People who know me from MusicRadar may remember that I am a bit of a John Petrucci fan, and after listening to the whole of Dream Theater's "Awake" earlier I thought I'd post something here, to see if there are any other fans. I think he's just a superb guitarist in pretty well every sense - technically he's all but untouchable, yet he has a really developed sense of melody and his solos are very well-constructed. He's a great songwriter and also has a tone to die for. And he does play like he means it - I understand it's not to everyone's taste, but people who assert that he's "soulless" or emotionally disconnected are just wrong IMO.
Obviously he's a shredder of truly epic skill, but I think comparisons can also be drawn with players like Steve Lukather and Neal Schon.
3:00 here is a good example of his early style - clear 1980s rock influence:
This clip from 1993 is just stunning, particularly from about 2 minutes:
This is from 1997, the solo at 6:25 displays a lot of Allan Holdsworth influence, very cool:
This is from 2003, and the album that was my introduction to Dream Theater. The solo at 3:50 blew my mind, I'd never heard anyone play that fast before and it still gets me going today... it's not just the speed, it's the energy with which it's delivered. It screams.
This is from 2009, and it's utterly marvellous - about 30 seconds in is a really nice, melodic solo, then the song develops and develops from there into a 19-minute epic with some brilliant musical moments. Then at 17:00, another solo, based on the theme that was introduced in the first solo, but taken to new heights. That last solo really reminds me of Neal Schon, except even better. Superb.
Not to mention that he can riff with the best of them too - Awake and Train of Thought are stuffed with great downtuned metal riffs.
So there we are. Surely I can't be the only fan of this full-on guitar genius?
- "I'm going to write a very stiff letter. A VERY stiff letter. On cardboard."
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Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
I, too, like "Images and Words" and loved the track "Pull me under" but that's about it. I appreciate him as a player and he definitely stands out. I also like the "Steve Morse" type picking thing that he does but you've mentioned a couple of other guys here (Schon and Lukather, and let's not forget Huff) who I prefer. For middle ground i.e. someone who melds flash, melody and technical ability with the percussive pump of Nuno, check out Pete Lesperance of Harem Scarem and here's a slower piece of his but you might like their first album and Mood Swings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCzlBEklAIs
Ok, that's not a bad thing. But I agree with everything you say about Pete Lesperance (and Harem Scarem).
Oh, I love Petrucci too. His work on Scenes from a Memory (still) blows me away.
Yep it was good, astonishing even, but not that moving. Here's a clip. It was all a bit samey like this, I felt.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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