Poll

Pick your top 5 "must have" releases

The Majesty Demos 1985-1986
When Dream and Day Unite Demos
Images and Words Demos
Awake Demos
Falling Into Infinity Demos
Train Of Thought Instrumental Demos
The Making of Scenes From A Memory
The Making of Falling Into Infinity
Los Angeles, California 5/18/98
Tokyo, Japan 10/28/95
When Dream And Day Reunite (CD or DVD)
Old Bridge, New JERSEY - 12/14/96
New York City 3/4/93
Bucharest, Romania 7/4/02 (DVD only)
Santiago, Chile 12/6/05 (DVD only)
Master Of Puppets
The Number Of The Beast
Dark Side Of The Moon (CD or DVD)
Made in Japan
Uncovered 2003-2005

Author Topic: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?  (Read 9323 times)

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Offline TAC

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #35 on: February 24, 2016, 03:08:45 PM »
I do wish they could be resurrected in some way.

I often bug them about when I see them, and I will continue to do so.  :biggrin:

One more thing slightly off-topic but related to the above discussion:  Given that it was an actual label release, I think the greater travesty was releasing OIALT.  Despite some really cool stuff on that CD, James struggles a lot during that show as well, too the point where I have never really found that release to be very listenable outside of a handful of songs.

Oh, absolutely! I remember being so psyched that they were finally releasing a live album, and I was horrified to hear the vocals on that, let alone that I like my live albums to be one COMPLETE show.

Even when I go through deep DT listening modes, and go peeling through a bunch of bootlegs, I always completely avoid the FII tour. It's like the band's awkward junior high years.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline bosk1

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #36 on: February 24, 2016, 03:31:04 PM »
:rollin  That is a pretty vivid description. 

So...going back to Scotty's post about bugging them about future releases, do you guys have any specific requests that are things that are likely in the band's control?  I mean, I know there is a lot out there that Mike Portnoy had.  But most of that is stuff the band probably does not have access to now.  But maybe I'll do some digging and try to find out.  As far as stuff I think they likely have, here is what comes to my mind:

-One of the European "warm-up" shows with Mangini prior to the ADTOE tour.  The set lists may not be astonishing.  :neverusethis:  But they did play a few that were not otherwise covered during the ADTOE tour and thus did not end up on the Happy Holidays disk, such as TCOT and Peruvian Skies.  Plus, it would just be cool to hear some of the early gigs with MM.

-More footage from the drummer auditions.  It may be awkward and/or forbidden to release footage with some or all of the guys who did not get selected.  But I would love to at least see/hear more from MM's audition.

-The I&W anniversary show.

-Video of the rest of the LSFNY set that did not make the DVD, even if it is somewhat raw and unedited.

Is there anything else out there that is likely to exist?  I mean, other shows from the ADTOE and DT12 tours don't really merit release, IMO, since everything was synced up so tight on those tours, such that we aren't going to get any different songs or drastically different performances of songs that aren't covered on LALP, Happy Holidays, or BTFW (yeah, I know we could get orchestra-less performances from any other DT12 tour show, but that isn't really worth it to me since it would otherwise be pretty much identical to what we got).
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Offline Setlist Scotty

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #37 on: February 24, 2016, 03:37:09 PM »
Good question Bosk. I'd say that they should be able to put together at least 1 demos release from the last 3 albums, if not a separate release from each album and/or a making of release from each album.

Of course the complete drummer auditions, especially the jam sessions, but really everything, would be nice to have. Unfortunately I doubt this will ever happen.

You were right in suggesting one of the summer 2011 warm up gigs - in particular I'd prefer one with the full setlist containing Learning to Live as the encore (as opposed to Metropolis, which is on many more releases). I'd go even further by including a couple of the early 2011 North American shows (before TGD was dropped from the set) - one of each of the 2 setlists they did then. Even the second NYC show they did that had them perform TLF, PShift and 21st Century Schizoid Man - I know 2 of those 3 songs are already on the 2013 Fan Club release, but it would be nice to have the whole show. And don't forget about one of the 2015 shows!
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Offline TAC

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #38 on: February 24, 2016, 03:44:20 PM »
You were right in suggesting one of the summer 2011 warm up gigs - in particular I'd prefer one with the full setlist containing Learning to Live as the encore (as opposed to Metropolis, which is on many more releases).

Definitely. And as for a DVD, wasn't High Voltage recorded?


I'm sure we'll never see the other drummer's auditions, but I'd love to see the rest of Mike's. Surely that footage must be lying around.

I'm not big on buying demos, but there was a lot of discussion regarding the ADTOE drum programming.  Would definitely be interesting to hear.

would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline Madman Shepherd

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #39 on: February 24, 2016, 03:45:53 PM »
Majesty Demos - So you can see how it all started
I&W Demos - So you can see the pivotal moment in their careers, what they tried, what didn't work, and how they came to get James
Falling Into Infinity Demos - so you can see what could have been, and why they needed to do things their own way
Making of SFAM - So you can see how their own way is and the turning point in their careers
When Dream and Day Reunite - Great opportunity to revisit a forgotten album, being at a point in their careers where they can take more risks (like devoting an entire show to an album a lot of people don't like or haven't heard of), and an opportunity to bring back two former members to perform (and do an amazing job)

Offline ErHaO

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #40 on: February 24, 2016, 04:15:39 PM »
This thread excites me very much, since I have never really actively delved into these releases, aside from some yt click troughs and some footage of the cover concerts. Especially the Scenes and FII demo's intrigue me.

Anyways, I do hope we will see some future releases as well. I am sure there is some nice material lying around from previous (festival) tours. Maybe another Happy Holidays? Also, given the size of the project, I really think The Astonishing could provide some interesting demo's/separated tracks/alternate versions/cut material/live performances. And a true making of would be neat as well (both studio and tour), the behind the scenes pictures in the current tourbook look cool.

Offline Stadler

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #41 on: February 24, 2016, 09:11:41 PM »
HOneslty, I'm not sure I would buy the drummer demos.  I'm in on live shows and album demos, but the drummer demos.. nah.

Holy grail for me would be:
- the complete Ronnie Scott's show from the ACOS EP
- the complete Rotterdam show

Does the OIALT set have the full show? Or is it a compilation?

Offline Setlist Scotty

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #42 on: February 24, 2016, 09:50:45 PM »
HOneslty, I'm not sure I would buy the drummer demos.  I'm in on live shows and album demos, but the drummer demos.. nah.

Holy grail for me would be:
- the complete Ronnie Scott's show from the ACOS EP
- the complete Rotterdam show

Does the OIALT set have the full show? Or is it a compilation?
Stads, there's a somewhat muffled sounding soundboard of the entire Ronnie Scott's show circulating, as well as a killer audience recording of the Rotterdam gig (which almost sounds like a soundboard recording).

As for OiaL, no - it's most of the show with a handful of tracks rearranged, but there are some tracks that were not included. However, some of those ended up on the 1998 Fan Club CD, which I consider to be the companion to OiaL.

Regarding the drummer auditions, you gotta remember that a big part of it was the improv jams that the whole band did with each drummer, as well as the 3 songs and the tricky exercises. So I think it might be more interesting than you think since it won't simply just be naked drum tracks.
As a basic rule, if you hate it, you must solely blame Portnoy. If it's good, then you must downplay MP's contribution to the band as not being important anyway, or claim he's just lying. It's the DTF way.

Offline BlobVanDam

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #43 on: February 24, 2016, 10:06:36 PM »
Good question Bosk. I'd say that they should be able to put together at least 1 demos release from the last 3 albums, if not a separate release from each album and/or a making of release from each album.

Have you discussed the idea of official bootlegs with the band?
Given the Happy Holidays release, it seemed they were into the idea of continuing, but perhaps don't have much time between writing/recording/touring to dedicate to it.
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Offline Setlist Scotty

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #44 on: February 24, 2016, 11:06:54 PM »
Good question Bosk. I'd say that they should be able to put together at least 1 demos release from the last 3 albums, if not a separate release from each album and/or a making of release from each album.

Have you discussed the idea of official bootlegs with the band?
Given the Happy Holidays release, it seemed they were into the idea of continuing, but perhaps don't have much time between writing/recording/touring to dedicate to it.
I know I spoke with them about it some time ago, but I haven't said anything about it probably since I saw them in person last (April 2014).

On a completely different topic, even tho I should be in bed, I did some digging in the Ytsejam Mailing List archives, and I found a couple things worth mentioning about the 5/18/98 gig and OiaL.

Regarding whether the 5/18/98 show was intended as a live album, here's what one fan said after the Lubbock, Texas show, which happened 4 days after the LA show:
Quote
I also talked to Labrie, asked him about a live album, and he said it's a very strong possibility in the near future. They're talking to the label about it.

And MP himself posted after the second LA show. Besides the setlists to both LA shows, here's what he said about the 5/18/98 show:
Quote
I have to say that this 2nd show goes down in the Dream Theater history books as one of the coolest of ALL TIME!!! The good news for everybody...... The entire show was recorded by Westwood One for a possible radio broadcast sometime in the future!! So you all may be in for a treat!!

So it's quite evident that MP thought this show was awesome, probably based largely on the setlist and the guests. At the time he posted this, it was only a day after the show, so I doubt he had a chance to give the show a listen to listen to the band's performance (including that of JL). But I know that he always graded the shows according to the venue, the audience and the band's performance, so I'm guessing he must've been under the impression that the performance was great overall. And I saw some of the subsequent posts by the fans who were pretty psyched to get their hands on this show. I'm guessing these would be the reasons why MP was willing to release this show.
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Offline ariich

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #45 on: February 25, 2016, 12:05:20 AM »
For lots of previously unreleased material:
Majesty Demos
Fii Demos

For a great updating of WDADU: WDADRU

Best cover albums:
Number of the Beast
Dark Side of the Moon

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Offline Nihil-Morari

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #46 on: February 25, 2016, 12:49:16 AM »
Ah wait, I messed up clicking The Making Of Falling Into Infinity, instead of the Falling Into Infinity Demos
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Offline Prog Snob

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #47 on: February 25, 2016, 05:40:03 AM »
This was kind of easy. I didn't pick any of the live shows because I have more than enough bootlegs and I already have all of the live shows listed here and in full (WDADR isn't the full version on the YJR release). I have most of the demos as well via bootleg but I chose them anyway.

When Dream and Day Unite demos
Images and Words demos
Falling Into Infinity demos - I've always said the demos had some better songs and better versions of the songs.
The Making of Scenes From A Memory - This is probably the most listened to YJR for me, along with FII demos.
The Making of Falling Into Infinity.

Offline Stadler

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #48 on: February 25, 2016, 06:30:24 AM »
Stads, there's a somewhat muffled sounding soundboard of the entire Ronnie Scott's show circulating, as well as a killer audience recording of the Rotterdam gig (which almost sounds like a soundboard recording).

As for OiaL, no - it's most of the show with a handful of tracks rearranged, but there are some tracks that were not included. However, some of those ended up on the 1998 Fan Club CD, which I consider to be the companion to OiaL.

So I can basically reconstruct the full show from those sources, plus or minus?   

Quote
Regarding the drummer auditions, you gotta remember that a big part of it was the improv jams that the whole band did with each drummer, as well as the 3 songs and the tricky exercises. So I think it might be more interesting than you think since it won't simply just be naked drum tracks.

I'm not bugged by the "nakedness" of the drum tracks as much as I am thinking of the - what were they, three? - video releases done around the time of the drummer selection.  It just seemed so... lame (sorry if I offend with that).  FOR ME ONLY, that was a not that auspicious way to auger in the new era.   I thought it shallow and show-boat-y and too much like reality TV instead of reality.  Coming right on the heels of LaBrie's PROMISE (and he DID promise) that the remaining four guys would pick up the slack from Mike's leaving (as if it was the easiest thing to do; this thread alone proves it was NOT) it just didn't resonate. 

If it was simply the "jams" presented as "songs" on a disk, I would pony up for that.   

Offline Prog Snob

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #49 on: February 25, 2016, 06:33:33 AM »
Stads, there's a somewhat muffled sounding soundboard of the entire Ronnie Scott's show circulating, as well as a killer audience recording of the Rotterdam gig (which almost sounds like a soundboard recording).

As for OiaL, no - it's most of the show with a handful of tracks rearranged, but there are some tracks that were not included. However, some of those ended up on the 1998 Fan Club CD, which I consider to be the companion to OiaL.

So I can basically reconstruct the full show from those sources, plus or minus?   



Scotty, I could have sworn there was a full version of the OiaL show circulating. Maybe I was thinking of the Rotterdam show for which there are a few different releases, though I think it's probably the same source.

Offline Carlos_7x

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #50 on: February 25, 2016, 06:38:25 AM »
I've just ordered The Making of Scenes From A Memory.

But I'm afraid that I could lose my money if they are not shipping, do you know if they are still active?

Offline TAC

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #51 on: February 25, 2016, 06:40:38 AM »
Stads, there's a somewhat muffled sounding soundboard of the entire Ronnie Scott's show circulating, as well as a killer audience recording of the Rotterdam gig (which almost sounds like a soundboard recording).

As for OiaL, no - it's most of the show with a handful of tracks rearranged, but there are some tracks that were not included. However, some of those ended up on the 1998 Fan Club CD, which I consider to be the companion to OiaL.

So I can basically reconstruct the full show from those sources, plus or minus?   



Scotty, I could have sworn there was a full version of the OiaL show circulating. Maybe I was thinking of the Rotterdam show for which there are a few different releases, though I think it's probably the same source.

Paris 6-25-98. That's it isn't it? I have it.
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Offline Prog Snob

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #52 on: February 25, 2016, 07:00:47 AM »
Stads, there's a somewhat muffled sounding soundboard of the entire Ronnie Scott's show circulating, as well as a killer audience recording of the Rotterdam gig (which almost sounds like a soundboard recording).

As for OiaL, no - it's most of the show with a handful of tracks rearranged, but there are some tracks that were not included. However, some of those ended up on the 1998 Fan Club CD, which I consider to be the companion to OiaL.

So I can basically reconstruct the full show from those sources, plus or minus?   



Scotty, I could have sworn there was a full version of the OiaL show circulating. Maybe I was thinking of the Rotterdam show for which there are a few different releases, though I think it's probably the same source.

Paris 6-25-98. That's it isn't it? I have it.

Yes, so do I. Now I just realized where I got it from. It's easily one of their best live shows to date.

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #53 on: February 25, 2016, 08:09:17 AM »
That Rotterdam show was cool.  I have an audio recording which is quite good.

There is video from it on the 5YIAL DVD.  I would LOVE to see video of the entire show.  That would be a fantastic YJR release.
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Offline Setlist Scotty

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #54 on: February 25, 2016, 08:49:04 AM »
Stads, there's a somewhat muffled sounding soundboard of the entire Ronnie Scott's show circulating, as well as a killer audience recording of the Rotterdam gig (which almost sounds like a soundboard recording).

As for OiaL, no - it's most of the show with a handful of tracks rearranged, but there are some tracks that were not included. However, some of those ended up on the 1998 Fan Club CD, which I consider to be the companion to OiaL.
So I can basically reconstruct the full show from those sources, plus or minus? 
Pretty much - BMS, TWIUtB, UaGM and the full version of Scarred aren't on the 1998 Fan Club CD, but everything else played at the Paris show that's not on OiaL is. And there's some tracks that are on it that weren't played at the Paris gig whatsoever - TLF, Eve, LSOaD, TSM and Bad.

But as Snob brought out, there is a great sounding audience recording of the full Paris gig if you don't mind audience recordings.
 
 
If it was simply the "jams" presented as "songs" on a disk, I would pony up for that.
That's actually what I was suggesting - no need to do an expanded version of TSCO documentary. Just give us the music from those auditions.
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Offline vazquez

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #55 on: February 25, 2016, 09:22:37 AM »
FII demos is a must. Far superior than the album. You can clearly see that, in more capable hands - a better producer - the album would be great.

New York City 3/4/93 is probably my favorite show from DT, and the best I have ever heard of that tour.

I&W demos is essential to join the dots and understand how they made that masterpiece.

WD&DU demos is very good, it tells a lot about their evolution.

but my favorite is one nobody here has mentioned:

Awake demos. Because the original album is a masterpiece, and listening to the demos is like seeing something you really love by a different angle. I know there´s not that much difference, but the small details matter a lot to me. Sometimes I think I even like it more than the original album.
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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #56 on: February 25, 2016, 11:44:59 AM »
Even though it got quite some votes, in the discussion the Scenes from a Memory remix has hardly been mentioned. It's like getting a second - and complete! - version of a wonderful album, only the Falling Into Infinity demos achieve this result (in fact I voted also for the FII demos), so it's great to have a different version of SFAM... you could also play around with the versions to create a personal mix, I did one after being inspired, back when I was a lurker, to someone posting here of his own personal version of it.
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Offline Prog Snob

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #57 on: February 25, 2016, 12:43:40 PM »
That Rotterdam show was cool.  I have an audio recording which is quite good.

There is video from it on the 5YIAL DVD.  I would LOVE to see video of the entire show.  That would be a fantastic YJR release.

A video of that would definitely be an amazing item to have.

Offline OpenYourEyes311

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #58 on: February 25, 2016, 02:02:18 PM »
I gotta say that I absolutely love these releases. Almost all of these have tracks that are either very interesting or essential. I picked 5 up there, but in my mind most of them are worthy of being picked up for die-hards. I will go through all of them and mention the reason they need to be heard (or not).

The Majesty Demos 1985-1986
Very cool to hear the band at the very beginning. I have no problem with production issues, I've heard worse recordings. Worth it to hear the original version of Another Won and A Vision is an early epic that is very good.

When Dream and Day Unite Demos
I love demos, and I love Charlie Dominici's voice. Lots of early instrumentals to dig through here, inluding some that didn't make the album. Worth it to hear Charlie sing A Vision, To Live Forever, and the Beatles Medley at the end of disc 2.

Images and Words Demos
This disc is easily worth the money for the vocalist auditions. An early demo version of A Change of Seasons is the highlight of those, and the ATCO demos, some of James's earliest recordings with the band (amazing)

Awake Demos
Admittedly, Awake is not my favorite album, and the demos here do not offer much in the way of different versions than what made the record. Interesting to hear The Mirror's demo, though, which still has the Lie riff in the middle of it, but was before that was a different song.

Falling Into Infinity Demos
As many have said, this could easily take over the original album. Most songs here had been completely reworked after this, so there's many nuggets in many of the songs that were left out. It has the five B-sides that were on the Cleaning Out the Closet disc, and a 20-minute Metropolis 2 demo. Worth it for those alone, but Lines in the Sand is probably my favorite track here.

Train Of Thought Instrumental Demos
These are fun to listen to, but it's about what you would expect from the title.

The Making of Scenes From A Memory
Very much worth buying. The second disc is the entirety of SFAM with a different mix, and it's very cool to use as an alternate version of the album.

The Making of Falling Into Infinity
Probably only for die-hards. Not much here in the way of "songs" but it's cool to hear the album come together.

Los Angeles, California 5/18/98
As far as live albums go, it's okay. It's a full show from the FII tour, which in my opinion has had way too many releases. This one, the '96 show, OIALT, the Outtakes disc, Five Years... a little too over saturated, while the 6Degrees tour hasn't had much. But it does have some cool performances, including Speak To Me.

Tokyo, Japan 10/28/95
Focuses on the Awake album, but a couple great rare performances, including A Change of Seasons in full with Derek, and Lost Without You.

When Dream And Day Reunite (CD or DVD)
Hands down, the best release. I would get both, just to have the audio, but also the commentary on the DVD. Nothing else to say, it's great.

Old Bridge, New JERSEY - 12/14/96
A Pre-FII show with lots of FII demos making this live album. Most of the songs, including older ones like Metropolis and CIAW, have jams or are different versions. Worth picking up.

New York City 3/4/93
The definitive I&W show. Has all 8 tracks, the original ACOS, a bunch from WDADU, To Live Forever, Eve... A must have.

Bucharest, Romania 7/4/02 (DVD only)
Great show, which bring pretty much every long song they had at the time. Killing Hand, Learning to Live, Scarred, Lines, Home, Glass Prison, Great Debate, Six Degrees. It's only missing Trial of Tears. While the quality could be better, it's still worth it since its the only chance to see the band on this tour.

Santiago, Chile 12/6/05 (DVD only)
Great alternative to Score. No Another Won, though.

Master Of Puppets
Pretty good Metallica cover album.

The Number Of The Beast
Great Iron Maiden cover album.

Dark Side Of The Moon (CD or DVD)
Bonus disc is worth getting.

Made in Japan
Don't like this one, not a DP fan.

Uncovered 2003-2005
Very cool disc. Diary of a Madman FTW.

I don't want MP playing with DT unless they were making a drummer change. If they let MM go and bring back MP, then fine, but no guest appearance please.
WELP.

Offline Madman Shepherd

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #59 on: February 25, 2016, 07:31:21 PM »
I've just ordered The Making of Scenes From A Memory.

But I'm afraid that I could lose my money if they are not shipping, do you know if they are still active?

If the order goes through, then I'm sure its still active.  After MP left a bunch of people said they were scared this was the end of Ytsejam.  Mike Brown is the guy that runs orders and he said it is still going and JP even ordered a bunch of new copies of several releases.  This was years ago but I'm sure they would say something if they ever thought about ending it. 

Offline Carlos_7x

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #60 on: February 26, 2016, 06:23:15 AM »
I've just ordered The Making of Scenes From A Memory.

But I'm afraid that I could lose my money if they are not shipping, do you know if they are still active?

If the order goes through, then I'm sure its still active.  After MP left a bunch of people said they were scared this was the end of Ytsejam.  Mike Brown is the guy that runs orders and he said it is still going and JP even ordered a bunch of new copies of several releases.  This was years ago but I'm sure they would say something if they ever thought about ending it.

Hey, thanks a lot for the answer!  :metal

Bucharest, Romania 7/4/02 is my favourite.


Offline bosk1

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #61 on: February 26, 2016, 08:02:03 AM »
I would also add that several people on this forum (myself included) have ordered from there after Mike left DT, and I have not heard of anyone not getting their order.  Of course, that in and of itself is not a guarantee.  But Mike is a professional, and he would not still have the site set up to take orders if those orders could not be filled. 
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Offline TAC

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #62 on: February 26, 2016, 09:29:25 AM »
But Bosk, is Mike's organization ( for lack of a better term) still running it, or is someone under the DT umbrella doing so?
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline bosk1

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #63 on: February 26, 2016, 09:32:14 AM »
I believe it is still being run under Mike.  I could be mistaken, but that is my impression.  And I am also assuming that whatever split they worked out, he is getting a big enough portion of it by virtue of the fact that, despite the music collectively being the band's, the efforts to compile and put out that material were largely his.  But that is just assumption on my part and admittedly could be wrong.  But related to that, I think that's one of the reasons why Happy Holidays was released directly through the band's website and did not have the "Ytsejam Records" name attached.
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Offline ZirconBlue

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #64 on: February 26, 2016, 09:55:00 AM »
Even though it got quite some votes, in the discussion the Scenes from a Memory remix has hardly been mentioned. It's like getting a second - and complete! - version of a wonderful album, only the Falling Into Infinity demos achieve this result (in fact I voted also for the FII demos), so it's great to have a different version of SFAM... you could also play around with the versions to create a personal mix, I did one after being inspired, back when I was a lurker, to someone posting here of his own personal version of it.

D'oh!  I can't believe I forgot about that.  I usually listen to that version rather than the official SFaM release, because there are some neat parts that are much more audible on that version.

Offline Madman Shepherd

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #65 on: February 26, 2016, 03:49:38 PM »
I believe it is still being run under Mike.  I could be mistaken, but that is my impression.  And I am also assuming that whatever split they worked out, he is getting a big enough portion of it by virtue of the fact that, despite the music collectively being the band's, the efforts to compile and put out that material were largely his.  But that is just assumption on my part and admittedly could be wrong.  But related to that, I think that's one of the reasons why Happy Holidays was released directly through the band's website and did not have the "Ytsejam Records" name attached.

I'm under the impression that it is 100% run by Dream Theater in that it is contracted out through Mike Brown.  If you are talking about Portnoy when you say "Mike," I would bet money that he is no longer involved in anyway shape or fashion.  He compiled all of them and then JP handled the business side including getting new copies in stock and then they were shipped to Mike Brown who took care of fulfilling all of the orders himself. 

I also believe that Mike Brown was a lot closer with Portnoy than he was the rest of the guys but hey, we even have posters here that have maintained their relationship with the band even though they seem to be a lot closer with Portnoy. 

Offline KevShmev

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #66 on: February 26, 2016, 09:10:43 PM »
The only two I own are Bucharest, which is pretty essential (that set list is beastly), and When Dream and Day Reunite, which is pretty cool even though I have some issues with the sound of it; I still listen to the original WDADU when I am in the mood for those songs, simply because that record, for all of its flaws, still has a warmth and charm that is impossible to recapture live.

Offline ResultsMayVary

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #67 on: February 26, 2016, 09:30:39 PM »
- Dark Side of the Moon (classic cover and DT's best imho)
- Santiago (that JP guitar tone and great setlist)
- Bucharest (a lot of songs we haven't seen live very much since)
- New York '93 (the original ACOS)
- the Making of Falling Into Infinity (with demoes of an entire album's worth of music that didn't make the official CD and some of the original arrangements of songs that were changed before the official FII release)

Honorable mention to When Dream and Day Reunite, though.
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Offline Prog Snob

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #68 on: February 26, 2016, 09:53:37 PM »
The only two I own are Bucharest, which is pretty essential (that set list is beastly), and When Dream and Day Reunite, which is pretty cool even though I have some issues with the sound of it; I still listen to the original WDADU when I am in the mood for those songs, simply because that record, for all of its flaws, still has a warmth and charm that is impossible to recapture live.

That's pretty much my view of both. Bucharest is such a great set list. Plus the bonus content on the second disc is awesome. WDADR is good but the vocals are hit and miss. The ending with everyone on stage for Metropolis makes up for some of the low points.

Offline ytserush

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Re: What are your 5 ESSENTIAL Ytsejam releases?
« Reply #69 on: February 27, 2016, 01:45:51 PM »


On a completely different topic, even tho I should be in bed, I did some digging in the Ytsejam Mailing List archives, and I found a couple things worth mentioning about the 5/18/98 gig and OiaL.

Regarding whether the 5/18/98 show was intended as a live album, here's what one fan said after the Lubbock, Texas show, which happened 4 days after the LA show:
Quote
I also talked to Labrie, asked him about a live album, and he said it's a very strong possibility in the near future. They're talking to the label about it.

And MP himself posted after the second LA show. Besides the setlists to both LA shows, here's what he said about the 5/18/98 show:
Quote
I have to say that this 2nd show goes down in the Dream Theater history books as one of the coolest of ALL TIME!!! The good news for everybody...... The entire show was recorded by Westwood One for a possible radio broadcast sometime in the future!! So you all may be in for a treat!!

So it's quite evident that MP thought this show was awesome, probably based largely on the setlist and the guests. At the time he posted this, it was only a day after the show, so I doubt he had a chance to give the show a listen to listen to the band's performance (including that of JL). But I know that he always graded the shows according to the venue, the audience and the band's performance, so I'm guessing he must've been under the impression that the performance was great overall. And I saw some of the subsequent posts by the fans who were pretty psyched to get their hands on this show. I'm guessing these would be the reasons why MP was willing to release this show.

Part of it was. (30 minutes maybe?) Westwood One packaged some of those tracks (like six songs including The Trooper and Killers) with some Primus live tracks for broadcast in July 2002.

I guess the suits didn't think Dream Theater was worthy of a whole one-hour live concert back then. (Or Primus for that matter.) (I have the CD)

 

My list of essentials chronologically goes like this:

Majesty Demos

When Dream and Day Unite Demos
 
Falling Into Infinity Demos
     
When Dream And Day Reunite (CD or DVD)
   
Old Bridge, New JERSEY - 12/14/96
   
New York City 3/4/93
   
Bucharest, Romania 7/4/02 (DVD only)
 
Santiago, Chile 12/6/05 (DVD only)