The Official Flying Colors Thread

[j]

Not familiar with Alpha Rev, but I'm pumped for this based on Portnoy's updates.

-J

[Birch Boy]

I need to check out the other guys' bands!

[Orbert]

I'm tempted to do the same, but Dave LaRue is the only one I'm not really familiar with, so I'm gonna hold off and let the music surprise me when it comes out.  It sounds like it's gonna be some cool stuff.

[SoundscapeMN]

Day #7
 
Today was a half day as I had an in-store appearance in the afternoon...(thanks to all the fans that came out to say hi!)
 
And even with a half day, we still managed to bang out 2 more songs!!
It's unbelievable the pace that 5 very creative and focused minds can work at...
 
The first song we worked on tonight was another one that stemmed from Neal & Steve's writing pow-wow last year...of course, once we jammed on it a bit, it inevitably went to some new and exciting places and inspired some new sections.
 
This one probably has the most Dreg-ish feel of any of the tunes on the album...and even has a bit of a country-jam breakdown...which of course is some new territory for me! (and that's awesome...)
 
I encouraged Neal to sing the verses on this one as Casey is doing so much singing and I really wanted to have Neal sing lead on at least a few sections...we even tried me doing some lead singing on the B-section, but I bowed out as it didnt feel like the right part for me...
 
The next song (song #10 already...wow!) is something that Neal presented as a possible different song for me to sing lead on...he pictured it as my "With A Little Help From My Friends"...I may give it a whirl once we start doing our real tracks, but in the meantime I'm leaving the lead vox on this one in his more than capable hands!
 
And Casey sings the most insane, bluesy Chris Cornell-type vocal on the Bridge of this one (over a new section that Steve came up with...)
 
Once again, the feel of this song is uncharted territory for me (which I LOVE) and I'm getting to play a super solid swinging backbeat...almost a 50's do-wop, meets gospel type vibe....but in a Ben Fold Five meets Faith No More (ala Edge Of The World or I'm Easy) way....
 
The musical range and diversity on this album is absolutely ridiclous...it's like a musical melting pot!!!
 
I joked to the guys a few days ago that each of us individually has a certain musical stereotype...like Neal is the Prog Guy, Casey is the Pop Guy, Dave is the Jazz Guy, Steve is the Country Guy and I'm the Metal Guy.....now of course, that is VERY limiting and not neccessarily true as ALL of us all go so many places musically, but the point was that even with all of our different backgrounds and styles, we have come together to make MUSIC that is UNIVERSAL because we ALL love so many different things...
 
And when you hear this album, you will be taken on the same journey....every song is a whole unique and fresh experience down a whole different road from the previous song...from rock to jazz to prog to bluegrass to funk to alternative to pop and everything in between!!!
 
If you are simply an unprejudice, open minded and open eared MUSIC LOVER, you are going to love this album!
 
Just like I do!
MP

[Ħ]

Great to see that Neal is gonna be singing a bit.

[hefdaddy42]

Every one of MP's posts about this thing make me want it more.

[Nekov]

Is there any chance this album is coming out tomorrow? The thought of having to wait for months for it to come out is making me crazy!! I want it all and I want it now.

[ReaPsTA]

What if this album and DT11 end up being really good?  From a musical standpoint, isn't MP leaving DT the best thing that could have happened?

[skydivingninja]

What if this album and DT11 end up being really good?  From a musical standpoint, isn't MP leaving DT the best thing that could have happened?

If that is the case, yes it is.  I agree with Hef though, MP is doing a very good job of making people excited for this even though we probably won't see it till near the end of the year!

[The Letter M]

What if this album and DT11 end up being really good?  From a musical standpoint, isn't MP leaving DT the best thing that could have happened?

If that is the case, yes it is.  I agree with Hef though, MP is doing a very good job of making people excited for this even though we probably won't see it till near the end of the year!

That's quite possible. I don't think Neal will work on it at home as he has to do work on Testimony 2 once these sessions are over (he plans to get that album out in May!). I have to wonder who will take the album and mix and master it and how long it will take to do proper tracks and overdubs. I'm hoping for a mid-to-late summer release myself, just long enough between the release of Testimony 2 and this album for Neal and Mike to do a tour for Testimony!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Update from NEAL!!!

Hello,

First of all, my apologies for not posting much of anything about this project until now. I have been really busy with getting the studio ready for this extravaganza and now the project itself. Enough excuses...

Well, it is now Day 8 of project that I am calling MMPLM (our initials) for short. As I write Steve is fixing his parts and a really cool shreddy bit in a song that sounds a bit like Muse meets Yngwie. Really cool and different for me. We have now recorded 11 songs of varying styles and lengths; from rockin' short songs to beautiful slow songs to proggy longer pieces.

I read that many of you are wondering about Casey. Wow. What a talent. His voice is so expressive and ....well, just beautiful and filled with emotion. He is also one of the best songwriters I've ever worked with, and plays really cool stuff as well.

It's been an amazing week...what a great bunch of guys! It's been fun and exhilarating musically and personally.

 We all hope you enjoy this recording as much as we are enjoying making it.

May you be blessed,

Neal

-Marc.

[ZKX-2099]

Muse meets Yngwie?

Go on...

[DarkEternalNight]

Yay, we get some Proggy stuff!

[axeman90210]

Really excited about this project after reading the updates. I also checked out Alpha Rev this afternoon and the first impression was a good one Can anyone recommend a first Dregs album to give a spin?

[pogoowner]

Muse meets Yngwie?

Go on...

That's actually the least exciting thing I've read so far, as I'm not a fan of either of them.

Overall, I really, really like the sounds of this project, though.

[hefdaddy42]

Can anyone recommend a first Dregs album to give a spin?

My favorite is their second album, Free Fall.

[Jamesman42]

MMPLM

Marco Minnemann play like Myung?



Man, I cannot wait to hear this.

[rumborak]

Sounds good so far. Only thing that concerns me is the rate at which they do stuff.

rumborak

[contest_sanity]

Maybe since they're incorporating so many different genres, the name of the project will be called:



Transgenreriffic

[Jamesman42]

Sounds good so far. Only thing that concerns me is the rate at which they do stuff.

rumborak

What do you mean?

[The Letter M]

You know what I just realized, guys? Who guested on DT's last album?

Jerry Goodman - 1/4th of the current line-up for The Dixie Dregs. I wonder if having Jerry on BC&SL sparked ANY interest in both John Myung and Mike Portnoy playing with other Dixie Dregs members?

JMX is to release The Jelly Jam's third album which features The Dixie Dregs' drummer Rod Morgenstein.

MP is working on an album with Steve Morse and Dave LaRue, the guitarist and bassist of The Dixie Dregs.

And of course, Jordan Rudess once filled in on keys for them, and even did a project with Rod, as well as have him play on two albums. Two of JR's albums also featured Steve Morse guitar solos, and Dave LaRue on bass for the whole album (Rhythm Of Time).

It's amazing how many ways these two bands have come to interact with each other, especially recently. Now all we need is an album with Jordan Rudess and Jerry Goodman. Piano and violin? I'd be all for it!

-Marc.

[Jamesman42]

That reads like some prog incest right there.

[Quadrochosis]

That reads like some prog incest right there.

[Zydar]

Day #8
 
As the session began, we determined that as we only have 2 more day together, we should write one more song and then spend the rest of time reviewing everything and making any last changes needed...
 
We dive into what becomes the 11th and final song...a real barn-burner that is a true Steve Morse/Dave LaRue/Mike Portnoy shred-fest (Neal and Casey were pushing us to write something like this, and as the saying goes: "Be careful what you wish for"!)   
 
Musically it's very Yngwie meets LTE but with a Muse-ish harmonic and melodic edge....I think this song is the last remaining "missing ingredient" to an album that is a very well balanced musical meal!
 
We then begin the process of listening down to all the songs one at a time and addressing any last changes we'd like to make to the arrangements, chord progressions, instrument orchestrations, vocal melodies, etc.
 
Tonight and tomorrow will have us finishing up this last stage with the songwriting and arranging, doing a photo session and some video interviews, kicking around band names and then wrapping up our time together.... 
 
I will then spend the rest of the week doing my proper drum tracks before leaving for NAMM on Friday morning....and as there wont be much to report with my drum tracking, this will be my last studio report....
 
It's been an amazing experience with amazing guys and amazing musicians....I cannot wait to see how the album continues to develop over the coming weeks and months and hopefully we will have more info for you all soon concerning its release.
 
Thanks for reading...and thanks for supporting me in all my musical (ad)ventures! You guys are my REAL fans and I know you are behind me and my decisions and that means the world to me...I will continue to raise the bar and work my ass off for you all!   
 
Carpe Diem,
MP

[ariich]

This really is sounding like such great stuff! A shred-fest in itself doesn't sound all that exciting, but as a solitary track on an 11-song album, it could be a great way to show off the players' chops, particularly SM!

@Rumbo: I know what you mean, but I remain hopeful that they've managed to put together something that doesn't sound rushed. I'm fairly optimistic about it, especially considering a few of the songs are based around ideas that the Morses worked on months ago, and it sounds like a lot of the riffs and ideas are things that people have had in their head for a while.

[Mat JB]

This album sounds great! Steve Morse is my hero, not just as a player but as an unbelievable writer of music, it'll be great to hear him play with Mike. I like Neal's music too, Dave LaRue is excellent of course, never heard of the Alpha Red guy, so that should be an entertaining unknown quantity - I anticipate this album hugely! 

[RazielSR]

Sounds somekind like Yngwe??!

SOLD!

[Orbert]

Sounds good so far. Only thing that concerns me is the rate at which they do stuff.

Agreed.  It's great that they can crank out so much material so quickly, but I for one can't help but wonder what the quality is like.  If I understand your post, that is.  I mean, heck, my friends and I can hole up in the basement and create an album in a week, as long as no one's concerned about how good it is.

The first Liquid Tension Experiment album was smacked together very quickly, and I think the results were amazing.  Also, part of the point was to keep things very spontaneous and not rework or overdub things to death.  If we're talking about that kind of output, I'm excited as hell.  But some bands put out albums where you listen and just think maybe they should have taken a little more time with it.

I'm not saying that that's the case here, but... we don't know.

[Mladen]

OK, I haven't been following for a while, so I have to ask - did they REALLY write the album in eight days? Or am I just plain stupid. 

[bosk1]

Given that that's almost exactly how they wrote The Whirlwind, I'm not concerned.  

[Nihil-Morari]

Morse and Morse apparently did some demo's a couple of months ago, and all the other brought some pieces in too.

But yeah, it looks like they actually wrote the thing in 8 days. And I'm not concerned either.

[hefdaddy42]

I'm not concerned. 

[Mladen]

Man, you really need to have brains to write a progressive rock album in 8 days, that's impressive. 

[The Letter M]

I don't recall where I read it, but I agree that a GREAT band name for this project would be US or U.S., a sort of spin on U.K., which itself was a super-group of sorts, and sort of stands for the fact that every one in the band is from the United States, and it really is all about them (or US from their point of view).

And as far as I know, there is no (famous/well-known) band named US or U.S., so it could be up for grabs!

Also, it would be a fun way to distinguish this band from Mike and Neal's other band, Transatlantic! Then all we'd need is Roine Stolt and Pete Trewavas doing their own band with two or three more Europeans...

-Marc.

[bosk1]

I may be misremembering, but I think there actually was an "Us" out there somewhere, which was the reason the Neal Schon project of a few years ago ended up being "Planet Us."