes in the future!

And what about Johanne?

[Constable Hogweed]

And what about Johanne?

Mr James had a track ( The bonus one ) included on "Subsurface" so maybe he will bring more to the writing table in the future 

[willowroolz]

Big Dream Theater fan here, been into them since The Spirit of Rush fanzine printed a review of When Dream And Day Unite way back when it first came out, they get better and better every time I see them live. Last year's two Hammersmith gigs were stunning 

[The Butterfly Man]

Last year's two Hammersmith gigs were stunning 

Just as the two Amsterdam shows! 

Tom

[willowroolz]

Just as the two Amsterdam shows! 

Tom

Excellent - so you got to see them play Dark Side of the Moon too? 

I believe Ytse Jam are releasing it on dvd soon 

[maddox]

I believe Ytse Jam are releasing it on dvd soon 

YYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

Sorry, had to do that. 

Excellent - so you got to see them play Dark Side of the Moon too? 

So did i. Marvelous show. One of the best i've ever seen. 

MAD.

[willowroolz]

So did i. Marvelous show. One of the best i've ever seen. 

It was a bit special, wasn't it? It really surprised me because I wasn't expecting to enjoy it - I wanted to hear them playing more of their own material. But they did such a fantastic job 

[The Butterfly Man]

I believe Ytse Jam are releasing it on dvd soon 

Yes they are, and you can see 2 preview-trailers here:

http://www.ytsejamrecords.com/media/dsotm%20teaser1.wmv
http://www.ytsejamrecords.com/media/dsotmteaser2.wmv

Enjoy!

Tom

[willowroolz]

Marvellous, thanks! 

You're not the same Tom from over at Voices UK are you?? 

[The Butterfly Man]

You're not the same Tom from over at Voices UK are you?? 

No I'm not!

[stranger_x]

Until recently, Groom, West, Jeary and Midson were responsible ( On varying tracks ) for the songwriting in the Threshold camp, that only leaves the vocalist as the uninvolved one. 

We shall have to see how involved Steve Anderson becomes in the future!

I believe that Mac (Threshold's vocalist) will take some songwriting duties as well because he does it very well. Maybe he already did! You can also check out his own band called Yargos where his songwriting skills are shown at it's best! A really good album which is quite different from Threshold, but might take some time to grow.

[stranger_x]

Hello!

I might be somewhere in the middle between the people who like Dream Theater and those who dislike it.  I respect this band very much and they have done quite a lot for carrying the progressive flag through the world. They are all top class musicians and can put out a show that would be hard to forget, but still I was never too much excited with their material. I was always finding myself listening to the rare songs, covers, outtakes, unreleased material by the band, side projects like Transatlantic or solo records. Maybe the music was just too complex for me and too technical... Speaking to Dream Theater fans, I was realizing that DT was the only band that did not give me as much excitement as Threshold or Pain of Salvation, for example. It was hard to understand what exactly was missing. All those technical moments were taking away the feeling of a song that I was looking for, I guess...  But still I am unable to understand why this band is often labeled as the top band of the prog genre.
I did not hear Octavarium yet and I have heard lots of negative comments about it which usually means (for me) that the album is worth checking out.  I will try to find some samples on-line and I will let you know what I think. Sorry if my post has offended anyone, it was not meant to!  Take care!

[Appelmoes??]

You're post is ok, don't worry Very clear and honoust!

[johninblack]

Sorry if my post has offended anyone, it was not meant to! 

No not offended at all. I feel the same way about The Flower Kings, everything about them I ought to like and I want to like and I can appriciate the musicianship but I just can't get into them. Besides it's peoples differing opinions that make life interesting!

[willowroolz]

Sorry if my post has offended anyone, it was not meant to! 

No offense at all, I thought it was a very well written post 

Besides, I've heard people say far worse things about DT