Seeing as how almost all of us are big Dream Theater fans, I thought I'd stir up a little bit of debate, by throwing out a question. Am I alone, in being dissatisfied with Jordan Rudess
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My dissatisfaction with Jordan in particular doesn't really have much to do with what other keyboardists Dream Theater has had in the past. They all had their strengths and weaknesses. Jordan can play circles around Kevin Moore technically, but then, Kevin didn't have an even remotely similar style, so it's comparing apples and oranges. Like debating Petrucci versus Segovia. I had no intention of resurrecting the old Rudess/Moore debate when I started this thread, I assure you. Heh.
More to the point. I have a tendency to hold progressive bands to higher standards, mainly because I get so damned sick of the frightfully low standards of mainstream music. But the upside of that (aggravating) trait is, I don't get so starry-eyed in love with a band's music that I can't see that the musicians are human, imperfect, and thus, have their weaknesses. Nobody's perfect.
Take Petrucci, for instance. He's one of my three personal favorite guitarists, and one of the five best rock guitarists in the world, but he's not perfect. In my opinion (and one that many will no doubt also disagree with), one of his main weaknesses is acoustic work. He doesn't lose any of his chops on an acoustic (as evidenced by his work in "An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess"), but there are a lot of less technically skilled guitarists I've heard who can better utilize an acoustic to its full potential. It feels sometimes as though he plays an acoustic like a clean-toned electric. A subtle difference, but one that has a great deal of effect on the music as a whole. And this is very similar to the way I feel about some of Rudess's keyboard parts. I don't mean to say that Petrucci's acoustic work isn't good, or even fantastic, just as I don't mean to say that Jordan Rudess's work isn't good, or even fantastic. It just leaves me with a little bit of itch I can't quite scratch.
And one more thing, that is kind of at the heart of the matter, and is also purely personal. I don't just listen to progressive music solely for the quality of the product: I also do it because I like to be surprised. And Jordan hasn't really produce anything (yet) that particularly surprised me. Which is a strange thing to say, I realize, considering some of the stuff he's done, i.e., busting out with a calliope part out of nowhere, a la "Scenes from a Memory." I don't know what the missing component is. I wish I could put my finger on it.
Which is a crappy point to put forth, I realize, since what one considers 'surprising' is purely subjective, and not really easily available for scrutiny. I'll think on it some more, and see if I can come up with a better answer for you.
More to the point. I have a tendency to hold progressive bands to higher standards, mainly because I get so damned sick of the frightfully low standards of mainstream music. But the upside of that (aggravating) trait is, I don't get so starry-eyed in love with a band's music that I can't see that the musicians are human, imperfect, and thus, have their weaknesses. Nobody's perfect.
Take Petrucci, for instance. He's one of my three personal favorite guitarists, and one of the five best rock guitarists in the world, but he's not perfect. In my opinion (and one that many will no doubt also disagree with), one of his main weaknesses is acoustic work. He doesn't lose any of his chops on an acoustic (as evidenced by his work in "An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess"), but there are a lot of less technically skilled guitarists I've heard who can better utilize an acoustic to its full potential. It feels sometimes as though he plays an acoustic like a clean-toned electric. A subtle difference, but one that has a great deal of effect on the music as a whole. And this is very similar to the way I feel about some of Rudess's keyboard parts. I don't mean to say that Petrucci's acoustic work isn't good, or even fantastic, just as I don't mean to say that Jordan Rudess's work isn't good, or even fantastic. It just leaves me with a little bit of itch I can't quite scratch.
And one more thing, that is kind of at the heart of the matter, and is also purely personal. I don't just listen to progressive music solely for the quality of the product: I also do it because I like to be surprised. And Jordan hasn't really produce anything (yet) that particularly surprised me. Which is a strange thing to say, I realize, considering some of the stuff he's done, i.e., busting out with a calliope part out of nowhere, a la "Scenes from a Memory." I don't know what the missing component is. I wish I could put my finger on it.
Which is a crappy point to put forth, I realize, since what one considers 'surprising' is purely subjective, and not really easily available for scrutiny. I'll think on it some more, and see if I can come up with a better answer for you.
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