A 30 timestamps monster will be on around my dinner time, Podaar the White.
Unless dinner goes the funny way, of course
WHAT are we talking about??
The Lennon - Alice pic!
That pic is gold. My rock dream #587 would be Alice Cooper covering How Do You Sleep by John Winston Lennon; #588, of course, being John Winston Lennon covering Only Women Bleed. Please, people, take a minute to step away from your laptop and consider the implications. You might need Kleenex and privacy. I know I do.
Done? Good. Let's go.
06 – Beyond this Life:Now it's time to see how you died, but remember that Death is not the end, but just a potentially enjoyable over-technical and daresay proggy metal band from Florida held back by hilarious orc vocals
Or only a transition, okay.0:00 – 0:20: Holy focking hardcore thrash, Batman! I always wondered what does it take to have a bonafide mosh pit during a DT show. Wondering no more, dear Victoria. I'm ready to clothesline a fellow fan in 5/4.
0:20 – 0:31: They got it! How to be respectfully heavy, interestingly elaborate WITHOUT focking with frequencies competition. Incidentally, the two band they continously cite as main influences were among the best of the best in the frequencies democratic distribution business: Yes and Rush.
0:31 – 0:45: Naturally Jordan and that invasive medium range patch had to go and prove the previous paragraph wrong. DT focking with me, instance #294.
0:45 – 1:12: Headline: Murder, every other drummer on the planet killed.
1:12 – 1:26: Nasal James is back juuuuuust to make worry for a bit. Nah, he's acting the headline buzz on the streets, I'm convinced.
1:26 – 1:37: Hearing this a second time, memories of Voices riffage all around.
Of course, you dumbfock. Who do you think shot poor dear Shirley down?1:37 – 2:04: “Dad?”
“Deny, always deny everything! Refuse DNA tests and leave my surname out of it!”
“No, this ain't that call. Just listen to this:”
“............ *cigar toke* …..........”
“So?”
“Again”
“.............*loud moan*.............”
“Well?”
“That's illegal”
2:04 – 2:25: I love Big James with a fierce passion, but I must admit not even Vince Neil could sound more of a pussy enunciating “poor young girl”. Nah, he's acting the gossipy spinsters commenting the news, I'm convinced.
I mean, could this be more transparent? Old Moses/Awake murdered Images and Words/Shirley, then proceeded to kill himself by falling into infinity. Or at least that's what some “witness” wants us to believe.2:25 – 2:58: Eerie bit, but happily back to The Mirror's wise musical landscape architecture. There's a tension between a raw past (acoustic guitar, shaker) and a refined present (cold bass, elaborate synths). Right smack in the middle, a voice from the otherworld. This is progressive music in the truest meaning of the word.
Shirley is trying to tell us something here, Kevolas. There's a deed which has travelled far. It began with a guy Branded with Fire, crossed a heart on Fire, manifested itself with a guy Firing himself, and exploded with a shameful attempt to become a Brand. Who did it? Whos's the Firebrand in the band? 2:58 – 3:12: Great moment of mischievious peace. It's like the guy quitely descending the stairs to the basement in every horror flick. Why the fock does he always have to go check the basement? Run away, you moron. Don't you ever go to the movies?
Hey buddie, I thought inane deranged tangents were MY deal here.3:12 – 3:25: And the monster in the basement shrieked. What the hell, Johnny P, was it that the time and place for a spotless Kerry King impression? (I know, I already worked that reference, but what else am I going to call that? A flock of Nazguls crying in their death throes?)
3:25 – 3:45: Nothing in this world will never dissuade me from firmly believing they put the “wayward man” line as a way to say: “Look, we're quoting Kansas. Prepare for a trove of musical influences as a device to convey the reincarnation theme.” Thank you guys for doing my job for me.
So, Shirley wanted to sound like I&W forever, but Old Moses had another plan. He fell into evil Emo Metal ways. What a wayward dirty old motherfocker.3:45 – 4:01: Big James carries the Curse of Michael Kiske. He's the perfect singer for his metal genre (prog J, power M) timbrewise and rangewise, but he lacks the epic storytelling attitude and the sexy beast vocabulary. He sings straight from the heart, without the manipulative filters we tend to expect in rock tradition. For this fan, there lies his beauty and strenght. Said that, the “Ooooooh Yeaaaaaahhhhh” is the wonderfully closer JLB will ever get to a manufactured sexy beast rock yell. Out of left field like Meek Jesus losing his shit in the temple turned market. Yes, I've just compared Kevin James LaBrie to Jesus.
4:01 – 4:24: And the quotefest goes on. Since it's openly declared, I'm sparing you my “couldn't help it” bit. Metallica – Damage Inc.
They found a switchblade? Was someone Raising the Knife?4:24 – 4:50: I only have one maddening question here. What kind of unsufferable bitch must Lucy Liu be if you'd sooner take your life away than live with her?
4:50 – 5:55: Here is where a quite significative DT composing trend begins. When shit hits the fan, emotionally and/or narratively, they go ¾ or 6/8. I think Jordan and his classical background brought that to the table. Do me a favour, check every tertiary moment from SFAM on and tell me they're not marking pivotal lyrical/narrative/emotive moments. You will never actually do me that favour, so you gotta trust me on that. Ha.
5:55 – 6:09: Our deeds travel from past to present, or from left to right ear.
6:09 – 6:25: For a girl men would kill. Why? They do not know... 6:25 – 7:10: Victoria, it's a hit. Don't give me that do goody good bullshit.7:10 – 8:16: Comin' out of nowhere, drivin' like rain, Nicholas dance on the thunder again ...8:16 – 8:46: Ok, I was focking with reference on the previous three paragraphs, neglecting to point out the not so subtle challenge between Johnny P and Jordan. The dynamic is changing forever, for the first time we have THREE world class soloists. Let's see how the team reacts.
8:46 – 9:06: Well, I must say Jordan is winning here. Unless he recorded this solo over a different track later discarded but featuring HIS time signature, there's no way a regular human brain can accomplish what I've just heard. Not even Keith Jarrett's.
9:06 – 9:25: How do you like them peaches, Victoria? En Regalia?
9:25 – 9:43: I don't have a reference here. But I do have the everlasting proof Dream Theater can and will focking old school salt of the earth rock when they feel like it.
9:43 – 10:05: An unison speeding on a tightrope suspended over a bottomless pit. Two of the three above mentioned world class soloists have resolved competition with collaboration. Lots of “two bits” for the third one. On a sidenote, I'm picturing Johnny P out of his skull with happiness and possibilities now that he found Jordan. Kinda like Kareem meeting Magic at training camp for the first time.
10:05 – 10:34: Welcome back, James. Could this be your longest time out yet?
10:34 – 11:03: Naturally, you crown a heavy prog masterpiece full of homages to past genius with the catchiest chorus in your career eleven minutes in. Treasure your Dream Theater, comrades. A lifetime won't be enough to exhaust all the musical content they've given us, and nobody can boast the same feat.
11:03 – 11:22: Little Victoria, it's been a cold cold lonely winter ...That's it, and sorry again for the delay. Please allow me some parental pride, my friends. This is the step-daughter's birthday week-end, the 21st (goddammit I'm old) and guess what she asked me as a present?
Not a titjob, not a pink convertible, not some silly vapid capitalist cunt thing.
She asked for a trip to a local natural park known for letting visitors freely feed the otters.
She may not be my blood, but she's sure as fock my heart.
Coming Next: 07 - Through Her Eyes