Dream Theater

I agree Score does sound better, need to release that one on blu ray though. Although I still feel this is Labrie's best performance on any live release. When he sang Surrounded, WOW!!! I was transported back to Images and Words. The performance on that song was unbelievable.

progbethyname wrote: Metalmarsh89 wrote: progbethyname wrote: Metalmarsh89 wrote: I'll be getting Live at Luna Park here in the mail in the next week. Has anyone else watched or listened to this live album? What do you think?I'll wait until I watch it before I come back to this thread. Hey Marsh. For the most part it's a lovely DVD recording, although during the softer acoustic sessions their is some syllabus issues with LaBrie's mic. He sounds a little bit too breathy on tracks The Silent Man, The spirit Carries on (just the beginning) and Beneath the surface. Other than that. Amazing performance by all, but like AlexDom said Rudess and Myung are a bit buried in the mix, but with a quality home Theater speaker system with a Harmon Kardon Receiver you can clean it up a bit. I tinker. :) Above all. I'd give it a 4/5. I bought the blue ray 60 page picture booklet edition with the 3 CDs as well and I love it. Also. My favourite performances were the solos!!! Mangini's drum solo was out cold! Could give Neal Peart a run for his money. Petrucci's solo is this crazy-beautiful floydian inspired piece that will have you feeling pretty satisfied if you really dug The Count Of Tuscony. :) Rudess. He is the wizard. Nuff said. You'll love it. No Myung solo. DT still do a great job of keeping a quality bass player in the god dame basement. :( It turned out very well I thought too. LaBrie did sound quite good, sure a little breathy, but that's not exactly a new thing for him. Mangini is unearthly on the drums, man was he fun to watch. Myung was a little beneath it all sure, but it was still much better than the studio album. Rudess is a wizard too, as you say. I was glad to see more standard piano from him. I was not much of a fan of the song Outcry until I watched the one in this DVD. The breakdown at the end was amazing, as well as all the other solos and improvs. This one might be my favorite DT live album. The only disappointment was that the tracks they played were nearly the same as what they played back when I saw them in 2011. But with Mangini only having just joined, I guess its understandable that he didn't have their whole discography down yet. Still, great execution, and the live versions do sound better than the studio versions of the songs. Glad you enjoyed it. Ummmmm favourite live DVD though??? Have you seen THE SCORE: 20th Ann at RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL IN NEW YORK IN 2006?? For me, that is the best and no other DT live performance holds a candle to that show. :) Everyone gets on LaBRie just line ZUMCRAIG did above, but on that show in 2006 he absolutely nails it! Gotta see it if you haven't already. It's available on cd too. :) Anyway. Luna is great. What's your favourite song on it? I actually like the little tune ups they did on metropolis other than the solos of course. :)

I'm sure if I watched Score again, my thoughts might change. LaBrie was definitely at his best on that one, but I really just think I'm liking Dream Theater better with Mangini instead of Portnoy. We'll see if this preference holds up in the long term, but those are my current thoughts after watching this DVD. I like where Rudess seems to be going with his keyboarding style lately. There were some very fine moments in each DVD, although yes, only one had a live orchestra while the other one merely had a string quartet.

Metalmarsh89 wrote: progbethyname wrote: Another quick question. Has a anyone, other than myself, properly listened to 5.1 audio mix of the new DT record with a decent sound system?? If so. What did you think? Also. Do you think Richard C's Audio mix was good? Love to hear people's thoughts hear. I also wouldn't mind feedback on the Paul Northfield audio mix for Systematic Chaos if anyone has that? I thought it was well done. Not overly bright. :) While I have the 5.1 versions for Systematic Chaos, as well as their last two albums, I do not have the proper equipment to enjoy it.

Well that's ok. That just means you are preparing for either the expense or possibly you live with others right now, so a killer sound system or 'man cave' may not be feasible just yet.    
Boy. Wait to you hear it in that format though. You'll have more appreciation for the record...all your records! I swear it!

progbethyname wrote: Metalmarsh89 wrote: progbethyname wrote: Metalmarsh89 wrote: I'll be getting Live at Luna Park here in the mail in the next week. Has anyone else watched or listened to this live album? What do you think?I'll wait until I watch it before I come back to this thread. Hey Marsh. For the most part it's a lovely DVD recording, although during the softer acoustic sessions their is some syllabus issues with LaBrie's mic. He sounds a little bit too breathy on tracks The Silent Man, The spirit Carries on (just the beginning) and Beneath the surface. Other than that. Amazing performance by all, but like AlexDom said Rudess and Myung are a bit buried in the mix, but with a quality home Theater speaker system with a Harmon Kardon Receiver you can clean it up a bit. I tinker. :) Above all. I'd give it a 4/5. I bought the blue ray 60 page picture booklet edition with the 3 CDs as well and I love it. Also. My favourite performances were the solos!!! Mangini's drum solo was out cold! Could give Neal Peart a run for his money. Petrucci's solo is this crazy-beautiful floydian inspired piece that will have you feeling pretty satisfied if you really dug The Count Of Tuscony. :) Rudess. He is the wizard. Nuff said. You'll love it. No Myung solo. DT still do a great job of keeping a quality bass player in the god dame basement. :( It turned out very well I thought too. LaBrie did sound quite good, sure a little breathy, but that's not exactly a new thing for him. Mangini is unearthly on the drums, man was he fun to watch. Myung was a little beneath it all sure, but it was still much better than the studio album. Rudess is a wizard too, as you say. I was glad to see more standard piano from him. I was not much of a fan of the song Outcry until I watched the one in this DVD. The breakdown at the end was amazing, as well as all the other solos and improvs. This one might be my favorite DT live album. The only disappointment was that the tracks they played were nearly the same as what they played back when I saw them in 2011. But with Mangini only having just joined, I guess its understandable that he didn't have their whole discography down yet. Still, great execution, and the live versions do sound better than the studio versions of the songs. Glad you enjoyed it. Ummmmm favourite live DVD though??? Have you seen THE SCORE: 20th Ann at RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL IN NEW YORK IN 2006?? For me, that is the best and no other DT live performance holds a candle to that show. :) Everyone gets on LaBRie just line ZUMCRAIG did above, but on that show in 2006 he absolutely nails it! Gotta see it if you haven't already. It's available on cd too. :) Anyway. Luna is great. What's your favourite song on it? I actually like the little tune ups they did on metropolis other than the solos of course. :)

I'm not really so fond of "Score"... somehow they managed to choose almost only songs I don't like so much from them (except for Octavarium, Metropolis, and I think the song they chose from the first album was among the ones I liked too; I don't remember if they have The Rood of all Evil on this one, but that would be just about it). So far, my favourite live album is the Budokan one, almost every song on it was among my favourites, and LaBrie's singing was somewhat less annoying than usual.

LaBrie is possibly the worst part of DT.

Oh Andy, what are you doing here?!?!

I cannot believe the number of people rip on LaBrie.
Yeah, I understand he is definitely an aquired taste and anyone is entitled to not like his voice but his so unfair and ignorant to say LABrie is a terrible vocalist. He carries a certain style and art to his vocal delivery and he does have a ton of range, so at least as a listener you have to appreciate that but again don't have to like it.
For example. If you hated Picasso 'cubism' paintings would you say he is a terrible artist in general?
I would hope not.

I'm sorry. I gotta stick up for LaBRie. He is a very well trained vocalist and a true professional, but I know you either gonna live him or hate him. No in between. Just respect the art form.

Horizons wrote: no and id hardly call it range when he sounds like a whale calling out for a mate to come along and take the boat out of it's mouth

Your missing the point. What sounds utterly terrible to you can sound unbelievably amazing to someone else.
I'm saying. Look at it from an artistic point of view. James LaBrie has been the lead singer in one of thee most popular Prog bands in the world for 20+ years. Do you think there is a reason for that. With DT's depth, backing and demand if LaBrie was such a weak link or utterly unsuitable for the bands music don't you think he would've been replaced years ago? I do and why not. But no. He hasn't because the range and professionalism of his voice go so well with his bands music. Also. You try and sing like LaBrie. Go ahead. Have some fun. Karaoke a song or 2 and maybe then you'll realize how hard it is to have that kind of power and pitch in your voice. It's not easy.
It's god given talent, which is why I am saying to respect the art of his vocal style. Again. You don't have to like it or make cheap, underhanded remarks displaying your distaste for him because to sing like him is very difficult weather it's not pleasing to your ears or not. Stop being a troll man. Your better than that.

i thoought it was a coherent insult hat portrayed my thoughts very clearly

Junges wrote: AlexDOM wrote: I agree Score does sound better, need to release that one on blu ray though. Although I still feel this is Labrie's best performance on any live release. When he sang Surrounded, WOW!!! I was transported back to Images and Words. The performance on that song was unbelievable. Best performance? It is by far his worse. He cannot sing even close to what he used to.

In that video, he actually sounds a lot better on Live at Luna Park than he does on Chaos in Motion.

Labrie obviously doesn't have near the voice he had in the early years; age and illness have done away with that for good.  He does the best he can with what he has left, which to be honest is pretty good.  I think he's refined his technique a bit over the years to the point where he can make up (to an extent) for what he's lost in his voice.  I would agree with Austin that he's probably the weakest aspect of their live shows (from what I can tell from footage, having never seen them live in person) but I wouldn't call him weak on their studio albums.  He certainly stands out, for better or for worse.