Dream Theater entered the studio in February v. No News is Good News

[Bertielee]

-James LaBrie would like to play The Ministry of Lost Souls

Meh.
 

Disappear

Yay!

and Take the Time

OK

FFTY

2nded, Scotty.

B.Lee

[Mladen]

I would be absolutely thrilled to hear The Ministry of lost souls live, it's such a touching epic song and also features my favorite John Petrucci guitar solo at the end.

[kaos2900]

Replace The Ministry of Lost Souls with Sacrificed Sons and Take the Time with Home and I'd be a happy camper!

As far as the concept album goes, it would be cool to see them write one cohesive piece of music again. Lat January/Early February is a long way off, but hopefully that means a US tour in the Spring!

Oh, and I may in the minority here but I was hoping that they would do away with the Evening With Format. I may be getting old but 3 hours is a freaking long time to stand now adays. I would have a preferred a 2 hour DT Set with a high quality hour opener (Maybe Symphony X or Haken).

[Lucien]

Oh, and I may in the minority here but I was hoping that they would do away with the Evening With Format. I may be getting old but 3 hours is a freaking long time to stand now adays. I would have a preferred a 2 hour DT Set with a high quality hour opener (Maybe Symphony X or Haken).

Who stands for the entire 3 hours

[cramx3]

Oh, and I may in the minority here but I was hoping that they would do away with the Evening With Format. I may be getting old but 3 hours is a freaking long time to stand now adays. I would have a preferred a 2 hour DT Set with a high quality hour opener (Maybe Symphony X or Haken).

Who stands for the entire 3 hours

I have in GA floor concerts.  Not all venues are fully seated.  But I have no problem with standing because im most likely rocking out and enjoying it.

[rumborak]

Oh, and I may in the minority here but I was hoping that they would do away with the Evening With Format. I may be getting old but 3 hours is a freaking long time to stand now adays. I would have a preferred a 2 hour DT Set with a high quality hour opener (Maybe Symphony X or Haken).

Even when I was still hugely into DT, I always thought the 3-hour sets were just too long. I totally agree that a 2-hour set with a strong opener is better.

[As I Am]

-They won't do a special show this year ala Score to celebrate 30 years of the band. Maybe in 2016. (Interesting)
-John Petrucci came up with the entire setlist for this summer tour. (So, HE'S to blame!)
-James LaBrie would like to play The Ministry of Lost Souls , Disappear  and Take the Time  in the next tour.
-The Evening With shows will stay for the next tour. 
-The release date for DT13 is late January/early February. (Interesting)
-James LaBrie will record vocals right after the summer tour ends, in Richard Chycki's studio in Canada. 
-Richard Chycki is the sound engineer once again...
-...but they are very aware of the negative feedback about the sound in the last two albums. James says the sound in DT12 was a Richard Chycki thing, and they all agreed then, but now they're not interested in that direction anymore. Expect no more sound issues. 
-James LaBrie hints at a concept album, but he can't confirm nor deny that fact. (Interesting)
-We'll have news on the album this fall, including some audio snippets. They're dying to finally reveal it! 

[OpenYourEyes311]

Lots of cool/interesting news coming from James there.

LOVE the Evening With shows. Probably the best news from that article. The more DT can play in one night, the better. I've only been able to see them twice in the last four years, so I'll take as much as I can get in a night. I would also love to hear Disappear live, one of the few post-FII songs I have yet to hear. The rest is fine. I will wait for the album to be out to make any assumptions on sound (which I hardly ever have any issues with).

[TAC]

Then I definitely think Disappear makes the set.
Number 1, 6 D's has basically been ignored save for TGD on the early '11 shows, and 2, I think JP is cognizant of what's been rarely played.

[Setlist Scotty]

Oh, and I may in the minority here but I was hoping that they would do away with the Evening With Format. I may be getting old but 3 hours is a freaking long time to stand now adays. I would have a preferred a 2 hour DT Set with a high quality hour opener (Maybe Symphony X or Haken).

Even when I was still hugely into DT, I always thought the 3-hour sets were just too long. I totally agree that a 2-hour set with a strong opener is better.

So just get to the venue late or leave early. Problem solved!   

[rumborak]

Seriously though, I think opening bands, when well-chosen, can add more to the concert than just another hour of the main band. One of my favorite DT concerts was when they had Spock's Beard open up for them.

[mikeyd23]

Random thought from the comments James made in that interview... Does anybody else think its weird they acknowledged the negative reaction to the sound of the last album and then brought back the same guy to engineer the new album?

[cramx3]

Random thought from the comments James made in that interview... Does anybody else think its weird they acknowledged the negative reaction to the sound of the last album and then brought back the same guy to engineer the new album?

Not really, there is probably a good working relationship between Chycki and the band since there is some history there.  They probably talked it over and expressed they want something new which I assume he was cool with, otherwise they wouldn't work together again.

[rumborak]

Also, there is a difference between saying "we are aware that people are saying this" and "yes, we acknowledge this was a problem".

[BlobVanDam]

Also, there is a difference between saying "we are aware that people are saying this" and "yes, we acknowledge this was a problem".

We also don't know what specifically they have heard about and are changing. Is it the snare/drum sound? The guitar volume? The mastering issues? All of the above? Something else?

[Kotowboy]

Oops !

[Kotowboy]

-James LaBrie would like to play The Ministry of Lost Souls

Meh.
 

Disappear

Yay!

and Take the Time

OK

FFTY

Fixed Fixed That You !

[Kotowboy]

Random thought from the comments James made in that interview... Does anybody else think its weird they acknowledged the negative reaction to the sound of the last album and then brought back the same guy to engineer the new album?

Ehhh. A good producer can get the sounds the band are after. Just because they went with the sound of DT12 - doesn't mean he can't make an album sound any other way.

[Train of Naught]

Random thought from the comments James made in that interview... Does anybody else think its weird they acknowledged the negative reaction to the sound of the last album and then brought back the same guy to engineer the new album?

Ehhh. A good producer can get the sounds the band are after. Just because they went with the sound of DT12 - doesn't mean he can't make an album sound any other way.

Indeed. It could very well be that this was the sound they were going for, and I don't blame them, many people (including me) actually like the sound, but I guess they would be doing the right thing if they would adjust to the opinions of their fanbase.

[Kotowboy]

Saying Richard Chycki only knows how to make albums that sounds like DT12 is like saying Bob Rock can only make albums like St. Anger.


Both albums exist because the band were on board with them.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I think Chycki has had far more wrongs than rights during his time as DT's main audio engineer. Live at Luna Park was underwhelming sonically, DT12 was a step down from ADTOE's mix and BTFW was good but could've been better (Score sounds way, way better).

It's funny how a band like Haken, which obviously doesn't have as much resources to record and produce an album as Dream Theater, could come up with an album like 'The Mountain' which is pure sonic (and musical) bliss; wheras DT comes up with DT12 which isn't pure sonic bliss at all (both 2013 albums).

If the new DT studio album can't live to the expectation, better fire the guy.

[Train of Naught]

While I agree on most of the points you've made, BTFW really is up there with things like Score and Budokan, great production overall.

[me7]

It's not just DT. The bigger the band, the worse the albums sound (Avenged Sevenfold's last album being the only exception I can think of).
I guess with too much budget, productions start to suffer from George-Lucas-Syndrome.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

While I agree on most of the points you've made, BTFW really is up there with things like Score and Budokan, great production overall.

I enjoy BTFW a lot, really. I think it's a great live album and fantastic testimony of what a great tour that was, but I wouldn't put it up there with Budokan and Score. The crystal clear sound quality of Score suits a band like DT in a better way, because you can hear all of the musical arrangements with more detail. JP's guitars are muddy in general and the mix has too much reverb on it to my liking. Budokan's visual quality is, IMO, unmatched by DT's other DVDs. Maybe that's because of the lesser FPS that give the concert a film-like quality? I don't know, but every time I think about DT the image of Budokan pops into my head. Maybe because that's the time when I became a fan and I was crazy about them back then, but who knows.

I'd rate BFTW with a solid 8, and both Budokan and Score with 9 and 10 respectively.

lolchaosinmotion

[Setlist Scotty]

Seriously though, I think opening bands, when well-chosen, can add more to the concert than just another hour of the main band. One of my favorite DT concerts was when they had Spock's Beard open up for them.

That can be the case depending on the opening act *and* each individual. So at best, I'd say it's a 50-50 proposition. For the vast majority of the opening acts that I've seen with DT, I'd happily give them up for another hour or so of music. Doing an Evening With show is more likely to satisfy the audience because there's more time to play more songs. And not having any extra bands on the bill, you won't have to worry about disappointing the fans with some band that the majority of the audience don't enjoy. Plus it's better for the band because they don't have to worry about splitting the revenue with any other bands or crew. So Evening With shows are win-win in my eyes.
 
 

FFTY

Fixed Fixed That You !

No silly - that's Fixed For That You!!!   

[KevShmev]

Yeah, better to disappoint fans by wasting one of your two sets during an "Evening with..." show by covering someone else's entire album.

Oh yes, I went there.

[Crow]

-James LaBrie would like to play The Ministry of Lost Souls

Ooh yes.
 

Disappear

YES.

and Take the Time

YYYYYEEEEEEESSSSS

one day I'll see these guys on tour and if these songs are in the next tour it might be a good opportunity for me to go see them 

[bosk1]

No need to mention the actual handles, but do they have accounts? I do not recall ever having seen a post aside from Rena.
EDIT: Except of course "Mr. Picasso"

The band members, or the others I mentioned?  I am not aware of the band members actually having accounts.  I created some for the live chat, but we ended up going with a different format where they weren't needed, so those have never been used.  I am guessing the band members do not, but it is possible.

As for the others who have a direct line to the band, yes, some do have accounts here.  I mean, Wey is an obvious example.  But there are others as well.

[TAC]

Where's Major Thirteen?

[Setlist Scotty]

Yeah, better to disappoint fans by wasting one of your two sets during an "Evening with..." show by covering someone else's entire album.

Oh yes, I went there.

I'll bite!

Damn straight! After they did a 3 hour show of all their own material the night before, and did a 1.5 hour set of their own material before covering said album, nevermind a 20 minute (or so) encore following? Yup, I'll take that over any opening act they've ever had.   

[KevShmev]

 

[ariich]

Random thought from the comments James made in that interview... Does anybody else think its weird they acknowledged the negative reaction to the sound of the last album and then brought back the same guy to engineer the new album?

Not weird at all. In terms of technical skill, he's obviously a very competent engineer. In terms of artistic and production choices, it sounds he was making suggestions that the band went along with and now realise the fanbase have reacted badly too. So keeping those same technical skills but making your own decisions about sonic approach is a perfectly sensible way to improve.

EDIT: On Darklol's point about Haken, that's true, and is basically why every metal band should just use Jens Bogren.

[kaos2900]

I know the Progressive Nation tours did not technically have an "opener" in the traditional sense, but if it wasn't for those shows I'd never have been exposed to Three, Between the Buried and Me, Zappa Plays Zappa (Frank Zappa in general), and Big Elf. Also, I'd never have checked out Redemption who kick all kinds of ass. A Dream Theater show with Haken or Spock's Beard would be a dream show for me.

[mikeyd23]

Random thought from the comments James made in that interview... Does anybody else think its weird they acknowledged the negative reaction to the sound of the last album and then brought back the same guy to engineer the new album?

Not weird at all. In terms of technical skill, he's obviously a very competent engineer. In terms of artistic and production choices, it sounds he was making suggestions that the band went along with and now realise the fanbase have reacted badly too. So keeping those same technical skills but making your own decisions about sonic approach is a perfectly sensible way to improve.

Yea but... Totally this...

I think Chycki has had far more wrongs than rights during his time as DT's main audio engineer. Live at Luna Park was underwhelming sonically, DT12 was a step down from ADTOE's mix and BTFW was good but could've been better (Score sounds way, way better).

At what point do you try something different? If you are basing the reason for keeping him off of his technical capabilities, I'm sure there are literally hundreds of other viable engineers that DT could choose with comparable capabilities. To me, the engineer plays a pretty large part in the process for DT, it seems like larger than most bands (usual you bands announce producers not engineers) so I'd look for something more than technical knowledge, I'd look for someone who aligns with their artistic vision as well, and it sounds like that might be a different vision sonically for this record.

[hefdaddy42]

What you are talking about is a producer, and JP is filling that role.