A minor appreciation thread for ANTR's outtake

[Ħ]

"makes no sounds
he's surely dead" is the second half of James' first verse. Can't figure out the rest.

[TheGreatPretender]

I really wish the stems had separated MP and JLB, then I would've just remixed the whole album without MP's vocals.

[IdoSC]

The Portnoy-core section on A Nightmare to Remember is quite possibly the worst recorded moment in DT history.

At least it's just Portnoy doing the Portnoy thing.

I think his little screams pretty much ruined A Rite Of Passage. It was so unnecessary to have him going, "Brothahood!" on top of JLB's singing.

This. I find it much more bearable when his over-the-top vocal moments are kinda focused on just one section of the song, like ANTR or Prophets of War, rather than the whole song like A Rite of Passage or The Count of Tuscany. His vocals almost ruin the latter pair for me, I barely even care for it in the former.

EDIT:

"makes no sounds
he's surely dead" is the second half of James' first verse. Can't figure out the rest.

Alright, thanks to the context of the two part you managed to hear, I figured out the rest:
"Glass and steel
Inside his head
Makes no sounds
He should be dead"

I think the last row is "He should be dead", I don't hear James pronouncing the letter 'r' in there and there's some sort of pause between what you describe as "surely" and "dead".

[BlobVanDam]

The Portnoy-core section on A Nightmare to Remember is quite possibly the worst recorded moment in DT history.

At least it's just Portnoy doing the Portnoy thing.

I think his little screams pretty much ruined A Rite Of Passage. It was so unnecessary to have him going, "Brothahood!" on top of JLB's singing.

For me his parts on AROP really make those verses. Without his vocals I think it would have been plain, especially with how simple JLB's melodies are. So I don't feel they're unnecessary at all.

[bosk1]

Apparently, you are not grasping the concept of an "appreciation thread."  If you don't have anything positive to say, I recommend that you not post.

[IdoSC]

Edit - remove post please

[TheGreatPretender]

Apparently, you are not grasping the concept of an "appreciation thread."  If you don't have anything positive to say, I recommend that you not post.

I appreciate JLB's part and think that should've made it into the final version.

[Vivace]

With the stems I created an edit that jettisons the vocals of this part. Granted it extends the whole middle section instrumental but I much prefer it over the album version.

[Jamariquay]

Honestly, A Nightmare To Remember really is the culmination of MP's tenure as a Dream Theater producer. Every creative choice he'd made for the last two or three albums beforehand was leading up to this specific song. It truly exemplifies what Dream Theater was all about in 2009, a band that was constantly incorporating into itself A. harsh vocals, B. very utilitarian, often indulgent, soloing tradeoffs and unisons, C. very mainstream-y metal riffage and drumming (e.g. the blastbeats at the end), D. very long song lengths, and E. marked delineation between "heavy" parts and "soft" parts, with very little blending of either style into the other. I really think that ANTR pushed these elements as far as possible, with ADTOE being the logical reaction just two years later.

With that in mind, while I prefer James' attempt at the passage in question, I really don't mind Mike's either anymore, at least the take that made it into the album. Very cool that we get to see these extras from time to time.

[olliemedsy]

I really wish the stems had separated MP and JLB, then I would've just remixed the whole album without MP's vocals.

couldn't you just cut out the bit with MP singing?

[TheGreatPretender]

couldn't you just cut out the bit with MP singing?

I could. But I'm talking about the parts where they're overlapping, like in AROP, TCOT etc.

[olliemedsy]

couldn't you just cut out the bit with MP singing?

I could. But I'm talking about the parts where they're overlapping, like in AROP, TCOT etc.

ah i see what you mean. sorry

[BlobVanDam]

couldn't you just cut out the bit with MP singing?

I could. But I'm talking about the parts where they're overlapping, like in AROP, TCOT etc.

For the pre-chorus of TCOT (down the cellar stairs etc), JLB and MP's vocals are panned hard left and right respectively, so you can drop the vocal track to mono based on the left speaker. The rest are more difficult to remove.
Not that I'd want to remove any of the rest.

[TheGreatPretender]

For the pre-chorus of TCOT (down the cellar stairs etc), JLB and MP's vocals are panned hard left and right respectively, so you can drop the vocal track to mono based on the left speaker. The rest are more difficult to remove.
Not that I'd want to remove any of the rest.

Yes, I noticed that recently, and I do plan on mixing a version that only uses JLB's vocals for that part.

[Siberian Khatru]

Here's a version I made a little while back with just JLB's vocals. Should be easier to distinguish his vocals.

https://www.blobvandam.com/ANTR_JLB.mp3

Eek. That's not very good at all.

I guess MP's compromise really was the best of what they had to work with. The problem is, it's still not very good. But honestly I think all of ANtR turns into a big mess about half-way through so I guess that's it.