James LaBrie Solo

[Dr. DTVT]

I gotta say, it was really tough making the call to use those for the bonus tracks. Even our mastering engineer, Tony Lindgren was surprised because "Why" was his favorite track.

Why was one of my favorites as well.  I just wish some countries didn't have to feel extra special and everyone could just get all the material. You aren't that special, Japan.

[Ben_Jamin]

At best buy all they had was the digipack with bonus tracks,  so I bought it for $9.99.

[countoftuscany42]

considering the bonus track digipack was the European edition, it sure seems to be available in a lot of US retailers 

[Ben_Jamin]

considering the bonus track digipack was the European edition, it sure seems to be available in a lot of US retailers 

Yeah, I didn't expect them to have it at Best Buy. I was all like  when I saw it was the digipack.

[Ben_Jamin]

The digipack I got has a few mistakes in it. For example:

-  the extra lines "I ain't broke. They can't break me. As I am, not one of them. More foe than friend. They're a joke" I don't think I heard that in I Will Not Breaks' chorus.
- The bonus tracks lyrics have errors. In Unraveling, the 2nd verse has an extra the, so it ends up saying "The The".  And in Why, the 2nd "Drifting Apart" is missing an A.

Other than that the music is great. I would laugh if they gave us in the US the misprinted digipacks.

[JayOctavarium]

It came



I didn't realize she bought me the digipak 

[Nick]

Yeah... when my amazon order came in I was quite disappointed with that. I was hoping to get the jewel case.

[Bolsters]

The limited edition with the bonus tracks didn't come in jewel at all, did it? I thought it was stated as digipack everywhere it was available.

[Nel]

Yeah, my bonus track version was a digipak. A lot of deluxe or special editions of albums tend to do that where only the regular version will be in a jewel case. And for someone who both wants bonus tracks and prefers jewel cases, it can be an "uugh" moment. 

[Nick]

I have so much music already, and always so much new stuff I'd gladly sacrifice the bonus tracks for a jewel case most of the time. Honestly aside from illegal downloading and an artists complete lack of control on their product the digipack/book/whatever craze may be my least favorite trend to hit music in the last decade or so.

Okay, I put the loudness war ahead of it too.

[Bolsters]

I can understand why people don't like digipacks, but I've never really had a problem with them, so I don't really care which I get. Bonus tracks are usually more important to me than a more dependable case.

Then again, once I rip music from a disc, I very rarely have any reason to go back unless I want to read the booklet or whatever, and that happens far less often than someone who would actually listen to the disc, so my digipacks age quite well.

[TheGreatPretender]

I can understand why people don't like digipacks, but I've never really had a problem with them, so I don't really care which I get. Bonus tracks are usually more important to me than a more dependable case.

I personally consider Digipaks to be the more dependable cases. Some or other part of my jewel cases often cracks, and I can't stand those cracks. Never had any such problem with digipaks.

[Bolsters]

I personally consider Digipaks to be the more dependable cases. Some or other part of my jewel cases often cracks, and I can't stand those cracks. Never had any such problem with digipaks.

I had that problem with some of my older jewel cases, when I used the CDs all the time before I started ripped everything to my computer. Or worse, one of the small pieces that the cover rotates on would snap off and the entire thing detaches.

Some jewel cases are made from thinner plastic and will break rather easily. But, the benefit of jewel is that you can take them apart and move everything into a new case. Can't do that with digipacks.

[TheGreatPretender]

I had that problem with some of my older jewel cases, when I used the CDs all the time before I started ripped everything to my computer. Or worse, one of the small pieces that the cover rotates on would snap off and the entire thing detaches.

Some jewel cases are made from thinner plastic and will break rather easily. But, the benefit of jewel is that you can take them apart and move everything into a new case. Can't do that with digipacks.

That is true, but the problem is that that means I'll have to sacrifice one of my other albums to take jewel case parts from it. Unfortunately, I don't see very many good quality blank jewel cases for sale, especially now.

Generally speaking, I've never had any problems with digipaks breaking or anything of the sort. Usually it's the outer part that gets damaged because of having other CDs on top of it, or something of the sort.

The only digipack that I had crack on me was JLB's Elements of Persuasion, and that particular digipack felt like it was made a bit cheaply.
Plus, these days, some digipacks don't even come with plastic bits. They're pretty much just envelopes, so there are no parts to crack at all.

[aprilethereal]

The digipack I got has a few mistakes in it. For example:

-  the extra lines "I ain't broke. They can't break me. As I am, not one of them. More foe than friend. They're a joke" I don't think I heard that in I Will Not Breaks' chorus.
- The bonus tracks lyrics have errors. In Unraveling, the 2nd verse has an extra the, so it ends up saying "The The".  And in Why, the 2nd "Drifting Apart" is missing an A.

Other than that the music is great. I would laugh if they gave us in the US the misprinted digipacks.

I noticed the I Will Not Break one when I first listened to it and read the lyrics, but didn't remember any other mistakes, so I had to take a look at the digipak. I've got the errors in the bonus tracks' lyrics too.

[TheGreatPretender]

My digipak version includes the standard booklet, without the lyrics for the bonus tracks. Weird.

[BlobVanDam]

I had that problem with some of my older jewel cases, when I used the CDs all the time before I started ripped everything to my computer. Or worse, one of the small pieces that the cover rotates on would snap off and the entire thing detaches.

Some jewel cases are made from thinner plastic and will break rather easily. But, the benefit of jewel is that you can take them apart and move everything into a new case. Can't do that with digipacks.

That is true, but the problem is that that means I'll have to sacrifice one of my other albums to take jewel case parts from it. Unfortunately, I don't see very many good quality blank jewel cases for sale, especially now.

Have you checked eBay? They're good for that kind of stuff.

I much prefer jewel cases for the reason that they're replaceable. I've never even broken a jewel case myself, but I've replaced a few, and the end result as as good as new, because everything is protected by the case. With a digipack, there's nothing you can do, and they're really flimsy imo.


Oh, and I've got the album now! I enjoy it overall a lot more than SI. Agony sounds to me like something that could have fit right in with SI, and I love it. Slight of Hand and Back on the Ground are my other favourites for now, and very catchy. I've only given it a few listens overall, but there's nothing I've disliked.

[TheGreatPretender]

I much prefer jewel cases for the reason that they're replaceable. I've never even broken a jewel case myself, but I've replaced a few, and the end result as as good as new, because everything is protected by the case. With a digipack, there's nothing you can do, and they're really flimsy imo.

I never found them to be flimsy. Pretty much all my digipaks are as good as new. I guess I just take care of my CDs. But when they're stacked one on top of another, the jewel cases are prone to cracking.

[BlobVanDam]

I much prefer jewel cases for the reason that they're replaceable. I've never even broken a jewel case myself, but I've replaced a few, and the end result as as good as new, because everything is protected by the case. With a digipack, there's nothing you can do, and they're really flimsy imo.

I never found them to be flimsy. Pretty much all my digipaks are as good as new. I guess I just take care of my CDs. But when they're stacked one on top of another, the jewel cases are prone to cracking.

But assuming in either case it does get damaged, at least jewel cases are replaceable to be good as new. You can't fix digipacks. We've got piles of jewel cases in our house up to the sky. And they've never cracked.

[TheGreatPretender]

But assuming in either case it does get damaged, at least jewel cases are replaceable to be good as new. You can't fix digipacks. We've got piles of jewel cases in our house up to the sky. And they've never cracked.

Yeah well.. My house obviously has heavier gravity.

In any case, like I said, I've never had any problems with digipaks, and I prefer the way they look, too.

[BlobVanDam]

But assuming in either case it does get damaged, at least jewel cases are replaceable to be good as new. You can't fix digipacks. We've got piles of jewel cases in our house up to the sky. And they've never cracked.

Yeah well.. My house obviously has heavier gravity.

In any case, like I said, I've never had any problems with digipaks, and I prefer the way they look, too.

Where do you live? Jupiter? Each to their own.

So how about that album? I love the intro of Slight of Hand so much, with whatever that sound is that's also playing during the verses. And JLB's vocals during Back on the Ground are some of my favourites from JLB in a while. The way he sings "you know I tried my best, you never gave me the time of day" is my favourite part.

[aprilethereal]

My digipak version includes the standard booklet, without the lyrics for the bonus tracks. Weird.

Mine too, but the lyrics for the bonus tracks are printed on the inside of the digipak itself.

[TheGreatPretender]

Where do you live? Jupiter?

Nope... I live in a singularity of a black hole. The first time I listened to The Dance Of Eternity, its awesomeness opened up a black hole, and I was sucked into it, and have been living in it ever since. 

So how about that album? I love the intro of Slight of Hand so much, with whatever that sound is that's also playing during the verses. And JLB's vocals during Back on the Ground are some of my favourites from JLB in a while. The way he sings "you know I tried my best, you never gave me the time of day" is my favourite part.

Yeah, the album is pretty great. JLB's vocal phrasing, and the melodies in general kick so much ass. Even though I've been underwhelmed by the vocal melodies on the past couple DT albums, if DT12 will prove to have the same issue, at least I can rest assured that I can still get my fill of awesome JLBness.

Mine too, but the lyrics for the bonus tracks are printed on the inside of the digipak itself.

This is what I get for listening to the album right before bed. Didn't even notice.

[nikatapi]

The two bonus tracks are really awesome! They should have been included in the regular version!

Really loving this album, after so many listens it still gets a lot of rotation!

[YtseJam]

So what are the general feelings on this album? Do people like it or not? Is there a poll?

[Ben_Jamin]

I love it. Especially the pop elements like in I've Got You, the bass drum clap in the prechorus.

[?]

The choruses of Undertow, Slight of Hand and Say You're Still Mine have been stuck in my head today; how is it even possible for anyone to write melodies as catchy as those?!

[The King in Crimson]

So what are the general feelings on this album? Do people like it or not? Is there a poll?

I like it, though not as much as SI. The middle of IR is a bit samey to me, though it's bookended by some really good tracks.  I will say, the ballads on IR are really good and much better than "Coming Home" on SI, which due to the style of the other tracks and its placement on the album, always felt like an afterthought. On IR, they're incorporated much better.

Favorite tracks so far: "Agony," "Undertow," "Back On The Ground," "Letting Go," "I Will Not Break," "Unraveling," "Why."

[TioJorge]

After playing this thing till the CD was rubbed raw (not really), I still love the hell out of it. The melodies, the beats, the screams, and Labrie sounds better here than he does on the new DT single. I can definitely see this album becoming my favorite Labrie release since way back when, and the more I listen, the more that comes true. Certainly my favorite release in a long while.

[GasparXR]

I'm still waiting for my CD to arrive in the mail, so all these positive comments are getting me excited for the first listen.

[Onno]

I still don't know what to think of the album after 10-ish listens. I really like some of the songs (Agony, I Got You, BOTG, Amnesia, Why) but some of the others are pretty forgettable for me (Slight of Hand, Unraveling... can't even recall the choruses of those after those 10 listens...), while I'm not sure about the rest yet. Say You're Still Mine is really catchy but I don't like the lyrics at all (sorry Matt ). I Will Not Break is also really cool but I like the heavy songs on SI way more. Thus so far I'm not sure yet, but as of now I like SI way more and after all the great reviews and the hyping I was a bit let down.

[DebraKadabra]

I still don't know what to think of the album after 10-ish listens. I really like some of the songs (Agony, I Got You, BOTG, Amnesia, Why) but some of the others are pretty forgettable for me (Slight of Hand, Unraveling... can't even recall the choruses of those after those 10 listens...), while I'm not sure about the rest yet. Say You're Still Mine is really catchy but I don't like the lyrics at all (sorry Matt ). I Will Not Break is also really cool but I like the heavy songs on SI way more. Thus so far I'm not sure yet, but as of now I like SI way more and after all the great reviews and the hyping I was a bit let down.

QTF, especially the bolded part.  I don't know, it's still good and all but I think I was expecting something else.  I also liked SI right out of the gate too.  Maybe I just need to give IR more time, I think.

[dodido253]

Lost in the fire its my fav!
Truly masterpiece 

[DeanTheater]

I am going to say this and I dont care what happens to me, but" Back on the Ground"  is probably one of my favorite tracks of the year.  Total Pop-Metal.  Almost Retro.  I feel it is like ABBA meets Megadeth??  I LOVE THIS TRACK!



 

[Madman Shepherd]

I am going to say this and I dont care what happens to me, but" Back on the Ground"  is probably one of my favorite tracks of the year.  Total Pop-Metal.  Almost Retro.  I feel it is like ABBA meets Megadeth??  I LOVE THIS TRACK!



 

I don't know if I would say *that* but it is a damn good track.  Every time I listen to it I think of how badass it would be live with the whole crowd banging our heads in unison and singing along. 

The more I listen to it, the more I think this may be the *perfect* album that James and Matt could have possibly made. 

After the first two pretty good "solo" albums, followed up by the near flawless EoP, and the extremely intense SI, they have found the perfect balance between pop, melody, and HEAVY.  Even the screaming vocals fit just so perfectly and even though I didn't LOVE them on SI, I thought they were pretty cool at times, but on IR it doesn't take away a damn thing, it only adds to it.  Plus since they are less abrasive, the average listener will probably be inclined to agree.