DREAM THEATER ANNOUNCE THE RETURN OF DRUMMER MIKE PORTNOY

[TAC]

I like Forsaken. It's not a typical DT song, but I thought their performance and execution was pretty good. And James, as he does on the rest of the album, sells it.


I also really like TMOLS, like a lot! My issue is that the ending goes on and on and on...

[brakkum]

I also really like TMOLS, like a lot! My issue is that the ending goes on and on and on...

This is my one gripe with that song

[Jamesman42]

I hadn't heard TMOLS in a long time, so I just listened and it is as boring as I remember. I tried

[KevShmev]

I feel like the end of The Ministry... is awesome, but it feels like major work to get to it.  And it's not like the rest of the song is bad or anything, but it just drags.

Put me in the camp of those who feels Forsaken doesn't land.  I like the piano, and JP's solo is money, but the chorus is a major thud.  It feels like one that should soar, but it just feels limp.

[Jamesman42]

Forsaken is another song I haven't heard in like a decade. Listening now, it has a nice energy and the music is actually really cool and different for DT. Still not a song I will seek out, but this is a nice listen in its relative simplicity.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Systematic Chaos was the first Dream Theater album that the band released after I became a fan (I narrowly missed out on Octavarium by a month or something). I remember having the best time monitoring the MP Forums for updates from the man himself while the album was being made. As for the album itself, I think it's fine as DT albums go. I've always felt that ITPOE is really underrated, and I actually really like the dark fantasy vibe they've got going. But it does kind of seem like a worse version of Octavarium to me.

[axeman90210]

Ministry of Lost Souls? More like Ministry of Lost Consciousness  To me SC is like a summer action blockbuster, lots of style with some of the riffs and solo sections in particular, but doesn't have anything approaching the substance of an I&W or a SFAM.

[Glasser]

SC is one of DT's best albums IMO.

I have never heard that before!! This is what makes DT and this forum special! 

[hefdaddy42]

Repentance is pretty good, but it could have been close to top tier if they had edited down both the intro AND the outro.  The spoken word section is fine, and the regular verses and solo section are really good, but both the intro and outro sections are just too damn long.

[cramx3]

SC is bottom half of DT albums for me.

[Chino]

Repentance is pretty good, but it could have been close to top tier if they had edited down both the intro AND the outro.  The spoken word section is fine, and the regular verses and solo section are really good, but both the intro and outro sections are just too damn long.

I always thought that might have been by design. If the band were to ever play the 12SS live, that'd give them a solid rest after TGP, TDS, and TROAE.

[Dream Team]

I believe MP has alluded to that.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

I always thought that might have been by design. If the band were to ever play the 12SS live, that'd give them a solid rest after TGP, TDS, and TROAE.

Please no. How much time would that take up?

[TheCountOfNYC]

Please no. How much time would that take up?

About 55 minutes give or take.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

About 55 minutes give or take.

oooof...that is an enormous chunk of a show that I do not want to be dedicated to 12SS. GP is super awesome, TDS is awesome, ROAE is fine, Repentance wouldn't be a great live song, and by the time I've heard the first two I do not need to hear Shattered Fortress.

[geeeemo]

oooof...that is an enormous chunk of a show that I do not want to be dedicated to 12SS. GP is super awesome, TDS is awesome, ROAE is fine, Repentance wouldn't be a great live song, and by the time I've heard the first two I do not need to hear Shattered Fortress.

I agree. TGP is something Id like, but not that whole thing.

[CodyWanKenobi]

I saw it live on that tour and I didn't get the same change of opinion, unfortunately.

Ah, bummer man. Sorry, I wish you could have felt what I did.

[crystalstars17]

Repentance is pretty good, but it could have been close to top tier if they had edited down both the intro AND the outro.  The spoken word section is fine, and the regular verses and solo section are really good, but both the intro and outro sections are just too damn long.

That whole song is a study in tedious monotony. Most especially the spoken section. So dark, lifeless and depressing. Also, cringey. It's practically unlistenable.

[Adami]

I love Repentance. Though I also acknowledge it likely won't work live very well at all and am fine with it not being played. But what a good song.

[gborland]

That whole song is a study in tedious monotony.

Completely agree, and I would extend that to (most of) the 12SS.

[jammindude]

I never much cared for Repentance (or almost any of SC for that matter...and POW is an embarrassment) but I do remember that when I strung together a mix of the 12SS so that every piece blended seamlessly into the next, making it more like one single piece of music, it worked much better as a part of the whole.

[TAC]

POW is awesome!

[nobloodyname]

POW is awesome!

Yup!

As is most of the Twelve Step Suite

[Adami]

POW is awesome!

Indeed!


Minus the lyrics, but I actually like the music and vocal melodies.

[Azyiu]

POW is awesome!

Sure. I don't even remember how that song goes.

[HOF]

POW is awesome!

TAC finally admits it.

[TAC]

TAC finally admits it.

Felt that way since it was released!

[Setlist Scotty]

Felt that way since it was released!

I thought you felt quite the opposite about Power Windows.   

[TAC]

[Stadler]

I had Prophets ranked at 152 in my recent list.

[Jamesman42]

I like that PoW has the lyric "can we clean up this mess" because if that isn't an apt descriptor

[pg1067]

POW is awesome!

Someone's going to copy this and use it against you for years to come.   

[TAC]

Oh I see. Scotty should've been the first clue.

Nerds and geeks. Nerds and geeks.

[MinistroRaven]

POW is awesome!

I really LOVE this song. I remember during their show at CCS when they played it, I was belting it out at the top of my lungs, haha! People around me were giving me strange looks, but I had so much fun.

[Setlist Scotty]

Oh I see. Scotty should've been the first clue.

Nerds and geeks. Nerds and geeks.

Pot. Kettle. Black. 

Someone's going to copy this and use it against you for years to come.   

I'll make it easy for them - I just included it in my sig!