Which musical directions should DT consider, or what do you wish they will take?

[Sycsa]

I think they should make (almost) acoustic album.. YOu know, like Opeth's damnation.
Less solos, less complicated stuff.

A full album might be too much, but I'd love it if they put out some kind of semi-acoustic release (EP?) and followed it with an unplugged tour with shows in smaller and more intimate venues.

These words trigger my gag reflex.

[Rodni Demental]

I think they should make (almost) acoustic album.. YOu know, like Opeth's damnation.
Less solos, less complicated stuff.

A full album might be too much, but I'd love it if they put out some kind of semi-acoustic release (EP?) and followed it with an unplugged tour with shows in smaller and more intimate venues.

DT unplugged?  I dunnah brah, that'd be pretty raw for DT, let's just think about it for a second. The extra 'colours' and 'textures' of their music are an essential part of their sound. I can only imagine most songs sounding incomplete but I concede they do have a portion of material that might be suitable for acoustic performances. But most everything else, needs that extra boost for the sound. Eg. a lot of the guitar solos and patches for certain songs. Can you imagine JR using the traditional piano sound for absolutely all of his parts?

I wouldn't be 100% against the idea, and I guess a small EP never harmed anyone. But I believe the idea would be received with skepticism.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Jordan has released (at least?) two albums where he plays nothing but piano. It's not impossible.

[Rodni Demental]

Jordan has released (at least?) two albums where he plays nothing but piano. It's not impossible.

Quite true. Just to clarify, I was referring to playing only piano on already existing songs from the DT catalog. If we're talking an album or EP where they deliberately wrote new acoustic music, that certainly wouldn't be as difficult to imagine. But I still think it'd emphasise the point that JR would be a lot more limited within the context of DTs music, because he plays keyboard, which does have a fundamental difference to a piano. Because it can sound like hundreds of different instruments and that dynamic of being able to use anything that ranges from organs, synths to strings and many more will be a limiting factor for JR and the DT sound.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Oh, Ok, I thought you were talking about new material.

For the record, I'm not saying they should record an all-acoustic EP/album, I'm just saying it's not impossible.

[Rodni Demental]

Agreed. I just think acoustic music isn't really their thing, it's a flavour they've used occasionally, but I just struggle to imagine the whole thing being the same flavor because variety is their favourite spice and they're not really like a 'typical' rock band (whatever that is) where they can unplug their instruments and it'll still sound similar. I just imagine it sounding incomplete and it's not really something I would look for in DTs music. In fact, if I was looking for a more 'mellow' or 'casual' mood that acoustic songs or performances create, I probably wouldn't choose DTs music because that gives a different experience IMO; but look at me, imposing expectations on how it'd turn out! I'm all for them giving it a go if it's what they wanted to do. 

[Lucien]

Jordan has released (at least?) two albums where he plays nothing but piano. It's not impossible.

He's already said that the styles of stuff he does that isn't on a DT album most likely won't be in a DT album.

[Nearmyth]

I think they should go for something darker and more immersive. SDOIT comes to mind when I say that, but they should shy away from the formulaic wall of sound prog metal whole schtick (well duh that's with this thread is about, but still). Like something abstract that one wouldn't really expect from DT.

That's all pretty broad though  I guess I don't really care what sound they go for as long as it has some atmosphere and some darker themes perhaps.

[Zook]

Symphonic Power Metal amirite?!

[TheGreatPretender]

I think if DT really wants to be experimental, what they should do is write the next album, then record it, mix it, and when mastering it, they should turn the entire sound down to zero, so you get 70 minutes of complete silence. The music is still there, it's just completely inaudible. Now THAT'S prog!

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

john cage bro

[TheGreatPretender]

Who?

[Implode]

John Cage - 4'33": https://youtu.be/zY7UK-6aaNA

[Xenon]

I think if DT really wants to be experimental, what they should do is write the next album, then record it, mix it, and when mastering it, they should turn the entire sound down to zero, so you get 70 minutes of complete silence. The music is still there, it's just completely inaudible. Now THAT'S prog!

I bet DT geeks would still find a way to recover the songs 

[Lucien]

Oh yes. That was quite the piece.

[Anguyen92]

John Cage - 4'33": https://youtu.be/zY7UK-6aaNA

What the?  I don't even.  How is that?  .  Pardon my ignorance, but what's it suppose to prove?

Edit: On another note, I stumbled upon a DT fan doing a death metal cover of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUzI3Ui1Eok

[GasparXR]

John Cage - 4'33": https://youtu.be/zY7UK-6aaNA

What the?  I don't even.  How is that?  .  Pardon my ignorance, but what's it suppose to prove?

I see it as a song that was intended to be a challenging performance. You have to do nothing for 4:33. If you make a SINGLE sound, you've played the song incorrectly. It was used as an example during one of my high school music classes to demonstrate the difficulty of being silent on stage when you have no parts to play.

[Sycsa]

john cage bro

Who?

[Kilgore Trout]

What the?  I don't even.  How is that?  .  Pardon my ignorance, but what's it suppose to prove?

Prove? Nothing. Or maybe that silence actually does not exist. There is many ways to look at it, but two of them might be :
1. It makes you listen to the sounds surrounding the music, the sounds inside the hall. The "musical piece" is not on the stage, but in the hall, with all the micro-sounds people make while listening (+ sounds musicians do that do not belong to the music). It's about moving the hearing from the music to the sounds of the world.
2. It was a joke to make people hate/cringe/laugh.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

Evidently I missed the "Jazzy" side of DT over the years. On a serious note, if they ever did get as experimental as some people want, it would probably be a disaster.

They should keep doing what they've been doing. Every DT album is a bit different. I expect that trend to continue with the next album. I just want to hear great songs and musicians. The one thing I want to hear specifically, which isn't a musical direction, is a drum and/or bass solo in a song.

[Lucien]

What the?  I don't even.  How is that?  .  Pardon my ignorance, but what's it suppose to prove?

Prove? Nothing. Or maybe that silence actually does not exist. There is many ways to look at it, but two of them might be :
1. It makes you listen to the sounds surrounding the music, the sounds inside the hall. The "musical piece" is not on the stage, but in the hall, with all the micro-sounds people make while listening (+ sounds musicians do that do not belong to the music). It's about moving the hearing from the music to the sounds of the world.
2. It was a joke to make people hate/cringe/laugh.

#1 is correct.

[?]

I think they should make (almost) acoustic album.. YOu know, like Opeth's damnation.
Less solos, less complicated stuff.

A full album might be too much, but I'd love it if they put out some kind of semi-acoustic release (EP?) and followed it with an unplugged tour with shows in smaller and more intimate venues.

DT unplugged?  I dunnah brah, that'd be pretty raw for DT, let's just think about it for a second. The extra 'colours' and 'textures' of their music are an essential part of their sound. I can only imagine most songs sounding incomplete but I concede they do have a portion of material that might be suitable for acoustic performances. But most everything else, needs that extra boost for the sound. Eg. a lot of the guitar solos and patches for certain songs. Can you imagine JR using the traditional piano sound for absolutely all of his parts?

I wouldn't be 100% against the idea, and I guess a small EP never harmed anyone. But I believe the idea would be received with skepticism.

I was thinking of something like the '98 fanclub gig that was recorded for 5YIALT - even one show like that would be really cool if they released it in some form.

[Xenon]

I think they should make (almost) acoustic album.. YOu know, like Opeth's damnation.
Less solos, less complicated stuff.

A full album might be too much, but I'd love it if they put out some kind of semi-acoustic release (EP?) and followed it with an unplugged tour with shows in smaller and more intimate venues.

DT unplugged?  I dunnah brah, that'd be pretty raw for DT, let's just think about it for a second. The extra 'colours' and 'textures' of their music are an essential part of their sound. I can only imagine most songs sounding incomplete but I concede they do have a portion of material that might be suitable for acoustic performances. But most everything else, needs that extra boost for the sound. Eg. a lot of the guitar solos and patches for certain songs. Can you imagine JR using the traditional piano sound for absolutely all of his parts?

I wouldn't be 100% against the idea, and I guess a small EP never harmed anyone. But I believe the idea would be received with skepticism.

I was thinking of something like the '98 fanclub gig that was recorded for 5YIALT - even one show like that would be really cool if they released it in some form.

Actually, I don't think DT music is that complex to avoid doing acoustics tbh. I mean Tesseract or Pain of Salvation are way complex, colorful and electric but they still manage to make amazing acoustic renditions.

[Rodni Demental]

I was thinking of something like the '98 fanclub gig that was recorded for 5YIALT - even one show like that would be really cool if they released it in some form.

I getcha, it would have been nice to get more video footage from that night. I suppose they were going for a similar thing with that segment of Luna Park with the quartet and playing their songs that were predominantly acoustic guitar and piano based. (WFS/FFH/TSM/BTS)

John Cage - 4'33": https://youtu.be/zY7UK-6aaNA

I love how the "players" can't contain themselves when they're changing the pages and just start coughing and getting as much noise out of their system as possible it would seem. 

[TheGreatPretender]

john cage bro

Who?

You can't link to it, but yes, Mortal Kombat was the first thing I thought of too.

[Tomislav95]

I'd like to hear something groovy like Falling into Infinity

[theaterdream]

I would like the next album to be a little less metal. ADTOE  and DT were great in my opinion, much more in the direction I'd hope they would have taken after SC and BCSL, but I would love if they kept going in that direction. I hope the grunting and rapping never comes back. That might have been Mr. Portnoy's input though.I would like an album with more softer emotional songs. Songs like Surrender To Reason, The Bigger Picture, Illumination Theory, Far From Heaven and Breaking All Illusions. All thoss songs give me chills. So I guess I hope for more exploring in the current direction. Maybe a couple epics on the next album in 12 minute range. More lyrics written by Mr. Myung. Learning to Live and STR from DT12 are some of my favorite DT songs. I also love Mr. Labrie singing style lately.  Like he isn't trying to sing out of his range just to fit the song. Meaning he doesn't sound like he's shouting. Ihope this style remains.

[hefdaddy42]

I'd like to hear something groovy like Falling into Infinity

That is certainly one of my favorite aspects of that album, and it would a welcome return.

[PROGdrummer]

It would be really cool for them to go back to a Majesty-esque sound and write more Iron Maiden-ish power prog like Another Won.

But obviously it wouldnt be shitty power prog. Would like to hear James get more ballsy with his range