My introduction to the band back in the day. It gets overlooked by me due to the absolute classness of Images and Words, but what a great album. It's a bit more singalongy but they were at the top of their game at the time. I think the production, while great, is a tiny bit on the dry side or something though that could be my head.
Absolute highlights would be Erotomania into the Estranged influenced Awake..bloody great tune. I love Lifting Shadows off a Dream and the sublime Space Dye Vest also though it would be hard to pick a poor song, very high quality throughout.
Back when they were at the top of their game
Absolutely classic album. They really lost something when Kevin Moore left
I completely agree, he brought something very special to their sound.
Incredible album. Moore leaving was a blow for sure...worse was to come later though with Jordan Rudess and his shit keyboard solos in songs. Not the same since Portnoy left either....not even close.
yep totally agree, I liked 6 Degrees for example but I fell off the bandwagon after that apart from A Dramatic Turn which CT gave an amazing review on MI..haven´t listened to it since. Train of Thought had it´s moments, but Moore is the missing link for me, everything he touched turned to gold.
I don't think they ever put out a bad album until Portnoy left. Seems that's when Rudess took a bigger role in the songwriting to fill the gap
Octavarium and the one after it were pretty crap, I thought. Nothing of note in either of them. I'd rate Train of Thought as the last decent album they put out. The post-Portnoy stuff has been particularly poor, though.
Been listening to a lot of DT the last few days, I'd never thought much of Octavarium when it came out but really enjoyed it this time. Systematic Chaos was probably half good, half filler, liked the two long tracks on Black Clouds (apart from Portnoy's awful "harsh" vocals)
This is my favourite release of theirs. I know the music wasn't as good after Moore left, but LaBrie making shit out of his vocal chords with the food poisoning is something that really contributed to their decline.
He sounds so twee after it happened.
New tune. Sounds like Tool for a few seconds and then latter day DT-by-numbers for a few minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7m7l8iqGAk
Had the album on yesterday after watching this video of Portnoy. Class act, glad he's back with them (no disrespect to Mangini who's a stellar player too).
I've been listening to them a lot recently. I&W and Awake still hold up impeccably well and I'm even warming to some of the stuff that I wasn't to hot on initially. I don't feel like they've got another great album in them, but I'm still looking forward to hearing what the new one is like.
I think the last one I listened to properly was the self-titled. There's a few decent tunes on that at least. What would you recommend out of the later gear?
I&W, Awake, and A Change of Seasons still get regular whirls from me. Not quite as much, but the debut also sees a bit of regular-ish action.
A band I don't think I've ever heard a note of their music.Growing up I can never remember any of my metal friends ever been into them.Possibly the biggest metal band I completely bypassed over the 30 plus years I've been listening to metal.
I heard a song sometime in the late '80s/early '90s, hated it and never went back to them. All I've heard since is the Damage Inc. cover with Barney from Napalm Death singing, which is a bit silly.
The way they spell their name is annoying.
I remember reading reviews of these lads in Kerrang and Raw in the 90's, but I was never arsed seeking out their music. Listening to Images and Words for the first time this morning. I turned it off after the sax made an appearance in Another Day. I'll stick to Virgin Steele for my cheese fix.
Quote from: Carnage on August 13, 2024, 08:17:33 AMThe way they spell their name is annoying.
American-English. I believe Fates Warning thanked them in one of their album notes as "Dream Theatre", so DT thanked them as "Fatez Warning" :laugh:
Quote from: Paul keohane on August 13, 2024, 02:05:25 AMA band I don't think I've ever heard a note of their music.Growing up I can never remember any of my metal friends ever been into them.Possibly the biggest metal band I completely bypassed over the 30 plus years I've been listening to metal.
I don't really think of them as a metal band TBH. There's metal elements to them for sure, but the appeal comes from the progressive buzz. I treat them as a continuation of the meatier elements of 70s prog rock.
The appeal of both Images and Words, and Awake for me come from the blatant 2112 to Moving Pictures-era Rush worship they practice.
That seemed to go out the window when their original keyboard played bailed out, unfortunately. And even as a fan of their stuff, anything after him is hit and miss... and considering he quit the band in 1994 :laugh:
Their first album is home to Ytse Jam, a banging instrumental :abbath:
You can't dismiss a metal band until you've heard their debut :abbath:
#teamdominici
#itshouldhavebeenlabrie
Quote from: Ducky on August 13, 2024, 12:55:52 PMQuote from: Carnage on August 13, 2024, 08:17:33 AMThe way they spell their name is annoying.
American-English. I believe Fates Warning thanked them in one of their album notes as "Dream Theatre", so DT thanked them as "Fatez Warning" :laugh:
I know, and as someone who listens to Megadeth it shouldn't bother me. But it does.
A band I've really gone off. Used to be mad into them years ago. Still think Images & Words is class. I tried to listen to Awake recently, and had to turn it off...and I like Prog.