On the Backs of Angels Thread

[hefdaddy42]

There are like 3 people in this 43 page thread that didn't love it, who on earth are you guys yelling at?

I was just making a joke about this community.  I'm not yelling at anyone, I don't care if some people don't like it.  That doesn't faze me one bit.

[ehra]

Yeah, I figured what you said was a joke. Looking back, I guess less people than I remembered were commenting on jmbeat's post.

[Millais]

According to JR, if one likes the piano, they'll like this album. I take that as a very good sign.

this sounds good, very good.
as long as it isn't filled with morphwiz/samplewiz i'll be happy. i don't actually have a problem with either of these apps - in fact, i think they're incredible applications when used in the right context but i just really don't think they'd gel that well on a DT album. we'll have to wait and see.

[DeanTheater]

"Tears faaallll from the shameless..."  
 
edit: I just noticed - the beginning of JP's solo is so Helloween-ish 

THIS THIS THIS

WOODROW WOODROW WOODROW WILSON

[reneranucci]

Confused by alot of what has been said in in this thread (and I know not everyone will be happy with everything) but this one song has everything that all of us have been wanting i.e. more acoustic guitar, more piano, less wankery, better lyrics, BASS, and better song structure and arranging. They have succeeded on all parts. THIS is DT and we should all be happy.  I know I am.

My opinion is that this song is boring as hell. Ok, it has piano and acoustic guitar, but if the song is not interesting, it is worthless. I wanted to hear the bass, but because I wanted to hear something interesting. But there's nothing, not a single cool bass part. Put it on the front of the mix as much as you can but again, it's boring.

[Elaitch]

I like how some people have been complaining about Jordan's piano solo part, and seems to forget that he carries the music through the whole song when it comes to subtle prog parts, atmosphere and feeling, both in heavy and less heavy sections, in a way that Kevin Moore would probably never be able to achieve. Yes, Jordan tends to go over the top with grand piano soloing, but jeez, it's only a fairly small part of the song. You can't judge him on that alone.

[reneranucci]

Agreed. And JR has been doing some great atmospheric stuff for a long time, but he never gets praised for that. Actually, his soft stuff in SC and BC&SL is excellent.

[nikatapi]

I have always criticised JR's contributions to the DT sound, and many times i think he overplays.
His performance in OTBOA is flawless i believe, and i really like his piano solo, the way it builds up to the guitar solo is amazing.

[Super Dude]

I wasn't aware MP wrote a tweet response to the single?

[The Silent Cody]

I wasn't aware MP wrote a tweet response to the single?

If he did I never seen it. Have you Guys got it somewhere?

[orcus116]

I wasn't aware MP wrote a tweet response to the single?

He didn't. He retweeted Eddie Trunk's "good but not great" comment.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Being Eddie Trunk a *the more MP moments = the better the song is* DT fan.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Eddie Trunk has just about the worst music taste I've ever seen in a human.

But I agree with him.

[ReaPsTA]

Eddie Trunk has just about the worst music taste I've ever seen in a human.

But I agree with him.

I don't.  His whole thing was basically that it just sounded like DT.  To me the sound was fundamentally different in a few important ways.  While the song itself didn't blow my mind, the character of it clearly reflects the changes in the band.

I'm stealing this from RobWebster, but basically what it comes down to is that JLB, JP, and JR all sound more like they do on their solo albums.  While I think this makes the sound a little less focused, I also think it means each musician is expressing himself more genuinely and thus creating a better product.  The best example is with JLB's vocals.  I'm not super into the melodies JP wrote, but the delivery is perfect.  The intonation and timbre of every word is so well done, which is something I haven't felt about a DT JLB performance in some time.  Also, there's a real sense of writing for the song that's been rare in modern DT.

Is it as good as Wither?  No.  But is it better than AROP?  Oh god yes.  Better than Constant Motion?  Not even worth debating.

[taboune]

First Post

I loved On the backs of angels, im pumped for this album!

 

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Eddie Trunk has just about the worst music taste I've ever seen in a human.

But I agree with him.

I don't.  His whole thing was basically that it just sounded like DT.  To me the sound was fundamentally different in a few important ways.  While the song itself didn't blow my mind, the character of it clearly reflects the changes in the band.

I'm stealing this from RobWebster, but basically what it comes down to is that JLB, JP, and JR all sound more like they do on their solo albums.  While I think this makes the sound a little less focused, I also think it means each musician is expressing himself more genuinely and thus creating a better product.  The best example is with JLB's vocals.  I'm not super into the melodies JP wrote, but the delivery is perfect.  The intonation and timbre of every word is so well done, which is something I haven't felt about a DT JLB performance in some time.  Also, there's a real sense of writing for the song that's been rare in modern DT.

Is it as good as Wither?  No.  But is it better than AROP?  Oh god yes.  Better than Constant Motion?  Not even worth debating.

I was more just going with Orcus's thing that it's good not great.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

I don't know. Wither is aging incredibly terribly for me.

[The Silent Cody]

Wither is different, Wither is a typical song, with no instrumental crazy and that stuff. OTBOA we have some melody, we have some power, he have some instrumental crazyness, it's very well mixed. I think that we shouldn't compare this two.

[reo73]

I like how some people have been complaining about Jordan's piano solo part, and seems to forget that he carries the music through the whole song when it comes to subtle prog parts, atmosphere and feeling, both in heavy and less heavy sections, in a way that Kevin Moore would probably never be able to achieve. Yes, Jordan tends to go over the top with grand piano soloing, but jeez, it's only a fairly small part of the song. You can't judge him on that alone.

I think people have the right to judge his playing however they like.  The piano solo is cringe worthy to me and though I like the song a lot overall I hate that there is part in it that makes me cringe and for that I solely blame JR.

[orcus116]

It might be nothing special but cringeworthy? That adjective should only be used to describe his in song tech demo type solos.

[darkshade]

I don't know. Wither is aging incredibly terribly for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5egA3dZ91Dc

[TheGreatPretender]

Another complaint I hear people say about On The Backs of Angels is that the vocals aren't very dynamic. But don't worry guys, once James LaBrie grows his hair out to its previous length again, he'll have his full vocal range back.

[The Silent Cody]

Another complaint I hear people say about On The Backs of Angels is that the vocals aren't very dynamic. But don't worry guys, once James LaBrie grows his hair out to its previous length again, he'll have his full vocal range back.

Hey there are 8 songs left on the album that we haven't heard, I bet that we will gonna find somewhere there very dynamic vocals

[reo73]

It might be nothing special but cringeworthy? That adjective should only be used to describe his in song tech demo type solos.

Maybe cringe is a bit dramatic, but I will confess that I have never really taken to Jordan's lead playing so much and the piano solo just seems out of place with the amount of notes he plays.  I tend to like my keys to be a bit more relaxing ala Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree.

[wammabe]

Eddie Trunk has just about the worst music taste I've ever seen in a human.

But I agree with him.

I don't.  His whole thing was basically that it just sounded like DT.  To me the sound was fundamentally different in a few important ways.  While the song itself didn't blow my mind, the character of it clearly reflects the changes in the band.

I'm stealing this from RobWebster, but basically what it comes down to is that JLB, JP, and JR all sound more like they do on their solo albums.  While I think this makes the sound a little less focused, I also think it means each musician is expressing himself more genuinely and thus creating a better product.  The best example is with JLB's vocals.  I'm not super into the melodies JP wrote, but the delivery is perfect.  The intonation and timbre of every word is so well done, which is something I haven't felt about a DT JLB performance in some time.  Also, there's a real sense of writing for the song that's been rare in modern DT.

Is it as good as Wither?  No.  But is it better than AROP?  Oh god yes.  Better than Constant Motion?  Not even worth debating.

To be honest, Wither doesn't do absolutely anything for me. It's a nice breather if you're listening to BC&SL from the start, but aside from that its just a song made for commercial use. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy it, but I certainly don't think DT put their heart and soul into it. That's just my opinion though  .

Aside from that, I agree with you with everything. I'm not exited about ITBOA because its epic and awesome, I'm exited about it because its truer to DT than the other recent singles they have released. I'm never fond of DT's singles.

[orcus116]

It might be nothing special but cringeworthy? That adjective should only be used to describe his in song tech demo type solos.

Maybe cringe is a bit dramatic, but I will confess that I have never really taken to Jordan's lead playing so much and the piano solo just seems out of place with the amount of notes he plays.  I tend to like my keys to be a bit more relaxing ala Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree.

Agreed, though I'm at the point with Jordan where I know his style isn't going to change so I might as well start finding the positive parts of his playing.

[TheGreatPretender]

Another complaint I hear people say about On The Backs of Angels is that the vocals aren't very dynamic. But don't worry guys, once James LaBrie grows his hair out to its previous length again, he'll have his full vocal range back.

Hey there are 8 songs left on the album that we haven't heard, I bet that we will gonna find somewhere there very dynamic vocals

It was more a joke at the fact that he cut his hair. Like when JP cut his hair back in the early 2000s, and he said, "I cut my hair, now I can only write three minute pop songs. I can't play long epics anymore." Paraphrasing. But it's a joke.

[ariich]

It might be nothing special but cringeworthy? That adjective should only be used to describe his in song tech demo type solos.

Maybe cringe is a bit dramatic, but I will confess that I have never really taken to Jordan's lead playing so much and the piano solo just seems out of place with the amount of notes he plays.  I tend to like my keys to be a bit more relaxing ala Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree.

If you want relaxing music, why would you listen to DT?

[TheGreatPretender]

If you want relaxing music, why would you listen to DT?

To Live Forever, Surrounded, Anna Lee, Through Her Eyes, The Answer Lies Within, to name a few. Nothing wrong with relaxing to some melancholy ballads from DT.

[Jamesman42]

If you want relaxing music, why would you listen to DT?

To Live Forever, Surrounded, Anna Lee, Through Her Eyes, The Answer Lies Within, to name a few. Nothing wrong with relaxing to some melancholy ballads from DT.

Yeah, but DT are definitely more about the exciting aspect of music. They throw in some atmospheric stuff for sure, but it's not their main thing.

[TheGreatPretender]

Yeah, but DT are definitely more about the exciting aspect of music. They throw in some atmospheric stuff for sure, but it's not their main thing.

Well, I'd say their main thing is to be diverse and dynamic. I mean, half the reason I like them so much is that regardless of what I'm in the mood for, DT has something for me.
So even if I'm feeling like listening to something softer and more atmospheric, I can still resort to DT to enjoy something of the sort.

[bss4life15]

Wow, this song sure is a grower, i didn't like it at first, but now it's amazing.  The whole band sounds really tight right now.  Noone is just playing for themselves, they are all playing for the music.  Only complaint is that James isn't really doing anything that good really, he is just there.  I really love the new direction they appear to be taking.

[Aramatheis]

If you want relaxing music, why would you listen to DT?

To Live Forever

I must be odd, because I get fuckin pumped when I hear To Live Forever 

[TheGreatPretender]

I must be odd, because I get fuckin pumped when I hear To Live Forever 

Well, yeah, I guess it does build toward the end, same with Surrounded. But still, the point is that DT has a lot of variety, and a lot of its songs are soft and melancholy. And quite relaxing.

[ariich]

Yeah, but DT are definitely more about the exciting aspect of music. They throw in some atmospheric stuff for sure, but it's not their main thing.

Well, I'd say their main thing is to be diverse and dynamic. I mean, half the reason I like them so much is that regardless of what I'm in the mood for, DT has something for me.
So even if I'm feeling like listening to something softer and more atmospheric, I can still resort to DT to enjoy something of the sort.

Indeed, I never said that DT never wrote soft songs. I was pointing that MOST of their music is not remotely relaxing, and so that seems like a bizarre complaint to make.