Favourite song off the Majesy Demos? (Original Release)

[AboutToCrash]

I just checked out the Majesty Demo's for the first time, and although it's absolutely ruined by Chris Collins... It was still an interesting listen. I was just wondering if anyone here found a favourite track from the demos? Mine is probably another won... I can definitely hear a strong maiden influence on that track, Love the technicality too. Shame DT didn't do a version with LaBrie because the score version is amazing

[OpenYourEyes311]

I like 5/6 of the songs, not a big fan of Two Far.

Went with Another Won as favorite, if only for the Score version. A Vision is a close second.

[hefdaddy42]

I guess Another Won, followed by A Vision.

But none of it is very good.

[Another_Won]

Voted for Another Won . . . duh 

Everytime I hear a non-Score version my mind converts it to the Score version.  I never really got into any of the others.

[IDontNotDoThings]

A Vision, easily.

At one point it was a Top 10 DT song for me

[Madman Shepherd]

Your Majesty.  A Vision is a close second. 

Also, I wouldn't say Chris Collins ruined the songs.  Using too much treble and allowing sound levels to peak in recording his vocals did.  He may not be a great vocalist but I think he had some potential. 

BTW, A Vision with Charlie is better.  Not just the vocals but the whole recording. 

[Robo4900]

BTW, A Vision with Charlie is better.  Not just the vocals but the whole recording.

Absolutely 100%. Song itself is better too; they shortened it, rearranged it, and slightly adjusted some lyrics. Having said that, I preferred the Collins version's ending, simply because the Dominici version fades out, something I'm never a fan of.

On that note, I went for A Vision. I haven't heard all of the Majesty demos, but the ones I have heard I've liked(Yes, even Your Majesty). Another Won is nearly my favourite, and the fact Score is my favourite live DVD pushes that pretty far, but I think I have to go with A Vision. It's just a really, really good song. The Dominici version anyway. The Collins version is still good, but not as good.

[Madman Shepherd]

You guys might want to seek out a recording of DT doing Your Majesty in 2001ish.  They only did it at one show as a tribute to the Majesty Fan Club in France and they put the recording on the Lifting Shadows exclusive CD that you got only with the first edition of the book.  James struggles a bit but still sounds fine.  Very cool performance, regardless. 

[ytserush]

You guys might want to seek out a recording of DT doing Your Majesty in 2001ish.  They only did it at one show as a tribute to the Majesty Fan Club in France and they put the recording on the Lifting Shadows exclusive CD that you got only with the first edition of the book.  James struggles a bit but still sounds fine.  Very cool performance, regardless.

i should pull that out again. Some of that stuff was available previously, but that one wasn't.

[CharlesPL]

A Vision easily

[Robo4900]

You guys might want to seek out a recording of DT doing Your Majesty in 2001ish.  They only did it at one show as a tribute to the Majesty Fan Club in France and they put the recording on the Lifting Shadows exclusive CD that you got only with the first edition of the book.  James struggles a bit but still sounds fine.  Very cool performance, regardless.

I forgot they did that. Thanks for reminding me! Despite James unfortunately having an off-day on that particular show, it was a good recording of the song. Definitely more listenable than the original Majesty demo.

I'd love to see them pull out that, or any of the other Majesty tracks live someday(Especially if they chose A Vision). It'd be a great surprise setlist choice.

[hefdaddy42]

I would absolutely be shocked if that ever happened again.  MP was the one who was all about playing old songs/rarities.

[Madman Shepherd]

That's true.  Definitely one of the finer points of MP's tenure.  Then again, he did go a bit overboard with it.

On that same token, I wouldn't put it past JP to want to pull out something like this.  As has been discussed to death, these last several tours have been very unusual.  ADTOE was MM's first tour so they didn't want to go too crazy although they still pulled out To Live Forever and that King Crimson cover at one show.  Astonishing was a weird circumstance.  The AFTR tour they could potentially have the excuse of wanting to be totally prepared for their live recording.  This next tour will be sort of a litmus test if they are ever going to pull out surprises again although them playing I&W in its entirety indicates they probably won't.

[Robo4900]

That's true.  Definitely one of the finer points of MP's tenure.  Then again, he did go a bit overboard with it.

If by "Going overboard" you mean the full album covers they used to do... Yeah, I agree 100%. I actually quite liked what they did with When Dream And Day Reunite since it's one of theirs, rather than stuff like Dark Side Of the Moon, but given the fact I'm one of few who legitimately love that album, I'm probably biased.

On that same token, I wouldn't put it past JP to want to pull out something like this.  As has been discussed to death, these last several tours have been very unusual.  ADTOE was MM's first tour so they didn't want to go too crazy although they still pulled out To Live Forever and that King Crimson cover at one show.  Astonishing was a weird circumstance.  The AFTR tour they could potentially have the excuse of wanting to be totally prepared for their live recording.  This next tour will be sort of a litmus test if they are ever going to pull out surprises again although them playing I&W in its entirety indicates they probably won't.

I personally wouldn't mind too much if we don't get any big surprises this tour. It would be really nice if they did, and this seems like the perfect opportunity for them to do so(Particularly for songs like Eve, Don't Look Past Me, or To Live Forever), but ultimately, even if they have predictable choices, there's a reason songs like Metropolis, and Trial Of Tears are as popular as they are.

[the keyboard wizard]

Your Majesty of course!!! I have fond memories when I listen to Another Won as it was played during my first DT concert back in 2005. I wish I were here when they pulled off Your Majesty in Paris in 2002.

[Madman Shepherd]

That's true.  Definitely one of the finer points of MP's tenure.  Then again, he did go a bit overboard with it.

If by "Going overboard" you mean the full album covers they used to do... Yeah, I agree 100%.

That's exactly what I mean.  It started out with Master of Puppets which was kind of cool although awkward for Jordan to have to perform it.  They had a great reason for doing that as it sort of solidified the Dream Theater sound when they were young and influenced almost equally by Metallica as they were Rush.

Some folks at the show were pissed because they wanted to hear another hour of DT and not Metallica. Mike kinda snapped at them online later and said anytime DT does two night stand in a city, expect them to play a classic album on the second night.  So some people loved it, others hated it, and still I think there was a big chunk that had no idea. 

Then they chose Number of the Beast.  Again, awkward for Jordan. 

Then they did the big Darkside of the Moon production.  The first classic album that each member actually loved.  That was kind of special and for me, I didn't dig Pink Floyd before that so it forced me to give Floyd another chance. 

So then they did Made in Japan.  I love Deep Purple so this should have been cool but since so much of that album was improved it was sort of weird to hear DT doing an improv cover of Deep Purple.  Still, this album just came on shuffle on my ipod and I found myself enjoying it.  Not something I listen to much at all.  Roger Glover also mixed it and when he was later asked about it he said something along the lines of, "I don't really understand why they did it but I guess it's an honor."  I also don't think think it sounds that great. 

Then one tour they had a two night stand and for their classic album they played....Scenes From a Memory. 

Kind of seems like Mike was running dry on ideas or the rest of the band was tired of learning a whole album for one show only or rather just the whole idea was getting old. 

[Setlist Scotty]

Then one tour they had a two night stand and for their classic album they played....Scenes From a Memory. 

Kind of seems like Mike was running dry on ideas or the rest of the band was tired of learning a whole album for one show only or rather just the whole idea was getting old.

MP wasn't running dry on ideas. Actually, he had planned on doing Rush's Moving Pictures as the next album, but that got sidelined since there were no back-to-back dates in one city on the final leg of the 20th Anniversary tour. LA came close, but ultimately the other show was booked in Anaheim instead. And since then, there hadn't been any other Evening With tours (at least while MP was in the band).

As for them doing SFaM as the classic album, MP stated his reasons for why he chose that instead of an album from another band. First off, it was their classic album. Secondly, they never toured South America during the Metropolis 2000 tour, so nobody got the chance to see SFaM performed in full on that continent.

You can be sure MP would have had plenty of other ideas for cover albums in the future from bands like Yes, Ozzy Osbourne, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Queen, Queensryche, Kansas, Genesis, The Who, etc. Not that he had commented anywhere about plans to do full album covers of any of those bands, but I can easily imagine that he would've since they all had a significant impact on DT. Plus I had already given him a lot of DT-ized artwork, so he wouldn't have had any problems from that standpoint. 

[gzarruk]

I'm glad they stopped playing covers after MP left (the only exceptions being the KC track, but they did it with the Crimson guys, so it was really cool). I've never cared for their covers, actually. From the ACOS EP, for example, I only have that song, don't care about the covers. Same with disc 2 of BC&SL.
I imagine going to a DT concert and getting a whole album by a band I don't really like or care about, instead of another hour of DT music. Such a waste of time, imo.

About MP's decision of playing the whole SFAM album for a few shows, that was a much better idea. That's their classic album (much better than IAW, imo) and every DT fan would love to see that album played live.

Answering to the OP, I'm probably one of the few people who actually like and listen to the Majesty Demos. These songs show how good they were even at the earliest stage of the band. My favorite would be A Vision, then probably Another Won, but my favorite moment from the whole demo is the outro of March of the Tyrant, it's just so great! They even played that after OAMOT on a few shows from the IAW tour. Hope they played some of these songs again.

[Prog Snob]

It's either Another Won or A Vision, but I went with Another Won. It's easily the most accessible. The vocal phrasing on most of that demo is just terrible.

[Elite]

the gift we bring, your majestay, yahhhhhh!!