Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings

[Chryst Krispies]

I just picked this up, the 3 disc megaman version...

I think it pwns.

Definitely a cool disc.

 

[iamdunker]

i love it, not as much as the new mastodon, but i think its f'ing great, but i didn't want a metal album from start to finish, i love the prog moments, and i love the count of tuscany(lyrics aside).

 

[jacare]

More funny analogies, Lol at Epic as Conan haha

I do get your point though, I enjoy the long songs mostly, have great fun blasting out the eternal solos in the car and such, Im happy they just don´t get stuck in that, they also make some pretty memorable riffs/melodies/choruses and such and blend it with total wankery when they get bored

Oh... I like long songs... like Galleon's The Ocean, Change of Seasons and so...
But those are songs that feel natural. Their last materals sound like they write songs this way:
- "let's start this one with a clean guitar part..."
- "hey, hey: I got this amazing riff I wrote while taking a crap yesterday"
-"cool man, let's play it 4 times and start with another heavy part"
- "ah... guys... I want a opeth-like part and i want a heavy part where I can growl like the monster who haunted my dreams when I was a child"
- "Well... cool... i have this 2 verse lyrics... we can use it and fill the song with wankery parts and feel good about ourselves. After all, we need to show what we studied for"
- "Nice...with all those parts we have like... 8 min ? this song has to be 13:46 min"
-"why?"
-"why what ? I'm the leader here. Plus, we need to be epic. ALWAYS... don't you forget that"
-"oh... ok"
-"well.. I bought a new acoustic guitar and..."
-"GREAT: let's throw in some ambient/ acoustic parts"
-"how much do we have now?"
-"12:05"
-"hm... let's play the wankery again... hey, KB player: let's modulate to Cm and play this scale as fast as we can"
-"dãhh... me like it...play fast... make noisy...virtuosi"
-"COOL GUYS... Knew we could do that ! Now, let's do this 5 times more with different song lenghts"
-"Ok... and then we can play ?"
-"sure"


I actually feel sad that I had the time to write this...

 

[Metaltastic]

funny analogy given your sayayin avatar and all lol

No no, in that case he'd have to say something like "he can channel his Ki" or "he busts out a mean Kamehameha"

 

[Felix Neumann]

I just listen to it the first time..loving the intro of "Nightmare to Remember". Also the whole song seems to be really cool. The next days will be pure analysis The last DT album did not pass the test of time for me unfortunately. Let´s see, how it will be with the new output.

WOW I´m impressed..."Nightmare to Remember" 8:50 minutes..backinggroup change tempo and petrucci´s solo fits in perfectly. Applause! Fucking awesome!

Edit: What´s that???! The Rap part 11:18 minutes...d´oh

 

[Matt-Steele]

Their last materals sound like they write songs this way:
- "let's start this one with a clean guitar part..."
- "hey, hey: I got this amazing riff I wrote while taking a crap yesterday"
-"cool man, let's play it 4 times and start with another heavy part"
- "ah... guys... I want a opeth-like part and i want a heavy part where I can growl like the monster who haunted my dreams when I was a child"
- "Well... cool... i have this 2 verse lyrics... we can use it and fill the song with wankery parts and feel good about ourselves. After all, we need to show what we studied for"
- "Nice...with all those parts we have like... 8 min ? this song has to be 13:46 min"
-"why?"
-"why what ? I'm the leader here. Plus, we need to be epic. ALWAYS... don't you forget that"
-"oh... ok"
-"well.. I bought a new acoustic guitar and..."
-"GREAT: let's throw in some ambient/ acoustic parts"
-"how much do we have now?"
-"12:05"
-"hm... let's play the wankery again... hey, KB player: let's modulate to Cm and play this scale as fast as we can"
-"dãhh... me like it...play fast... make noisy...virtuosi"
-"COOL GUYS... Knew we could do that ! Now, let's do this 5 times more with different song lenghts"
-"Ok... and then we can play ?"
-"sure"


I actually feel sad that I had the time to write this...

This really sums up to me what DT has become. Well done!

 

[Let it burn...]

check portnoy's original vocals on a nightmare to remember: http://www.mikeportnoy.com/mp/ANTR MP & JLB.mp3


WIN

 

[Kazrog]

check portnoy's original vocals on a nightmare to remember: http://www.mikeportnoy.com/mp/ANTR MP & JLB.mp3


WIN

Maybe they decided that growling would scare some of the fans?

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

Maybe they decided that growling would scare some of the fans?

they did, actually. portnoy made a big long post on his forum basically stating that in prepro they did like 4 versions of it. one with just labrie singing, one with portnoy growling, one with portnoy's growls over labrie's singing, and one with portnoy barking like he does on the final. everyone liked the growled version but petrucci thought it'd scare away fans or something so they decided to do the barked one.

 

[Kazrog]

they did, actually. portnoy made a big long post on his forum basically stating that in prepro they did like 4 versions of it. one with just labrie singing, one with portnoy growling, one with portnoy's growls over labrie's singing, and one with portnoy barking like he does on the final. everyone liked the growled version but petrucci thought it'd scare away fans or something so they decided to do the barked one.

Haha, wow... I've not been to his forum but that is pretty funny. Considering some of the (square, nerdy, old-school) DT fanbase, I can see why Petrucci said that, but what they arrived at in compromise is completely silly. This is the best DT record since Metropolis 2, though, so I'm stoked about that.

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

well, portnoy's growled version actually sounds really good. a lot better than what actually made it on the album.

he said he actually originally wanted to get mikael akerfeldt to growl on it but he figured they'd be doing it live, there's no way he could get akerfeldt on a tour with them to do it every night so he ended up doing it himself.

I knew my vocals in A Nighmare To Remember would surely spark some controversy...looks like I was right!

As The Count Of Tuscany once said:
"wait a minute man....that's not how it is...let me please explain!"

1. The original melody that JP had to this section I felt did not work with the music. This section of the song has a really heavy, driving Judas Priest/King Diamond vibe musically...and JP had a melody that was more melodic and James' high voice I felt REALLY softened up the music to this very important dramatic section of the song.

(mp3 not available for this example)


2. I really kept hearing a Mikael Akerfeldt type Opeth death growl (yes, cookie monster vocals - sorry Setlist Scotty!) Like em or hate em, the section was really calling for it to my ears (listen to the instrumental version and you'll hear what I mean...)
The thought crossed my mind to ask Mikael himself to do it, but then I figured I'd end up having to do it live every night on tour, so it might as well be me on the CD....

So I gave it my best shot and here's what it was:

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/mp/ANTR MP Cookie.mp3

In the end, JP and I discussed it and he just couldn't hang with the cookie...he thought it was just TOO radical for DT fans to swallow...


3. So I agreed to try adding James doing a bit of a "counterpoint" to my cookie monster version to possible help soften the blow and add a little melody to the part....so here's what it sounded like:

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/mp/ANTR MP & JLB.mp3

I did not dig this approach as
a) James' clean vocals were still softening up the music to me
b) the counterpoint approach made it all too confusing and distracted from the drive of the music


4. So John and I went back to the idea of keeping my vocals for the section to keep it heavy and driving, but getting rid of the Opeth cookie monster approach and going for a more Robb Flynn/Machine Head approach instead (kind of like my "Constant Motion" voice)

In the end, that is what we went with:

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/mp/ANTR Final.mp3

I did indeed know that no matter what, we wouldn't please everybody with the idea, but I really felt a "heavy" approach was needed to keep the heaviness of the section (and hey...look at Roger Waters, Wayne Coyne, Neil Young, Dave Mustaine, Jeff Tweety, James Hetfield, etc etc. the truth is *anybody* can sing...it's all about having personailty and emotion in the expression... )

I know my voice my not be everybody's cup of tea (especially the heavy side), but sometimes
a contrast to James' cleaner vocals are needed with some of the heavy riffs and I believe "character" or "personality" in a voice is just as important in music and the expression of your art, it's not always about virtuoso, operatic range...

Ultimately, if you really are bothered by em then I suppose you can at least thank me for making the instrumental mixes and isolated stems available!


MP


PS - On a side note as this thread is really aimed to clear up my side of the street amongst the bashers: I must say the amount of hatred and negativity towards me on other DT "fan" sites is truly incredible (you know who you are)...my skin is not as thick as you may think!

It baffles me that as the member of DT (or any band for that matter) that must be one of the most fan-driven musicians in the industry, I am so slammed by our "fans"...while other artists (who will go unnamed) that could care less our fans are put on a pedestal....sorry, I am still human and can read these forums and it indeed hurts sometimes...

Please feel free to post this on those sites as well...

 

[JamieK]

OMG! Having Akerfeldt do the heavy part would have been amazing!
I would have prefered the 'cookie' vocals MP did to be on the final version.
Much respect to Portnoy though for that post.

 

[Fox Mulder]

The album sounds like they wrote it while whining over that fact that all of them suffer from premature ejaculation.

 

[Jaymz]

Hmm I actually like those vocals he did there, bit of a change from Labrie's...

 

[AeternusEternus]

I think the cookie monster vocals he did were the best thing to do. To me, there's four stages of vocal here. The first is LaBrie's vocals, which are clean as a whistle. There's the Portnoy bark, the Portnoy cookiemonster, and then the Mikael vocal. I think that Portnoy's cookie monster thing is atrocious, but only because it's like it's halfway to what Mikael does. I don't feel any pressure behind it, it's not as intense and dark as it should be. The Portnoy bark is ABSOLUTELY the best of the four. Even if Mikael had been invited to do the track, I'd take the bark over it. Just my two coin.

 

[Jaymz]

Yeah its funny Mike's cookie vocals sound exactly like me when I try and do a cookie voice! A clear reason not to use them for the album haha

 

[Chryst Krispies]

Yeah, I don't understand all the Portnoy hate.
At least they are trying SOMETHING different.

 

[AeternusEternus]

Also, let me just put it out there that the Shattered Fortress is an incredible way to end the saga. This is what a reprise should be.

 

[AeternusEternus]

Yeah, I don't understand all the Portnoy hate.
At least they are trying SOMETHING different.

It's not even that different! Dude's been doing that vocal for a long time. It's sounded good every single time. Portnoy is the shit and anyone who ain't believe can kiss it

 

[Chryst Krispies]

Yeah , I guess it's not that different, but fuck...