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Is leaving Dream Theater? Dude, he left nearly a year ago now!
Anyway, I am a big DT fan, but I dislike most other prog metal, including Circus Maximus. Sure, they have talent, but they sound like a DT wannabe band.
Love the time signature changes and subtle changes in guitar work which makes prog music great. It's a deep and dark look. I was waiting for the big growl the whole time. Problem is that this can get pretty repetitive. I can see myself running to
I heard he was leaving a while ago, but was too busy to use Pandora until now.DT is so unique and popular on the prog stage that it will be hard for any band to get a similar sound without getting the wannabe label. They started out as a tribute band I think, but I got to hand it to them for venturing out writing stuff. It's hard to write Prog stuff and make it sound good. I think they are a little more harder than DT, but they have a good range. I enjoy listening to it and is a good substitute when I'm wishing I could hear some new DT stuff.Is leaving Dream Theater? Dude, he left nearly a year ago now!
Anyway, I am a big DT fan, but I dislike most other prog metal, including Circus Maximus. Sure, they have talent, but they sound like a DT wannabe band.
o you recall DT ever using acoustic guitar? I can't off the top of my head.
Yes, they might work best as a change of pace between groups with vocals.Speaking of vocals, I don't always listen to growl music, but when I do I prefer these guys
If you don't mind me asking, how old are you? I'm 28, and my transition to prog was from bands like Disturbed (1st two albumns) Metallica, Slip Knot (So glad I found DT.) So I tend to dig the heavier stuff I guess. The first intro to prog for you was Yes and King Crimson who influenced DT. I guess I looking for the bands influenced by DT. Here's another band.If you are enjoying it, rock on.
That kind of music just generally isn't my cup of tea. I like my prog more on the rock side, rather than the metal side. The only metal artists, besides DT (who are straight up prog metal), I still listen to are Sabbath (metal), Priest (metal), Devin Townsend (metal) and Opeth (metal with some death growls and some proggy tendencies). Meanwhile, I listen to a ton of prog rock artists - Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Camel, ELP, Spock's Beard, Neal Morse, Kansas, etc.
Ghost, you and I have very similar tastes. Do you listen to any Glass Hammer? Definitely one of my favorites. Of the newer prog bands they have surpassed Morse era Spock's Beard as my favorite.
I tend to like the solos and songs over 10 minutes. Just goes to show the range DT had as a fan base. Something I like that you may be into Ayreon - Amazing Flight. Tad bit heavy on the synthesizer for me, but great mix with a little old school feel. (I hear Floyd)'Ghost Rider said:
Nah, I had checked them out years ago, but they didn't do much for me.'dhockster said:
But you like Morse era Beard? Sweet. How about solo Neal or Transatlantic?Oh, I can dig the long solos and songs a lot of the time (see: the bands I listed earlier as liking
), but not all of the time. And some bands seems to like stretching songs out for way too long just for the sake of it. *cough* Mars Volta *cough"As for Ayreon, I dig 'em, albeit in small doses. Very high on the cheesy side, and it is all very samey, but Into the Electric Castle and The Dream Sequencer are both highly enjoyable rock operas. And Amazing Flight is definitely one of Ayreon's best tunes. 
Symphony X is my 2nd favorite band behind DT. Could never really get into Opeth or PT. Pain of Salvation is pretty good and I plan on listening to more. I'll have to put the other bands you listed on my list to try.I, for one, am looking forward to hearing some DT without Portnoy's growls (didn't fit, IMO...and I enjoy Opeth and LaBrie's Static Impulse) and maybe with some more creative input being readily accepted from Labrie and Myung (who has few if any writing credits since '94, I believe). I am hopeful that this is a very inspired and creative time for them. Saw DT 5 times (including front row at Radio City) since discovering them in 2002, and think this can be an exciting time if they do it right (will definitely go to see them next tour should their album be good...interested to see what the feel at the show is with someone else behind the kit.)
In case you missed it, DT put out a 3 part mini-web-series on the drummer auditions. Is a bit self-serving/important, but I appreciate the opportunity to watch some great drummers try out their chops with the band. Is fascinating to see a) what they are looking for and b) how even some of the best drummers out there (Virgil Donati comes to mind) are challenged to play with these guys.
Looking forward this year's release of the new DT, Symphony X, Opeth, Redemption, Riverside (heavy, but not "metal"), Devin Townsend Project, and (hopefully) Pain of Salvation. Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) also has a 2-disc album coming out later this year too IIRC). Another name to throw out there in the potentially cheesy but good bands (i.e. Ayreon) was Shadow Gallery). Hope you have checked all 'em out ATC...it is unfortunate that one of our fav bands is without their front-man (if it is possible to say such a thing about a drummer), but there is still tons of stuff to find and look forward to.
80's thrash or speed metal just isn't my thing.
I like both, really like Transatlantic. That is one tight sounding band who all are excellent musicians. What are your thoughts on the Flower Kings? I like some of their stuff, but haven't been able to get into them as much as some ofthe other newer bands.As for Glass Hammer, if you have not heard the albums Chronometree or Shadowlands, I would highly recommend them.Nah, I had checked them out years ago, but they didn't do much for me.'dhockster said:
I am definitely looking forward to seeing what DT will do without Portnoy. While I like BC&SL quite a bit, the albums before that were a bit ho-hum, and Portnoy seemingly had taken more control over the band as far as direction went, so I am hoping to a real return to form now that they can write without him dictating the direction based on what bands he is digging the most at that point in time. Also, DT never had any growls. The "Day after day" section if A Nightmare to Remember was fairly absurd, but that wasn't growling. Rough vocals, yes, but not true growling.
The Flower Kings are awesome. Symphonic prog rock at its finest. Which albums have you heard?
I really like BC&SL, Oct and SC were meh for the most part, but two of my top5 songs are on those albums. Octavarium and In the Presence of Enemies pt.1 and 2 were top notch. Sacrificed Sons and Ministry of Lost Souls were decent, but that's about it. One thing I notice the most about the uniqueness of DT is the crispness in the Petrucci's solos with the rest of the band in rhythm. May not be the fastest, but the flow is incredible. Razor's Edge in Octavarium, the final solo in In the POE pt.1 and the solo in The Best of Times. The closest I can think of from another band is Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb.
I bought Retropolis a few years back. Really like "There is more to this world" but the rest of the album does not do to much for me. Any recommendations for albums?
I agree that Octavarium (the song) is great. Definitely a top 20 DT song for me. The rest of that album is just okay, though. Nothing really bad (aside from the horrible lyrics to Never Enough), but nothing else stands out. I like Part 1 of In the Presence..., but am pretty iffy on Part 2. I actually like Repentance the most from SC. On the flip side, Constant Motion is their worst song ever (despite having a cool main riff and a good solo by JP). And yeah, Petrucci's solos are usually stellar, especially those outro ones like in The Best of Times, and even The Ministry of Lost Souls (average song, but a great last five minutes).
My favorites are Flower Power, Paradox Hotel and Stardust We Are. And all three are double albums.
But all of them have a great mixture of a lot of good shorter songs and some epic stuff.Space Revolver is probably their best single album. 
If you like a longer song with more of a floyd feel, I highly recommend "Dark Matter" by Porcupine Tree: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqQ8pgxJ4BE
What you mean they are not Floyd wannabes? Just kidding.I like to pick and choose Floyd songs. Numb, Time, Money But don't really listen to songs like Astronomy or Shine on.Really like Arriving Somewhere But Not Here from PT. If you guys can point me in other songs or particular albums with similar stuff it would be appreciated.ATC1 said he couldn't really get into PT, but yeah, Dark Matter is incredible. I love the "Floyd-like" era of PT - The Sky Moves Sideways and Signify. They manage to have that Floyd vibe, but without sounding like they copied or borrowed anything, which is not always easy to do.
If you like that song (which is one of their two or three best), then you'd probably dig a lot of their other newer stuff. The stuff since Gavin Harrison joined the band has been more hard rocking than the earlier stuff. You'd probably love Anesthetize, a 17 minute tune, featuring not only some of the best drumming you'll ever hear by Gavin Harrison, but a solo by Rush's Alex Lifeson! Other songs you'd probably dig, given that you like more hard rocking stuff, are Trains (probably their most popular song ever, and a song that could have been huge had their record company had the brain to properly promote it), Deadwing, Blackest Eyes, Prodigal, Open Car, Time Flies, Bonnie the Cat, Cheating the Polygraph, Drown with Me, What Happens Now?, Way out of Here, etc. PT just have way too many awesome songs.
Used to have the Racer X version of that on one of those Guitar Player cds they gave away with the mag.
Very cool.
Have you tried Opeth?
If you dig Marco, watch out for his album later this year with Guthrie Govan and Bryan Beller (if nothing else, advance to 3 min mark and enjoy)
Saw Paul Gilbert in concert with G3 a few years back. Him,John Petrucci and Joe Satriani. Utterly amazing.
I enjoy a lot of their work. But they still are Rush wannabe's. Just listen to Black Clouds and Silver Linings (their last studio record and a damn good one imo) and there is Rush all over the place...everything from Xanadu to The Spirit of Radio.I heard he was leaving a while ago, but was too busy to use Pandora until now.DT is so unique and popular on the prog stage that it will be hard for any band to get a similar sound without getting the wannabe label. They started out as a tribute band I think, but I got to hand it to them for venturing out writing stuff. It's hard to write Prog stuff and make it sound good. I think they are a little more harder than DT, but they have a good range. I enjoy listening to it and is a good substitute when I'm wishing I could hear some new DT stuff.Is leaving Dream Theater? Dude, he left nearly a year ago now!
Anyway, I am a big DT fan, but I dislike most other prog metal, including Circus Maximus. Sure, they have talent, but they sound like a DT wannabe band.
ETA
When DT started, were they considered Rush wannabe's?
Great show indeed.
PT is hands down next to Rush the very best band in the world right now.ATC1 said he couldn't really get into PT, but yeah, Dark Matter is incredible. I love the "Floyd-like" era of PT - The Sky Moves Sideways and Signify. They manage to have that Floyd vibe, but without sounding like they copied or borrowed anything, which is not always easy to do.
True. And if we are talking about current or most recent material, PT is THE best band in the world right now (since their material from the last 10 years > Rush's material from the last 10 years).Also, while DT doesn't hide their love for Rush, they don't hide their love for other bands either. Rush, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Yes, Muse, Floyd, etc. - all of those bands are big influences on DT, which is clear when you listen to their music (although Muse is on a smaller and newer scale).PT is hands down next to Rush the very best band in the world right now.ATC1 said he couldn't really get into PT, but yeah, Dark Matter is incredible. I love the "Floyd-like" era of PT - The Sky Moves Sideways and Signify. They manage to have that Floyd vibe, but without sounding like they copied or borrowed anything, which is not always easy to do.
As a die hard Rush freak. I can also agree with that statement. Porcupine Tree has pumped out brilliant record after brilliant record starting with In-Absentia - The Incident. I had the pleasure of seeing them twice now live (2007 and 2010) and can say if you have not had the chance to see them live do it. Not only are they just even better live than in the studio, but since they really have not caught fire here in the states you can be right up front in small venues at a fraction of what bands like U2 and yes even Rush cost.True. And if we are talking about current or most recent material, PT is THE best band in the world right now (since their material from the last 10 years > Rush's material from the last 10 years).Also, while DT doesn't hide their love for Rush, they don't hide their love for other bands either. Rush, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Yes, Muse, Floyd, etc. - all of those bands are big influences on DT, which is clear when you listen to their music (although Muse is on a smaller and newer scale).PT is hands down next to Rush the very best band in the world right now.ATC1 said he couldn't really get into PT, but yeah, Dark Matter is incredible. I love the "Floyd-like" era of PT - The Sky Moves Sideways and Signify. They manage to have that Floyd vibe, but without sounding like they copied or borrowed anything, which is not always easy to do.
I really like Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun a ton. I also like Signify as well. I am much more into their harder material when Gavin joined the band. But their previous work also has some fantastic songs. And as far as the Incident I do think it was the weakest of the last 4 records LOL. But yeah a great album in it's own right. I count Nil Recurring as part of FOABP and that 4 song EP is just jaw dropping! I like the rawness of the live versions of their stuff a tad more than the slickness of the studio. But Steve Wilson is a master behind the console. I wish Rush would work with him in that regard.As far Rush. I am very hopeful about A Clockwork Angels being a great record and being one of their finest works. Although Snakes and Arrows was so strong IMO. Best since Hold Your Fire.Actually, PT's awesome run started with The Sky Moves Sideways. And Lightbulb Sun (my favorite by PT) and Stupid Dream (3rd fave) are two of my three favorite PT records (along with Deadwing), and they aren't even from the last 10 years. I saw them in '05 and last summer, and they are definitely great live. Not sure I'd say they are better live than in the studio, but they sure know how to bring it live. What Happens Now? in surround sound is amazing.
I hold CP and S&A in the same light. Both were meaty and filled with great Rush riffs. I am very hopeful for CA due to the very strong Caravan (live this song was ridiculous) and BU2B. Both songs were heavy, hard hitting and filled with intensity. A lot of talk coming from Geddy and Alex talks about a very progressive piece for this album topping 8 minutes which is something we have not had since The Camera Eye. It will be interesting. And I also feel it probably will be their full length studio effort. Just a feeling on that.As far as PT....John Wesley is amazing with his backing and sometimes lead vocals live for PT!!I am still blown away this band is not huge here in the states. It just proves how bad the musical taste is in this country. I mean we have Katie Perry blasting our airwaves everyday!!!Realistically, the odds of the new Rush album being one of their finest works are pretty low, IMO, but I think it could be really good. But I consider Counterparts easily their best since the 80s, and I doubt this will top that. PT's studio albums just so sound good, it is hard to beat that. Plus, their harmonies are so lush and perfect in the studio, it is hard to pull that off live with just two of them. But this is splitting hairs. PT is Godly, no matter where they are.
I agree that Caravan and BU2B are both really good songs, especially the former, but we'll see if they write an album at this juncture with zero average tunes, ala The Stars Look Down, Sweet Miracle, Spindrift, Faithless, We Hold On, etc. As for PT, I am not overly wild about Wesley's voice (it is fine for harmonies, but keep him away from singing lead on PT live songs), and the way he butchers solos live is annoying. The live version of Dark Matter on the last DVD was tremendous, except for his absolute butchering of the solo before the second verse.I hold CP and S&A in the same light. Both were meaty and filled with great Rush riffs. I am very hopeful for CA due to the very strong Caravan (live this song was ridiculous) and BU2B. Both songs were heavy, hard hitting and filled with intensity. A lot of talk coming from Geddy and Alex talks about a very progressive piece for this album topping 8 minutes which is something we have not had since The Camera Eye. It will be interesting. And I also feel it probably will be their full length studio effort. Just a feeling on that.As far as PT....John Wesley is amazing with his backing and sometimes lead vocals live for PT!!I am still blown away this band is not huge here in the states. It just proves how bad the musical taste is in this country. I mean we have Katie Perry blasting our airwaves everyday!!!Realistically, the odds of the new Rush album being one of their finest works are pretty low, IMO, but I think it could be really good. But I consider Counterparts easily their best since the 80s, and I doubt this will top that. PT's studio albums just so sound good, it is hard to beat that. Plus, their harmonies are so lush and perfect in the studio, it is hard to pull that off live with just two of them. But this is splitting hairs. PT is Godly, no matter where they are.
I wish DT would do a bit more acoustic stuff. I remember Rudess saying a few years back that, since he joined the band in early '99, Petrucci has NEVER used his acoustic guitar live, which is a damn shame.
