Poll: What Best Explains How You Want DT13 To Be Like?

[puppyonacid]

I'd love it to be softer like FII , with catchy songs.
4-6 min long songs with shorter solos. cool funky guitar playing and not just that boring "E-string with palm mute" -shit
Hollow Years, Peruvian Skies, Just let Me Breathe (!!!!!!), Anna Lee, Lifting shadows, 6:00 ..  That kind of songs! 
That guitar tone doesn't have to be so fucking distorted.

Peruvian Skies has a healthy dose of "that boring 'E-string palm mute' -shit"

I really don't see what you're driving at here. There's a good deal of chugging guitar riffs on many DT releases. But I'd certainly argue against the idea that JP's playing is stale. I hear a lot of variation in his playing on all DT releases.

And I like his guitar tone.

[Dark Castle]

Double album would be alright.

[Perpetual Change]

I'd find a concept double album cool, but if a concept is too tedious to work into a double album, then a double album would be just fine. Something akin to Baroness's Yellow & Green, two 40 minute bangers DT style, maybe one being more experimental than the other like with Y&G.

Sounds kinda awful to me! Like two 40 minute CDs of Withers and Constant Motions.

[Perpetual Change]

Honestly, I'd just be happy if DT would continue to do what they've been doing, while making improvements in some of the other areas they've really been lacking - sound quality, artwork, etc.

[Dark Castle]

Well, you could have a few Behind The Veil, The Enemy Inside, songs like that, a few concise punches to the guts, experiment a little bit; second disc could be a few shorter songs and one long song.

[puppyonacid]

Being cynical - a double album would be pretty cool because IIRC, someone mentioned that as long as a double album is over a certain length, it counts as two units sold. Could help DT break that top 5 on the Billboard.

[hefdaddy42]

Leave it to DTF.

[JayOctavarium]

2 disc possible conceptual or thematic album with a ton of heavier that tits moments

[ddtonfire]

I agree. They should take all the time they need to make the next album. Maybe even 3-4 years, so they can have a fresh mindset into the new album. 2 disc- concept like SDOIT would be exactly what the band needs at this point.

Now that i have thought about it, i think the biggest problem for me with DT12 is that it sounds so familiar. It sounds like they want to play it safe, to please as many fans as possible.

Make the next album UNFAMILIAR to us.

Yup, I would definitely be fine if they took a little break from their normal cycle.

I know just what you mean. I'm no drummer, but I believe that MM could achieve the same exact sound spectrum with some different drum mic routing and with some panning and space design adjustments in the mixing program that JP and their engineer use.

In other words, I'm pretty sure that the more "dimensional" sound of hi hats and toms flying off at all different directions in the soundscape was purely an issue of mixing and microphone placement/recording, and can be achieved quite easily by MM.

And I agree in that I prefer MP's "soundscapes" to MM's.

Yeah, all his drums just sound like samples... it's like you're only hearing the drums and cymbals individually and not the room he's playing in. His drums kind of sound stuffy since there's no room to breathe. I was hoping he'd fix it from A Dramatic Turn of Events, but oh well.

[tofee35]

I'm going to have to say experimental.

Whenever they have done something new and different, only incredible music has come out of it. I'm talking specifically about SFAM (concept album), SDOIT (split disc: experimental + scientific conceptual), and TOT (full on dark metal). Every other album has that DT brand that 3-5 other albums have. I want something that I loathe and completely don't follow for the first month or year... then one day, that moment will hit when it clicks and is instantly the best thing ever.

I'd actually be psyched if they went completely electronic, but in a prog metal way. I have no idea what that would sound like... which interests me. Give JR the reins and let the rest of the guys feed off of it...just an example of something interesting.

-Tof

[Lucien]

Metropolis Pt I was a song

Metropolis Pt II was an album

Therefore logic suggests that Metropolis Pt III will be an entire discography. I expect then that they will simultaneously release 10 albums at once.

Sigged

[Outcrier]

WTF why the hate towards another SFAM? Nicholas comes back as the Count Of Tuscany and ends the world. Yep.

[Daso]

A concept album, musically being a blend between Awake and SFaM.

[adamack]

WTF why the hate towards another SFAM? Nicholas comes back as the Count Of Tuscany and ends the world. Yep.

LET ME INTRODUCE...

MY BROTHER,

But I love her,

I can't keep away from her touch...

[Kotowboy]

Metropolis Part III : Dreams From A Fanboy.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

Not at all interested in the band trying to revive the story in SFAM or anything related to Metropolis. I just don't feel that it would turn out well.

[Jaq]

Band hasn't even toured behind the new album yet.

People already speculating on what the next one will sound like.

Never change, DTF. 

[Tis BOOLsheet]

It's less than 2 years away if the current pace is held. That isn't long really.

[SuperTaco]

I would like to see a concept album with an entirely new concept. Musically, I voted Experimental because I would like it to go places that DT music has never gone before. DT12 takes the Dream Theater "sound" to its limits and pulls it off greatly, but I would like to see the band go beyond that sound and introduce new nuances and musical themes.

12 albums into their careers, I wonder how much they would be willing to experiment though. They've honed the DT sound to such a high level and it's been in a pretty comfortable zone for a long time now. Maybe, being in that zone will push them to do something drastically different next time. Maybe a concept album is what it takes for the band to take their music into different territory.

We'll see what happens in 2 years. I'm still very into DT12.

[Nearmyth]

Combination of Conceptual and Experimental. But I voted concept.

I predict that DT13 will be a concept album. That is my prediction. They've talked in several interviews about wanting to make another concept album, or at least about how it'd be fun since they haven't done a true concept album since SFAM.

[Ruba]

WTF why the hate towards another SFAM? Nicholas comes back as the Count Of Tuscany OUT OF THE BLACKNESS CHAOS ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR and ends the world. Yep.

[Cygnus17]

I like the track theyre currently on: short songs and one big epic.  If not that, Ill take the Six Degrees double album model.

[1neeto]

WTF why the hate towards another SFAM? Nicholas comes back as the Count Of Tuscany OUT OF THE BLACKNESS CHAOS ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR and ends the world. Yep.

 

[DoctorAction]

Change the approach. Throw away any by-the-numbers methodology. Sure, write in the studio but record as much live as a group as possible, with as much sound, reverb, chatter and clatter seeping in as it can. These guys are world-class but the cleaned-up, sterilized productions sound quite dull, characterless and dated. God, ESPECIALLY in the drums. I'd like to hear the bass drums and toms rattling the snare; MM's sticks clanking together in an intro, etc. Some banter in an outro. A one-minute excerpt from some silly jam.

MM said he hoped people would hear a bunch of guys having a great time in the studio. I want THAT vibe to be in my face. Maybe some unpluggedness to it. Less cheese, more jazz/.raw/experimental. More acoustic instruments, perhaps.

And real songs that sound like the lyrics matter. DT12 and ADTOE have been big improvements lyrically (in so much that I've not been face-palming or cringing) but for the most part they don't sound deep or essential, which is out-of-step with the massively grandiose nature of the instrumental parts.

Outside producer might be the key...

(Love DT12, btw.)

[j]

Experimental by the hugest of margins.

-J

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Definitely experimental.

[me7]

After playing it rather safe with ADTOE and DT12, I'd like to see something radical again. I'd be interested in:

Metropolis Part 3: A concept followup to the highly acclaimed SFaM.
Experimental DT: Something entirely new that DT has never tried before.
Double DT: A double disc just like SDoIT, with one disc being a long 40+ minute epic.
Blacker Clouds: 5 or 6 long songs like BCaSL.
Conceptual DT: A brand new concept album, but not in the vein of Metropolis.

Something grand, overambitious and proggy just for the sake of being proggy. ADTOE and DT12 had enough easily accessible songs.

[kevinpwrs]

Ive always liked the heavier side of DT. Thats where my vote went. Heavy album similar to TOT.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

After playing it rather safe with ADTOE and DT12, I'd like to see something radical again. I'd be interested in:

Metropolis Part 3: A concept followup to the highly acclaimed SFaM.
Experimental DT: Something entirely new that DT has never tried before.
Double DT: A double disc just like SDoIT, with one disc being a long 40+ minute epic.
Blacker Clouds: 5 or 6 long songs like BCaSL.
Conceptual DT: A brand new concept album, but not in the vein of Metropolis.

Something grand, overambitious and proggy just for the sake of being proggy. ADTOE and DT12 had enough easily accessible songs.

Except none of the things you mentioned are radical at all 

[Zook]

How could there possibly be a sequel to SFAM? The protagonist was killed at the end.

Oh yeah, SPOILERS.

[BelichickFan]

OTHER.

I'll take the DT version of Tales from Topographic Oceans please.

2 CD consisting of 4 thirty (Tales was around 20 each but CDs are longer) minute pieces of unexplainable awesomness.  Basically 4 thirty minute Illumination Theories.

[PROGdrummer]

Double-Blacker-Clouds:

A 2 disc album packed full of long epics (a la Tales From Topographic Oceans)

[adamack]

How could there possibly be a sequel to SFAM? The protagonist was killed at the end.

Oh yeah, SPOILERS.

I suppose they could steal the concept of many stories and create a sequel which is actually a prequel. The events which happened before SFaM.

Or, the story could transpose over to a relative of Nicolas or someone else who was in his life, and a new story could be created to document the events of how life continues after Nicolas' death.

Just some thoughts 

[adamack]

OTHER.

I'll take the DT version of Tales from Topographic Oceans please.

2 CD consisting of 4 thirty (Tales was around 20 each but CDs are longer) minute pieces of unexplainable awesomness.  Basically 4 thirty minute Illumination Theories.

I actually love this idea. I typically would be wary of it, because if you don't happen to like 2 of the songs, there goes half of the disc.

However, judging by their last 2 albums, I would trust DT enough to make this work, and I'm confident I would like all 4 songs. I like every single song on ADToE and DT12, so 4 30 minute epics sounds amazing.

[1neeto]

How could there possibly be a sequel to SFAM? The protagonist was killed at the end.

Oh yeah, SPOILERS.

Remember that death is not the end... but only a transition. 

I vote for a 2112 cover album. Might as well.