Nah dude, that's perhaps a valid point about many shredders, but Petrucci's solos in the old days were absolutely bursting with feel, he was so freakin' expressive it was ridiculous! I mean, good god, go to 3:07 in this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugcbya8Z24s
And then listen to Labrie try (and fail) to hit the high notes after
Nah dude, that's perhaps a valid point about many shredders, but Petrucci's solos in the old days were absolutely bursting with feel, he was so freakin' expressive it was ridiculous! I mean, good god, go to 3:07 in this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugcbya8Z24s
And then listen to Labrie try (and fail) to hit the high notes after
uke:I'm going to respectfully call bullshit here; Petrucci's ALWAYS (not just on the older shit) been tasteful. Even on the new shit. He likes to play a lot of notes every now and then, but that has nothing to do with "FEEL."
People like to equate "slow" with "feel," and I think a lot of times the fast Petrucci stuff gets looked over because people assume he's full of himself. I think he's well respected for a reason, and that reason is he's nasty.
/fanboy rant.
And those vocals aren't even bad considering the harrowing sight that was Labrie at Download hahaha.
That said, while Jani from Sonata and Per Nilsson IMO nail the "fast with feeling" thing, I remember not being impressed or moved by one single solo on ToT (and completely abandoned the band after), and the ending of "This Dying Soul" is just 100% inexcusable IMO 
