Let's figure out Dream Theater.

For a second I thought you meant they covered a Chameleons tune and I almost died

if you think that they are ridiculous you must hear their copycats...like them:

http://www.mightyrhapsody.com/index.php

b-b-but what do you REALLY think of them Phil? Don't hold back now...

THANK YOU.

BTW how are McLaughlin's collaborations with U. Srinivas (whom I like a lot)?

He *really* bugs me, and not just in the context of Yes. I'm glad he left the Strawbs when he did.

Ned - you can hate me now.

While there are definite moments of cheeze, there are some parts that were better than expected. The keyboard player doing all that wack Danny Elfman knicked stuff and the prissy vocalist bring the whole thing really down. All they need is Jon Lord and Ronnie James Dio and this could be a OK band.

Shakti is freaking insane, especially those high speed unison lines they get going.

A few weeks back, I picked up RTF's Romantic Warrior out of a used bin. I never had that one and boy there some cheeze on that one, especially on the second side. I don't know if it is because of punk rock or whatever, but it definitely seems true that all of those fusion bands lost it after 74-75 (excepting some of the ECM stuff, which really isn't that much like the rawk fusion made by all of those guys that played in Miles band but still gets labeled as 'fusion').

THESE GUYS ARE SICK!!!

is that tony levin on STICK??

Yeah it is. Only the modified bass stick can handle Tony Levin's breathtaking virtuosity.

Best comment on there:

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the stick bass just makes me mad when i see it....

anyway yeah dream theater. i grew up on guitar magz so you know it's all good.

the real underground shit is shrapnel records shit though, that's tru wank. david t chastain and tony macapline and paul gilbert and blues saraceno and all those dudez.

stu hamm

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8f/Portnoy.jpg

I'm assuming there's a giant gong where the photographer is standing, but until I see it, Portnoy gets no respect from me.

the SS Bozzio

http://grm.martin.free.fr/photosgraym/terrybozzio1.jpg

haha such a silly song

joyful

There's an even more Rush-alike song from their 2013 self-titled album. I worked for their label at the time and I remember laughing out loud the first time I heard it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cf1CF6Avvc

The other day someone I follow on twitter responded to a Joe Bonamassa tweet that was in turn responding to a Guitar mag prompt asking for the best guitar album of the '90s. (I don't know anything about Bonamassa, never heard a note; iirc he picked an album by The Hellecasters.) Anyway, I made the mistake of scrolling down to see what others picked, and it was the usual 16th note sci-fi flurry shit: Steve Vai, Satch (iirc someone even picked "Surfing with the Alien," and stuck to their guns when reminded it was from the '80s). But, inevitably, someone picked Dream Theater, and I realized, you know, I've never really spent much more than a couple of minutes with them. Because this person also picked a specific track which (paraphrasing) had it all, I listened to that one, and woof - why would anyone want to listen to this? Why would anyone want to *play* this? The guitar was so precise, so technical and clinical, and so souless that it might as well have been an intricately programmed synth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEKTNtmKZEw

First comment: "The solo is just perfect, I think it has almost every imaginable technique on guitar"
Second comment: "It's not a solo, it's a clinic on how to make shred guitar tasteful."
Third comment: "whatever"

This song is what happens when everyone in a band thinks they're the most talented member of the band, including the singer.

This song is what happens when everyone in a band thinks they're the most talented member of the band, including the singer.

If I’m not mistaken, I think every member of dream theater has been on the cover of a very bad magazine associated with their instrument (ie modern drummer) multiple times. Plus, they have tons of fans who say things like “you are the greatest guitar player of all time, man!” on a daily basis.

Their lives are incredibly messed up

I do like this style of drumming in other contexts (metal, Greg Fox projects).

Their lives are incredibly messed up

Offstage they're some of the nicest people in the world. John Petrucci is just a dad from Long Island who spends most of his day practicing guitar and doing bicep curls, keyboardist Jordan Rudess is a giant dork and gearhead/inventor, bassist John Myung is incredibly chilled-out and one of the least fame-oriented artists I've ever met, and drummer Mike Mangini is, like, giddy when you talk to him. The singer, James LaBrie, I've never had any interaction with, but he's Canadian, so how bad could he be?

Sounds like having "tons of fans who say things like 'you are the greatest guitar player of all time, man!' on a daily basis" is a sound recipe for mental health!

xp that doesn’t surprise me! I still tbey they must be completely messed up. There’s no way you play a 19-string bass and then do yard work

Somehow I always forget that portnoy left dream theater in 2010.

Also somehow I missed that portnoy was with avenged sevenfold for a minute?

Look let's just be thankful that the surviving members of Rush haven't formed a supergroup with the guy

Portnoy is so insanely busy, amazing this guy has time to sleep, considering how many long ass songs he plays on. I mean, just in the last five years he has recorded albums with:

Liquid Tension Experiment
Transatlantic
Neal Morse solo
Neal Morse Band (x2)
Flying Colors
John Petrucci solo
Sons of Apollo

not to mention associated touring with all of these acts

I think he is just always in a room playing a solo, and every once in a while somebody walks into the room and presses record for 8 minutes.

Hahaha

lol