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Heather Papps posted:at some point we will have an extended discussion re: dream theater, etc Dream Theater is one of my favourite bands. They’ve been playing for a long long time (1985) and have lots of fun prog metal songs you can listen to. 152 songs on albums so far! Some of those are really short, though, because they’re little instrumental pieces between two other songs. Also they’ve released several EPs and covers of other songs.  the Dream Theater logo, aka the “Majesty” symbol I first started listening to Dream Theater sometime around 2007-2008. I first heard about them on wikipedia – i was reading about Joe Satriani, and then saw who else played Ibanez guitars like he did. I first heard them when my younger brother downloaded the songs The Glass Prison and Fatal Tragedy on Limewire. I dunno what made him download those but I’m glad he did because it led me discovering this great band, and prog metal in general!  current band lineup as of 2020 I like Dream Theater a lot, but I have a hard time talking about it in spoken out-loud words – i tend to just go “aaaaaaaaa,,, this is so good, aaaa” and can’t really convey why i like it and what parts i find impressive or worth especially paying attention to. I think that if i type things up, and take my time with it, I’ll actually be able to really show just what makes Dream Theater so special for me. SO I’m doing something kinda over the top! (Dream Theater is sometimes over the top, so this is appropriate) This thread is here to discuss every Dream Theater song, in order, and in at least some depth. I will post each song and my thoughts on it. Also I’ll probably talk about band members and changes when they come up. Album art too, for albums that i own (which, currently, is everything from Scenes from a Memory onwards, and a few before). Some things about how this will work: - I’m only doing songs from the main albums, because this is already a very long undertaking! - I’m gonna post a few updates a week – once i hit a rhythm I’ll stick with it, but I’ll be playing around with how this works with my schedule - sometimes i might do a couple songs in one go, especially if there’s one short instrumental track followed by a track that is musically linked to it - I’m doing this in byob because a) i like you and you are my friends, and b) if i feel my effort flagging or if i just kinda abandon this i know you’ll be chill with it  - I’m writing these posts in a word processor, which is why there are actual capital letters happening! I’m putting effort into writing this but I’m not gonna put effort into finagling autocorrect setting for the sake of ~*~my personal posting aesthetic~*~ - other than talking about the songs all in order, feel free to post whatever! Do you have a Dream Theater trivia? Does this remind you of some other rad band? Please post, posting pals! I like hearing new music and i like reading what people have to say about music and i like you!  do you want to lead the discussions for the songs? Here is a spreadsheet of all the songs! You can put your name in the signup column! I’ve got dibs on all of Octavarium and Black Clours and Silver Linings because I’ve got lots of thoughts on them but feel free to grab any other song/album/whatever. I want to keep things in order so please don’t post it until the previous song has gone up! |
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Feb 27, 2020 02:09
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 10:43 |
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reserving this post so i can make an index! habits i have picked up from the let’s play subforum!
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Feb 27, 2020 02:09
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 pictured: a guy taking fandom a little bit too far When Dream and Day Unite the first Dream Theater album! It was released a few weeks before i was born, which is certainly a trivia. Guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy* made a band while at Berklee, and then got schoolmate Kevin Moore to play keyboard and auditioned Charlie Dominici to sing. *get used to these three guys! you’re gonna hear them a lot! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l326glc1XQ A Fortune in Lies (lyrics) the first Dream Theater song oh boy! We start off with a nice heavy intro, lots of long held chords, before getting all nice and squeedlymeedly. A fair amount of key and time signature changes too. Get used to that! Moore’s keyboard is a lot of fun toward the end of the intro. It feels like a desert level in a video game. The music stays fairly heavy & driving for the first verse, but chills out quite a bit in the chorus. I really love Mying’s bass in the choruses. It’s nice and complicated the first time, but then switches to these ringing bell tones for the second chorus. The very unorthodox transition from the second verse to the second chorus is pretty interesting too. Very prog. Now it is time for clips of people talking from some other media. This is another thing that’s gonna come up a lot! quote:"For the first time in a long time  I hope you like guitar solos! I like guitar solos, but not as much as Petrucci likes guitar solos! This one is good, and very straightforward compared to future ones (other than effortlessly transitioning key and time signature around 4:30 – that is a pretty normal amount of “not straightforward”) i don’t actually have very much to say about the lyrics here – this is one of the albums that i am least familiar with, so unless something immediately pops out to me i won’t have much insight! I’d love to hear your thoughts, if you have any.
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Feb 27, 2020 02:10
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The look of absolute joy on this young woman's face describes how I feel about the song she's playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6RVKX5KwQg |
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Feb 27, 2020 02:13
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Pot Smoke Phoenix posted:The look of absolute joy on this young woman's face describes how I feel about the song she's playing aaaahhhhh she's having so much fun! this is wonderful
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Feb 27, 2020 02:30
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I was a huge dream theater fan in high school but then I realized prog rock sucks and got over it. Still a lot of nostalgia for some of their tracks tho, takes me back to cruising around the burbs and exurbs in my friends minivan with gently caress all to do and not a care in the world. |
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Feb 27, 2020 02:38
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Sorry that was rude I don't mean to pass judgement, dream theater are still very cool and good, I just, personally, grew out of it. I could probably still sing along with all of images and words and probably awake too including all the noodly guitar and keyboard bits. |
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Feb 27, 2020 02:48
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i love me some prog rock. dream theater was my gateway into operatic style vocals, and the first kind of modern example of the genre i listened to! i went through the typical adolescent classic rock phase, but for me it was getting supper jazzed to find a vinyl copy of in the court of the crimson king and laughing at the kids who thought zepp ruled while wearing a rush shirt. this, this is gonna be a wild ride and i am in for it. i honestly copied and pasted the weird monologue from space dye vest to a friend recently when talking about dudes and ladies and romance. i am a theatrical rear end dude trapped in a nightmare cinema
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Feb 27, 2020 03:03
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Heather Papps posted:i love me some prog rock. dream theater was my gateway into operatic style vocals, and the first kind of modern example of the genre i listened to! In phoenix they say that?? It's dry there like a swimming pool. |
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Feb 27, 2020 03:47
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i'm all mixed up!
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Feb 27, 2020 04:09
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Omg this thread made me throw on some images and words, and it is so gloriously, unapologetically cheeseball. I'm loving it. I can still remember every riff, note, lyric, transition like it's burned into my psyche but now I can appreciate it for its cheesiness and revel in it without the baggage of my teenage years. Thanks for the throwback OP. Take the time is like actually an attempt at being funky and somehow failing up? And surrounded is just loving glorious. |
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Feb 27, 2020 04:29
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God the mixing on this album is so poo poo though. It's like drinking skim milk. |
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Feb 27, 2020 04:33
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i'm glad you are enjoying a rad album! this thread is already a success 
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Feb 27, 2020 04:37
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Sorry if I'm getting ahead of you talking about songs in advance! Learning to live is probably the best mix on the album, there's actually some beefy bass on the bass drum! Still, it's frustrating that John myung is such a good bassist and he pretty much disappears, even in his solo. Bass, guys! It's in the name of the instrument! Under a glass moon is The Heavy Song but that intro needs like a 7 layer burrito more depth of oomph. I think take the time and surrounded are far and away the best songs of the album. |
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Feb 27, 2020 04:59
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Finger Prince posted:Sorry if I'm getting ahead of you talking about songs in advance! just accidentally listened to all of under a glass moon. this album is something i never bothered to check out and now i am, because of this thread. under a glass moon isn't S++ tier, but it's good enough that i meant to listen to a minute and listened to almost all of it. right now listening to take the time and it loving owns.
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Feb 28, 2020 17:51
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this is gonna be the poo poo can't wait until metropolis pt deux |
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Feb 28, 2020 18:55
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dream theater sucks balls |
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Feb 28, 2020 20:30
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unknown butthole posted:dream theater sucks balls no!
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Feb 28, 2020 20:31
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unknown butthole posted:dream theater sucks balls this, except the opposite
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Feb 29, 2020 00:21
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zlaEno1oBU Status Seeker (lyrics) gosh this starts out feeling so happy and celebratory! Lots of alternating between 5/4 and 6/4 time signatures, which makes my brain happy – there is nothing wrong with a 4/4 beat but having something that keeps shifting just really appeals to me. it’s kinda like the first part of the first Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield (aka the theme for The Exorcist) – it keeps shifting time every bar, in a way that keeps your brain engaged. it’s good stuff! It kinda feels like Rush when the vocals kick in. Portnoy’s drums are pretty standard but the fills are nice. Myung’s bassline keeps things chugging along pleasantly. These lyrics are much more clear than the last song! Much less literary allusion, much more “don’t be a dick for the sake of Status and/or money” it’s kinda funny to me how weird it feels to me that this song has a very traditional song structure – verse1, chorus, verse2, chorus, bridge, chorus, bridge. Since i started listening in like the middle of the discography, it’s strange for me to hear them be... less proggy, i guess? And then i laugh about how I’m feeling that a very regular and understandable song structure is weird. Those last drum beats make me think “oh dang the person who uploaded this accidentally got part of the next song” but i am wrong. They are part of this song, and it’s a little silly.
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Feb 29, 2020 03:03
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unknown butthole posted:dream theater sucks balls |
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Feb 29, 2020 10:04
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i’m not a fan of dream theater but i’m happy to see how their music makes their fans happy — i didn’t know they’ve been around for so long. i tried getting into prog rock but it’s not really my thing although i remember vibing to that one king crimson album with the worried face and the songs everyone knows by them during my senior year of highschool |
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Feb 29, 2020 10:09
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Heather Papps posted:right now listening to take the time and it loving owns. Woke up with it stuck in my head. Imagine replacing the keyboards with a horn section Baa Baa badaaa, badaba ba! Bada ba ba baba In fact my brain is trying to do a whole funky disco cover of it and it isn't completely failing. Finger Prince fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Feb 29, 2020 |
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Feb 29, 2020 13:53
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Let’s talk about Majesty Majesty is a progressive metal band formed in 1985 by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy. They met at Berklee and started covering Rush and Iron Maiden songs. They ended up dropping out of Berklee in order to have more time for the band. They toured around new york city, made a demo tape, and hired Charlie Dominici for vocals and schoolmate Kevin Moore for keyboard. Then a las vegas-based group that was also named Majesty threatened legal action, so they changed their name to Dream Theater. (Oh hey that’s the band this thread is about!) after all that jazz, all that’s left of the name Majesty is an EP of their demo tapes, the logo1, and... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5OmzUEm504 The Ytse Jam (instrumental, no lyrics to link!) it is majesty spelled backwards, do you get it this is the first instrumental track that Dream Theater released, and it has plenty going on. Once the intro finishes we go into a “theme and variations” segment for a while – and the bass is wonderful throughout. Then we return to the intro and vamp on that for a bit, before moving into a much faster, more upbeat movement. Kevin Moore gets a great keyboard solo here – i feel like this is the first chance he’s really had to shine on the album so far. Petrucci naturally follows it up with a solo of his own, and shreds with his customary speed. Moore solos a bit in response, and then Portnoy has a great fill, leading into a math rock segment. Brief digression, i love the bit around 4:40 where Portnoy has keeping the 4/4 beat on the drums but then plays this triplet rhythm on the cymbal, holding both incongruent beats steady until they finally meat up. it’s fun, and it’s a taste of things to come. I had something else i was gonna say about the ending but i forgot it! I’ll post and if it comes back to me I’ll edit it in? 1 so where did the logo come from? Someone figured it out eventually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfdRfcCe_NM
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Mar 8, 2020 00:11
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biosterous posted:
are you kidding me... \ 
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Mar 8, 2020 16:47
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if you play it backwards it... sounds a bit weird but still works pretty well! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6fbA0df0fE
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Mar 8, 2020 18:48
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Heather Papps posted:are you kidding me... |
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Mar 8, 2020 21:25
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oez4tDWeEHA The Killing Hand (lyrics) I’ve kinda been stuck on this one for a while so we’re going with cliff’s notes! Might actually do that for a bunch of this album, i dunno! another first – the first DT song that’s broken into separate movements. Longest song on the album, too! It’s kinda funny for me, since this doesn’t quite crack the 9-minute mark, but my idea of the “typical” length of a DT song is at least 8 minutes. That is not the case on this album! Lots of christian imagery/allusions in this on, a definite product of Petrucci’s Roman Catholic faith. Hot dang this song gets so fun a bit before the 6-minute mark This story is a twist – “all this bloodshed? Who controlled the killing hand” [...] “i am the killing hand”
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Apr 2, 2020 02:28
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don't feel the need to devote a buncha words to stuff you don't want to write about one sentence song discussions to get to the songs you wanna actually discuss makes sense to me but maybe i am just gently nudging this thread forward till it is time to post my trillion word space dye vest thesis
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Apr 2, 2020 02:49
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fair enough! i beat my head against this one for a while but i'm just gonna take the easier path when it comes from now on, it just makes more sense
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Apr 2, 2020 02:52
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bump
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Apr 2, 2020 02:57
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEm1XjZORxg Light Fuse and Get Away (lyrics) “would you like to sit and talk to me about the way things change so suddenly?” heck yeah an intro that is over two minutes long, now that is what i expect from Dream Theater! Love the tempo & groove change when the chorus comes in. And then it gets so fast and frantic! And then the lyrics are nearly done and there is still half of the song to go. This is fun. I like this! The keyboard around the 5-minute mark reminds me a lot of Animusic. Animusic was an incredible thing for me the first time i saw it! The animation doesn’t really hold up for most of them but the music is still fun. 6:20 sounds a lot like stuff we’ll be hearing in a few albums! It’s a good sound and I’m glad we’ll be coming back to it
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Apr 8, 2020 21:41
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 ~~~eventually~~~
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Oct 15, 2020 03:23
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*open thread* *ctrl-F* "time signature" three results. heh. *ctrl-F* "Peart" no results *close thread*
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Oct 15, 2020 07:24
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 10:43 |
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i really liked dream theater when i was first discovering music, and played metropolis part 2 quite a lot - haven't really kept up with them since octavarium |
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Oct 15, 2020 11:05
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