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DolphinFan 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 05 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 143
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 Topic: Attention WDADU Haters!
Posted: June 30 2005 at 13:00 |
I've noticed on several previous posts and polls that Dream Theater's When Dream And Day Unite gets very little respect as a great album; neither from DT-fans and of course not from DT-haters. Time to set the record straight...
Yes, yes, yes...let's first address the detractions:
1. It may very well be the worst album cover in my collection. It looks like an advertisement for Speed Stick. (but hey, so what?)
2. The band couldn't look more ridiculous with their hair all permed up like that. (again, so what?)
3. The engineering sucks; especially compared to later releases. (but still better than many of the small-time, low-budget recordings found within the progarchives)
4. Charlie Dominici is not in the same league with James Labrie. (but not a bad singer at all in my book)
5. John Myung's bass sound has since been improved. (though his playing is phenomenal as always)
However, the songs on that album are some of the very best they've ever written. There is not a weak song on the entire album! The compositions sound, shall I say, more organic-sounding and real (truly-inspired perhaps?), but definitely less contrived then some of their post-1995 material. The lyrics are fantastic and I find them far more interesting than their later releases. The masterpiece of the album is Another Hand, The Killing Hand...absolutely dynamic, mind-blowing...wow...compares favorably to the best prog-songs of all-time.
So, if you are a DT die-hard and you don't hold this album in very high regard...do yourself a favor and RE-SPIN it, you may find you've experienced a change of heart. And if you are one of the DT-haters, give this album a new (or first?) listen and a fair chance to change your opinion about the band that put PROG-METAL on the map with this release.
Any DT fans know if they re-did this album with the new band and new engineering? I would love to hear that.
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: March 23 2005
Location: Caerdydd
Status: Offline
Points: 32995
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Posted: June 30 2005 at 13:20 |
First, can you post in a larger font!
Second...I agree that its not a bad album, there are some great tracks on there!
Third, I think it was just remastered!
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King of Loss
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 21 2005
Location: Boston, MA
Status: Offline
Points: 16913
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Posted: June 30 2005 at 13:36 |
 Snow Dog wrote:
First, can you post in a larger font!
Second...I agree that its not a bad album, there are some great tracks on there!
Third, I think it was just remastered!
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Yes, I agree. The remastered version is actually pretty good. I actually like this album better than Train of Thought 
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: March 23 2005
Location: Caerdydd
Status: Offline
Points: 32995
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Posted: June 30 2005 at 13:41 |
King of Loss wrote:
Snow Dog wrote:
First, can you post in a larger font!
Second...I agree that its not a bad album, there are some great tracks on there!
Third, I think it was just remastered!
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Yes, I agree. The remastered version is actually pretty good. I actually like this album better than Train of Thought
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I wouldn't go that far!
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MikeEnRegalia
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: April 22 2005
Location: Sweden
Status: Offline
Points: 21618
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Posted: June 30 2005 at 14:26 |
DolphinFan wrote:
I've noticed on several previous posts and polls that Dream Theater's When Dream And Day Unite gets very little respect as a great album; neither from DT-fans and of course not from DT-haters. Time to set the record straight...
Yes, yes, yes...let's first address the detractions:
...
So, if you are a DT die-hard and you don't hold this album in very high regard...do yourself a favor and RE-SPIN it, you may find you've experienced a change of heart. And if you are one of the DT-haters, give this album a new (or first?) listen and a fair chance to change your opinion about the band that put PROG-METAL on the map with this release.
Any DT fans know if they re-did this album with the new band and new engineering? I would love to hear that.
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Why shouldn't the album be rated 3 stars? 3 stars doesn't mean mediocre, it means "good". I agree that it has very strong songs and not really any weak songs. But you have to put it in relation to their other albums.
I think that Falling Into Infinity is much more underrated. I can find nothing wrong with the album ...
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Cygnus X-2
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: December 24 2004
Location: Bucketheadland
Status: Offline
Points: 21342
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Posted: June 30 2005 at 14:36 |
I enjoy the album... not everyone's cup of tea, though. The thing I don't really like about the album is two things: The sound quality/production is sub-par (Listen to Portnoy's pan symbols in the beginnning of "Only a Matter of Time") and this is my least favorite Dream Theater album lyrically. I just don't enjoy the lyrics at all. Otherwise, a good debut. 
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frenchie
Prog Reviewer
Joined: July 30 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 2234
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Posted: June 30 2005 at 18:55 |
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on the official website you can order a cd/dvd of the 15th anniversary concert with the boys playing the whole album.
charlie dominici and derek sherinian even make guest appearances. Jordan is there too
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The Worthless Recluse
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Cygnus_LDS
Forum Newbie
Joined: June 22 2005
Location: Puerto Rico
Status: Offline
Points: 10
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Posted: July 01 2005 at 08:03 |
YTSE JAM...
...nuff said 
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: March 23 2005
Location: Caerdydd
Status: Offline
Points: 32995
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Posted: July 01 2005 at 08:29 |
MikeEnRegalia wrote:
DolphinFan wrote:
I've noticed on several previous posts and polls that Dream Theater's When Dream And Day Unite gets very little respect as a great album; neither from DT-fans and of course not from DT-haters. Time to set the record straight...
Yes, yes, yes...let's first address the detractions:
...
So, if you are a DT die-hard and you don't hold this album in very high regard...do yourself a favor and RE-SPIN it, you may find you've experienced a change of heart. And if you are one of the DT-haters, give this album a new (or first?) listen and a fair chance to change your opinion about the band that put PROG-METAL on the map with this release.
Any DT fans know if they re-did this album with the new band and new engineering? I would love to hear that.
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Why shouldn't the album be rated 3 stars? 3 stars doesn't mean mediocre, it means "good". I agree that it has very strong songs and not really any weak songs. But you have to put it in relation to their other albums.
I think that Falling Into Infinity is much more underrated. I can find nothing wrong with the album ...
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I like FII too, it was my first DT album.
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DolphinFan
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 05 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 143
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Posted: July 01 2005 at 14:32 |
Snow Dog wrote:
First, can you post in a larger font!
Second...I agree that its not a bad album, there are some great tracks on there!
Third, I think it was just remastered!
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First - I'll post in whatever font I want
Second - Better than "not bad", excellent
Third - Cool, I will have to get my hands on that...thanks.
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: March 23 2005
Location: Caerdydd
Status: Offline
Points: 32995
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Posted: July 01 2005 at 14:53 |
DolphinFan wrote:
Snow Dog wrote:
First, can you post in a larger font!
Second...I agree that its not a bad album, there are some great tracks on there!
Third, I think it was just remastered!
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First - I'll post in whatever font I want
Second - Better than "not bad", excellent
Third - Cool, I will have to get my hands on that...thanks.
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First - Should I have said "please"?
Second - Matter Of Opinion
Third - You're Welcome!
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Miaugion
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 22 2004
Location: Christmas Island
Status: Offline
Points: 295
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Posted: July 01 2005 at 21:10 |
DolphinFan wrote:
Charlie Dominici is not in the same league with James Labrie. (but not a bad singer at all in my book) |
Technically La Brie may be a bit better but I always thought Dominici's cold mechanical style was much more charismatic. When La Brie joined the band I was disappointed because they'd lost that 'special something' ...
DolphinFan wrote:
the songs on that album are some of the very best they've ever written. There is not a weak song on the entire album! The compositions sound, shall I say, more organic-sounding and real (truly-inspired perhaps?), but definitely less contrived then some of their post-1995 material. |
I absolutely agree. When the first album was released it appeared to be an entirely new dimension of prog metal. "Images and Words" wasn't bad either, overall it was even more complex and technical. But lots of influences of American stadium rock, funk, blues and fusion suddenly crept into the songs. On the one hand these influences made the music more colourful than before, on the other hand DT's originality was gone. "Images and Words" SCREAMED "Hey, now we've returned to profanity!" Which was sad.
The debut was a fantastic album. DT never reached those heights again. Period. 
Edited by Miaugion
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You house proud town mouse
ha ha, charade you are
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King of Loss
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 21 2005
Location: Boston, MA
Status: Offline
Points: 16913
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Posted: July 01 2005 at 21:26 |
Eh.................................. That doens't really make sense. WDADU is good, but it CAN NEVER BE CALLED A CLASSIC. Dominici sounds like a terrible version of Geoff Tate, while on the other hand, Labrie sounds originial and just awesome.
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Miaugion
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 22 2004
Location: Christmas Island
Status: Offline
Points: 295
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Posted: July 01 2005 at 21:50 |
King of Loss wrote:
Eh.................................. That doens't really make sense. WDADU is good, but it CAN NEVER BE CALLED A CLASSIC. Dominici sounds like a terrible version of Geoff Tate, while on the other hand, Labrie sounds originial and just awesome. |
That "doesn't make sense"??? 
Oh, kid ... Oh, and Dominici does NOT sound like Tate. He isn't even influenced by him.
And of course, it can be called A CLASSIC! I think you should have been there in the late 80s.
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You house proud town mouse
ha ha, charade you are
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King of Loss
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 21 2005
Location: Boston, MA
Status: Offline
Points: 16913
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Posted: July 01 2005 at 21:56 |
Eh......... I begger to differ. I'm listening to Only A Matter of time and he does sorta sound like Tate.... Only that of course he loves singing Billy Joel and The Beatles
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Miaugion
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 22 2004
Location: Christmas Island
Status: Offline
Points: 295
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Posted: July 02 2005 at 05:44 |
King of Loss wrote:
I'm listening to Only A Matter of time and he does sorta sound like Tate.... |
Hm, no, sorry. When somebody says Midnight (who was the original singer with Crimson Glory) sorta sounds like Tate I tend to agree. When somebody says Michael Kiske (who was Helloween's singer) sounds a bit like Tate I can agree, too.
But Dominici's way of articulating words and lines is totally different from Tate's style. It's much less theatrical. "Only a Matter of Time" is a good example: Please listen to the chorus and the way he articulates the word "Time". It sounds rather precise, austere, thin, flat (no criticism). Tate's voice would crack for all the theatrical embellishments (again no criticism). Like hundreds of other singers active in the metal genre both Dominici and Tate may produce the same high frequencies but their singing styles are unmistakably different.
I couldn't even detect Dominici's influences (I guess they could be found in classic American AOR though) --- whereas La Brie's influences are obvious: Ian Gillan and Steve Perry among others. Ooh, maybe Perry's influence is the thing they have in common.
Yes, I think that's it. Dominici's style stems from the AOR school of music. Charlie must have been listening to the giants of AOR, e.g. Journey, Foreigner, Triumph, John Waite as well as their gigantic epigones, e.g. Strangeways (=> "Status Seeker").
And oh, have I already said that I love everything "When dream and day unite" has to offer? The songwriting, the mix of East Coast Thrash roots, AOR, Rush, Fates Warning, Malmsteen and New Wave, the steel-cold, precise, mechanical charisma at the heart of every track as well as Myung's bass, IMO his best work on any album - everything is absolutely stunning and original, everything except the weak production of course. Oh well, they were so young and it was just a debut album ... 
Edited by Miaugion
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You house proud town mouse
ha ha, charade you are
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DolphinFan
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 05 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 143
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Posted: July 02 2005 at 10:38 |
I agree with Miaugion that Dominici sounds nothing like Tate. And even if he did, that would be a compliment in my book.
What happened with Dream Theater is not unusual. When a band has just formed and is trying to "make it" with their first few albums, the ideas are often the best. Some of the concepts and material are often the results of many years of writing/rewriting PRIOR to publishing. After a while, when the band becomes more of an established "business" of sorts, the writing process must become more about deadlines and marketing, and less about true inspiration. So it's no wonder that DT's best work IMO was WDADU, IAW, Awake, and COS. Same reason Kansas' best was S/T, SFA, Masque, LO, POKR...first five albums. Their are exceptions of course, but the same could be said for many bands about them being at their creative peak within their first few albums.
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TheProgtologist
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
Joined: May 23 2005
Location: Baltimore,Md US
Status: Offline
Points: 27802
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Posted: July 03 2005 at 20:45 |
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HeirToRuin
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 30 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 454
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Posted: July 04 2005 at 10:28 |
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The re-issued live version through YTSEJAM RECORDS with JLB on vocals is quite good.
Except for some of the more difficult vocal sections (James is quite flat), the music sounds top notch.
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King of Loss
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 21 2005
Location: Boston, MA
Status: Offline
Points: 16913
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Posted: July 04 2005 at 18:23 |
HeirToRuin wrote:
The re-issued live version through YTSEJAM RECORDS with JLB on vocals is quite good.
Except for some of the more difficult vocal sections (James is quite flat), the music sounds top notch.
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Yea I agree. Kevin James Labrie does a job there. However, James' voice is totally different from Mr. Dominici's voice.
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Attention WDADU Haters!
