Forum Home Forum Home > Progressive Music Lounges > Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Dream Theater: Prog innovators or merely imitators
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedDream Theater: Prog innovators or merely imitators

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 789
Author
Message
Dean View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout

Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 20 2015 at 12:49
Originally posted by moshkito moshkito wrote:

Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Ermm Labrie isn't the main lyricist for DT, Petrucci is, so that's all pretty academic (Portnoy wrote twice as many lyrics as Labrie)

 
I believe this is a mis-interpretation of what i said!
I believe it was a perfectly valid interpretation of what you said. That of course may not necessarily have been what you meant, but how are we to tell?

Originally posted by moshkito moshkito wrote:

 
Labrie lives in Toronto, not NJ. Again, it would mean that by the time he got there to sing the words, the music would be much more defined, than they would be with him in person from the start, and that would help the music be more suited to the instrumentation, than it would to the work with a singer ... unless Mike and others would be kinda singing along during the development of these pieces, and I find that hard to digest and is not mentioned in the book at all!
I doubt that LeRoquefort commutes from Toronto every day during writing, recording or rehearsal sessions so your point is pure speculation. 

I'm not aware whether the current Mike is a singer or not, the old Mike was/is not the best of singers so any assistance his singing would have given to the development process would be debatable.




I do understand what you are trying to say, you just haven't expressed it that clearly yet. Tongue
What?
Back to Top
dr wu23 View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: August 22 2010
Location: Indiana
Status: Offline
Points: 20624
Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 20 2015 at 13:20
Originally posted by ExittheLemming ExittheLemming wrote:

It's no secret I'm not a Dream Theater enthusiast and although I can admire their technical proficiency, I do so with the same lukewarm regard I reserve for the sterile professionalism embodied by my Dentist. However, I've never really bought into the idea that DT provide a portal to the wider compass of Prog for initiates. Apart from the versions of so-called classic Prog tracks on Jordan Rudess solo albums and those covered by DT, I can't see any evidence for anyone sprinting down to a record store to buy all the Genesis, ELP, Yes, Crimson or Gentle Giant that they can afford after hearing a DT album. OK, it might turn a plain vanilla metal-head onto the likes of Rush, Opeth, Tool, Pain of Salvation etc but to my ears, DT is that tattooed chick in the leather pants who works in the library, has a share portfolio but considers gambling abhorrent and deems complete derangement of the senses might be delivered via a double skinny macchiato with croutons.
 
LOL
Very funny.
 
Not being a DT fan I had ignored this thread but I finally decided to read it and basically feel the same way about DT as Lemming.
I have tried to 'get into' their music for years but it always seems 'unmemorable' (is that the right word..?)  to me.
One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin
Back to Top
SteveG View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: April 11 2014
Location: Kyiv In Spirit
Status: Offline
Points: 20609
Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 20 2015 at 16:14
^'Unmemorable" is the description that I've been looking for years to describe this band, Doc.
 
I can really get into some of their better stuff when I'm listening to it at the moment, but it never sticks in my head!
This message was brought to you by a proud supporter of the Deep State.
Back to Top
TradeMark0 View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member


Joined: October 26 2014
Location: California
Status: Offline
Points: 109
Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 23 2015 at 14:50
Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Originally posted by paragraph7 paragraph7 wrote:

I guess my reply is a tad late when it comes to the OP post. But since I don't consider DT to be prog at all; hence my answer would be "mere imitators".

LOL
come on, make my day, what are they playing then?

Metal obviously. What else?
Back to Top
Cristi View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Crossover / Prog Metal Teams

Joined: July 27 2006
Location: wonderland
Status: Offline
Points: 43718
Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 23 2015 at 14:52
Originally posted by TradeMark0 TradeMark0 wrote:

Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Originally posted by paragraph7 paragraph7 wrote:

I guess my reply is a tad late when it comes to the OP post. But since I don't consider DT to be prog at all; hence my answer would be "mere imitators".

LOL
come on, make my day, what are they playing then?

Metal obviously. What else?


LOL
what kind because this metal you're talking about is quite diverse Wink

Back to Top
bloodnarfer View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: April 15 2010
Location: Austin, TX
Status: Offline
Points: 2162
Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 23 2015 at 15:40
Originally posted by ExittheLemming ExittheLemming wrote:

It's no secret I'm not a Dream Theater enthusiast and although I can admire their technical proficiency, I do so with the same lukewarm regard I reserve for the sterile professionalism embodied by my Dentist. However, I've never really bought into the idea that DT provide a portal to the wider compass of Prog for initiates. Apart from the versions of so-called classic Prog tracks on Jordan Rudess solo albums and those covered by DT, I can't see any evidence for anyone sprinting down to a record store to buy all the Genesis, ELP, Yes, Crimson or Gentle Giant that they can afford after hearing a DT album. OK, it might turn a plain vanilla metal-head onto the likes of Rush, Opeth, Tool, Pain of Salvation etc but to my ears, DT is that tattooed chick in the leather pants who works in the library, has a share portfolio but considers gambling abhorrent and deems complete derangement of the senses might be delivered via a double skinny macchiato with croutons.

I'm not sure how it even happened, but some how Dream Theater gave 15 year old me a push in the right direction to get here.  Of course, their music is tailored to a young and nerdy (usually unwashed) demographic.  I was mostly into 2000's metal bands and classic rock when I discovered them, and they at least pointed me in the direction of Beardfish and some other bands via touring partners and social media.  I realized for the first time that progressive rock is an actual genre and I should probably go listen to the album with the screaming red face on the shirt that Mike Portnoy always wore. 

Now on the question of whether they are imitators, I would argue that they have been imitating themselves year after year for a long time now.  And many songs are thinly disguised classic prog pieces cut up with 'dream theater scales' stuck in between and the singer wailing over the top of it.

So yeah, I don't really understand the appeal of DT eight or however many years later.  But I won't downplay that they put me in the right direction, or at least got me thinking about music differently.  
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 789

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.258 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.