I will say this. For me the "listen once = love" and the "it takes multiple spins to really appreciate something" arguments are both valid. In DT context I'll use Octavarium as an example. For both the song and the album as a whole, the first time I heard it I was disappointed. For the first few spins I was disappointed. On the album I thought the guitar tone sounded garbled, a little too dark. The drums were simple when compared with most of what MP was doing at the time. I didn't understand how DT could go from such a balls heavy sound on ToT to so mellow and simple a sound on 8VM. That feeling stuck with me for about a month or two after I got the CD.
Then I got MPs In Constant Motion instructional DVD and listened to it, watched him play Panic Attack, saw how complicated the drum were as he broke it down. Watched him play Never Enough live on there, and I started to get it. I gave the CD a few more turns and I really started to appreciate the songs for what they were. Listened to the lyrics more. I just "got it" after a few more spins.
Then there's the other side of the argument; the "listen once = love" side. For this I'll used Awake. The first time I'd listened to Awake, after I'd been into DT for a while I was like
this fucking rules. Now, like some people, I heard Lie first, and didn't think much of it. It was definitely heavier than anything on I&W, but the first time I heard that was in the video for it, and I was like, "eh... ok" but when I got the album I was like, holy shit this has balls. When I first spun it, I didn't look at the liner notes, so the first time I heard Erotomania, I kept expecting vocals to come in. It wasn't until maybe 4 minutes in that I realized it was an instrumental. And I was like
Every song I heard on the album, even Lie after I'd heard it with everything else, instantly kicked ass.
ADTOE was the first album of DTs that for me had a real uncertain wait time for me, because up until that time I'd been a huge MP fan. To me, he could do no wrong. I did see a turn in their music style that I didn't much care for, with everything having to be heavier and darker. I didn't realize unitl after he left that that was his influence. When I first watched the drummer auditions I was convinced that MM would be able to play the songs the best, and I was thrilled when they chose him. But I was still uncertain of his sound, his toooone. When I first heard OTBoA, I was thrilled, that it was a complex song, that the drums were reletively complex, that indeed, MM could deliver. Like a lot of people, when I first heard it, I was like, "Where's the drums? I don't hear the bass drums. I can barely make out the cymbal work." But, the more I listened to the song, I grew to love it and when the album came out, I was instantly like, "Fuck yeah! This is what I wanted.
"
So, I know DT12 might take a few spins, It might take just one. To me it doesn't matter. I've grown to love DT as a band, both musically and their individual personalities. I know that their music is good, whether it's softer like 8VM or eat my ass n balls heavy like SC and BC&SL. With every album DT puts out, my main thought is, "I can't wait to hear what they do next." That's my sentiment this time too. I can't wait to hear what they do next, with Mangini unleashed. It's going to be great.
Topic: Dream Theater self titled album discussion - [SPOILER FREE DISCUSSION ONLY] (Read 916425 times)