DT have been my favourite for 5 years. Before DT might have been Alter Bridge or something like that, I think I was on the edge of discovering prog. because I was always into music that was somewhat 'progressive', as in, I enjoyed an artist that had multiple avenues and variety in sound, heavy, hard, soft, groovy, whatever. And I had a classical upbringing on the piano but never found many pianists in modern music actually exercising those sort of classical techniques and styles. Naturally, like everyone, I appreciate different songs and artists depending on how I feel. But when I clicked with DT (in fairness, I discovered them many years before I had my epiphany, the moment of realisation just didn't occur until later), most other music became less interesting, for relative lack of development if anything as I was spoiled by the rich composition of each instrument in Dream Theater. A lot of bands have strong points, like, well formed/poetic lyricist, crazy drummer, skilled guitarist. Take your pick, but something else might not be up to scratch. Bass guitarist tend to have a very boring role and don't stand out in most bands, 4/4 drum beats get old when a band uses the same tempo and uses the same fills for every song. The trick is variety, it's fine to have simple songs but it's gets stagnant if there's no movement, which is where progressive music saves the day, because it's normally constantly striving to reach new avenues, constantly trying to change and grow. It's possible that this is what I love about the band, I can rely on them to always try new things and not become stagnant. I also believe DT have a consistency that few other bands come close to in regards to album content. There's rarely any filler songs to beef up an album, usually every song has a very specific purpose on each album, granted most of the filler probably exists within the songs themselves, but it always sounds like they wanted it to be that way, not just pulling some extra songs out of their ass because they need to use more time. In fact the opposite seems to occur where they'll run out of time and probably had to cut stuff from some of their albums. The complexity of the compositions certainly helps you notice things that you don't notice upon first listen, or even 5th listen, so those surprises and nuances are a huge selling point for the DT aswell.
I've have a few DT friends. One of which actually went to the Dream Theater show in my country (there's only been 1 show
). He's probably responsible for getting me into the band indirectly just because I was aware of them through him and that might have encouraged my curiosity to properly discovering them. But he lasted about... 4 years? It's weird because he's almost been swallowed up a somewhat pretentious prog community where it's actually quite 'uncool' to still like Dream Theater and he pretty much dismisses them now. I dunno if he still listens occasionally. Another DT friend would probably say they're (one of) his favourite band(s), but he's not the sorta person that seeks out more music. He's got all his other favourite bands from the last 10 years and he's stuck with them, and he's probably only dug into less than half of DTs material. He always here's new DT songs via myself that he hasn't heard before, says good things, but never actually holds interest. He's been stuck on Train of Though, Systematic Chaos, BC&SL and ADTOE for the last 3 years and barely knows anything else. He's aware of other popular ones like Home, Pull Me Under, The Mirror, Panic Attack, some stuff from the new album, but seems to have reached an impasse. Then there are other friends who completely appreciate and respect DT for the Drums, Guitar work and compositions, but that's about it. They're metalheads that will probably never appreciate the ballads or JLB in general.
I dunno, I think some people will recognise their talent and appreciate the music, but not every one becomes
obsessed with nearly
all of their music. I've heard everything of theirs I can possibly find, many times, and I'll probably do it again and again. Maybe some people over do it and need to find something new after a while, I mix other artists in with DT so it doesn't get old, but most of the time I find DTs music doesn't get old because there's a bit of something for almost any mood. Some artists I would simply never listen to if I'm not in the right mood, and I think DT evokes something offputting in some individuals, that could very well be one of the same features that draws some of us in. I had a friend complain about a DT song (think it was the instrumental section of Sacrificed Sons), he said was too much, I countered his point saying that I thought it was epic! He then informed me that it was too much epic.. I think some people struggle with the bloated instrumental bits, the ones that get called 'self indulgent'. Personally I think it's a somewhat ironic insult. Because it's based on the expectation that someone is supposed to not be indulging the ideas that they want to express, but to appease the listener. Well screw that, listeners will come and go, some will love and hate the music, but I think ALL music should be self indulgent, especially if the alternative is a manufactured, preconceived, hackneyed stereotype from an insincere and dishonest place. Which might describe my view of a lot of modern pop music, not all, but I've digressed a lot.
All I know is that I'm the only one I know that's still obsessed with DT enough to not have any sign of going off them any time soon, and that everyone else seems to have had there phase even if they still appreciate the music. It is possible that these guys actually never got to the point where we are, so it wasn't so difficult to forget or bypass the obsession phase. Anyway, I don't expect everyone to read all this nonsense but there's definitely something unique about the way DT solidifies it's fanbase.
Topic: How easy can DT be bypassed? (Read 6375 times)
