OT: A New Discovery

[venomnation]

I have been up and down the musical catalogs of a metric shit-ton of artists. Spent a few years at radio, and have over 5 TB of music in my library digitally, not counting what's on CD.....I've been called the "King of Useless Trivial Knowledge" when it came to music....I have been banned from trivia night at hooters after my wife and I won 8 weeks straight, and to be honest, the old stuff has been getting a little "old" lately...and I've just been dying to get my hands on something different....something I didn't ''know". Strangely, one of the great bands out there, one everyone SHOULD know, is one I had never gotten into listening to. I'm regretting it as we speak. Tonight, I was going through my backup archive DVD's....and found one that I'm guessing is about three years old..I can't decipher the burn date, because I didn't label it that way, and the modified dates show the dates the folders were modified, but the last thing on it...rather...the newest...was 2005....and of it...of the 4.7 Gigs....3.6 of that...is the Dream Theatre Discography through 2005's "Octavarium" - now where i got this...is beyond me...I know none of the stations I worked for would have played them, so I know I didn't get it from them...the only place i can think of is my friend Jeff...who was the singer in our band...and was always throwing stuff at me to bounce off of me..and I probably gave it two listens of two songs and went "bah..." - we weren't that kind of band.... At any rate, I'm rambling. I said I'd give it another shot....and I've listened to "Images and Words" twice now.. I gotta say...I'm fuckin diggin this!

So...here's a rare opportunity. I know a ton about a lot of bands out there...but not Dream Theater...teach me...I've read up on them at various web pages..but I want the FANS to tell me. What am I listening for here? Best tracks? Etc.

Teach Me.

Steve

[The Sushi Hunter]

Reading it here is the first time I've heard of this band and the music. From what I pulled up on youtube in regards to the Images and Words, so far to me it sounds like some really good stuff. I'd like to learn and hear more as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czmM-bnaCiQ

[venomnation]

Reading it here is the first time I've heard of this band and the music. From what I pulled up on youtube in regards to the Images and Words, so far to me it sounds like some really good stuff. I'd like to learn and hear more as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czmM-bnaCiQ

I'm hearing Queensryche on steroids lol - I'm diggin this shit!

[The Sushi Hunter]

I'd like to listen to the entire song, but I've not been able to locate one. I'll keep looking, but from what I've heard in that clip I posted, sounds like a great song.

[ProgRocker53]

Dream Theater is an absolutely amazing band.

Every musician is one of the greatest in rock on their respective craft. They're a very profound and "deep" band that have all kinds of masterful arrangements, hidden musical "nuggets," brilliant concept albums, and all kinds of cerebreal stuff that can keep even the proggiest of us busy for days, trying to absorb it all....

My favorite album is "Images and Words" and my favorite song is probably "Take the Time."

Every album is different from the one before it. They're a constantly evolving band that is never satisfied with where they are, and constantly explore new ideas.

They even did a live Journey cover, on their "A Change of Seasons" EP. It's on "The Big Medley." Check it out.

I can't pump this band up enough or give it any kind of justice, to how amazing they are... they're one of my top favorites, up there with Journey/Rush/Porcupine Tree/Pink Floyd/Toto in my book.

[Rip Rokken]

Dream Theater is awesome! But I never went further than Images and Words, Awake, and A Change of Seasons. Awake was one of the first CD's I ever owned once I switched over from cassette, and I loved it. I can't remember being that impressed by Seasons, though, and just never bought any more. I've probably made a big mistake.

First song I ever heard from them, of course, was "Pull Me Under", and that is still a fave of mine...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pIjHeBbRtY

[The Sushi Hunter]

Dream Theater is awesome! But I never went further than Images and Words, Awake, and A Change of Seasons. Awake was one of the first CD's I ever owned once I switched over from cassette, and I loved it. I can't remember being that impressed by Seasons, though, and just never bought any more. I've probably made a big mistake.

First song I ever heard from them, of course, was "Pull Me Under", and that is still a fave of mine...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pIjHeBbRtY

I have heard this song years ago though. I never knew who did it though because back when I heard it, that sound was what many bands were trying to sound like. I want to say late 80's, even maybe very early 90's. From what I've pretty much explored tonight in regards to Dream Theater, thus far, I favor the latter work that they do compaired to their earliest.

[Ehwmatt]

If you're a musician, be ready to want to quit your instrument within an album's worth of listening. Now that that's out of the way, here's the way I would go:

1. Images & Words - Keep listening. It only gets better as you hear the nuances in every song
2. Scenes From a Memory
3. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
4. Falling Into Infinity
5. Octavarium
6. When Day and Dream Unite - Debut w/ original vocalist Charlie Dominici (James LaBrie sings on all records afterwards) - This album is where DT wears their Rush influence on their sleeves early in their career. Fans love it or hate it it seems because of Dominic's voice... I'm part of the former category
7. Awake
8. Systematic Chaos
9. Train of Thought
10. A Change of Seasons*

Their live releases are all excellent as well... my favorite is Live Scenes From A Memory. It's great to see that musicianship like theirs is no product of studio magic.

* Asterisk because this only features one original DT track, the 23 minute title track. One of their best songs, but the rest of the album is covers I think.

As ProgRocker already alluded, this is a band with a RICH RICH history of doing things "for the fans" - this means easter eggs on live DVDs/CDs, easter eggs on albums, continuing musical themes/melodies/motifs over albums and/or songs, groups of songs that are part of a series that continue over several albums, Collections of B-sides/rare live material etc available through their own supplier, Ytsejam Records, and generally being very good about communicating news and happenings with the band to their fans via the internet. To fully appreciate DT, even if you love the music, you're going to have to dig far beyond just listening to the studio releases. On that note, most of their material, like their prog forefathers like Yes, Rush, and Queensryche, often requires repeat listenings before you start "getting it," so be patient with everything you hear until you've given it a fair shot.

DT fans are kinda like Journey fans in a way... there are some that are partial to the "old" DT when they were a little more proggy/ambient etc than today, where they are increasingly focused on being heavier, and some that are partial to the newer, darker DT. These guys know how to do a metal song, but I am part of the group that favors the older DT just because the musicianship was still extraordinary, yet restrained. Nowadays, especially on Train of Thought and their latest, Systematic Chaos, they do tend to get a little bit carried away with the wankery on the instrumental sections of songs. I think for someone coming from this site, with melodic rock tastes, it's best to start with the older stuff. On Images & Words, you're going to even hear a few moments where DT is sounding like some bands featured on this site a lot... particularly with tracks like Another Day and Surrounded. Have fun, this'll be a hell of a musical journey for you if you dive deep into the DT catalogue.

[youkeepmewaiting]

Pound for pound a musicians, no one apart from Rush can touch them. As song writers, it depends what mood im in

[texafana]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Theater

With DT it's either love at first play or forget about it. If you aren't into them by now, save yourself some time. Granted they are AWESOME musicians, vocally James sounded awesome in his earlier career, the past few years his vocals in my opinion are just "ok". If you're into musicianship without catchy melodies give em some more of your time. It's kind of like "Rush" except without the "hook".

[Ehwmatt]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Theater

With DT it's either love at first play or forget about it. If you aren't into them by now, save yourself some time. Granted they are AWESOME musicians, vocally James sounded awesome in his earlier career, the past few years his vocals in my opinion are just "ok". If you're into musicianship without catchy melodies give em some more of your time. It's kind of like "Rush" except without the "hook".

Not all their songs have hooks but they certainly know how to pen one... Lifting Shadows Off A Dream, Solitary Shell, Constant Motion, I Walk Beside You, Hollow Years, and Another Day to name a few from all eras of DT.

As for James, I think he's sounding pretty vintage on the last year and a half of touring - he finally recovered from vocal chord damage endured during a bout with food illness that really impacted his live performances for years. He sounded great in August and I'm sure he'll sound great in May when I go back to see them again.

[ProgRocker53]

Dream Theater: What happened when Journey had sex with Metallica while Rush videotaped it for Pink Floyd's viewing pleasure.