Dream Theater entered the studio in February v. No News is Good News

[Pax]

yeah, here's the article
https://prog.teamrock.com/features/2015-09-04/the-prog-interview-john-petrucci#
you'll have to register to read it though

Damn, cannot wait for the news anymore...

[?]

Thanks for the link!

So the double album quote was taken out of context, but it's cool to hear that it'll be something different this time.

[Zydar]

I hope that is a recent pic of him, if so - he's trimmed the beard.

[Kotowboy]

Interesting, thanks to AboutToCrash for the facts

Haha. I forgot about that meme ! And the crying girl.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Great read. Thanks for sharing.

My sense at this point is that the next album is going to be a little different. I don't think the guys are just saying that, nor do I think it's going to be some massive Watershed -> Heritage-esque departure, but it sounds like it's going to have a unique character about it, which is very cool.

[ariich]

So the double album quote was taken out of context, but it's cool to hear that it'll be something different this time.

Yeah, he said no to the writers' block but not to the double album MUST BE A DOUBLE ALBUM THEN.

Of course, it is entirely possible, so we'll see. I was most interested in his comment accepting that the last couple of albums were safer and that there is some sort of change on the new one that they "needed to do". I've mentioned a bit earlier in this thread that the noises we're getting definitely go quite a lot beyond the usual fluff you get at this stage. It seems like the band genuinely believes they are doing something a bit different this time, more than previously.

[reneranucci]

This new album is definitely not like anything else we've done before.

LOL

[Kotowboy]

Anyone wanna do some bullet points of the main nuggetz of info in that article ?

[Kotowboy]

Never Mind - I was already registered and I signed in.




• As for the new album, you've been writing for a lot longer than normal, which suggests either writer's block or a double album.
There's certainly no writer's block and there's been no shortage of ideas. Without going into detail, this is a huge undertaking, what we're doing. We've been working really hard and probably longer on this than other albums in the past. But you'll see why.

• It's not going to be a blues album, then?
No, it's not a blues album! But we felt like we needed to do this, and that we needed to do something right now that is going to ground us. This album absolutely addresses that.

• Some fans suggested you played it too safe with the last two albums, whereas with Train Of Thought or Octavarium you took different approaches. Will this new album address those concerns?
Absolutely. This new album is definitely not like anything else we've done before. Sometimes you feel like you need to make a change and do something totally different like this, and that's when the albums like the ones you mention come out. But those albums were also very polarising and a lot of people said they hated them at first. So you take a huge chance whenever you do anything like that, but it's part of the growth of a band and is massively important to keeping things interesting and keeping the spirit alive, and keeping people engaged, ourselves engaged, and excited.

[425]

Okay, so he actually just didn't comment at all on the suggestion that it might be a double album. He entirely ignored that part of the question.

[ariich]

Kotow, dunno if you saw but AboutToCrash posted all that on that on the last page, and without unreadable yellow text.

[Kotowboy]

Kotow, dunno if you saw but AboutToCrash posted all that on that on the last page, and without unreadable yellow text.

Feel free to change it to white.

[Kotowboy]

Or delete it.


And this.


And this.

And this as well.

[BlackInk]

For the three album releases and the time before I've seen, the talk has always been that "this is something new, different, the next step", but I agree with ariich, there's a different vibe over it all this time. It's all quite interesting and I'm definetely excited.

[ariich]

Kotow, dunno if you saw but AboutToCrash posted all that on that on the last page, and without unreadable yellow text.

Feel free to change it to white.

That would be even worse on my light background.

[Kotowboy]

For the three album releases and the time before I've seen, the talk has always been that "this is something new, different, the next step", but I agree with ariich, there's a different vibe over it all this time. It's all quite interesting and I'm definetely excited.

I just hope it's better than DT12. It's a shame that they intended that album to be their archetypal album but it's really not that great.

Octavarium is more like their archetypal album as it contains elements of every style that they do.

I massively prefer ADTOE to DT12 and another one like that would be fine by me as long as the drums sound great this time and the album is not squashed.

[?]

For the three album releases and the time before I've seen, the talk has always been that "this is something new, different, the next step"

Dunno, JP has typically said "this album has got all the elements DT is known for and I'm sure our fans will love it" etc. Either way, this interview makes me believe this time they've genuinely made an effort to create something totally new, and it makes me curious and excited.

[cramx3]

The fact that the recording process is taking so long and very little updates makes the quotes of this being a different album have a bit more merit IMO.

[Onno]

That makes me about five times more excited than I was. JP saying in an interview that DT13's gonna be different? Good!

[Nihil-Morari]

Quite possibly the best thing they've ever done!

[emtee]

Excellent. I'm all for polarization and taking chances.

[Lucien]

Excellent. I'm all for polarization and taking chances.

[Prog Snob]

That makes the anticipation grow even more. What could they be doing for him to make such statements as, "this is a huge undertaking, what we're doing", "we needed to do something right now that is going to ground us", and "sometimes you feel like you need to make a change and do something totally different"?

[Nihil-Morari]

Call me blunt, but I don't think it's that much. Maybe a studio record with an orchestra? A concept album? A double album? What more could it be? It's not like they're going in an entirely different direction right now.

[Lucien]

Call me blunt, but I don't think it's that much. Maybe a studio record with an orchestra? A concept album? A double album? What more could it be? It's not like they're going in an entirely different direction right now.

As I said before, I remain cautiously optimistic. The kind of things I've wanted to hear about a new Dream Theater album are being said, but I'll wait to hear a single or snippets before I decide to be hyped

[cramx3]

Probably best to reserve judgement to set expectations.  All we know is that it isn't a blues record.

[Kotowboy]

An album using only acoustic instruments.

Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Drums with no triggers or pads or anything, acoustic fretless bass and vocals.

[Nihil-Morari]

An album using only acoustic instruments.

Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Drums with no triggers or pads or anything, acoustic fretless bass and vocals.

Well yeah but seriously. It's not that we're dealing with Steven Wilson who can come up with Bass Communion, or an artist like David Sylvian. We are dealing with Dream Theater, they have their sound, they have their style. I'm sure they'll do things that are unknown to the Dream Theater style, but it won't be groundbreaking. They couldn't. Although of course I hope I'm wrong.

[OpenYourEyes311]

An album using only acoustic instruments.

Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Drums with no triggers or pads or anything, acoustic fretless bass and vocals.

I would actually love if they did this. OR, like the Foo Fighters' In Your Honor album, have one disc be acoutic, and another be a "normal" like DT album. Then they could do two tours out of it, one regular, evening with tour focusing on the normal disc, and an intimate acoustic tour. I'd be all about that.

[SystematicThought]

It makes me more curious, that's for sure. It also sounds like JP realized that they needed to do something different. The way he phrases it makes it sound so urgent and that it was a wakeup call or something. Maybe they'll even ditch Hugh Syme!

[Kotowboy]

" You'll see why "

Maybe they've done one 80 minute song broken up into 13 "movements".

Mind you they kinda did that on Six Degrees so that might rule that out too.

[As I Am]

If DT12 had a much nicer drum sound and wasn't so compressed it would be a much better album.  I enjoy nearly all the tracks on it but Awake I only enjoy three tracks on it. . .

[Dream Team]

Something different like Yes' Fragile album might be cool. 4 -5 good prog songs and some shorter, experimental instrumental stuff.

[The Stray Seed]

I actually like yellow. Really...
So thank you Kotow =D
Back IT, I'm so glad to hear this kind of news from JP. Especially that they spent I lot of time shaping and polishing this new work. This, plus them being so inspired in making something totally different, is making me really excited. I needed this.... the hope to feel totally amazed again.

[Kotowboy]

If DT12 had a much nicer drum sound and wasn't so compressed it would be a much better album.  I enjoy nearly all the tracks on it but Awake I only enjoy three tracks on it. . .

. . . . .