If you had only one wish what would it be?

[adastra]

Mike Portnoy     

[Grizz]

What if DT had two drummers and two/three keyboardists?
You know what I'm getting at.
That would be pretty fucking sick IMO

That would actually be incredibly busy sounding and expensive to tour. Can you imagine even trying to mix that in the studio? They can't even mix it as it is.

You don't have to have all 3 of them (keyboardists) playing at the same time, but I would have them all in a room jamming, with all three of their melodic and harmonic heads together, to come up with some amazing stuff to record. Only one of them would have to play something at a time, on tour.

Still sounds like way too many cooks in the kitchen to work.
That plus the fact I don't actually want to hear any of the previous keyboardists again. I'd rather hear JR than whatever they're doing.

That's because you're a weird KevMo h8r.

Doesn't the current iteration of King Crimson have 3 drummers? That works, doesn't it?

And as for the flaws in the details... this hypothetic scenario involves the return of Kevin and Mike. C'mon!

[BlobVanDam]

Even Kevin himself left because he didn't fit with DT's musical direction, and it's only further diverged now, so that wouldn't work at all. And two drummers is always terrible in my experience, even if it did mean having MP back.

And was that messing up of my name in the quote intentional or not? It's even funnier if it wasn't.

[Grizz]

And was that messing up of my name in the quote intentional or not? It's even funnier if it wasn't.

Well the one in that post was not touched by me, I think a mod hit it. The one in this post is only different because deleting mass lines of text is a bitch on mobile.

[ZirconBlue]

My wish would be to for JLB not to have ordered the shrimp.

[wasteland]

To have some sort of time machine that can take me to any past DT show to see in person at my whim.

I'm quoting this because it's meaningful to me.

Oh, yeah!

[gmillerdrake]

My wish would be to for JLB not to have ordered the shrimp.

No kidding! I'm curious as to how many times he's thought about that? Funny how one little meaningless decision can have an effect on the remainder of you life like that.

[kirksnosehair]

I guess my wish would be to meet the band







Alright, well, maybe have a chance to jam with them for a while 

[Grizz]

Oh, wait Blob, that was me. Mobile browsers don't like text entry.

[TAC]

My wish would be for them to play at a BBQ in my back yard.
I'd even invite Kirk over so he could fulfill his wish.

[Grizz]

My wish would be for them to play at a BBQ in my back yard.
I'd even invite Kirk over so he could fulfill his wish.

Just grill some salmon. Petrucci will show up.

[Lucien]

My wish would be to for JLB not to have ordered the shrimp.

No kidding! I'm curious as to how many times he's thought about that? Funny how one little meaningless decision can have an effect on the remainder of you life like that.

His voice was HUGE during Awake. I do wonder what would happen if he had just kept getting better after that.  He is getting his voice back to its original strength, but it's not completely there yet IMO. Give it another album or two.

[?]

Even if James hadn't gone through the food poisoning and had continued to sing in the early 90s style, I think he might've worn out his voice and even lost some of his range over the years. On the other hand, he might've thought "you know what? I don't need to scream all the time" and ended up singing the way he actually did after the accident, or MP could've told him to sing in a lower range, as the high-pitched vocals went out of fashion in the grunge era.

[Nefarius]

My wish would be that they would drop the two year cycle of jamming, cutting and pasting ideas, adding lyrics afterwards, releasing, touring, etc. and take more time for collecting individual ideas (music and lyrics), letting them grow/mature/change/die, doing demos, bouncing ideas off each other over more time, and really write music again instead of giving us "putting together the best ideas of the last time we came together to jam in the studio".

It that's too much to ask, I'd like to perform a couple of songs with them on stage next time they're in my area.

Greetings...
Nef

[TheGreatPretender]

Even if James hadn't gone through the food poisoning and had continued to sing in the early 90s style, I think he might've worn out his voice and even lost some of his range over the years. On the other hand, he might've thought "you know what? I don't need to scream all the time" and ended up singing the way he actually did after the accident, or MP could've told him to sing in a lower range, as the high-pitched vocals went out of fashion in the grunge era.

Because DT have always tried to do what's in fashion, right? 

[kirksnosehair]

My wish would be that they would drop the two year cycle of jamming, cutting and pasting ideas, adding lyrics afterwards, releasing, touring, etc. and take more time for collecting individual ideas (music and lyrics), letting them grow/mature/change/die, doing demos, bouncing ideas off each other over more time, and really write music again instead of giving us "putting together the best ideas of the last time we came together to jam in the studio".

It that's too much to ask, I'd like to perform a couple of songs with them on stage next time they're in my area.

Greetings...
Nef

Quoting this post to give it the love it deserves. 

[TAC]

In general I might agree, but the last two albums have been fantastic. And I got the feeling that this time, more than any other, they incorporated ideas that they had come up with while touring the last album.

[robwebster]

My wish would be that they would drop the two year cycle of jamming, cutting and pasting ideas, adding lyrics afterwards, releasing, touring, etc. and take more time for collecting individual ideas (music and lyrics), letting them grow/mature/change/die, doing demos, bouncing ideas off each other over more time, and really write music again instead of giving us "putting together the best ideas of the last time we came together to jam in the studio".

I think they already do, don't they? They came in with a whole bunch of stuff last time, loads of ideas they'd come up with on tour, JP's been bringing in fully-formed songs since Wither, Beneath the Surface was written in his own time, too. They used to have a rule that all writing happened in the studio, but they've not started with a completely blank slate since Systematic Chaos, I don't think.

Frankly, I think the label would object to the idea that what they do in the studio doesn't count as writing - italics or no! And the last album's been as precise and honed as anything they've done in their career. Demos are good, demos are fun, but there's a fair bit that's had time to brew.

B-Sides are what I miss, weirdly. They always feel like a bit of a treat. Little secrets. Pianowither and Raw Dog are the latest, I suppose. That might be related to what you're suggesting.

[KevShmev]

They used to have a rule that all writing happened in the studio

Maybe I have forgotten, but, did they really?  If so, that was an awful rule.  Creativity can often hit you at the oddest times, and essentially saying, "We can't use that cause it wasn't written with everybody else, while we were all in the studio," is just terrible.

[robwebster]

They used to have a rule that all writing happened in the studio

Maybe I have forgotten, but, did they really?  If so, that was an awful rule.  Creativity can often hit you at the oddest times, and essentially saying, "We can't use that cause it wasn't written with everybody else, while we were all in the studio," is just terrible.

Yeah, I'm sure they did! I do agree that art doesn't always happen on demand, and to go "Creativity time starts... NOW!" isn't a way I'd be able to work, but I can't argue with the results, the music from that era is all good by me. I do prefer what they're doing now. Maybe they didn't, maybe I'm misremembering! I'll see what I can find.

[TheGreatPretender]

They used to have a rule that all writing happened in the studio

Maybe I have forgotten, but, did they really?  If so, that was an awful rule.  Creativity can often hit you at the oddest times, and essentially saying, "We can't use that cause it wasn't written with everybody else, while we were all in the studio," is just terrible.

I imagine it wasn't really like that. I mean, if I hear, "All writing happens in the studio" I would assume it simply means they don't go out of their way to write songs while on the road. That doesn't mean they don't use ideas from jams or anything. But it really depends on the artists. Some artists just can't focus on songwriting amidst all the activity that goes on while touring, and in the studio it's easier to focus.

[robwebster]

I've found an interview where Mike Portnoy says "Usually we write together and collaborate, we come in empty-handed, but there's been one or two songs" yadda yadda yadda. There's also an article from 2010 --

The quintet—which also includes vocalist James LaBrie, bassist John Myung, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess—has a habit of going into the studio empty-handed, with little in the way of demos to work from. But Petrucci’s more than happy to spend whatever time it takes to create the music from scratch there.

“I’m definitely comfortable in the studio,” explains the Long Island–born picker. “I love the creative environment; I love having all the gear set up. I could live in there.”

https://www.straight.com/music/dream-theater-picker-john-petrucci-could-live-studio

So it mentions it, and mentions that it was a known thing the band did. I'll keep looking for a definite, "This is the rule, here's how we operate, just see what comes out," which is what I'm half-remembering.



ETA: Bingo!!

"This album was made similarly to the way that our last five or six records were made," says Portnoy, "which is that we move into a recording studio empty-handed, without writing anything individually or in advance. We write all the music in the studio and we record each song when it's completed. We've always made records by banging it out together in the same room, bouncing ideas off of each other. Not many bands work that way anymore, but we feel it's very important to work together as a band, because you can't replace that chemistry. You can't make a Dream Theater record through the mail."
Peavey. Bang!

I think there was a fairness to it. Put a bunch of world class musicians in a room together for a few months and good music is basically inevitable. As I said, though, prefer what they're doing now, where it's a little from column A and a little from column B.

I have a hunch the only-write-in-the-room thing was something that might've suited Portnoy really very well - as arranger, he'd have wanted to be there when the ideas happened.

[Laughingplace56]

My wish is simple: Play The Glass Prison on tour again. Put it in the set for the second leg of NA dates, come to Florida and play the song. I NEED to see that song live. It's been 8 years since they played it last. BRING. IT. BACK.

[Dreamer]

Someone else may have already mentioned this but I would really like it if we could actually hear John Myung in the mix!

[KevShmev]

  As I said, though, prefer what they're doing now, where it's a little from column A and a little from column B.

Simpsons reference!!

But anyway, I see what they were getting at, but I just think that you can't always put inspiration or creativity on a time clock.  I know I use Rush as a comparison a lot, but here goes again: Neil Peart has said that he always keeps his notepad with him at all times because he never knows when he might feel inspired or hear a phrase or whatever he'll want to write a lyric around, and his trusty notepad is always right there to jot down that spur-of-the-moment inspiration, that way he doesn't forget it.

[?]

Even if James hadn't gone through the food poisoning and had continued to sing in the early 90s style, I think he might've worn out his voice and even lost some of his range over the years. On the other hand, he might've thought "you know what? I don't need to scream all the time" and ended up singing the way he actually did after the accident, or MP could've told him to sing in a lower range, as the high-pitched vocals went out of fashion in the grunge era.

Because DT have always tried to do what's in fashion, right? 

No, but we all know that MP wanted DT to sound modern and "cool" - I think he admitted that himself. Before leaving DT he even said he wouldn't hire James if they were looking for a vocalist now, and in Lifting Shadows he said that part of the reason they considered firing James in 2002 was that his vocal style was pretty far from big bands of the time like Radiohead.

[TheGreatPretender]

No, but we all know that MP wanted DT to sound modern and "cool" - I think he admitted that himself. Before leaving DT he even said he wouldn't hire James if they were looking for a vocalist now, and in Lifting Shadows he said that part of the reason they considered firing James in 2002 was that his vocal style was pretty far from big bands of the time like Radiohead.

This is true, but people change. Just because he felt that way in 2000s, doesn't mean that he was always of that state of mind. Just because he eventually "got with the times" and started trying to push DT toward the more fashionable territory, more Metal oriented sound, doesn't mean that he always felt that way. Had the accident not happened, I'm pretty sure that FII, assuming JLB wouldn't have strained his voice within the next couple of years, I'm pretty sure that FII would've turned out to have had much more soaring vocals than it did.

The thing is, after something like the voice accident, it would've been easier for JLB to do lower vocals, so if that's what MP wanted, it'd be easy to suggest something like that. Meanwhile, on the next few albums, JLB sounds like he's giving it his all as far as his range goes.

[robwebster]

  As I said, though, prefer what they're doing now, where it's a little from column A and a little from column B.

Simpsons reference!!

But anyway, I see what they were getting at, but I just think that you can't always put inspiration or creativity on a time clock.  I know I use Rush as a comparison a lot, but here goes again: Neil Peart has said that he always keeps his notepad with him at all times because he never knows when he might feel inspired or hear a phrase or whatever he'll want to write a lyric around, and his trusty notepad is always right there to jot down that spur-of-the-moment inspiration, that way he doesn't forget it.

You know? You're absolutely right, that's exactly where that phrase comes from, but The Simpsons is so completely absorbed into my DNA, at this point, that I didn't even notice!

But yeah, I agree, and I'm glad that's what DT are doing now. In fact, it's exactly what they're doing now. JLB --

"We get together in a room and one of the strategies is that we revisit any ideas that we think were cool from sound check when we were out touring. There were a few instances where we did pull from a couple of really cool ideas from soundcheck. The other approach is that we all sit around in a room and we all play themes or ideas that we have from over a period of time. So it's kind of funny. You have five guys sitting a room with their iPhones, playing all these things, so we pick from all of those ideas from the individuals that we think are really cool and we document it. We put them on a big easel board and we give them working titles so that we can refer back. And the real magic starts when we start jamming and one thing leads to another. One idea fires another idea and that whole interaction with one another really starts to formulate the songs and ultimately the direction we want to go in."
https://screamermagazine.com/interviews/dream-theaters-james-labrie-us-ourselves/

That's Peart's notebook, for the digital age. What Would Rush Do indeed!

[tiagodon]

Someone else may have already mentioned this but I would really like it if we could actually hear John Myung in the mix!

Yeah! That´s the first wish in this thread!

[RaiseTheKnife]

yeah, I vote for inviting me up on stage to jam with the band.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

No, but we all know that MP wanted DT to sound modern and "cool" - I think he admitted that himself. Before leaving DT he even said he wouldn't hire James if they were looking for a vocalist now, and in Lifting Shadows he said that part of the reason they considered firing James in 2002 was that his vocal style was pretty far from big bands of the time like Radiohead.

This is true, but people change. Just because he felt that way in 2000s, doesn't mean that he was always of that state of mind. Just because he eventually "got with the times" and started trying to push DT toward the more fashionable territory, more Metal oriented sound, doesn't mean that he always felt that way. Had the accident not happened, I'm pretty sure that FII, assuming JLB wouldn't have strained his voice within the next couple of years, I'm pretty sure that FII would've turned out to have had much more soaring vocals than it did.

The thing is, after something like the voice accident, it would've been easier for JLB to do lower vocals, so if that's what MP wanted, it'd be easy to suggest something like that. Meanwhile, on the next few albums, JLB sounds like he's giving it his all as far as his range goes.

Lower parts would have done little to alleviate the concerns MP had about the vocal sound of DT.

[Laughingplace56]

yeah, I vote for inviting me up on stage to jam with the band.

This too. Drumming with these guys onstage would be life changing 

[RaiseTheKnife]

yeah, I vote for inviting me up on stage to jam with the band.

This too. Drumming with these guys onstage would be life changing 

Metallica had a video contest where the winners joined the band on stage for Blackened at a fanclub show.  Be amazing if DT had the same kind of promotion -- especially if it resulted in a DTF/ fanclub exclusive type show.

[tiagodon]

No, but we all know that MP wanted DT to sound modern and "cool" - I think he admitted that himself. Before leaving DT he even said he wouldn't hire James if they were looking for a vocalist now, and in Lifting Shadows he said that part of the reason they considered firing James in 2002 was that his vocal style was pretty far from big bands of the time like Radiohead.

This is true, but people change. Just because he felt that way in 2000s, doesn't mean that he was always of that state of mind. Just because he eventually "got with the times" and started trying to push DT toward the more fashionable territory, more Metal oriented sound, doesn't mean that he always felt that way. Had the accident not happened, I'm pretty sure that FII, assuming JLB wouldn't have strained his voice within the next couple of years, I'm pretty sure that FII would've turned out to have had much more soaring vocals than it did.

The thing is, after something like the voice accident, it would've been easier for JLB to do lower vocals, so if that's what MP wanted, it'd be easy to suggest something like that. Meanwhile, on the next few albums, JLB sounds like he's giving it his all as far as his range goes.

Lower parts would have done little to alleviate the concerns MP had about the vocal sound of DT.

You all have watched the movie Rock Star, right? Some vocals are done by Jeff Scott Soto. The way he sounds in the movie would be, for me, the perfect vocals for DT.

[YtseBitsySpider]

FII line up tours with maiden they play only the hits