Songs you hope they DON'T play on this upcoming tour

[BlobVanDam]

Maybe so, but it is immortalized forever on I&W, and I'd rather have is this way than have them dumb down the studio version just to make it easier to sing live. 

I'm with you. As long as you can honestly and legitimately pull it off in the studio, do whatever sounds best, and disregard the logistics of playing it live. Let the studio version be the ideal and definitive version of the song, and then live play it as best you can. And if that means JLB has to skip that section live now, that's fine. We still have the studio version exactly how they intended it. That's the beauty of the studio environment imo.

[bosk1]

It's too bad nobody else in the band has the voice to be able to belt out just a couple of lines.  If they did that section as a tradeoff to create some breathing space for James, I think it could still work well.  But I don't think anyone else in the band really has the range to pull that off, even for just a couple of lines.

[BlobVanDam]

It's too bad nobody else in the band has the voice to be able to belt out just a couple of lines.  If they did that section as a tradeoff to create some breathing space for James, I think it could still work well.  But I don't think anyone else in the band really has the range to pull that off, even for just a couple of lines.

Yeah, the range on that is insane even for a skilled vocalist, and one of the highest passages JLB has ever sung on a DT album. Nobody in the band, current or former, has the range anywhere near singing that properly without doing a ridiculous falsetto, which would have sounded silly.
I think they made the right choice by simply avoiding that section. That way they don't have to avoid the song altogether for one difficult section.

[bosk1]

It's too bad nobody else in the band has the voice to be able to belt out just a couple of lines.  If they did that section as a tradeoff to create some breathing space for James, I think it could still work well.  But I don't think anyone else in the band really has the range to pull that off, even for just a couple of lines.

Yeah, the range on that is insane even for a skilled vocalist, and one of the highest passages JLB has ever sung on a DT album. Nobody in the band, current or former, has the range anywhere near singing that properly without doing a ridiculous falsetto, which would have sounded silly.
I think they made the right choice by simply avoiding that section. That way they don't have to avoid the song altogether for one difficult section.

It's a combination of the range and the lack of breathing space that make it so difficult.  And add to that the way the phrasing is written so that you pretty much have to belt it out for it to sound good. 

It is interesting to me that perhaps the three most difficult passages to sing are all from Images & Words.  If I had to rank them by difficulty:
1.  The Pensive Fear verse of TTT
2.  The bridge section before the solo in Another Day
3.  The section from "somewhere like a scene from a memory" to "the third arrives" in Metropolis.  It's funny seeing crowds go nuts over James hitting "I'm asleep yet I'm so a-FRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!" when the much more difficult by far passage is what comes immediately afterward.

[BlobVanDam]

You're right, it is the range and the phrasing. The melody itself is actually very well written for a vocalist, and is very conjunct. But for a passage that high, there are only brief moments of breathing room, especially with how much more air you need to sing in that upper range. And the range is consistently high, with no real breaks in range for the voice either. If the passage was lower, the breathing wouldn't be as much of an issue. So those two factors combine to make it near impossible to pull off consistently.

In the studio where you can sing that one verse by itself, no problem. When you have to sing the entire song while running around on stage in the middle of a two hour show, bit more of an issue.

[LCArenas]

2.  The bridge section before the solo in Another Day

I notice that one's incredibly difficult for James even in the '93 live versions. Makes me wonder if that's the reason why they don't play it that often nowadays
And I'll think I'd add the "Once lost but I was found" part of Surrounded.

[bosk1]

And I'll think I'd add the "Once lost but I was found" part of Surrounded.

It's tough to say how different passages affect individual singers.  But to me, that section isn't nearly as difficult because it does have better breathing space around it.  And while it is high, the note transitions themselves do not seem difficult mechanically.

[chrisbDTM]

The pensive fear section is definitely my favorite JLB moment (way better than the F# IMO). I wish he could still do it, but i totally understand why its taken out of the live versions

[SeRoX]

The pensive fear section is definitely my favorite JLB moment (way better than the F# IMO). I wish he could still do it, but i totally understand why its taken out of the live versions

If I recall correctly JLB said himself, he didn't want this section get taken out. He was fine with it at all. Portnoy wanted it like that for the sake of JLB's voice. Kinda agree with him though because doing this section every night would be exhausting.

[JoiseyDTLovah]

Take the time is one of my all time favorites.  I miss the section but am ok in cutting it out of the choice is to never hear the tune live again.

[wolfandwolfandwolf]

The vocals on I&W are crazy - I remember hearing the "pensive fear, wasted year" melody and just being blown away by it.  Also the Another Day bridge.  James is really incredible on those tracks.

Freaking Take the Time.  There are so many incredible vocal moments on that track.  That might be my all time favorite Dream Theater song.

[Nick]

As I Am is an awesome song. But ITNOG is awesomer, and a top 10 DT song.

Truth.

[Ruba]

The vocals on I&W are crazy - I remember hearing the "pensive fear, wasted year" melody and just being blown away by it.  Also the Another Day bridge.

I tell you a story how I became DT fan.

My drum teacher recommended me some bands in 2009 and Dream Theater was the first band on the list. Then a couple of days later I had a chance to use Spotify and checked that the most popular song was some "Pull Me Under". I thought it was only quite good, but then came keyboard/guitar-unison solo and after that

WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING
GIVES NEW MEANING TO IT ALL

and I've been a fan since then.

[Mladen]

That was one of the moments that got me into DT as well. If the awesome vocals didn't sell it all the way, the drum fill before the last chorus certainly did. 

[Jaffa]

Freaking Take the Time.  There are so many incredible vocal moments on that track.  That might be my all time favorite Dream Theater song.

The vocals on I&W are crazy - I remember hearing the "pensive fear, wasted year" melody and just being blown away by it.  Also the Another Day bridge.

I tell you a story how I became DT fan.

My drum teacher recommended me some bands in 2009 and Dream Theater was the first band on the list. Then a couple of days later I had a chance to use Spotify and checked that the most popular song was some "Pull Me Under". I thought it was only quite good, but then came keyboard/guitar-unison solo and after that

WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING
GIVES NEW MEANING TO IT ALL

and I've been a fan since then.

I was actually just going to post that I think that section is too often overlooked.  Absolutely wonderful vocal moment. 

[Ruba]

The vocals on I&W are crazy - I remember hearing the "pensive fear, wasted year" melody and just being blown away by it.  Also the Another Day bridge.

I tell you a story how I became DT fan.

My drum teacher recommended me some bands in 2009 and Dream Theater was the first band on the list. Then a couple of days later I had a chance to use Spotify and checked that the most popular song was some "Pull Me Under". I thought it was only quite good, but then came keyboard/guitar-unison solo and after that

WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING
GIVES NEW MEANING TO IT ALL

and I've been a fan since then.

I was actually just going to post that I think that section is too often overlooked.  Absolutely wonderful vocal moment.

Who? I take it over the F#. Only the second Innocence Faded verse is a better DT vocal moment.

Wait, what topic this was ? Alright. Of course it's nice if they'll play Take the Time, Another Day and Pull Me Under, even if On the Backs of Angels is in the same setlist. They're different enough.

[wasteland]

I'm pretty sure that the James LaBrie that rocked Europe this past winter could decently nail even the Pensive Fear section in Take The Time. He could even afford to sing some lines higher than usual in BITS, 6:00 and Pull Me Under and even a few sustained screams at the end of BMUBMD, AIA and PMU:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbAUAMJIbhQ&t=410

[Rob24]

The vocals on I&W are crazy - I remember hearing the "pensive fear, wasted year" melody and just being blown away by it.  Also the Another Day bridge.

I tell you a story how I became DT fan.

My drum teacher recommended me some bands in 2009 and Dream Theater was the first band on the list. Then a couple of days later I had a chance to use Spotify and checked that the most popular song was some "Pull Me Under". I thought it was only quite good, but then came keyboard/guitar-unison solo and after that

WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING
GIVES NEW MEANING TO IT ALL

and I've been a fan since then.

I was actually just going to post that I think that section is too often overlooked.  Absolutely wonderful vocal moment.

Who? I take it over the F#. Only the second Innocence Faded verse is a better DT vocal moment.

Which contains an F# as well, right. 

[wolfandwolfandwolf]

Ok.  Just watched some footage of James NAILING "pensive fear" in 2008.  Maybe with a little less power behind it, but dang.  It was good.

[Ruba]

The vocals on I&W are crazy - I remember hearing the "pensive fear, wasted year" melody and just being blown away by it.  Also the Another Day bridge.

I tell you a story how I became DT fan.

My drum teacher recommended me some bands in 2009 and Dream Theater was the first band on the list. Then a couple of days later I had a chance to use Spotify and checked that the most popular song was some "Pull Me Under". I thought it was only quite good, but then came keyboard/guitar-unison solo and after that

WATCH THE SPARROW FALLING
GIVES NEW MEANING TO IT ALL

and I've been a fan since then.

I was actually just going to post that I think that section is too often overlooked.  Absolutely wonderful vocal moment.

Who? I take it over the F#. Only the second Innocence Faded verse is a better DT vocal moment.

Which contains an F# as well, right. 

It's F.

[RaiseTheKnife]

I've seen Outcry three times live.  I think that's more than enough.  Hope to see it swapped out in a rotating setlist (but will likely pop up at the DVD show).

[As I Am]

There's a bunch of songs I don't care if I ever see them play again (for various reasons):
A Fortune in Lies
Another Day
Wait For Sleep
Under A Glass Moon
Hollow Years
The Great Debate
Disappear
As I Am
Honor Thy Father
Vacant
I Walk Beside You
Never Enough
Sacrificed Sons
Forsaken
Constant Motion
Prophets of War
A Nightmare To Remember
Build Me Up, Break Me Down
Far From Heaven

[Dublagent66]

SDV.......oh wait

[MoraWintersoul]

Mangini seriously refuses to do the hi-hat work that Portnoy did. In fact that and the splash cymbals are the only thing I really miss from Portnoy.

I don't have a problem with it. It's tricky either way; if he played everything true to the original versions, people would say he's just playing Portnoy's parts without any creativity, but if he changes anything, there's going to be complaining too. Especially if he makes the part in question more complicated, and then you have those silly people on youtube who say "Yes, he's more technical, but Portnoy has SOUL", similar to what they say about Rudess when he changes KM/DS parts.

As for staying on topic... obviously, we could live without some heavily documented songs such as Pull Me Under, Voices, Metropolis and similar.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

On the above note, I looked at a couple more videos and really can't find the missed high-hat work in the introduction. Do you have a particular one you could show me please? Is it only the fact that he's using two hands?

[Adami]

On the above note, I looked at a couple more videos and really can't find the missed high-hat work in the introduction. Do you have a particular one you could show me please? Is it only the fact that he's using two hands?

No. You don't hear it. Cool. I do. Sucks for me.

[nikatapi]

Yea, he plays it 2 hands on the hi hat while Portnoy did one. He also completely lacks any groove, which is sad cause it's supposed to be all groove essentially.

All in all MM's hi hat technique is VERY different from Portnoy's and this song really shows it. And while I'm glad Portnoy's gone from DT, Mangini isn't nearly the hi hat guy that Portnoy was. Probably by choice, but his hi hat work is just.........meh to me.

I completely agree with you on this. MM's hi hat work is really less defined in comparison to MP, and it lacks the definition of open-closed sound. I noticed this both on videos and live. Another example where i felt a bit disappointed with the hi hat work is TCOT and These Walls, it just felt sloppy from an acoustic point of view, although the playing was great.

I think it might also have to do with the type of hi hats MM uses, but truly this is probably the only thing i don't really like about MM's playing in DT. But all the songs with intense hi hat work lack a bit with MM behind the kit, imho.