Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off

idk if they're in it for the money but they've definitely become a parody of themselves

their work is honest.

I think they actually legimately want to do this, that this is their vision of greatness that they're making but that's just me.

No career metal band who has been at it this long and is pumping out albums on a regular basis is honest anymore. Almost all of them said what they had to say what when they were young and turned into a machine.

There are two ways such bands can go - one is that they keep pumping out the same thing over and over without the novelty or heart it had the first time around, pleasing diehard fans while boring everyone else. For example, Iron Maiden.

The second is that they try something new without the vocabulary to properly execute it or the understanding of what made their work good the first time around. Sometimes they will make a back to the roots album once this fails. See Metallica.

Dream Theater is an institution at this point, basically falling entirely into the first category. Sure, they may not have made a double concept record with full orchestra and choir before, but it's window dressing. The musical elements are the exact same ones they've been using for decades.

Petrucci cites his influence for this as Tolkein, Star Wars, Jesus Christ Superstar, and The Wall. Daring original.

Of course, there is a third path in which bands successfully try new territory, but it's so rare that it's almost not worth mentioning and is usually achieved by turnover so massive that you practically have a new band (see King Crimson).

Album Rating: 4.5

I wouldn't give it a 5, the 4.5 is a placeholder. It's best to look at things in hindsight. Can't really do that when its release day. By telling guttural nonsense I mean like walka flocka...or...all those other good fellows. They aren't in it for the money, they wouldn't have used an orchestration, I'm sure that's pretty pricey. They are here, 20 plus years later, still relevant cuz of their love of music. I guess you could say Portnoy is following that trend by having some fun in Adrenaline Mob with Russell Allen.

Album Rating: 3.5

Frog I think you're generalizing too much. Maiden still does what they liked, but they also added a prog element to their music in their latest record. I think most bands don't give a crap's ass about what fans like and want, they just play what the hell they want. I think this is why we had bands like Motorhead and AC/DC who made more than ten albums all sounding the same. I think most of bands are honest in what they do, although their marketing strategies says otherwise (Metallica).

what now? hes following the trend or he has fun?

MEMÉ FFS GUYS IT'S MEMÉ

Album Rating: 4.5

Following the trend of loving music and sharing that with the world, surely they have fun doing it. DT and Portnoy are the same in that regard.

Rastapunk, I really don't think so. You don't really see this sort of thing happen in jazz and classical music - somehow composers in those genres manage to stay relevant into their old age because the vocabularies of those genres are much wider and they're not depending on album sales in the same way. Rock and metal are largely young man's games.

The music business doesn't really work in a way that allows bands to play whatever they want - there are many more considerations than that, and ignoring all of those factors is naive. You think these guys really want to keep writing essentially the same songs over and over again and playing them repeatedly for decades? I mean, sure, it's preferable to other jobs if you can keep it going, but I highly doubt it's their heart's musical desire.

Album Rating: 2.5

Damned the day DT hired Jordan Rudess... He's been a terrible influence and now he has taken control of the band and now they suck.

Rudess has released ONE great album with DT and that was Scenes from a Memory, his first one with the band and probably the one where he had less input...

They got it all wrong with him..

Most bands lose strength over the years but in DT case this was too dramatic... Once Rudess came in and Portnoy left that was it... The geeks took over

And Maiden always had an element of prog in their sound.

Album Rating: 1.5 | Sound Off

You could almost say it was astonishing.

I'll never understand how Rudess manages to get tones that sound like a $300 casio out of $3000 boards.

The best thing I can say about this album so far is that it's not as bad as their last.

Album Rating: 1.5 | Sound Off

I disagree with the implication that we have to choose between the worst of mainstream hip-hop and modern progressive metal.

Personally, I'm looking forward to Weezy's guest feature on the next DT record.

Album Rating: 2.0

Didn't DT record what is considered by many as their best album just when they hired Jordan Rudess (SOAM)? I mean, he can sound very awkward and out of place, but this guy has a lot of talent, he's just wasting it most of the time, I don't know why.

Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off

Rumor has it he didn't actually want to play with DT in the beginning, so he was joking on SOAM. They liked him so much they wanted him to stay and he realized he couldn't just say ''Hey, it's a joke'', so he tried to be serious. And then it started.

Album Rating: 2.0

Well it seems this album is just as dividing as anything DT made in the past ten years. I've always been a huge apologist to their later stuff but I'm kinda scared approaching this one. It could very easily be the deal breaker.