Ayreon sucks? Ha ha, what a story Mark...
Ayreon is mostly just one man who records almost all the instruments and writes pretty much everything. He has no formal musical education and can't even read sheet music. He plays completely by ear. He had to sell his own house to be able to fund his first record. He was rejected by many labels before finally being accepted by a small Japanese label. Most of the record labels said his music sucked and it was outdated for the 90's. His first album went on to being considered one of the best prog metal albums of the 90's and brought the rock opera format back to life. Ayreon also brings some unknown prog singers into the spotlight, often helping the singer's own band gain more attention. Ayreon's music contains complexed storylines with a lot of symbolism and references to today's world. The idea of the stories are to try to make the listener aware of the problems of our modern time, like pollution and consumerism. Many people have listened to an Ayreon album and as a result, began recycling more and living a more healthy lifestyle.
Dream Theater are good, but they are nearly the exact opposite. They are all VERY well versed in musical theory and have a much larger audience. We can all agree a very good chunk of their discography is cluttered with mindless wanking. The worst part about them, in my opinion, are their lyrics which mostly seem to have been made off the cuff in the final stages of writing. I'll never forgive lyrics such as "dark master of sin, I will fight for you". Octavarium and Six Degrees are probably their best tracks of the 21st century. A Change of Seasons could be considered their best song, structure wise and lyrically. So in many ways, making a song give the listener a strong emotion usually leads to success. 14 minutes of random improvised 200 mph shredding does not appeal to many.
Now with that aside, let's tear apart a band that really does suck like pain of salvation! Their singer has the most annoying voice I have ever heard of in my entire life and I have listened to several of their albums from front to back without remembering a single melody. Or how about The Mind's Eye with their master-piece-of-shit entitled "Walking on H20" where, I kid you not, EVERY SINGLE SONG is in the exact same song structure! How about Tommy Wiseau-like punch lines like "They say men have landed on the moon, those bastards!" that are never explained or seem to have any real place at all? And you say Ayreon is bad...
If you live in Scandinavia, you're lucky you get such radio stations. Do you know what we get here in Albany? Country, hip hop, alternative family friendly rock (mostly bands like Hinder, Nickelback, Papa Roach and Skillet), 60's pop, classical (mostly cluttered with interviews and the DJ begging the listener for money), top 40 (this is literally the audio version of being brutally impaled) and 80's pop (where "the Rick Roll" song is taken seriously). THAT'S IT! I kid you not! We don't even get Nightwish on any stations. And the EXACT SAME fucking songs are always played like heart's baracuda and aerosmith's dream on. I haven't heard a new song ever in my life on the radio here unless it's shit like Lil Wayne or Ke$ha.
And how dumb it is to say only the US don't appreciate the new SX approach. Are you kidding me? What a stupid statement. I am sick of Europeans making the US seem to be nothing but drooling, drunken rednecks.
EDIT: does anyone know why you have to keep logging in like every 5 minutes? It gets really annoying.
