Dream theatre

viz

chrispy108 said:

Yeah, James has been better on the last few IMO, he says he's feeling a lot better. It sound horrific, he's said he nearly quit over it. I think he sounds great on the new album, but not so good on the new live DVD from the clips I've seen.

For some good JP check out his solo at 5 mins on this:

Wow. Can't wait till 14 Feb at Hammersmith!

chrispy108

That solo is from the song Erised from Periphery's second (last) album which came out in 2012 @Lukeage

Periphery have a 7 track EP out the end of this month, with a new album due sometime this year.

thisisguitar

If I could only have one it would probably be Awake, great album.

viz

Tonight Wembley

mike_l

@viz I wish I was going too.

 But stuck at work till 6, and a little skint

:-<

viz

It's going to be a goodie that's for sure.

mike_l

Thanks.

 

:-<

joneve

Last saw them on the Octavarium tour. Seems forever ago now (probably because it was )...Great live band though! 

viz

That was outstanding. And excellent sound. Here's a short clip:

chrispy108

Spent most of yesterday listening to Live at the Marquee on spotify, it's a great live album.

How was James last night?

I'd love to see Dream Theater, but I'm not a fan of big gigs at all.

viz

James's voice quality was good but the pitch was often a bit sharp to my ear.

viz

Like here:

beed84

Scenes From A Memory is simply flawless IMO.  It has an equal balance of everything they're capable of doing musically, which they shift between expertly and intelligently, maintaining good strong melodies throughout.  

Images and Words is also brilliant for the same reasons.

I love what they did for Train of Thought.  Awesome riffs with excellent vocal hooks.

Octavarium is great too.

A Change of Seasons has it's moments.  

Disc 2 of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is epic.

Sadly, and this is just my humble opinion, their style since then has changed in a way where I just don't like what they're doing. Systematic Chaos was good but not a parch on their preceding albums.  Black Clouds sounded terrible. ADTOE was actually pretty good and gave high hopes for their recent self-titled album.  Unfortunately, I found it showcased, to some degree, what they can do in a non-musical and lazy way.  I listened to it a few times and got nothing out of it.

mike_l

@viz you ain't wrong, he seems to be somewhere between a semi-tone and a tone sharp (to my ear). Although he did seem to be going flat towards the end of that clip...

Maybe (just maybe) he couldn't hear himself properly?

viz

Yep I'm sure that's the reason - I make it about half a semitone sharp.

mike_l

He was fluctuating between a semi-tone and not-quite-a-tone, but semi-tone was about the average. At least to my ear........

chrispy108

Shame, I think James being that far off would have ruined my night tbh.

I agree with @beed84 about Scenes from a Memory, I've listened to it so many times without tiring of it. It's one of my favourite albums by anyone.

joneve

I agree with @beed84 and @chrispy108.

I must have listened to Scenes from a Memory hundreds upon hundreds of times over the last 10 years and simply never tire of it (listening now in fact!). Perfect from start to finish. And one of the few albums I can remember the 1st time I heard it and it blowing me away. Only a handful of albums have ever done that to me! 

viz

That's like Awake for me. I do love the Metropolis dvd though.

longi

I like Octavarium the best. I like Black Couds and Silver Lining , Systematic Chaos and Dramatic Turn Of Events too. Awake and Images And Words I can take or leave. Pull me under is epic though. I cant stand the slow slushy polished stuff though it does my head in.