Just curious. I am very impressed with this album!!! I have seen it described in a number of ways - due to the many influences the artists draw from. When you have musicians from Fates Warning, Chroma Key, and Dream Theater collaborating, and the fact these guys all love Pink Floyd (they even do their own take on Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun by Pink Floyd), it is no wonder this sounds so great!!!
This album really has impressed me with just how versatile Jim Matheos is as a musician. And nods to Kevin Moore, Mike Portnoy, and the rest of the guys who contributed to the album! Others may disagree, but the guitar work on this (all Matheos) doesn't remind me of Fates Warning at all - which is interesting as a few pieces on the album were originally intended as new FW material!
One of my biggest problems with Dream Theater is it sounds too "random" to me. Fates and DT are actually very similar in styles, but Jim is very skilled at 'threading' riffs/songs in a way that just flows. The DT I've heard involves a lot of 'breaks' and 'jumps' that, while requiring a high degree of skill, really grates on my ears. I saw Fates and Dream Theater a few years back, and actually left halfway through DT as I just couldn't get into the DT sound. As Kevin Moore and Mike Portnoy are both DT guys, you would expect this tendency to 'break' and 'jump' to fall into the DT pattern, but on the OSI album all of these seem to flow very well, which is no doubt due to the fact that Jim wrote the original material.
I've seen a few mentions in the OSI forum that people feel like Mark Zonder could easily have replaced Mike Portnoy on this project, but I disagree. Even with Kevin Moore shuffling Mike's drum work around (from what Mike has said, during this editing some of his best drum work ended up hitting the cutting room floor), I definitely can feel Mike's influence on the album. He and Jim recorded the initial 'test of concept' (which can be heard on the limited edition bonus CD) that is the foundation of this album, and he brings an energy to the material that is entirely different than what Mark would have done.
I definitely look forward to the next OSI album!!! Mike and Jim simply sound awesome together - and should collaborate more often!
So, Alanbirdsell and others, have you picked OSI up yet? Whaddyathink???
:hotjump:
This album really has impressed me with just how versatile Jim Matheos is as a musician. And nods to Kevin Moore, Mike Portnoy, and the rest of the guys who contributed to the album! Others may disagree, but the guitar work on this (all Matheos) doesn't remind me of Fates Warning at all - which is interesting as a few pieces on the album were originally intended as new FW material!
One of my biggest problems with Dream Theater is it sounds too "random" to me. Fates and DT are actually very similar in styles, but Jim is very skilled at 'threading' riffs/songs in a way that just flows. The DT I've heard involves a lot of 'breaks' and 'jumps' that, while requiring a high degree of skill, really grates on my ears. I saw Fates and Dream Theater a few years back, and actually left halfway through DT as I just couldn't get into the DT sound. As Kevin Moore and Mike Portnoy are both DT guys, you would expect this tendency to 'break' and 'jump' to fall into the DT pattern, but on the OSI album all of these seem to flow very well, which is no doubt due to the fact that Jim wrote the original material.
I've seen a few mentions in the OSI forum that people feel like Mark Zonder could easily have replaced Mike Portnoy on this project, but I disagree. Even with Kevin Moore shuffling Mike's drum work around (from what Mike has said, during this editing some of his best drum work ended up hitting the cutting room floor), I definitely can feel Mike's influence on the album. He and Jim recorded the initial 'test of concept' (which can be heard on the limited edition bonus CD) that is the foundation of this album, and he brings an energy to the material that is entirely different than what Mark would have done.
I definitely look forward to the next OSI album!!! Mike and Jim simply sound awesome together - and should collaborate more often!
So, Alanbirdsell and others, have you picked OSI up yet? Whaddyathink???
:hotjump:
