Dream Theater self titled album discussion - [SPOILER FREE DISCUSSION ONLY]

[Shadow2222]

I certainly don't think so. I generally have them at half volume or less. I personally love them. They look terribly geeky and huge, but the sound quality and volume, as well as the pretty spectacular wireless range, is awesome.

Also, of course, if you do play games on your PS3, they are even more incredible, and significantly improve the atmosphere.

Good to know. Thanks! 

Any time 

[noxon]

wasteland: names of the members that actually wrote the track.

[Madman Shepherd]

wasteland: names of the members that actually wrote the track.

Can you fill us in on what those are?

[noxon]

Sure, that's not secret information, anyone can dig that up in fact:

https://mobile.ascap.com/aceclient/AceClient/#ace/search/title/false%20awakening%20suite

https://mobile.ascap.com/aceclient/AceClient/#ace/search/title/the%20enemy%20inside

https://mobile.ascap.com/aceclient/AceClient/#ace/search/title/the%20looking%20glass


And so on.

[wasteland]

Oh, thanks a lot! Mostly choral effort, it seems! The writing of FAS and AFTR is credited to JP and JR only, interestingly.

[425]

For anyone who doesn't want to comb through everything themselves:

1. False Awakening Suite - Petrucci/Rudess
2. The Enemy Inside - LaBrie/Mangini/Myung/Petrucci/Rudess
3. The Looking Glass - LaBrie/Mangini/Myung/Petrucci/Rudess
4. Enigma Machine - Mangini/Myung/Petrucci/Rudess
5. The Bigger Picture - LaBrie/Mangini/Myung/Petrucci/Rudess
6. Behind the Veil - LaBrie/Mangini/Myung/Petrucci/Rudess
7. Surrender to Reason - LaBrie/Mangini/Myung/Petrucci/Rudess
8. Along For the Ride - Petrucci/Rudess
9. Illumination Theory - LaBrie/Mangini/Myung/Petrucci/Rudess

Basically everything is credited to everyone except Enigma Machine being credited to everyone except James and FAS and AFTR being credited to John P and Jordan.

[wasteland]

If this get quoted to Wikipedia I'm sure there will be easily deceivalble people who will believe James turned into the band's main songwriter overnight 

[Outcrier]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPQ6egJDqQo&feature=youtu.be

Can someone watch it and warn me if TEI is being played?

Just hear the goddamned tune 

[425]

If this get quoted to Wikipedia I'm sure there will be easily deceivalble people who will believe James turned into the band's main songwriter overnight 

Knowing how gullible some people can be, definitely.

Of course, the actual reason I listed James first is because the ASCAP site listed him first. And the reason they did that is because they simply listed the people who received songwriting credits in alphabetical order by last name and LaBrie comes first in that regard. Ironically, if we're associating order with level of contribution, JP and JR are the last in alphabetical order but the primary songwriters.

My guess is it'll actually be something like Petrucci/Rudess/Mangini/Myung/LaBrie. Myung and Mangini could probably be switched as could Petrucci and Rudess.

[ToT-147]

Just to put an end to the shared credit thing; Myung has sole writing credits on Surrender to Reason.

[aprilethereal]

Seems like this hasn't been posted yet: new artwork snippets available: www.instagram.com/dreamtheater2013

[Bertielee]

Seems like this hasn't been posted yet: new artwork snippets available: www.instagram.com/dreamtheater2013

It was, just on page 182! 

B.Lee

[BlackInk]

I actually like that artwork so far, looks good. I mean like always some things look a bit off but I like the gritty tone it has.

[?]

For anyone who doesn't want to comb through everything themselves:

*snip*

Nice to see James get co-writing credits on so many songs - this proves that he was very much involved despite not penning lyrics

[Bolsters]

Two things in this part.

There's a strange line going along the bottom, almost looks like a fold.

Worse: The bottom of the piano, the foot of the leg, is infront of the other thingy when the piano itself is clearly supposed to be behind it.

Edit: Oh and the bottom left part of the guitar cuts into that thingy aswell, when it's supposed to be behind.

[noxon]

it's not going to be visible on the printed page

[BlackInk]

Oh god.. That can't be unseen. Visable on printed page or not, that was disappointing.

[aprilethereal]

Seems like this hasn't been posted yet: new artwork snippets available: www.instagram.com/dreamtheater2013

It was, just on page 182! 

B.Lee

Two things in this part.

There's a strange line going along the bottom, almost looks like a fold.

Worse: The bottom of the piano, the foot of the leg, is infront of the other thingy when the piano itself is clearly supposed to be behind it.

Edit: Oh and the bottom left part of the guitar cuts into that thingy aswell, when it's supposed to be behind.

[Onno]

Holy shit, Syme is really REALLY sloppy. I absolutely hope they find another artist for the next DT album, this is just crap.

[Kotowboy]

Oh god.. That can't be unseen. Visable on printed page or not, that was disappointing.

It can all be easily seen on the small versions. . . It will definitely be seen on a 12x12 booklet

[noxon]

It's not that noticable, but of course you can see it if you look closely:

[Jinx]

Jesus H, you people are really picky. I'm sure anyone could find a fault in anything if you look for it hard enough. Sure, it might be a bit sloppy but I'm sure hes a busy guy. Also DT must appreciate his work enough to keep working with him for nearly a decade.

[aprilethereal]

Being a "busy guy" is no excuse for making sloppy and lazy artwork.

[Onno]

Being a "busy guy" is no excuse for making sloppy and lazy artwork.

Indeed. It's his job, it's not a hobby.

[?]

I haven't really commented on these pieces of artwork, but I have to say the latest pic is really lazily done

[hefdaddy42]

Jesus H, you people are really picky. I'm sure anyone could find a fault in anything if you look for it hard enough.

Yeah, maybe, but no one is having to look very hard for these.

[Lowdz]

Being a "busy guy" is no excuse for making sloppy and lazy artwork.

He won't be busy for long if this is his current standard. And is DT his highest profile gig these days? If I was that sloppy in my work people would die.

[Super Dude]

Being a "busy guy" is no excuse for making sloppy and lazy artwork.

He won't be busy for long if this is his current standard. And is DT his highest profile gig these days? If I was that sloppy in my work people would die.

This. Plus his style got old really fast.

[Mladen]

I enjoyed his work on the previous couple of Dream Theater albums, but it got way too much copy-paste and stock images for my taste. Don't artists draw anymore or create something on their own? I wish the band went with someone who works differently, but if they're happy with this kind of artwork, then what can we do...

[noxon]

I think people are focusing WAAAY too much on the miniscule details that 95% of the people who look through the booklet never will notice. My eyes, on that page of the booklet, doesn't even go down to the bottom of the piano, because there's something else drawing my attention. Not once while flipping through the entire booklet do I feel that it's way too much cut and paste - it looks very good to my eyes. It's abstract images, not photos. Heck, even the cover has a TOTALLY different feel to it when you see it irl.

[ZKX-2099]

They shoulda got Steve.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Jesus H, you people are really picky. I'm sure anyone could find a fault in anything if you look for it hard enough. Sure, it might be a bit sloppy but I'm sure hes a busy guy. Also DT must appreciate his work enough to keep working with him for nearly a decade.

Actually, I don't think we're really picky. Syme, nowadays, has become extremely lazy artist which makes me wonder why DT keep choosing him. The guy uses fairly common stock images, and sometimes he even shares 'em (Remember ADTOE and Circus Maximus?), which really doesn't help the band that much. Cover art is extremely important, for attracting new fans in a record store for saying "OMG, that band has some really cool artwork, let's check 'em out!", which is something I've done more than a couple of times. The bad planet cut from the front cover is gone, but the thing is still sloppy. The planet looks pixeled, like if it was a 200x200 image and got stretched to fit his dimensions. It just doesn't look right to me how that contrasts with the big, shiny majesty logo.

[Lowdz]

I think people are focusing WAAAY too much on the miniscule details that 95% of the people who look through the booklet never will notice. My eyes, on that page of the booklet, doesn't even go down to the bottom of the piano, because there's something else drawing my attention. Not once while flipping through the entire booklet do I feel that it's way too much cut and paste - it looks very good to my eyes. It's abstract images, not photos. Heck, even the cover has a TOTALLY different feel to it when you see it irl.

The band are making a big deal of the artwork- teasing ahead of the album release with them. We are DT fans- of course we'll notice.

[Super Dude]

Jesus H, you people are really picky. I'm sure anyone could find a fault in anything if you look for it hard enough. Sure, it might be a bit sloppy but I'm sure hes a busy guy. Also DT must appreciate his work enough to keep working with him for nearly a decade.

Actually, I don't think we're really picky. Syme, nowadays, has become extremely lazy artist which makes me wonder why DT keep choosing him. The guy uses fairly common stock images, and sometimes he even shares 'em (Remember ADTOE and Circus Maximus?), which really doesn't help the band that much. Cover art is extremely important, for attracting new fans in a record store for saying "OMG, that band has some really cool artwork, let's check 'em out!", which is something I've done more than a couple of times. The bad planet cut from the front cover is gone, but the thing is still sloppy. The planet looks pixeled, like if it was a 200x200 image and got stretched to fit his dimensions. It just doesn't look right to me how that contrasts with the big, shiny majesty logo.

Maybe he's just less expensive to hire.

[Madman Shepherd]

For anyone who doesn't want to comb through everything themselves:

*snip*

Nice to see James get co-writing credits on so many songs - this proves that he was very much involved despite not penning lyrics

I was pretty disappointed he didn't write any lyrics but this at least makes me a bit more pumped knowing that he was pretty involved in the writing process. 

Jesus H, you people are really picky. I'm sure anyone could find a fault in anything if you look for it hard enough.

Yeah, maybe, but no one is having to look very hard for these.

I think the artwork got progressively worse as they released them. 

I really loved the first few that were released.  The beach scene was awesome despite people nitpicking about the availability of some clip art that was used. 

This last one though, I didn't even have to look at it for more than a second to see that the guitar stands out as if it was hastily pasted in there.  Then the piano, which I did not notice because I was focused on the guitar, became another glaring error. 

I can't stress this enough.  I think peoples criticism was way overblown at first but this is undeniably bad.