Damn! So many things in this thread I don't even know where to start!
First of all, it's been a while since I've written in english and I'm not a native speaker, so sorry for any awkward grammar or anything.
The Portnoy subject: I feel MP departing brought the same issue as when KM took off: he was replaced by a better member as far as the instrument is concerned(MM and JR respectively), but one that is not involved in lyrics or songwriting, leading to a loss in that department. But, while the KM void was filled by MP back in the day, MP absence wasn't completely filled by the other members imho. JP and JLB stepped up to the challenge, but JMX and JR didn't IMHO. The vocals have greatly improved, sure, you can notice that James is ageing a little, but there weren't any awkward moments where you can clearly hear he's out of his comfort zone and being pushed to do something he doesn't feel to. In these last two records, you can clearly tell he had a very strong stand on what to do and what not to, you can tell when it comes to the vocals, he is the boss, so to speak, and that's a positive outcome at least for me.
When it comes to MP contrubution to the band, I feel there are two very opposite views: either he was "the tyrant of DT" or "the soul of DT"(coming from a hater or fan, respectively) or "he was just the drummer or the arranger". I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle: he was a VERY important driving force of the band, but not the only one, and he was almost as important as JP. Of course, the fact that JP plays the most important instrument of any rock band(especially a prog/heavy one), and the fact that he is a monster at it elevates him slightly over MP and the rest of the band. You can suggest him ideas, but in the end he is, and always was "the man", to put it in a way. The fact that there wasn't a significant difference in the two latest albums kind of proves that.
The "problem" I see lies in the fact that MM, while a big asset to the band when it comes to the drums, doesn't add anything else. I wouldn't expect him to, since he is the new guy in a 25+ years band. And, as someone else here pointed out perfectly, he wasn't expected to do anything else, if the band wanted another songwriter they had better options in that seven drummer auditions, the fact that they chose Mangini was a big give away on which direction the band wanted to go, or better, didn't want to.
But, as I said earlier JP and JLB upped their game, the ones who, IMHO, didn't as much were JR and JM. Sure, JM came back to writing, and that on itself is huge and extremely welcomed, but I still hope to see that bass player who blew me away with those awesome basslines, that somehow has been missing since Falling Into Infinity, the last album to have an "oh my god DAT BASS!!!" moment for me(and one of the reasons it is one of my favourite albums). Most people blame the lack of groove on JR, but after listening to his solo work, I think he has an awesome groove, the band just doesn't use it. As for the wizard, he seems content to go through the motions, he still has some awesome moments, but nothing like Scenes, Octavarium and most importantly the awesome 6DOIT. I don't expect JP, JLB and MM to give more than they already have, but I still think the other two have more to bring in. For one, I hoped JR would fill some of the backing vocals(not the cookie monster one, but harmonizing with James on some parts would be nice), he CAN sing, and way better than JP
.
Judging all I've written it would seem I don't like the last two albums, nothing further from reality: they both grew immensely on me, especially DT12, I hated it the first time, went "Meh" the second, and jumped to "this is really good" the third time when, as most DT albums, it
clicked on me. Love it or hate, The Looking Glass, for instance, IS different from most of the stuff DT did in the past, it's not different in the context of music but let's face it, DT were never so much pioneers of music as they are more like "improvers/enhancers"(are those even words?
) of other pioneers. TLG is a breath of fresh air as a light hard rocker with prog elements, the only other songs that come close would be Raise The Knife or Cover My Eyes, but not quite so. Granted, it's not a Glass Prison or Lines in the Sand, but it brings something different to the catalog, and, so far in this band career, that does it for me. The same goes to the other tracks, while none of them are groundbreaking or a shock as every other album until Octavarium were back in the day, they
do bring something new to the table. Unlike *cough*Lost Not Forgotten*cough*.
I was going to write some more, but I think most people will be comatose with boredom if I go on so I'll just stop here
.
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Oh and my final controversial opinion on the forum: I
hate when people write the initials of a song/album and not the full name, especially when they do it without context. For example, there two songs who can be SDV you know!!
And things like TDG and so on doesn't help that much either, I usually spend like 5 minutes trying to remember all the songs that start with that letter until I find the right answer, it irritates me to no end.
/rant
EDITED: some stupid typos and stuff like that.
Topic: Your Controversial Opinions on DT (Read 985795 times)
