(no subject)
So I've now listened to the new Dream Theater album three times, and I'm not really sure what to think. I believe that James LaBrie has finally succumbed to the peril of all prog rock singers; he simply cannot do it anymore, at least not up to his old standard of excellence. Normally he is all over the map with his vocals, showing his incredible range and belting notes far and wide. On this album he is almost straining just to appear competent, and I cannot really recall any part of any song where he just goes balls out on any vocal, like it was taking an inhuman amount of effort just to sound average.
The guitar work is pretty typical of later Dream Theater efforts, which is to say fast, aggressive and not very varied. Petrucci also seems to have fallen victim to the growing trend in rock music of over mixing his guitar to the ever present "wall of sound" which detracts greatly from his effort. Also on this album, John Myung does his best impersonation of Jason Newsted on the ...And Justice For All album, in that he might as well have not even bothered showing up to record it. I honestly cannot remember hearing the bass at all. This is mostly due to Petrucci's "wall of sound" that drowns out pretty much everything except the drums, the vocal and about half the keyboard parts.
The drumming is pretty good I'll admit, although Portnoy also seems to be fighting a diminishing skill set. He reins himself in an awful lot, although when it is really called for he is still able to unleash a barrage of thunder on the kit. I have nothing really to say about he keyboard parts except to say that at times they are dominant and at times they are non-existent.
Which all leads me to the lyrics...which are god awful. I'll give them a pass on The Best of Times since it is about Portnoy's father (he died this year), but the rest of the lyrics are just terrible. Terrible. If you want proof, google the lyrics for The Count of Tuscany.
Overall, the album makes me think that Dream Theater have stopped trying. It lacks all the awesome power and energy on their earlier works, and IMO is just an excuse for them to release another 70 minute album. The song Wither is especially bad (youtube it if you want proof). I think it is almost certainly their worst song ever. Utter shit spread out over 5:26.
The best thing that can be said about this album is that it mercifully marks the end of the 12-Step Suite which began on Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence's The Glass Prison. The first 2.5 installments of the suite were actually quite good, probably some of the band's finest work. But whether they just lost interest in it, or inspiration, or were overcome by their mounting loss of any real desire to be artists, the suite has gone drastically downhill since the middle of The Root of All Evil (on the Octivarium album).
I almost hope that if this is the best they can do anymore that they just stop doing studio work and stick to touring, so that they do not do any further harm to their legacy.
Also, John Petrucci is seriously fat now.
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Just to visually prove it. He almost looks like a not gay, Italian John Lovitz now!
The guitar work is pretty typical of later Dream Theater efforts, which is to say fast, aggressive and not very varied. Petrucci also seems to have fallen victim to the growing trend in rock music of over mixing his guitar to the ever present "wall of sound" which detracts greatly from his effort. Also on this album, John Myung does his best impersonation of Jason Newsted on the ...And Justice For All album, in that he might as well have not even bothered showing up to record it. I honestly cannot remember hearing the bass at all. This is mostly due to Petrucci's "wall of sound" that drowns out pretty much everything except the drums, the vocal and about half the keyboard parts.
The drumming is pretty good I'll admit, although Portnoy also seems to be fighting a diminishing skill set. He reins himself in an awful lot, although when it is really called for he is still able to unleash a barrage of thunder on the kit. I have nothing really to say about he keyboard parts except to say that at times they are dominant and at times they are non-existent.
Which all leads me to the lyrics...which are god awful. I'll give them a pass on The Best of Times since it is about Portnoy's father (he died this year), but the rest of the lyrics are just terrible. Terrible. If you want proof, google the lyrics for The Count of Tuscany.
Overall, the album makes me think that Dream Theater have stopped trying. It lacks all the awesome power and energy on their earlier works, and IMO is just an excuse for them to release another 70 minute album. The song Wither is especially bad (youtube it if you want proof). I think it is almost certainly their worst song ever. Utter shit spread out over 5:26.
The best thing that can be said about this album is that it mercifully marks the end of the 12-Step Suite which began on Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence's The Glass Prison. The first 2.5 installments of the suite were actually quite good, probably some of the band's finest work. But whether they just lost interest in it, or inspiration, or were overcome by their mounting loss of any real desire to be artists, the suite has gone drastically downhill since the middle of The Root of All Evil (on the Octivarium album).
I almost hope that if this is the best they can do anymore that they just stop doing studio work and stick to touring, so that they do not do any further harm to their legacy.
Also, John Petrucci is seriously fat now.
{-----}
Just to visually prove it. He almost looks like a not gay, Italian John Lovitz now!