Why do you like Vanden Plas ?

I agree with the Dream Theaters brother with more talent. They are strong on every level, song writing, musicianship, vocals, etc what Zod said. In terms of song writing they are INCREDIBLY tasteful, wise, and thoughtful in how they progress each song, like it was a finely made movie with climaxes, development, and calm points. The song lyrics work the same way, very intelligent and deep I think. In terms of progressiveness theyre just what I'm looking for, its like either progressive metal with power metal leanings because they have great hooks and melody..though they COULD be more proggy at times they don't get so progressive that its incoherent or dissonant like I feel like with some Dream Theater at times, like prog for the sake of prog. I LOVE the singing..man melodic, high range, clean, technically excellent, emotional, and powerful! They are all around one of the best Progressive Metal bands around, arguably the best. The best art is when you get artists that have that fine balance between the technical and emotional and these guys have it in spades.