Dream Theater

zumacraig wrote: I love Awake, but JLB's vocals are ridiculous. Growling does not suit that impeccable music. As an aside, I remember Portnoy saying that before he left, the plan was to tour playing all six 12step tunes in one long suite. That would've been a nightmare not to remember. Those songs are a mess and don't hold up. Shattered Fortress is one of their worst mini epics.

Wait...growling?  I don't remember any growling on Awake (although it's not my most-listened-to DT album so I could be forgetting something).

I can't even remember all the 12-step songs.  Glass Prison is pretty good.  Shattered Fortress not so good.  One must have been on Systematic Chaos so it probably sucked.  I don't remember the one on Octavarium so it was probably unmemorable.  Haven't heard ToT.

Come on dudes! You know what I'm talking about.   The growling metal voice. Not Cookie Monster vox.

I think I've only listened to Awake all the way through once.  It's just so long of an album, and though the songs are good the sound gets a bit tiresome, in my opinion, after an hour and fifteen minutes of Petrucci shredding and Labrie screaming at me.  Probably one of the reasons "Space Dye Vest" is my fave from the album; it's very refreshing after an hour of the previously described sound.    Still an excellent album, though, even if I wish they didn't feel the need to pack the CD to the time limit.

Junges wrote: zumacraig wrote: Come on dudes! You know what I'm talking about.   The growling metal voice. Not Cookie Monster vox. These are the same. Labrie has never growled in his entire career. He sings. That's all.

AlexDOM wrote: zumacraig wrote: I love Awake, but JLB's vocals are ridiculous. Growling does not suit that impeccable music. As an aside, I remember Portnoy saying that before he left, the plan was to tour playing all six 12step tunes in one long suite. That would've been a nightmare not to remember. Those songs are a mess and don't hold up. Shattered Fortress is one of their worst mini epics. I love his vocals in Awake ha ha. And I would have loved the 12step suite all played together live. Those are some DT's heaviest and most intense songs (especially the first two, the breakdowns would make any death metal band weep in shame:) )

I actually only like the 3 first songs from the 12 step suite... however, I once put them next to each other in the right order in my IPod, and they did sound more coherent all together, so I guess it would have been nice if they had actually played them that way. Perhaps Portnoy can convince Transatlantic to play the suite on their next tour??? Nah, not remotley probable.

Dellinger wrote: AlexDOM wrote: zumacraig wrote: I love Awake, but JLB's vocals are ridiculous. Growling does not suit that impeccable music. As an aside, I remember Portnoy saying that before he left, the plan was to tour playing all six 12step tunes in one long suite. That would've been a nightmare not to remember. Those songs are a mess and don't hold up. Shattered Fortress is one of their worst mini epics. I love his vocals in Awake ha ha. And I would have loved the 12step suite all played together live. Those are some DT's heaviest and most intense songs (especially the first two, the breakdowns would make any death metal band weep in shame:) ) I actually only like the 3 first songs from the 12 step suite... however, I once put them next to each other in the right order in my IPod, and they did sound more coherent all together, so I guess it would have been nice if they had actually played them that way. Perhaps Portnoy can convince Transatlantic to play the suite on their next tour??? Nah, not remotley probable.

Hi man. I did the same. The 12 step saga is better when you put it together, so I would be nice, but that just won't happen.

I do believe Awake is their best album. Labrie vocals are great, powerful and huge... huge. There's no growling, just vocals.

Cthulhu42 wrote: Dellinger wrote: AlexDOM wrote: zumacraig wrote: I love Awake, but JLB's vocals are ridiculous. Growling does not suit that impeccable music. As an aside, I remember Portnoy saying that before he left, the plan was to tour playing all six 12step tunes in one long suite. That would've been a nightmare not to remember. Those songs are a mess and don't hold up. Shattered Fortress is one of their worst mini epics. I love his vocals in Awake ha ha. And I would have loved the 12step suite all played together live. Those are some DT's heaviest and most intense songs (especially the first two, the breakdowns would make any death metal band weep in shame:) ) I actually only like the 3 first songs from the 12 step suite... Yeah, while I love the first 3 songs in the suite, Repentence just bores me and The Shattered Fortress just seems like the other four tracks thrown in a blender.

Exactly my thoughts. I actually think that the Shattered Fortress idea might have worked, but in the end it didn't. If they had only managed to make the song sound coherent as a single piece of music, perhaps at the cost of including less musical ideas from the former songs. But in the end they didn't achieve it (or Portnoy didn't).

More good news.
The new edition of the official DT biography by Rich Wilson is coming out soon. New cover art has been released:

darkshade wrote: More good news. The new edition of the official DT biography by Rich Wilson is coming out soon. New cover art has been released:

I have the other two editions. Do you know what special or plus does this new editon will bring?

jampa17 wrote: darkshade wrote: More good news. The new edition of the official DT biography by Rich Wilson is coming out soon. New cover art has been released: I have the other two editions. Do you know what special or plus does this new editon will bring?

Wow.   And I thought I was a fan. I haven't even read this.   But I have something like 2 dozen of their t shirts, haha!