What's the most "out there" genre you could see DT incorporating into one song?

[DT05]

Remember when Jordan Rudess entered the band and, for the first time in their history, there became a moment in a Dream Theater song with a ragtime piano? That was such a blast. Remember when on the next album they went avant-garde thrash for that brief moment at the beginning of The Test That Stumped Them All? It can be a rarity, but moments from genres we wouldn't expect have appeared before. Not only in this way, but in the "hey, they sound kind of like...", people said "I Walk Beside You" sounded like if DT was U2, and "Never Enough" / "Prophets of War" were both compared to Muse. Being pretty far from alternative rock, it is interesting to hear the band sound this way. "Forsaken" has that slight gothic metal tinge to it. "Honor Thy Father" has the rap rock moments. And, not to bring up everyone's favorite song, but "S2N" feels like it wanted to be some kind of Kid Rock car commercial!

What I'm asking is, what's the most wildcard sound you could see DT incorporating into a song, even if just for a few seconds (but even the whole song?), knowing we've seen the practice here and there.

This might sound nuts but there's a few things I can imagine:

1. Harmonica bluesy prog - basing this on some of Jordan Rudess' solo works but also on James LaBrie's more slightly rustic approach to alt rock on recent solo albums. Also of course Liquid Tension Experiment has played a little bit with this kind of a sound. Remember when Pain of Salvation did Road Salt? Something like that.

2. Hyperpop/future funk - really reaching but I can imagine a moment in one of Dream Theater's extended intros or solos where Rudess brings things up as if we're in a saccharine anime outro. Never would have been attempted in the '00s, but in the '20s? This sound is far more prevalent

3. Industrial pop metal (aka Devin Townsend-core) - not vocally, unless they used a featuring which is incredibly rare (I doubt Ty Tabor could pull this off), but think of albums like Synchestra and Addicted, or even Terria. That wall-of-sound approach would be really interesting for DT since it's so adjacent to prog metal already

These are just a shortlist for me.  I'm more interested in what you think could happen, even if briefly, on any future DT (it doesn't have to be DT16 necessarily)

[CraftyCaleb2483]

Country. I'd hate it if they did, but still

[WilliamMunny]

You know what I would love??? A straight up post rock-style instrumental...8-10 minutes of slow, shoe-gazy atmosphere slowly building to a crescendo. No blistering unison runs, no massive time/key changes, just a slow burst of ambience with a smattering of samples and some tasteful playing from JP.

Oh, wait, you asked what could I actually see the band doing? Well, not that, lol.

I honestly think that most we will get is something like another ragtime deviation from Jordan during a solo section.

And, given that this will be album 16, I'm ok with that. Just make it a bunch of memorable songs and leave the genre-hopping to the kids.

[DT05]

Country!!    If ever there's been a time for them to try it, I feel like everyone has sampled the country bandwagon since the 2020s has started. I mean, if they kept the prog element, and did something like the new Geese album from last year (which had a prog slant mixed into alt-country rock), it could actually sound nice. Now if it was that bro country sound? Uh oh

That shoegaze post-rock instrumental sounds quite nice, and I say that as someone whose favorite member is LaBrie.

[Zydar]

Weren't they experimenting a bit with "world music" in the early 2000s (around 6DOIT) before they dropped the idea? 

Yes, I found this quote on Reddit: 

"When DT started working on Six Degrees, they originally intended to make an album with world music influences and occupied some master classes about that topic. As Steve Vai released The Ultra Zone, DT refrained from that idea, because he had a similar concept." 

[DT05]

Makes me think about the jungle noises at the end of The Count of Tuscany, which I hope so much they start the next album off on just for that homage

[crystalstars17]

Thrash 

[Adami]

Thrash 

Haven't they done a considerable amount of that?




I honestly don't see DT incorporating any "out there" ideas going forward. I feel like they will keep to the core DT sound as closely as possible, as they have for the last 10 years or so.

[MirrorMask]

You know what I would love??? A straight up post rock-style instrumental...8-10 minutes of slow, shoe-gazy atmosphere slowly building to a crescendo. No blistering unison runs, no massive time/key changes, just a slow burst of ambience with a smattering of samples and some tasteful playing from JP.

The intro of Octavarium basically?

[WilliamMunny]

The intro of Octavarium basically?

That's more of a Floydish jam...I was thinking something that you might find on a Russian Circles album.

[emtee]

Not sure but I'd love to hear a 3+ minute beautiful sax solo.

[MirrorMask]

More of a wet dream than anything else, but I'd love for them to incorporate folk into a song.

They already did monsters and vampires and dark lords for fantasy, a folkish / celtic vibe for another fantasy themed song would be cool. Think Clansman or Death of the Celts from Iron Maiden, but prog!

[hefdaddy42]

I shudder to think what DT's take on country would sound like.  

The closest I could see them getting to country would be a collab with some progressive bluegrass players like Bela Fleck (banjo) or Chris Thile (mandolin), guys who can match the members of DT from a virtuosic standpoint.  No, THAT I would love to see.

[Adami]

I shudder to think what DT's take on country would sound like. 

The closest I could see them getting to country would be a collab with some progressive bluegrass players like Bela Fleck (banjo) or Chris Thile (mandolin), guys who can match the members of DT from a virtuosic standpoint.  No, THAT I would love to see.

This is the first mention of Chris Thile I've seen other than from my wife who is a HUGE fan. Appearently he lives in our general neighborhood and we've seen him out and about a few times but she's never said anything to him.

[hefdaddy42]

This is the first mention of Chris Thile I've seen other than from my wife who is a HUGE fan. Appearently he lives in our general neighborhood and we've seen him out and about a few times but she's never said anything to him.

He's INCREDIBLE.  I am a HUGE fan.

[pg1067]

I don't know the answer to the question, but everything I've read in this thread sounds horrible.

[CraftyCaleb2483]

I don't know the answer to the question, but everything I've read in this thread sounds horrible.

You got that right!

[Setlist Scotty]

Weren't they experimenting a bit with "world music" in the early 2000s (around 6DOIT) before they dropped the idea?

Yes, I found this quote on Reddit:

"When DT started working on Six Degrees, they originally intended to make an album with world music influences and occupied some master classes about that topic. As Steve Vai released The Ultra Zone, DT refrained from that idea, because he had a similar concept."

Just a clarification: they didn't do the world music album because JP and MP saw Pantera the night before they started work on what became SDoIT, which threw the whole world music concept out the window when they were inspired to write what became TGP. It had *nothing* to do with Vai, although in hindsight they were glad that they went in a different direction because of Vai's album (which was released months after DT started writing and recording).

[Dream Team]

I honestly haven't the slightest clue what S2N and a Kid Rock commercial are supposed to have in common.

[HOF]

I think it would be hard to envision them incorporating some of that whispy early 00s acoustic Indy type style into their music.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

I am really not sure. The most out there genre they've ever incorporated into a song is Broadway. They even turned it into a string of songs and made an album out of it. I don't know what the next thing will be but after that, anything is possible.

[CraftyCaleb2483]

The most out there genre they've ever incorporated into a song is Broadway. They even turned it into a string of songs and made an album out of it. I don't know what the next thing will be but after that, anything is possible.

[Schurftkut]

i'm just hoping for more Zappa-esque bits again

[Zydar]

i'm just hoping for more Zappa-esque bits again

Like the Beyond This Life instrumental section? Yeah that would be cool. 

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

Sadgirl Music. I want a DT song that takes direct inspiration from Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, Caroline Polachek, etc.

We got most of the way there with Disappear but I want MORE

[CraftyCaleb2483]

Not sure but I'd love to hear a 3+ minute beautiful sax solo.

Like Another Day but longer lol

[DT05]

Here's a question for everyone: what about synthwave? I've seen synthwave and AOR (melodic hard rock) have become cozy in recent years, and even power metal has gotten into that retrowave '80s synth aesthetic. I could see Dream Theater having a synthwave-tinged flavor to Rudess' synths for a song that remains progressive metal.

[pg1067]

Just for shits and giggles, I googled "weirdest musical genres."  This is what came up:

- Lowercase:  "Lowercase is an extreme form of ambient minimalism in which very quiet sounds are amplified to extreme levels.  Minimal artist Steve Roden popularized the movement with an album entitled Forms of Paper, in which he made recordings of himself handling paper in various ways."

- Pirate Metal:  "Pirate metal is a style of heavy metal music characterized by its incorporation of pirate mythology within the music and sometimes in stage performances."

- Vaporwave:  "Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music and a subgenre of hauntology, a visual art style, and an Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s, and became well-known in 2015.  It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, 1970s elevator music, R&B, and lounge music from the 1980s and 1990s."

- Witch House:  "Witch house is a microgenre of electronic music that is musically characterized by high-pitched keyboard effects, heavily layered basslines and trap-style drum loops, while it aesthetically employs occult and gothic-inspired themes."

- Folktronica:  "Folktronica is a genre of music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica, often featuring uses of acoustic instruments – especially stringed instruments – and incorporating hip hop, electronic or dance rhythms, although it varies based on influences and choice of sounds."

- No Wave:  "No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene that emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City.  The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music.  Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and roll clichés, no wave musicians instead experimented with noise, dissonance, and atonality, as well as non-rock genres like free jazz, funk, and disco.  The scene often reflected an abrasive, confrontational, and nihilistic world view."

I think it's funny that a couple of these definition use words like "popularized" and "became well-known."  Also, pirate metal sounds right up DT's alley!

[birchbark]

2. Hyperpop/future funk - really reaching but I can imagine a moment in one of Dream Theater's extended intros or solos where Rudess brings things up as if we're in a saccharine anime outro. Never would have been attempted in the '00s, but in the '20s? This sound is far more prevalent

I would go absolutely nuts for this if it was executed well.

[DT05]

- Vaporwave:  "Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music and a subgenre of hauntology, a visual art style, and an Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s, and became well-known in 2015.  It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, 1970s elevator music, R&B, and lounge music from the 1980s and 1990s."

FYI, there is a vaporwave artist called FM Skyline who has sampled Dream Theater to make vaporwave a couple times before, and I think Mindspring Memories has also done this. I would love to see DT make vaporwave themselves

[ytserush]

Don't care as long as they're pushing the envelope.

[Jamesman42]

Mumble Rap (aka Bidencore)

It will be great for when JLB gets into old age. 

[MirrorMask]

That's more of a Floydish jam...I was thinking something that you might find on a Russian Circles album.

I heard the song Gnosis and now I wish that, if there's an instrumental on DT16, it would be like that.