I remember watching the LTE DVD and listening to the LTE CDs after a long time. I said to myself: I see clearly why MP and JP thought that JR was the guy for Dream Theater. There was something magical about the chemistry they had writing music together, and the potential for that chemistry to continue in DT was amazing. IMO the decision to replace Derek was fully justified if the experience of making the LTE albums was the main reason behind it. The opportunity of having JR join the band seemed to good to ignore.
And I think part of that great chemistry shows in SFAM and to a lesser degree in SDOIT. TOT had a very definite and narrow direction that conditioned the music. Something happened since Octavarium, and some of the elements that made the first JR/DT collaborations so great started to fade away. On the other hand I think that is a natural thing, you cannot expect to be super innovative after writing 4 or 5 albums with the same guys. If I can say this, probably the 5th album with KM wouldnīt have been super groundbreaking, either.
Maybe thatīs why people insist in that it would be a good thing for the band members to take a long break, or to challenge themselves to try something completely different. They can recover some of the freshness and excitement they had at the beginning. I donīt know, they can try to write a rock album with almost no metal at all, or include 2 piano based songs in the next album, and see what happens (but thatīs discussion for another thread I think).
This is a most excellent post!
Personally, when I heard that Rudess had replaced Sherinian in the band (which I found out when I got the fan club magazine and saw the announcement on the inside of the front page), I was as happy as anyone.
Ultimately, while he has done some things (musically with DT) over the years that I am not overly wild about, Rudess still does tons of great stuff, and he is a huge asset to the band. Sure, some of us might be a little vocal with the stuff we don't like (those damn solos where he tries to bends 1,000 notes into submission
), but a lot of that stems from knowing what he is capable of.