Dream Theater Megathread NEW SONG POSTED!!!!!

[Blix]

I just don't expect my musical heroes to be able to top their previous efforts, heck tbh the Dream Theater I fell in love with ended when Kevin Moore left. Hasn't stopped me from appreciating them over the years, although not paying as much attention the last decade or two.
But I dig these two new songs.They're okay!

 

[DrewJD82]

I don’t see either of these new tunes knocking anything from I&W-SFAM out of their place, but I dig ‘em. Enough to want to listen more to fully digest them. I don’t really consider myself to ‘know’ a DT song until I actually remember how they all go, but there’s been a LOT in the last 20 years that barely got me interested enough to listen a 2nd time, so there’s hope.

I’ve stated my gripes plenty in regard to them writing/recording at the same time. I was certainly hoping Portnoy’s return would bring a year of “Let’s jam shit out, fuck the dry erase boards and ProTools, the songs are going to write themselves” but nope, what was it, 6 weeks and they banged it out? I think they take a good amount of pride or get a kick out of writing shit that quickly, but it’s like, instead of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks, they throw it all at the wall then run out of the room and put the wall up for sale.

My expectations for them reinventing the DT wheel are nonexistent, they’ve never been a band that’s taken stylistic leaps, FII was probably the biggest departure. All my favorite albums have a vibe and I suppose that’s why I started dropping out after Octavarium, after that album the albums just sounded like collections of songs without a vibe throughout a whole album.

 

[HotRats]

@DrewMan your words are my words 100% on this matter.

 

[la szum]

I just don't expect my musical heroes to be able to top their previous efforts, heck tbh the Dream Theater I fell in love with ended when Kevin Moore left. Hasn't stopped me from appreciating them over the years, although not paying as much attention the last decade or two.
But I dig these two new songs.They're okay!

Yup. Unrealistic expectations are an obstacle to enjoying anything and everything in life.

Ultimately, with that heavy of a mindset nothing is enjoyable. Life is one disappointing event
after another.








Married to a woman who doesn't look exactly like her younger self. Hmmm??? Looking in the mirror
and not seeing me look exactly like I did in my "Prime." Hmmm....??? By the way, I am in my "Prime."

Letting things be what they are, in their unique moment in time and circumstance, is a very Zen
approach, that is not for everyone.... or maybe anyone ... except for Monks.

 

[metropolis_4]

Ok, I just gotta say it, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if others here are thinking the same thing, but don't wanna be "that guy"- Both of these songs are lame. It's far from the DT that made me want to listen to a new song over and over. The odd time signatures are just that, odd, with not much real musicality to them. The riffs also don't have a whole lot of depth.

And as far as the live shows go, I've been watching their setlists, and they haven't changed a single song yet, like they used to do when they toured "An Evening With" shows, but I'll hold off and see if maybe they'll switch things up when in the US, and the dates aren't so far apart. Portnoy himself used to say they did that so fans that go to multiple shows could see different songs played. So we'll see...

And why are they doing 4 songs from SFAM, yet only ONE from when MM was the drummer?? They just did a SFAM tour 4 years ago!

Octavarium is a snoozefest compared to several other epics like In The Presence of Enemies, and ffs, kill PMU. No real DT fan will care!

All IMHO, YMWV, yadda yadda.

I am not at all excited about going to see them.

I really hope the best is yet to come when the album gets released.

Signed,
One of the most hardcore Dream Theater fans out there!

This is why it’s impossible for them to make all of their fans happy. I’ve been a fan since Awake and I would take Pull Me Under or Octavarium over anything from Systematic Chaos any day.

To me, their peak will always be Scenes from a Memory. Every album built up to that pinnacle, and then gradually declined after it.

I started getting really bored with what they were putting out after Octavarium.



I am glad to hear Portnoy back with them though! These two songs were like a breath of fresh air and they finally sound more like DT again!

I have crazy respect for Mangini’s talent, but he’s my least favorite drummer in the world to listen to.

 

[spawnofthesith]

It's been many many years since I seriously sat down and seriously listened to any DT. guy on SSO posting that Myung is a sloppy bass player.

This got me listening to all of Images and Words, which is definitely the album I'm most familiar with. Quite enjoying it and having some nostalgia kick up. I don't even hate Labrie's vocals as much as I thought I remembered hating them on this record at least lol

Think I'm going to continue a discography deep dive

 

[norminal]

guy on SSO posting that Myung is a sloppy bass player.

LMFAO

 

[la szum]

This is why it’s impossible for them to make all of their fans happy. I’ve been a fan since Awake and I would take Pull Me Under or Octavarium over anything from Systematic Chaos any day.

To me, their peak will always be Scenes from a Memory. Every album built up to that pinnacle, and then gradually declined after it.

I started getting really bored with what they were putting out after Octavarium.



I am glad to hear Portnoy back with them though! These two songs were like a breath of fresh air and they finally sound more like DT again!

I have crazy respect for Mangini’s talent, but he’s my least favorite drummer in the world to listen to.

I've been listening to both songs every day---at least once---since they were released. The
more I listen to more I hear to like.

I doubt I will see them live next year, but I am super excited for the whole album to drop.

None of us look as great as we did in our prime. Fact. That isn't going to keep me from
loving that they have Portnoy back in the band and enjoying everything they do to the max.

 

[la szum]

It's been many many years since I seriously sat down and seriously listened to any DT. guy on SSO posting that Myung is a sloppy bass player.

This got me listening to all of Images and Words, which is definitely the album I'm most familiar with. Quite enjoying it and having some nostalgia kick up. I don't even hate Labrie's vocals as much as I thought I remembered hating them on this record at least lol

Think I'm going to continue a discography deep dive

I Listened To Every Dream Theater Album In Chronological Order

No reason why? :idk Actually, I wanted to see if I could challenge my own assumptions about what I thought I knew about the DT catalog. They seem to get a lot of love (except for poor James!), and many believe they have maybe become a caricature of their own greatness and have lost their...

thegearforum.com

 

[OrganicZed]

Portnoy is a lucky man for not knowing this song. I guess he never goes shopping or he wears earplugs while in public.

 

[DrewJD82]

Portnoy is a lucky man for not knowing this song. I guess he never goes shopping or he wears earplugs while in public.

Hahahah I also never heard the song before. I saw a few people in the DT subreddit calling BS on Portnoy never hearing it and there was a slew of us who were in the same boat. Once I quit working in restaurants, my feed of pop/top 40 stuff ended entirely. It’s possible the song has been on in the background but as a result of being subjected to modern pop working in kitchens for years, I very much learned to tune it right the fuck out.

The only music I really hear is stuff I’m putting on with intent and when I let Apple Music pick for me, it’s definitely not picking anything remotely close to that kind of music. The last pop music I dug into and actually enjoyed was that Miley Cyrus tune “Loved By You”, where I dug it right away than drove my ex-wife batshit crazy when I was daydrinking and playing bass over it for about 4 hours straight.

 

[TSJMajesty]

You're all liars! He looked like he had fun though!

 

[TSJMajesty]

I guess he never goes shopping

Huh? Every place I go plays classic rock. It's like the joke, "Is the grocery store playing great music, or am I old?"

 

[la szum]

Portnoy is a lucky man for not knowing this song. I guess he never goes shopping or he wears earplugs while in public.

Whoever came up with that idea should be castrated on the spot.

Love Mike, but no fucking way I am wasting any of the precious moments of
my life subjecting myself to Tweener Pop.

 

[DrewJD82]

The two Publix I go to down here just play some tame ass milquetoast easy listening bullshit that is like nails on a chalkboard. There’s one song that I hear EVERY FUCKING TIME I go in there and I’m trying NOT to remember the chorus right now…damnit, it happened. I don’t know the song outside of the dude singing “It’s bigger than…..” in the chorus. Fuck that fucking song and fuck the dude who wrote it.

I remember going to a Building 19 when I was in high school and heard EJ’s “Manhattan” playing, THAT’S the kind of easy listening shit I wouldn’t mind hearing when shopping.

 

[OrganicZed]

View attachment 34868

The two Publix I go to down here just play some tame ass milquetoast easy listening bullshit that is like nails on a chalkboard. There’s one song that I hear EVERY FUCKING TIME I go in there and I’m trying NOT to remember the chorus right now…damnit, it happened. I don’t know the song outside of the dude singing “It’s bigger than…..” in the chorus. Fuck that fucking song and fuck the dude who wrote it.

I remember going to a Building 19 when I was in high school and heard EJ’s “Manhattan” playing, THAT’S the kind of easy listening shit I wouldn’t mind hearing when shopping.

Your impassioned hatred of that bigger than song made me look it up. That one is not my cup of tea either. I tapped out as soon as the post chorus section where they repeat “bigger than” multiple times came on. No thank you.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I’m trying NOT to remember the chorus right now…damnit, it happened.

 

[la szum]

 

[norminal]

I’m about to jump in. I hope this is better than the last two. Say a prayer for me.

 

[la szum]