Posts tagged dream theater
Top Albums of 2009
Dec 23rd
Traditionally, this is the time of year where I pick my favorite musical releases of the past 365 days (366 on leap years). This year will be no exception. And…man was this year a gigantic change from last year. Whereas 2008 was kinda slow for music, 2009 was a flood, especially the second half of the year. Quality release after Quality release just kept right on coming.
So without further delay, lets get right into it:
#1 – Transatlantic – The Whirlwind
Transatlantic - The Whirlwind
My number 1 this year is one of my most anticipated albums of all time, which is a followup to my absolute favorite album of all time (Bridge Across Forever). After spending most of the decade on hiatus after Neal Morse turned his energies to writing christian inspired music full time, The members of Transatlantic got back together and came right out swinging again with The Whirlwind.
It’s not nearly as good as Bridge Across Forever, and the sound has progressed from what it used to be, but honestly so have the members of the band. The lyrics, too, have evolved, from being simply spiritual to actually having some religious overtones. I don’t find that distracting enough to count it as a knock on the wonderfuly constructed musical content of this album.
The best parts are when the guys just seem to jam. There isn’t a band out there that has the writing chemistry that this guys do. the 77 minute title track feels cohesive, with themes introduced in the Overture coming back again and again through the song.
Transatlantic is back in busniess and I’m immensely excited to be seeing them live in April.
#2 – Dream Theater – Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings
If you asked me at the beginning of the year whether the upcoming Dream Theater album was going to be making my top list this year, I would have been doubtful after 2007’s Systematic Chaos fell (very) flat. After it was released though…wow. I was taken totally by surprise, often randomly saying to Wassy things like “Man, I can’t believe the new DT album is so good!”. It was my surefire number 1 until Transatlantic came out.
What we have here is a continuation of the sound of Systematic Chaos but with the missing elements of the Dream Theater sound and, more importantly, song structure added back in. John Petrucci owns this album with his solos, especially The Best Of Times. And Jordan Ruddess, prone to overplaying, reins himself in and plays for the song, not to see how many notes he can squeeze into a bar of music.
That’s not to say the album isn’t technical. It is. But it’s renewed focus on song structure and melody are what makes it work 1000x better than Systematic Chaos did. The only song that falls flat for me is Wither, which just sounds like a dated power-ballad. The Piano version is much better.
I want to specifically mention The Best Of Times which is a song written by Mike Portnoy as a tribute to his father who has recently passed away. Just hearing it for the first time gave me chills (and I even teared up towards the end). The epic guitar solo is one of the best solos I’ve ever heard. Ever. There’s so much emotion and feeling that was poured into the song and it really shows.
#3 – Muse – The Resistance
Muse - The Resistance
This album was a sleeper for me. Released the same day as the latest Porcupine Tree release, I expected it to get passed by as I spent most of my time with The Incident. However…that’s not how it turned out at all.
I loved it on first listen, and every listen after that caused it to grown on me even more. I find it very interesting that Muse is a mainstream band, and yet their sound (especially on this album) has so many progressive rock elements to it. They’re geniuses. They’ve managed to trick the mainstream into listening to prog!
Muse wears their influences on their sleeves on The Resistance, inspired by bands such as U2 and Queen. But instead of a straight up copying of their influences sound, they take it and add to it something that’s uniquely Muse. The United States of Eurasia is clearly Queen inspired, but it’s also very Muse like.
Also they’re not afraid to throw even classical influences into the mix, including the likes of Chopin. Not to mention the Exogenisis Symphony that closes the album. The entire thing feels like it’s Muse sticking it to the entirety of mainstream music, and they’re being embraced for it.
#4 – Long Distance Calling – Avoid The Light
Long Distance Calling - Avoid The Light
This album was also a bit of a surprise for me. I’m not normally one for purely instrumental music as I feel a lot of the time the song structure isn’t interesting enough to really differentiate one song from another. But on a tip from the members of Mike Portnoy.com forums, I went and checked this band out.
What I found was quality instrumental progressive rock, with definite song structure and pacing. They understand how to build a song up from the beginning to a climax and make it interesting. Furthermore, the drumming is really good, probably my favorite part of the album.
It’s not entirely instrumental though, as there’s one song with lyrics which is also enjoyable. The vocalist sounds a lot like the guy from Katatonia, actually.
My only complaint is that it’s a very short album, but I’ll take quality over quantity any day. If you’re a fan of instrumental rock, you own it to yourself to check out these guys.
#5 – Redemption – Snowfall on Judgement Day
Redemption - Snowfall on Judgment Day
Redemption was one of my discoveries from 2007 after seeing them open for Dream Theater in Buffalo, NY. I’ve had my eye on them since. These guys are a progressive metal band fronted by Fate’s Warning’s Ray Alder, backed up by a quality group of players. I really like Ray’s vocals on these releases as I think this type of music fits his style more than Fate’s Warning.
Anyway, this particular release is nothing really new or pushing the boundaries of the genre or even their previous releases. What it is, though, is a rock solid progressive metal album in a genre full of dream theater wanna-be’s who are very much not putting out interesting or quality music. Redemption clearly is influenced by the giants in the Prog Metal field, but they put their own spin on it and make it their own. This album also features some excellent lyrics, another thing that’s hard to find in the Prog Metal genre.
Throw in a track featuring a Duet with James LaBrie of Dream Theater and you’ve got a great album. Don’t mistake me when I say it’s nothing new. It’s still quality material.
Other Releases
- Porcupine Tree – The Incident
A solid, if disappointing release from PT. It clicked after seeing it live, but I need to be in a certain frame of mind to really listen to it. - Epica – Design Your Universe
A little too reliant on the growling, but this is one of Epica’s strongest releases Musically yet. - 3 – Revisions
A collection of redone and re-recorded songs from 3’s past, this release is good, but not great. The new version of The Game is a bit dissapointing, but I’m really happy with the rest of the songs. - Jordan Ruddess – Notes on A Dream
Jordan records his own piano versions of several Dream Theater songs. I like his focus on the songs that pre-dated his joining the band. His versions of Another Day and Hollow Years are stellar. I love having this on in the background. - OSI – Blood
The weakest of the OSI releases. Just didn’t grab me like the other ones, but it’s got some good songs too it. I think they tried to be a little TOO heavy and that’s not where OSI shines. The best parts are the more ambient songs like Terminal and Radiologue. - Umphrey’s McGee – Mantis
Part prog, part jam band release. This group was one of my new discoveries this year. Very nice for when I’m in the right mood. Some songs lose me a bit, but the first half of the album is very good. - Riverside – Anno Domini High Definition
An album that’s a lot less dark than their previous efforts. Some good stuff here, but it doesn’t quite capture the magic of Second Life Syndrome. Feels a little too short too. - Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Night Castle
The instrumental parts are awesome. The lyrical songs are terribly, terribly generic. Lots of filler here. Somebody needs to make a TSO lyric generator. It’d be pretty easy. Just throw in lots of children, dreams and people singing “on this night” - Scale The Summit – Carving Desert Canyons
This one is good in small doses, but all of their songs sound very similar after a while.
Honorable Mention
Bigelf – Cheat The Gallows was an album that was released last year, but one which I discovered this year. Take The Beatles, Pink Floyd and a liberal dose of evil and throw them in a blender and you get Bigelf. Really cool retro sounding music with a modern twist. Go see them live for full effect…the studio recordings just don’t capture them adequately.
[Plinky] Memories And Music
Aug 19th
What three songs remind you of a specific time in your life?
Amazon is being fruity right now, so I’ll put the pictures in later. But here’s the answer
The New Math by OSI
This OSI album will forever remind me of Scuba Diving. That’s a little odd considering the fact that the album doesn’t have the slightest thing to do with scuba diving. But I was taking a scuba course at the local college when it came out and I remember sitting in my car listening to it, waiting for class time.
This song reminds me of a fish purchasing trip with my friend Wassy. I had just gotten Fear of a Blank Planet (the album this song is on) and was playing it in the car while we were driving around. Later she said “That music you were listening to sounded really cool. What was that?”
That sent her on a musical journey into Progressive Rock and Metal and all of my favorite bands, which was cool because finally I had somebody to talk to about this stuff and go to concerts with.
Fatal Tragedy by Dream Theater
Speaking of musical journeys…this song was my introduction to Dream Theater and Progressive Metal. I heard it as a random pick on the old internet radio station Echo. Echo was a station that learned your musical preferences and played songs you might like along those lines…one of the first ones that did that. It also randomly played a song that was outside your likes and dislikes occasionally, to potentially broaden your horizons.
Well, the random pick was Dream Theater and I really enjoyed it a lot. It took a year or two for me to really check it out further. But once I did, I got Scenes From a Memory and I was hooked. My journey into Prog Rock began.
[Plinky] An Introduction To Dream Theater
Aug 13th
I talk about Dream Theater an awful lot on this blog since they're my favorite band. They've been described as "the biggest group you've never heard of" and that's a pretty accurate statement.
Since they play Progressive Metal, they can be a hard group to get into. But here's But since I'm trying out plinky.com and this is the prompt for today, here goes my attempt at easing you into listening to Dream Theater. They have such a big catalog that's so diverse, it's hard to pick 3 songs that will work for everybody. I usually would approach this by asking what sorts of stuff they tend to listen to and then selecting appropriate songs that are most like what the person is familiar with.
But if I had to pick 3 songs to expose a random person to everything that is dream theater, here's what I'd pick
I Walk Beside You by Dream Theater
This song showcases their more pop oriented side and is probably one of the more accessible songs in their catalog. Very U2 influenced. You should pay attention to James LaBrie's voice here as he's not everybody's cup of tea. If you like it though, you might also like songs such as Another Day, Hollow Years and The Answer Lies Within. Continue onwards to…
Voices is one of my favorite DT songs of all time. This song is a lot more "progressive" than I Walk Beside You and is probably a better representation of their overall catalog. It contains a good mix of both sides of DT, the melodic and the heavy metal. It also introduces you to lead guitarist John Petrucci's solo chops with one of my favorite guitar solos ever.
If you liked this one, you might like songs such as Misunderstood, Blind Faith and Innocence Faded
And if you're still with me…let's head to the heavy stuff
A Nightmare To Remember by Dream Theater
A Nightmare To Remember is on this list for two reasons. First, it's an example of the most recent Dream Theater sound. Second, it's one of the heaviest songs they've produced.
If you like this one, you'll probably like songs like The Mirror, The Glass Prison, And pretty much everything on Train of Thought
Progressive Nation 2009
Aug 5th
Progressive Nation 2009 was VERY awesome. As I mentioned before Wassy and I went off to Albany to catch one of our most anticipated concerts of the year. The bands were Scale the Summit, Bigelf, Zappa Plays Zappa and, of course, Dream Theater.
We left for Albany around 3:30 and aside from one small hitch (some local construction had closed one of the lanes of a 2 lane road for 2 freaking miles why the paved it. Totally unnecessary…) we arrived at the parking garage on schedule. We grabbed some sandwiches and headed over to the venue a few blocks away.
Wassy grabbed a ridiculously overpriced t-shirt (seriously…$40 for very thin shirt?? Add $5 if you're XXL) and we settled in for the show.
First up was Scale The Summit which I liked well enough. They were a pretty dorky looking band, honestly. One of the guitarists wore his guitar so high it looked like a necklace. They had good music but it was a little same-y for doing a setlist like that. There's definitely instrumental bands that I like better. After they had their set, we decided to go see what beers they had on tap. They happened to have newcastle which was one of the ones we like (we're kinda picky about beer) and so off we went.
Bigelf started soon after we got back to our seats and man, they blew me away. I liked their studio CD but seeing them live really made the whole thing "click" for me. Very high energy show and their main vocalists is…scary looking. Complete with top hat and a coat with a long beard. I am definitely going to have to pick up more of their stuff.
Zappa Plays Zappa…eh. I had high hopes for this band as it's the sort of music I might enjoy. And sure enough the first couple songs were really good. But then it got…weird. Too weird for me. I need a little song structure in my songs. So instead I spent an hour and 15 minutes being bored.
However, about halfway through the ZPZ set, two obviously huge older Zappa fans came and sat in front of us in matching tshirts and one pair of binoculars. It should be noted at this point that we were sitting in the 9th row. Binoculars at this point seem a bit unnecessary. But use them they did. In fact they sometimes fought over them so they could watch the individual fingerings of the flute/sax player I guess. Anyway, despite being huge zappa fans and practically bouncing up and down through the entire set, they got up and left before ZPZ was finished. They confused the crap out of me…but it gave me something to watch.
After Zappa Plays Zappa, the main wait for DT arrived and, man was it worth it. They have a totally badass way of opening the show this year. Their stage setup is also really cool with a new upgraded video show and some neat stuff that Jordan does with a HDTV behind his setup that has a computer animation of him playing that's synced with the song as he's playing it.
The setlist was A Nightmare to Remember, A Rite Of Passage, Hollow Years, Erotomania, Voices, Prophets of War, The Count of Tuscany and with an encore of Metropolis pt 1. Pretty much the perfect setlist.
Wassy and I were praying that we were going to get Voices this time as it's one of our favorite Dream Theater songs and we thought we'd get it in Washington DC last year, but ended up not getting it. So the moment the first note of Erotomania was played, we went kinda crazy. My throat hurts this morning… But it was so worth it. Voices! It still feels a little like maybe I imagined it. Those were all the songs that I was expecting to hear and even the extended soloing bits in Metropolis pt 1 were pretty cool. Sometimes they can go on too long, but the band was interacting and having a lot of fun which kept things interesting.
James LaBrie was good last night, but I've heard him better. I've also heard him much worse. He hit all the right notes but had a little trouble in Metropolis which is a hard song to sing at the end of the night anyway. He was totally on in the showmanship department. Interacting with the crowd…lots of energy and it looks like he's in better physical shape than he has been in the past few tours too. I was particularly impressed by Jordan and John Petrucci during the introduction to Hollow Years where they had a really neat extended introduction solo that was just the right mix of technical and melodic stuff.
I'd put this as one of the best DT shows that I've gone to (this is my 8th DT show). I do enjoy going to concerts with Wassy as it seems like she has some sort of concert karma that makes the show extra awesome. And going with a friend who's as into it as you are is much more fun than going alone.
After the show got done, a quick walk back over to the parking garage and an easy drive out completed the evening. We ended up making an emergency stop at a McDonalds in Herkimer since we were both pretty hungry after the show and couldn't find anything good on the thruway.
All in all, a very enjoyable evening and well deserving of the anticipation
Progressive Nation 2009
Aug 5th
Progressive Nation 2009 was VERY awesome. As I mentioned before Wassy and I went off to Albany to catch one of our most anticipated concerts of the year. The bands were Scale the Summit, Bigelf, Zappa Plays Zappa and, of course, Dream Theater.
We left for Albany around 3:30 and aside from one small hitch (some local construction had closed one of the lanes of a 2 lane road for 2 freaking miles why the paved it. Totally unnecessary…) we arrived at the parking garage on schedule. We grabbed some sandwiches and headed over to the venue a few blocks away.
Wassy grabbed a ridiculously overpriced t-shirt (seriously…$40 for very thin shirt?? Add $5 if you're XXL) and we settled in for the show.
First up was Scale The Summit which I liked well enough. They were a pretty dorky looking band, honestly. One of the guitarists wore his guitar so high it looked like a necklace. They had good music but it was a little same-y for doing a setlist like that. There's definitely instrumental bands that I like better. After they had their set, we decided to go see what beers they had on tap. They happened to have newcastle which was one of the ones we like (we're kinda picky about beer) and so off we went.
Bigelf started soon after we got back to our seats and man, they blew me away. I liked their studio CD but seeing them live really made the whole thing "click" for me. Very high energy show and their main vocalists is…scary looking. Complete with top hat and a coat with a long beard. I am definitely going to have to pick up more of their stuff.
Zappa Plays Zappa…eh. I had high hopes for this band as it's the sort of music I might enjoy. And sure enough the first couple songs were really good. But then it got…weird. Too weird for me. I need a little song structure in my songs. So instead I spent an hour and 15 minutes being bored.
However, about halfway through the ZPZ set, two obviously huge older Zappa fans came and sat in front of us in matching tshirts and one pair of binoculars. It should be noted at this point that we were sitting in the 9th row. Binoculars at this point seem a bit unnecessary. But use them they did. In fact they sometimes fought over them so they could watch the individual fingerings of the flute/sax player I guess. Anyway, despite being huge zappa fans and practically bouncing up and down through the entire set, they got up and left before ZPZ was finished. They confused the crap out of me…but it gave me something to watch.
After Zappa Plays Zappa, the main wait for DT arrived and, man was it worth it. They have a totally badass way of opening the show this year. Their stage setup is also really cool with a new upgraded video show and some neat stuff that Jordan does with a HDTV behind his setup that has a computer animation of him playing that's synced with the song as he's playing it.
The setlist was A Nightmare to Remember, A Rite Of Passage, Hollow Years, Erotomania, Voices, Prophets of War, The Count of Tuscany and with an encore of Metropolis pt 1. Pretty much the perfect setlist.
Wassy and I were praying that we were going to get Voices this time as it's one of our favorite Dream Theater songs and we thought we'd get it in Washington DC last year, but ended up not getting it. So the moment the first note of Erotomania was played, we went kinda crazy. My throat hurts this morning… But it was so worth it. Voices! It still feels a little like maybe I imagined it. Those were all the songs that I was expecting to hear and even the extended soloing bits in Metropolis pt 1 were pretty cool. Sometimes they can go on too long, but the band was interacting and having a lot of fun which kept things interesting.
James LaBrie was good last night, but I've heard him better. I've also heard him much worse. He hit all the right notes but had a little trouble in Metropolis which is a hard song to sing at the end of the night anyway. He was totally on in the showmanship department. Interacting with the crowd…lots of energy and it looks like he's in better physical shape than he has been in the past few tours too. I was particularly impressed by Jordan and John Petrucci during the introduction to Hollow Years where they had a really neat extended introduction solo that was just the right mix of technical and melodic stuff.
I'd put this as one of the best DT shows that I've gone to (this is my 8th DT show). I do enjoy going to concerts with Wassy as it seems like she has some sort of concert karma that makes the show extra awesome. And going with a friend who's as into it as you are is much more fun than going alone.
After the show got done, a quick walk back over to the parking garage and an easy drive out completed the evening. We ended up making an emergency stop at a McDonalds in Herkimer since we were both pretty hungry after the show and couldn't find anything good on the thruway.
All in all, a very enjoyable evening and well deserving of the anticipation
Longest. Morning. Ever.
Aug 4th
This morning is one of the longest mornings ever because in an hour I get to leave work. And then 3 hours after that, my friend Wassy and I leave for Albany to catch a show on the Progressive Nation 2009 tour. As I mentioned earlier.
It felt a little weird last night since it didn't really seem like we were going to be going to a concert today, but here we are. I've got my ear plugs ready and the GPS all programmed and I'm ready to go. Just need to get out of work so I can run my errands and get everything all set for the trip out.
Didn't report much on the goings on of this weekend because it was a lot of relaxation. It was double XP weekend in City of Heroes so Wassy and I (Jay's been really tired recently so he excused himself from the festivities) did some CoH-ing. It got me more interested in playing the game so I've been dabbling back in from time to time since. We also did some Rock Band/Guitar Hero which has been a long time in coming. Nothing much interesting to the outside observer I suspect, but some much needed relaxation for me.
I hope to post again tomorrow with a ProgNation update.
Longest. Morning. Ever.
Aug 4th
This morning is one of the longest mornings ever because in an hour I get to leave work. And then 3 hours after that, my friend Wassy and I leave for Albany to catch a show on the Progressive Nation 2009 tour. As I mentioned earlier.
It felt a little weird last night since it didn't really seem like we were going to be going to a concert today, but here we are. I've got my ear plugs ready and the GPS all programmed and I'm ready to go. Just need to get out of work so I can run my errands and get everything all set for the trip out.
Didn't report much on the goings on of this weekend because it was a lot of relaxation. It was double XP weekend in City of Heroes so Wassy and I (Jay's been really tired recently so he excused himself from the festivities) did some CoH-ing. It got me more interested in playing the game so I've been dabbling back in from time to time since. We also did some Rock Band/Guitar Hero which has been a long time in coming. Nothing much interesting to the outside observer I suspect, but some much needed relaxation for me.
I hope to post again tomorrow with a ProgNation update.
Busy Busy August
Jul 29th
Well, it seems like August is shaping up to be an extremely busy month for me. He's a rundown of what's going on (so far) this month:
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August 4th – Progressive Nation 09
First up on the list of August events is a concert. Specifically Progressive Nation 09, featuring Dream Theater, Zappa Plays Zappa, Bigelf and Scale The Summit
I'm pretty excited about this show. It's been a while since I've gone to a concert first off and second the new DT album is extremely good which always makes me even more excited. Finally, I've been listening to some Bigelf and Scale the Summit and I've been pretty impressed with what I've heard. There was a change in the openers, but I can't say I'm terribly dissapointed with the end result.
- August 9th – Sterling Renaissance Festival
I had originally not planned to go to the Sterling Renaissance Festival this year, but my sister contacted me recently and she really wanted to go. So plans were made for us to go either August 9th or August 16th depending on if it's going to rain either day.
Hopefully we get good weather as I'm really looking forward to going. The two weekends are themed as Gypsy weekend which is new this year so it'd be neat to go see it and Wine Lovers weekend which will work out as well.
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August 15th – Family Gathering
Instead of doing a christmas eve party on my mom's side of the family this year, it was decided to instead move the traditional family gathering over to the summer and head out to the official family campground, Whetsone Gulf State Park.
This is another "I hope we get good weather" event, but I'm hopeful it'll work out. It'll be nice to get together with everybody and hang out. With the option of getting away and wandering the park for a bit if necessary too. Should be a fun time had by all, assuming of course that the weather cooperates nicely for us.
- August 28th - The State Fair
Yet again my friends and I are planning to hit the state fair. This year though we're going out in the afternoon (after lunch) hitting all the building stuff, just eating dinner there and then exploring the wine tasting stuff in the evening. Last year we discovered we really liked it when it was getting dark out and the crowd was thinning out so we're planning the trip to avoid some of the crowd. Yet again, I hope we get good weather this year.
This also helps mitigate a bit of the costs of going considering we're there for less time and eating less of the overpriced (but tasty) foodstuffs.
Ants. I Hate Ants (And Some Other Stuff)
Jul 22nd
So in the apartment recently, we've been working on battling one of the scourges of summer: Ants. I know why they decided to visit us (we haven't been as good about cleaning up the kitchen as we really should be…but we're getting better on that now) but these things are like mutant ants.
We finally figured out where they were coming in yesterday when, due to the accidental spillage of some sugar on the counter they had formed a decent line going to and from the spill, feasting mightily. So we've repositioned the ant traps and we're hoping that they show some interest in them some day. I tossed some new traps out on our balcony as well since they've been out there as well.
We will defeat the ant incursion or die trying. Or something like that.
Lets see, other stuff that has happened…
I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks to go to see Dream Theater on the Progressive Nation tour in Albany. I'm extremely excited about this show considering the new album was pretty darn awesome. Looking forward to seeing them live again. it's been quite a long time since the last concert I've been to.
Also I can't believe that I'm actually going to be going back to school for something starting pretty soon too. My course in digital typography starts pretty soon (end of august) and I'm going to be actually paying them shortly for it. Just feels kinda surreal. I'm pretty excited about exploring this direction right now, so I'm hoping something good comes out of it. Doesn't hurt to try in any case.
I've been working on designing a personal portfolio type site as an exercise first and I really would like to have just a place on the internet that's a hub of stuff I'm doing and where to find me elsewhere. Not that many people really care, exactly, but it's something to do. My mom also wants to set up a website for her crafting stuff so I'll be going over there next week to talk details.
Doesn't seem like I'm running short on projects that I can tackle to help develop my skills.
New Dream Theater Day!
Jun 23rd
After Systematic Chaos was released 2 years ago, I doubted if I would ever be excited about the release of a new Dream Theater album. But then they released A Rite Of Passage as a single from their new release and I started getting excited and anticipating.
Well…today is the day. Black Clouds & Silver Linings has been released. I'm going to be leaving detailed impressions for a later post in a couple days once I have time to digest it, but my overall feelings of this release are pretty darn positive.
Lyrically, it's a fairly weak effort, continuing the trend started on Systematic Chaos. Almost everything with John Petrucci lyrics is fairly blah. Especially The Count Of Tuscany.
But musically, this album blows Systematic Chaos out of the water. One of the trends I was weary of was their tendancy to wedge crazy instrumental sections into the middle of songs without any transition or reason for being there. But this time out, they've pulled back from that a bit. There's a couple of rough spots, but overall, the songs have an actual structure to them and a natural flow.
Jordan Ruddess also impressed me with his restraint on the keyboards. He plays for the song more often than not and really contributes positively to the album, even on his solos.
But the real star is John Petrucci. This album contains some of his best work (and some of his worst…see Wither…but that's only one song). His solos are melodic when they need to be, technical when it's called for and overall awesome. Especially the solo in The Best Of Times. That's one of the most emotional guitar solos I've ever heard. And one of my favorites of all time.
Speaking of The Best Of Times, it's probably my favorite track on the album. An extremely emotional tribute to drummer Mike Portnoy's dad who passed away last year. The lyrics here are the very best the album has to offer, in my opinion.
Overall a solid effort that's a step in the right direction coming off of their weakest album (in my opinion). Great music tempered by very blah lyrics in spots.
Anyway, I'll leave it there for now with general impressions and I'll post up a more detailed review in a few days once everything sinks in. It's going to be a very good year for music.
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