I hated labrie's voice for a long long time, but suddenly i just kind of got used to it, and now i like his voice, i still have problems when he don't get those high notes live, but whatever he sings great on albums.

@BloodTears: They wanted a new vocalist actually because Dominici refused to sing a lot of the lyrics that were written for him

The biggest problems they had with Dominici were his range (he struggled with a lot of the higher material, which they were writing for at the time) and the fact that he was like ten years older than the band, which wasn't a good image for them at the time.

... even though Rudess is like 8 years older than the other members or something...

I heard something about that they almoast fierd Labrie to one time, anyone know why?

(most of my knowledge comes from years of reading up on the band + the biography, in case anybody wonders why I always respond to inquiries about the band)

If I recall correctly, in the biography there was something about the writing credits of the songs just around the time Six Degrees was being made... ever since LaBrie joined the band he had never really been in the studio to help with the songwriting, so the vocal melodies were just handed to him, so he'd never be in the studio unless he was recording the vocals. They sat him down and told him he needed to help since it wasn't really fair for him to not be part of the songwriting process, so ever since Train of Thought he's been in the studio..

Then there's his vocal issues, which had been bugging Portnoy for a long time and they'd usually get into it for a while... back then they were considering getting a new vocalist, but they eventually realized that he's the voice of Dream Theater and can't really be replaced.

And I think there was something about how he'd act to the crowd during the Six Degrees tour, he was pretty degrading to them or something and Portnoy didn't like it.

I might be forgetting something, but IIRC that's the majority of it..

@Kap'N Korrupt: Thanks for clearing that up. I read somewhere that it was because he wasn't performing well live.

As far as Labrie's interaction with the audience now, I think he learned the lesson. He's always firing up the audience during the show and inviting everybody to participate.

@Zelse: That whole "you're too OLD" rule peters out though once you reach a certain age...

Written by Guest on 24.06.2009 at 07:00

@Zelse: That whole "you're too OLD" rule peters out though once you reach a certain age...

Yea, but at the time the guys were in their early 20s whereas Dominici was like 35 and you also have to take into consideration that it was the late 80s and image was everything to a band at the time. Back then, the age thing was a huge deal. Now it's obviously not, given how the times have changed (and so has the band, given that Rudess is the oldest member by several years), but back then it was a problem.

Also, this collector's edition set with the individually isolated instrument parts... WOW. I didn't even know some of these keyboard parts were there, I just couldn't hear them in the full mix, but listening to the keyboard parts alone is insane. This is really cool, I'm glad DT did this.

I'm still waiting for the CD to arrive. Maybe today?

So I just got the new cd yesterday and finally was able to sit down and give a listen today. I have to say that I really like this album. I think the weakest track is definitly Wither, with the strongets track being The Count of Tuscany. The album has more of the same feel as Scenes from a Memory than it does to the more recent albums, atleast to me.

Damn good album. Long time ago I was under the spell of a Dream Theater record!

A Nightmare To Remeber is my favourite song so far, after a lot of enjoyable listens.

Can't complain about the new album really.

Lol so I used to listen to Metropolis Part 2 almost every night about four or five years ago, and I just now remembered how it freaked me the fuck out one night. So, I was listening to it on headphones at night in bed and I fell asleep, which happens all the time no matter how good or bad an album is, and I woke up probably around 1 AM in the pitch black, hearing footsteps and then someone saying "Nicholas" (my name), and then he talked some more. I couldn't feel the headphones on my head so I was a little startled...

Lol I never listen to anything when I'm in bed, I stopped doing that a long time ago. Because that happened a lot, I would wake up and hear some song not knowing if it was a dream or reality, just in that middle. It was creepy.

Written by Dangerboner on 30.06.2009 at 13:15

Lol so I used to listen to Metropolis Part 2 almost every night about four or five years ago, and I just now remembered how it freaked me the fuck out one night. So, I was listening to it on headphones at night in bed and I fell asleep, which happens all the time no matter how good or bad an album is, and I woke up probably around 1 AM in the pitch black, hearing footsteps and then someone saying "Nicholas" (my name), and then he talked some more. I couldn't feel the headphones on my head so I was a little startled...

Hahaha, that's awesome. Like you, I would have freaked the fuck out. Yeah, I stopped listening after I almost choked myself with my headphone cords. I toss and turn in the night and woke up with the cord tangled around my neck. So that was the end of that.

I remember my first time listening to Scenes a decade ago. It was a traumatic experience to which I will fully admit, I cried, like a hungry angry baby.

Written by Dane Train on 30.06.2009 at 16:52

I remember my first time listening to Scenes a decade ago. It was a traumatic experience to which I will fully admit, I cried, like a hungry angry baby.

Why?

Written by RockeRoy on 30.06.2009 at 16:59

Why?

Because it was so amazing. I has never heard anything like that before. Emotionally it wrecked me for a few days.

Scenes is good, but it's nowhere near my favorite. I love it, don't get me wrong, but I think all the albums before it (except When Dream and Day Unite) are better.

Written by Zelse on 30.06.2009 at 18:10

Scenes is good, but it's nowhere near my favorite. I love it, don't get me wrong, but I think all the albums before it (except When Dream and Day Unite) are better.

I am the same way. I&W is hands down my all time favorite album of all time.

I will never understand why people bash DT's debut album - I think it's great. The performance is great especially Petrucci and Moore and a special mention for Myung. Dominicci's vocals are not great, but don't ruin the music as so many people say. The music had tons of emotion, there was a balance between technical skills and melody - balance which has often been lost after Scenes, at least that's how I see it.

I remain a listener mainly of the Moore era, when I'm in the mood for some DT, that's what I do. I gave Falling into Infinity a listen a few days ago and I still enjoy it, it's DT's most accessible work indeed, but nevertheless it's got great songwriting if you ask me.

I hope to make some time to re-listen to Scenes, I haven't listened to it in quite a while.

I don't bash the album, but I just don't think WDADU is very good. The production is subpar, Dominici's voice does nothing for me (I just don't care much for his voice) and it just comes off as an immature band (which they most definitel were), especially compared to their second album, which is pretty much considered the defining DT album alongside Scenes. The songs aren't very memorable for me past Afterlife, and I prefer the Score version of that one.

I absolutely love the Kevin Moore era sans WDADU, though. Awake has been climbing up my list of favorite DT albums because I've been listening to it more and more lately. Absolutely stunning album, I really want to know more about the conflict between Kevin and Dream Theater - I read the DT biography, but it never shed any light on the behind-the-scenes conflict, I've been hearing that the two camps are not in very good standings with each other nowadays. I hope before Dream Theater's done making music some many years from now that they play Space-Dye Vest..

I think When dream and day unite is great, and i my ears A fortune in lies, afterlife and the ytsejam are Dream theate Classics.

Written by Zelse on 01.07.2009 at 02:34

I hope before Dream Theater's done making music some many years from now that they play Space-Dye Vest..

Here's someone with the same wish! That song is great, if you ask me, but no one ever seems to mention it, don't know why. Awake is a really great album, though I still have problems with The Silent Man (I did like the Live version on the Scenes from NY), but aside from that I think it's great. And even if When Dream & Day Unite isn't part of people's favorites, I really like it.

I think we'll have the complete AA suite played as one big piece in their next DVD, or at least in some future DVD.

Just a feeling

Written by BloodTears on 01.07.2009 at 14:25

I think we'll have the complete AA suite played as one big piece in their next DVD, or at least in some future DVD.

Just a feeling

I think so, I actually made the AA suite a playlist on my Ipod yesterday. It just all goes together so well. I love how suite could be a full length cd on its own.

Written by MeloDeathViking on 01.07.2009 at 15:36

Written by BloodTears on 01.07.2009 at 14:25

I think we'll have the complete AA suite played as one big piece in their next DVD, or at least in some future DVD.

Just a feeling

I think so, I actually made the AA suite a playlist on my Ipod yesterday. It just all goes together so well. I love how suite could be a full length cd on its own.

Yes, it's pretty interesting. A lot of people didn't like The Shattered Fortress but I thought it made all the sense, with parts of all the previous songs. It was fun to identify the different parts. I still haven't made that exercise of listening to all of them together but I'm sure it'll be enjoyable.

Portnoy already has the location decided for the next live release (though we don't know what it is yet) and it's definitely confirmed that all the 12-step suite songs will be performed consecutively on them. Can't wait. The Shattered Fortress rules, too, I love the vocals in the first half with the "look in the mirror, what do you see" lines. James's voice is stunning there.

Written by BloodTears on 01.07.2009 at 19:00

Written by MeloDeathViking on 01.07.2009 at 15:36

Written by BloodTears on 01.07.2009 at 14:25

I think we'll have the complete AA suite played as one big piece in their next DVD, or at least in some future DVD.

Just a feeling

I think so, I actually made the AA suite a playlist on my Ipod yesterday. It just all goes together so well. I love how suite could be a full length cd on its own.

Yes, it's pretty interesting. A lot of people didn't like The Shattered Fortress but I thought it made all the sense, with parts of all the previous songs. It was fun to identify the different parts. I still haven't made that exercise of listening to all of them together but I'm sure it'll be enjoyable.

Shattered fortress was absolutely best of that saga, it combined all the great parts from previous songs and left the boring ones out

btw. I wouldn't be suprised if their next album would be Count of tuscany part II: the royal and the historian

but BC&SL is their best album in years IMO