Richard Chycki says he's currently mixing a DT live album **DO NOT POST LINKS**

[rumborak]

Here is a handheld video of the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW_VJVH2POA

I mean, the vocals *are* all over the place.

[noxon]

These two examples you posted, are they from the audience boot? There's either an enormous amount of reverb on James' voice or there was a terrible echo in the arena. Sounded like it was only affecting James, though, so I presume it's reverb applied to his vocals.

I realize i forgot the description of what those are.

They're mono tracks of BOTH the audience bootleg and the videos for each ear. (i forget which ear is which). Yes, the audience boot has a lot of reverb, added to the fact that they're not PERFECTLY synced.

I'm not sure how take the time sounded on the audience bootleg - but when i get home i can do that sync too..

[nobloodyname]

Here is a handheld video of the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW_VJVH2POA

I mean, the vocals *are* all over the place.

Oh, my.

[mikeyd23]

My overall thoughts - James definitely struggled on some songs. But, there certainly sounds like there are some processing/effects/auto-tune errors applied to his vocal track that make things worst, IMO. If DT could get the raw, clean, un-effected vocal channel recorded from the show, an engineer could certainly make the performance sound better. Auto-tune in certain spots, done in a correct manner, some EQ, compression, reverb, etc... and his vocal would be fine (considering the difficulty of the set).

The band sounded incredible. Great mix on the instruments, the drums and bass in particular sound huge, I really like the mix instrumentally.

DT should hire the film crew that shot and edited this for their next official release. Seriously. This thing is gorgeous, the shots are great, the angles are fantastic, the video quality is awesome. And the editing and camera shot choices are spot on. Better than the last couple official concert films DT has put out from a video quality perspective.

Oh and the guitar solo at the end of TTT is sooooooo good. That's a classic JP moment if I've ever seen one.

[bosk1]

Still think it looks very funny when JP is "singing" the backup vocals

  Why?

[Plasmastrike]

Here is a handheld video of the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW_VJVH2POA

I mean, the vocals *are* all over the place.

Man, disappointing.. DT is just so on fire lately playing-wise but JLB has been having a really rough time. It's really a shame. In PA during the Images show, during intermission, it was the first time I'd overheard people complaining about how JLB was sounding that night.

I love the dude so much but damn

[Pettor]

Still think it looks very funny when JP is "singing" the backup vocals

  Why?

Haha well I think it's that DT is so much about the instrumental performance and that most elements should be live so that the very obvious over-dubs that doesn't fit what I am seeing becomes strange. Doesn't matter ofc., just a bit like watching over-dubbed commercials where the mouth moves and something else comes out

[pcs90]

Here is a handheld video of the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW_VJVH2POA

I mean, the vocals *are* all over the place.

Man, that's just bad. I love James's vocals in studio and can't imagine DT with anyone else, but live he's really really struggling, even after changing some of the vocal melodies and lowering the song a half step.

[noxon]

Here's the take the time synced: https://dtnorway.com/ttt.mp3   

[gzarruk]

Not being disrespectful here, and I've always loved James' vocals, but I think the consensus seems to be that James is the weakest link on DT. To me, he was amazing up untill their 2015 tour. After it, on TA live and the IAW anniversary is when he started to go downhill.

[bosk1]

I don't know that I would or could use "weakest link" to describe ANY member of this band.  I don't really feel like that's a fair description.

[Evai]

Still think it looks very funny when JP is "singing" the backup vocals

I think it only looks funny to us because we know what Petrucci's voice is actually like. To the target audience, it just looks like DT have a badass backup vocalist

[Cool Chris]

He is the weakest link because 1) it is a damn strong chain, 2) he has the most demanding work 3) his work is the most hampered by the passage of time and the subsequent degradation (don't like that word here but can't think of a better one) of the tools needed to perform his job, meaning his body.

[rumborak]

The real shame here is, is this now the second live DVD in a row that was axed? (This is with the assumption that they meant to film TA at the end of the tour)

[noxon]

They never meant for it to be a DVD.

I have insistered they should.

They will probably release it now.

[bosk1]

Yeah, I have been leaning on them as well, so we have a two-pronged attack going.    But as far as being the "second live DVD in a row that was axed," that isn't really an accurate description.  For The Astonishing, JP wanted to film and release it, but it never really got past the "we might do this" stage.  And, as Noxon said, the Budokan show was never intended to be released, so it isn't really accurate to say that was "axed" either.

[gzarruk]

He is the weakest link because 1) it is a damn strong chain, 2) he has the most demanding work 3) his work is the most hampered by the passage of time and the subsequent degradation (don't like that word here but can't think of a better one) of the tools needed to perform his job, meaning his body.

Yep, my thoughts as well.

[MinistroRaven]

Using the videos and the audios I will try to synchronize them all

[rumborak]

And, as Noxon said, the Budokan show was never intended to be released, so it isn't really accurate to say that was "axed" either.

I'm not up to speed, what was the intent of this professional production, if not commercial release?

[bosk1]

And, as Noxon said, the Budokan show was never intended to be released, so it isn't really accurate to say that was "axed" either.

I'm not up to speed, what was the intent of this professional production, if not commercial release?

It was for a Japanese TV broadcast.  An outside entity (I think it was either the tv station or a Japanese production company) commissioned the project for the tv broadcast.  It wasn't really contemplated as something the band would take possession of or possibly release. 

[TAC]

.  For The Astonishing, JP wanted to film and release it, but it never really got past the "we might do this" stage.

With the effort it took to put The Astonishing album together, as well as the live production, it seems crazy to me  that they didn't film it. And I'm not coming at it as an "I want a DVD of the tour! wah wah" I would think that THEY would've wanted a DVD of the tour.

[Robo4900]

I hope we get Don't Look Past Me as a bonus track for this somehow. I dunno if it was at any shows that were filmed, but it'd be really nice to finally have Don't Look Past Me on an official release that isn't a massive bugger to get a copy of.

I suppose there's always the option of an official bootleg or something if there's no official footage of it... Didn't James LaBrie and/or John Petrucci at one point say that they were looking into reviving the official bootlegs? The Astonishing tour, and the one or two songs that were swapped in and out of the set before/after the Budokan show was filmed, seem like the perfect opportunity for that.

[Cool Chris]

Don't want to start a new thread for a poll, but am curious... if this was officially released tomorrow, would you buy it?

I would say no, but largely due to issues unrelated to the band and my being a fan of theirs. That would make it the first official release of theirs of any kind in forever I did not buy right away (except for Chaos in Motion, because that was a pathetic product).

[bosk1]

I would get it, no question.  But that probably isn't surprising.

[cramx3]

Yeah, I have been leaning on them as well, so we have a two-pronged attack going.    But as far as being the "second live DVD in a row that was axed," that isn't really an accurate description.  For The Astonishing, JP wanted to film and release it, but it never really got past the "we might do this" stage.  And, as Noxon said, the Budokan show was never intended to be released, so it isn't really accurate to say that was "axed" either.

Yea, I don't know if I read or heard anywhere that the possible TA DVD plans were axed due to JLB.  I thought he sounded mostly great those shows, he struggled a bit with Lord Nefaryus parts.  I think doing the I&W shows were much more difficult for JLB and the result we see is probably why the band questions releasing it or probably didn't plan to do a full on release from the tour. 

I do really hope they have some quality video from TA tour that's just waiting to be released alongside the I&W show as a ytse jam release.  But I will keep dreaming.

Don't want to start a new thread for a poll, but am curious... if this was officially released tomorrow, would you buy it?

Yea, I would.  Visually it's up there with the best of DT videos and the sound is mostly really solid too.  The first set also has the two TA songs that I'd have to have good video of (as I mentioned above).

[Peter Mc]

Maybe I was just lucky but JLB sounded amazing at the I&W show that I saw, couldn't fault him at all which is amazing considering his age and that these songs are from 25 years ago. Yes he didn't go for some of the really big notes in some of the early songs like Another Day and Take The Time but what he did was perfectly fine. From Metropolis onwards though he went for everything and sang those songs as they are on the record. The band also sounded incredible, Petrucci's guitar sound was just amazing on the night.

[ReaperKK]

Don't want to start a new thread for a poll, but am curious... if this was officially released tomorrow, would you buy it?

That is a big yes from me, the last video release I bought was Score.

After seeing a couple of songs I immediately wanted to see the whole thing whereas seeing LALP and BTFW did nothing for me mainly because of how they were filmed.

[PetFish]

With the effort it took to put The Astonishing album together, as well as the live production, it seems crazy to me  that they didn't film it. And I'm not coming at it as an "I want a DVD of the tour! wah wah" I would think that THEY would've wanted a DVD of the tour.

My feelings exactly.

It really seems odd to put so much into pre-production with all the storyboards and pre-visualizations and stuff, it's basically a movie, and to have what appears to be a "big budget" road show, not to mention just the pure time and effort it took to even get this project completed, only to then just fizzle out on a live version.

... not to mention the novelization and how much *that* took to get done (writer, writing, drafts, artwork, publishing, etc).

If I had a choice of a book or a live release of The Astonishing I'd have taken the live release and there could have been an hour-long documentary on the story where JP could have expanded on the story... OMG I HAD A THOUGHT... how about a commentary track where JP discusses the story as the show is going on?  Or how about on-screen text talking about more in-depth story during the show?

[noxon]

This is not taken from any actual Knowledge, its just assumption: i think JP had his eyes set on having a special show with choir and orchestra, and when the plans for that fell out, they didn't have a backup plan. Added into the fact that dvd sales are really really poor, and the astonishing wasn't a major success, putting up that show and filming it might not have been financially viable at all. A lot of the other stuff (video game, book, etc) was already signed for and paid for. Cancelling would only be sunk cost for them.

[Rammstein]

much smaller bands like Neal Morse Band, Opeth etc put out live DVDs constantly. You just need a few cameras. I know the market has decreased a lot and Youtube makes it free, but DT should be able to ''afford'' it

[Skeever]

much smaller bands like Neal Morse Band, Opeth etc put out live DVDs constantly. You just need a few cameras. I know the market has decreased a lot and Youtube makes it free, but DT should be able to ''afford'' it

I'm sure they can afford it, but I also get the drive to not want to release something unless it's better than the last thing you released. Even as an amateur creator who only occasionally gets paid for any creative work I do outside my 9-5, I totally get that drive. As an artist, you want to show that you can surpass yourself, and you don't get anything out of cobbling together something just for the sake of collecting a check. If you look at the official things DT have released since MP left, it's very obvious to me that the days of "live album for the sake of live album" are over. Even though I haven't liked much of what they've done recently, the spirit of progression, and doing things that are bigger, better, and different than things done in the past is present. I don't know for certain that JP and the band ever wanted to release an official document of The Astonishing or the I&W tour, but it seems like if they did have the budget/capabilities to do a live release, there were other factors aside from purely financial ones that held them back from feeling great about doing so.

[mikeyd23]

Don't want to start a new thread for a poll, but am curious... if this was officially released tomorrow, would you buy it?

Yes. The visuals alone are worth it to me, the band mix instrumentally is killer, even if James' vocals got screwed up.

Now if they were able to get James' raw vocal signal and clean it up - this would be a must have, IMO.

[King Postwhore]

.  For The Astonishing, JP wanted to film and release it, but it never really got past the "we might do this" stage.

With the effort it took to put The Astonishing album together, as well as the live production, it seems crazy to me  that they didn't film it. And I'm not coming at it as an "I want a DVD of the tour! wah wah" I would think that THEY would've wanted a DVD of the tour.

Maybe the response wasn't what they were expecting for the album and tour so they had plans to film but pulled back that idea.

[gmillerdrake]

Don't want to start a new thread for a poll, but am curious... if this was officially released tomorrow, would you buy it?

Absolutely, in a heartbeat.

[Chino]

With the effort it took to put The Astonishing album together, as well as the live production, it seems crazy to me  that they didn't film it. And I'm not coming at it as an "I want a DVD of the tour! wah wah" I would think that THEY would've wanted a DVD of the tour.

My feelings exactly.

It really seems odd to put so much into pre-production with all the storyboards and pre-visualizations and stuff, it's basically a movie, and to have what appears to be a "big budget" road show, not to mention just the pure time and effort it took to even get this project completed, only to then just fizzle out on a live version.

... not to mention the novelization and how much *that* took to get done (writer, writing, drafts, artwork, publishing, etc).

If I had a choice of a book or a live release of The Astonishing I'd have taken the live release and there could have been an hour-long documentary on the story where JP could have expanded on the story... OMG I HAD A THOUGHT... how about a commentary track where JP discusses the story as the show is going on?  Or how about on-screen text talking about more in-depth story during the show?

My understanding is that DT pretty much had zero to do with the book or its release.