I just finished version 2 of the book and I have to say, I found it captivating. I don't typically enjoy reading books about artists I follow but a friend suggested I read it so I bought it on a whim.

I now feel like I understand much more some of the professional and musical decisions they've made over the decades. One of the most interesting things is to see how prior albums were received at the time they were released and compare that to how they aged - something that is impossible to predict.

Version 2 covers A Dramatic Turns of Events with the pen stopping before any discussion of DT12. There is so much that has happened since then, I really hope the author is thinking about a follow up while certain things are fresh in peoples' minds.

Highly recommended read for any DT freak.

Quote from: CraftyCaleb2483 on April 25, 2025, 12:49:50 AMOoh I've got a good controversial opinion, Schmedley Wilcox is better than Instrumedley

Meh...I never saw Instrumedley live, rarely listen to live albums anymore, and haven't watched the Budokan DVD in quite a while.  However, its component parts are great.

I saw Schmedley live but honestly don't remember it and haven't watched Chaos in Motion since a couple years after it was released because of the quality of the vocals.

Obviously, the two are very different given that the former was all instrumental.  I think what brings Schmedley down for me is the 5 1/2 of noodling at the start, and it's really just parts of songs that start and stop, whereas they sort of rearranged the instrumental bits to flow together.

Quote from: hefdaddy42 on April 25, 2025, 09:44:52 AMWhat the hell

This.

Quote from: CraftyCaleb2483 on April 25, 2025, 12:49:50 AMOoh I've got a good controversial opinion, Schmedley Wilcox is better than Instrumedley

I do agree that it's underrated and a well-executed medley. I just think that too much of it is allotted for In The Name Of God, because they wanted to have the transition into the "hundreds of believers" section all the way to the extended solo section.

Quote from: CraftyCaleb2483 on April 25, 2025, 12:49:50 AMOoh I've got a good controversial opinion, Schmedley Wilcox is better than Instrumedley

What the hell

Quote from: Adami on April 25, 2025, 07:19:13 AMIt's actually pretty cool how interesting he gets with his parts, given how quickly they go from writing to recording.

I'm currently practicing drums to record in June, and after like 6 weeks of just doing the songs over and over, I'm STILL re-writing drum parts and making improvements. If I had to record my drums in the timeframe Mike does, I'd be quite disappointed with at least 60% of what I ended up doing because I didn't have enough time to really let it develop and see where I could go with it.

I'd be really curious to know how MP's approach has changed over the years too. Like, did he perfect his drum parts for SFAM over a long period vs. now? And did that change with an album like ToT where the write/record time was so short and he liked that appraach more? That's pure speculation.

Also, I know he's mentioned the fundamental differences between his playing compared to a guy like Neil Peart where the playing is so precise, and when playing live, Neil's perfect to the album. In a sense, MM was the Neil Peart of DT where MP is the Lars Ulrich (in the best way possible). It's not a perfect comparison, but you get my drift.

-Tof

Quote from: RodrigoAltaf on April 25, 2025, 07:04:57 AMI'd LOVE to know that. He has a way of avoiding tough questions like that though. One thing I wanted to ask is if he has listened to Parasomnia, but I scrapped it because he would have found a way not to answer. I'm not complaining though, he and Motley were VERY generous, even though they had already been doing interviews for a while that day - it was Good Friday, and also MM's birthday.

Ah. Most musicians do not like interviews. I know some deliberately lie during interviews to make things more interesting.

I'd rather have an artist avoid a question rather than lie for an answer though.

In some cases, managers often warn music journalists not to ask about their recently terminated endeavours.

I doubt that he has listened to Parasomnia though. In my experience, ex-members tend to avoid the newer material of their former bands.

Quote from: RodrigoAltaf on April 25, 2025, 07:04:57 AMI'd LOVE to know that. He has a way of avoiding tough questions like that though. One thing I wanted to ask is if he has listened to Parasomnia, but I scrapped it because he would have found a way not to answer. I'm not complaining though, he and Motley were VERY generous, even though they had already been doing interviews for a while that day - it was Good Friday, and also MM's birthday.

Great interview! I do wish you had asked him that but I understand why you didn't lol.

I think he may have answered it directly but I do suspect lingering pain around what happened so you may well be right in that he would have evaded the question.

Quote from: CraftyCaleb2483 on April 25, 2025, 12:49:50 AMOoh I've got a good controversial opinion, Schmedley Wilcox is better than Instrumedley

Significantly so!

Yes