The Winery Dogs thread - Portnoy, Sheehan and Kotzen

[rumborak]

So they're in this competition right now against some other band:

https://103gbfrocks.com/pick-your-poison-vs-the-winery-dogs-rocktagon/

Dead heat, 50/50!
Interestingly they have a kind of "radio mix" of Elevate, which I actually kind of like more than the original. It gets rid of the part I dislike the most in the song, the (IMHO) over-stretched verse pauses.

[theseoafs]

Heard maybe half of the album so far.  It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm very impressed.  This is some legitimately good neo-classic rock.  Definitely have to make a point to see them when they come by NY.

[rumborak]

On a complete side note, they should take a bit more care about spelling the cities correctly in which they play. I've seen 4 misspellings of German-speaking cities so far, that's a bit much.

[theseoafs]

Heard maybe half of the album so far.  It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm very impressed.  This is some legitimately good neo-classic rock.  Definitely have to make a point to see them when they come by NY.

Made the plunge and got a ticket on impulse.  Haven't heard too much of the album yet, but even if it doesn't live up to Elevate and Desire, it'll be worth it to see these guys in action.

[Shadow2222]

Can anyone recommend any songs or bands that have a similar sound and/or vibe to the verses of You Saved Me? The chorus is "meh" but I looooove the verses.

[rumborak]

I can't listen to the beginning of that song. All I can focus on are the timing fluctuations in the playing.

[Shadow2222]

I can't listen to the beginning of that song. All I can focus on are the timing fluctuations in the playing.

I was just noticing that as well when I really listened. I still like the general gist of it.

[bosk1]

From another forum:

For any fans of of the Winery Dogs or just interested in what Portnoy, Sheehan, Kotzen do, the band will be doing a in-store signing/ performing at Vintage Vinyl in Fords NJ on Tuesday August 6th at 7PM. If you pre-order the disc at the store or online at the store's website( which I did earlier today) you get a wristband that guarantees you get in to the signing and performance before any of the general public. When I pre-ordered today, the clerk said they still had a decent # of wristbands left but that they'd given out quite a bit already and anticipated handing out the rest by the time the cd ships. Just figured I'd throw this up here as I know there are a few NJ folks on the site and there were quite a few people who are looking forward to this disc coming out. Hope to see some of you there on the 6th  :

[Nick]

For those who have never been, Vintage Vinyl is an AMAZING music store.

[ytserush]

For those who have never been, Vintage Vinyl is an AMAZING music store.

As amazing as that store is now, it was 5 times that 10 years ago.

Like everyone else used to do before they went under, they aren't restocking a lot of the catalog releases. For example instead of stocking every Marillion and Fish release, they only have about a third to a quarter of the catalog.

If I was looking for a particular Keith Emerson soundtrack, odds are they would have had it years ago. Not anymore.

Can't really blame them for it as they are just trying to stay in business.



I'm glad they are playing Newton, now and can see them and Marco Minneman in the same week.

[Nekov]

I like the album, not great but still very enjoyable. I have to listen to it a couple more times and see how it grows.

[TL]

So the album is about twice as expensive on Canadian Amazon as American Amazon ($9.79 USD vs $18.79 CAD). I mean, they get that Canadians can easily check the American price, right? Like, we are well aware that they are charging way more for us on the same store for no reason.

Obviously this is Amazon being dickheads and has nothing to do with The Winery Dogs. It's just frustrating.

[Lolzeez]

Ok let me just be completely honest here.
The album is pretty good but it burns me out after the first 6 songs. I just can't finish it. Even though this is better than AM,I still don't dig TWD like it's the next best band. But whatever,I'm not the biggest hard rock person anyways.

In conclusion,Portnoy,get your game back on and come back to prog instead of wasting your time. By come back I mean make an awesome record not just work with it. Either with FC or Transatlantic.


PS:This is my opinion.

[The Letter M]

Ok let me just be completely honest here.
The album is pretty good but it burns me out after the first 6 songs. I just can't finish it. Even though this is better than AM,I still don't dig TWD like it's the next best band. But whatever,I'm not the biggest hard rock person anyways.

In conclusion,Portnoy,get your game back on and come back to prog instead of wasting your time. By come back I mean make an awesome record not just work with it. Either with FC or Transatlantic.


PS:This is my opinion.

Good thing he's working on new albums for BOTH Flying Colors AND Transatlantic, due for release next year!!! 2014 is already going to be really good!

-Marc.

[Lolzeez]

Ok let me just be completely honest here.
The album is pretty good but it burns me out after the first 6 songs. I just can't finish it. Even though this is better than AM,I still don't dig TWD like it's the next best band. But whatever,I'm not the biggest hard rock person anyways.

In conclusion,Portnoy,get your game back on and come back to prog instead of wasting your time. By come back I mean make an awesome record not just work with it. Either with FC or Transatlantic.


PS:This is my opinion.

Good thing he's working on new albums for BOTH Flying Colors AND Transatlantic, due for release next year!!! 2014 is already going to be really good!

-Marc.

I hope the new FC is more Blue Ocean and less Kayla.

[sylvinception]

I Just discovered this band, awesome music!!

Best blues-rock album I've heard in years!!
Kotzen definitively remind me of Prince in the way he play guitar, but in a heavier version of course!!

And ffs what a voice!!

I Can't get tired of listening this album!!

[Mebert78]

I haven't been online in a week and I'm looking to purchase this album.  Does anyone know if there is a t-shirt bundle available?  I didn't see any, so I'm assuming the answer is no.

[sylvinception]

Did you look at the official store on their official website ?

[rumborak]

Was just randomly wondering when the US release is happening. Well, lol, today I guess. It's available on iTunes now for $10.

[wolfking]

My copy has been despatched and should arrive any day. 

[Perpetual Change]

Yup, it's on Spotify too.


Guess I'll liveblog my reactions here:

Edit: 3 songs in, and while it's top-notch musically, Kotzen's strained voice is already getting a bit tiresome. Still lots of cool elements here so far.

Edit 2: Now on track 7, "Not Hopeless". Honestly, the album leaves me a little tired. Maybe it's just too early, but I'm not latching onto much here, despite being fully aware of the intensity/energy of what I'm hearing.

Edit 3: Track 10, "Six Feet Deeper", is a nice wake-up call. Not sure I'd be willing to sit through the album all over again just to get to it, though. Not much between the last update and this one that really impressed me. Gotta say these pickless guitar solos sound pretty cool though, almost keyboardy.

Edit 4: Well, just finished it. "Regret" was a nice closer.

Ultimately, not much really grabbed me about the album, so I don't know if I'd really care to see the band live. The biggest drawbacks for me are that 1.) the album feels repetitive 2.) Kotzen's voice is a bit strainy and 3.) MP never really lets loose. It's not a bad album by any stretch, just maybe a little underwhelming since we had to wait so long for it thanks to the Japan-exclusivity thing the record company did.

Anyway, this stuff is a lot better than AMOB, but I think Flying Colors is still the best *new* band MP has joined since leaving DT.

[TL]

So I picked this up on Amazon today since they brought the price a bit closer to the American one. It's currently sitting at #2 in music. That's everything in the music category on Canadian Amazon. That seems pretty good.

[Phoenix87x]

Just finished my first listen and I'm pretty impressed.

Since there's a crap load of music to digest here, it will take another few listens to really form a solid opinion, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Regardless of anything, the real bottom line is that I am ass burgers in love with I'm No angel. Just love it. I really like The Dying as well.

[theseoafs]

Nearly done with my first listen (3 songs left).  Seems pretty kickass so far -- a few of the pieces are forgettable, but many are really strong in an immediate way.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

First reaction: I liked it a lot...not as much as Flying Colors which is my favorite Portnoy post-DT project (excluding Transatlantic, of course), and as some of you say I think it's a little bit tiring. The songs on their own are quite strong, but when matched as an album they can drag a little bit.

[rumborak]

My impression was similar to PC's. They frontloaded the album, i.e. put the really strong songs right at the beginning. Then it sort of drifts off into less exciting stuff. Some songs had some really forced songwriting in them I thought.

[Phoenix87x]

First reaction: I liked it a lot...not as much as Flying Colors which is my favorite Portnoy post-DT project (excluding Transatlantic, of course), and as some of you say I think it's a little bit tiring. The songs on their own are quite strong, but when matched as an album they can drag a little bit.

This.

I think the album suffers from its length. The nature of the songs aren't really suited for a 60 minute album. For me, I feel like if they would have cut it down to around 45 minutes, that would have been more of a sweet spot, length wise.

P.S.   I love The Dying.

[Lowdz]

I really like it. I am more of a classic rock guy though, so this is MP's best album post-Dt for me. I'll take this over the boring Flying Colors.

[Art]

They are playing here today in São Paulo (Brazil). I will be attending.

And here´s a pic of them having fun in a barbecue place 

[Jaq]

Gave this a listen, and it really did start to lose steam towards the end. Might have been better at only 10 or so songs. Just got a little samey over the length of the entire album. It DOES blow Flying Colors away; never got the love for that CD at all. 

[TL]

Eh. This album is pretty good, but Flying Colors was fantastic.

Also, opinion and all that.

[TL]

I really don't get why Amazon insist on being such assholes to Canadians. We mostly live in a fairly small stretch of land, there are thirty-five million of us (almost all along the fucking US border), all media is the same region here and in the US, we buy more albums and films per capita than the US, and yet, if I want to buy Hold Your Fire by Rush, it's 4.99 plus a bunch of ridiculous fees if I want to buy it from Amazon.com, or $17.99 plus tax and shipping if I want to buy this CANADIAN album in CANADA. Fuck you Amazon. Fuck you in the fucking face. You assholes realize we can very easily check the extreme price discrepancies, right? Our dollars have been more or less at par, while ours is stable internationally and yours is on the fucking decline if anything. Why are you fucking us over, Amazon, to such a fucking degree?

For example, The Winery Dogs pre-release; USD $9.99, CAD $18.59, Canadian Price in USD at that time; $20.48...
Why is Amazon charging us almost double just for living in our country?

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I was with you until you said "better country".

Seriously though, Amazon's prices are pretty screwy. They can change drastically multiple times a day for no discernible reason.

[TL]

I was with you until you said "better country".

Seriously though, Amazon's prices are pretty screwy. They can change drastically multiple times a day for no discernible reason.

To be fair, I never said 'better country'. No disrespect to America. Amazon genuinely tends to fuck us over on CD and DVD prices.

I have no problem with the US price being a little lower than the Canadian price, even if our dollar is doing better at the time, but Amazon were being complete assholes when I posted that. They lowered the price of the Winery Dogs album since then ($14 CAD vs $10 USD which is still bullshit), though they still have Impermanent Resonance at $18 CAD vs $10 USD, which is bigger bullshit, and honestly, I'll purchase from a non-Amazon source for more than that at this point, just on principal).

[Art]

So, the concert was amazing.

The three guys sounded great, they played the whole album, one kotzen song, one Mr Big song too. they loooked like they were having a great time too. It was strange to see Mike behind such a small drum kit, but he played the shit out of it