Dream Theater Finishes Smoking Barbecue!! - Album in Food Warmer!

[lucasembarbosa]

My guess would be that his lyrics will be intelligent (because he just is), about mathematics, logic or brains or something

I know you said that in jest, but I think the other way round. For me, it will be very emotional, that is being there where no one is expecting him.

MM sometimes can be philosophical AF, pretty deep... Hope he translates that into his lyrics!

[Max Kuehnau]

Yeah I actually wasn't joking.

[Pax]

tfw you see a few new pages in the thread and got excited because you think there's a new update, but it turns out to be another load of shitpost

[Max Kuehnau]

Sorry about that. I do my best to remain as neutral as possible for a reason.

[Bertielee]

tfw you see a few new pages in the thread and got excited because you think there's a new update, but it turns out to be another load of shitpost

I know it wasn't addressed to us, but bad timing for making that commentary right after we discussed MM's lyrical contribution.

B.Lee

[Ben_Jamin]

For me, it matters because MP posted not on his Instagram but on JP's Instagram where there is an album update. Why did he post that in the update of a band that already moved on from him?

Because he didn't respond to the bands Instagram, but his friends Instagram.

I don't get why people are making that a big deal. Since, that is what MP would say if he was in the band still and working on the NMB at the same time. Its just a friend making a joke on a friends instagram, which is why he posted the smiley.

[erwinrafael]

For me, it matters because MP posted not on his Instagram but on JP's Instagram where there is an album update. Why did he post that in the update of a band that already moved on from him?

Because he didn't respond to the bands Instagram, but his friends Instagram.

I don't get why people are making that a big deal. Since, that is what MP would say if he was in the band still and working on the NMB at the same time. Its just a friend making a joke on a friends instagram, which is why he posted the smiley.

Yes, pretend that this is not a social media world where a public post like that would not attract the fanboys who would suddenly hijack the threads on the new album wishing that MP would come back and not ruining the positive publicity the new album is getting so far through the band's own social media effort.

[Ben_Jamin]

My guess would be that his lyrics will be intelligent (because he just is), about mathematics, logic or brains or something

I know you said that in jest, but I think the other way round. For me, it will be very emotional, that is being there where no one is expecting him.

MM sometimes can be philosophical AF, pretty deep... Hope he translates that into his lyrics!

Must be a good theme for those lyrics and maybe the album title comes from those lyrics. Could be why JP really didn't want MM to give anything away about it in that first video.

I like how they're tracking too, seems they started vocals while JM was still finishing his Bass tracks. Its like, once this is done the other can come in and do theirs. Which is why JLB started vocals, JM and JP were done with one song and he was next in the tracking line.

[Madman Shepherd]

For me, it matters because MP posted not on his Instagram but on JP's Instagram where there is an album update. Why did he post that in the update of a band that already moved on from him?

Because he didn't respond to the bands Instagram, but his friends Instagram.

...about the band.

I don't get why people are making that a big deal. Since, that is what MP would say if he was in the band still and working on the NMB at the same time. Its just a friend making a joke on a friends instagram...

...about the band.

 

[Ben_Jamin]

For me, it matters because MP posted not on his Instagram but on JP's Instagram where there is an album update. Why did he post that in the update of a band that already moved on from him?

Because he didn't respond to the bands Instagram, but his friends Instagram.

...about the band.

I don't get why people are making that a big deal. Since, that is what MP would say if he was in the band still and working on the NMB at the same time. Its just a friend making a joke on a friends instagram...

...about the band.

 

Yeah its a post about the band. But I'm saying its not like he's posting it on the BANDS instagram.

[ToT-147]

Based on how I hear and play it, his entire playing vocabulary is in Metropolis Pt. 1, The Mirror, Peruvian Skies, Trial of Tears, and The Glass Prison. Study all the techniques in those songs and you pretty much can feel the familiarity in the other songs. It's not bad, that is already an amazing drum vocabulary and there are so many variations MP did, but it is also true that the vocabulary never expanded much after SDOIT.

Once again, I don't agree with that simplification.. I don't think he has a new "letter" (following your metaphor) for every new song he makes, but the ones he uses and the different combinations he makes are great enough for my ears..

It's worth mentioning that what I and many others like of his style (and this would work on every other musician and maybe it's a obvious thing to say, but I'm saying it anyway) has a lot to do with the bands he has played in, mainly DT for being his main band for that many years, and also obviously with a lot of drummers that have inspired him... not only with his talent or practice.. Moreover, I never said his vocabulary "expanded much" after SDoIT.. I think he just thought his playing was fine the way it was, and didn't bothered to improv much since then.. But everyone can listening to those albums and easily notice the new stuff he brought to the band in songs like TDS, SoC, ItNoG!!, PA, SS, 8V, TDEN!!, or TMoLS.. And I'm not talking abut the obvious sounding changes, but about different rhythms and fills especially in all those songs..

tfw you see a few new pages in the thread and got excited because you think there's a new update, but it turns out to be another load of shitpost

tfw you see people getting upset to other people for debating in a forum made for people to debate..

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

lol

MP is and will be truly the gift that keeps giving in DT land. It's uncanny how chill things were before he posted that comment.  Way to keep us entertained in DT-related discussion these days.

@ToT-147:

It's fine that you love and admire MP so much, as lots of us once did (and probably some still do); but I think the whole point was that you got pretty defensive and seemingly upset about someone making a remark about his repetitive use of fills. I mean, if I had to throw my opinion into the pot I would kind of agree that MP's drumming became somewhat stale (in terms of drumming finesse) after 2002 because he definitely became more of a quantity over quality guy (it's very VERY hard to maintain a certain degree of quality and creative invention when you're putting out so much music), although he remained an incredibly solid and fun to watch drummer (and still is).

Let's think of JP, for example. He has the creativity, technical prowess and the skill to play in more material than the albums he formally puts out (although that second solo album is really draggin'!), but you can really feel in his playing and evolution that his creative energies are focused in DT. A Mike Portnoy fan might easily say: but that's MP's magic. He's just way too creative and skilled to be only focused in one project (as one of MP's main arguments of why he left the band back in 2010); but that's not usually the way it works. He IS incredibly skilled, and incredibly talented in marketing himself; but he's become more of a "MP the guy that plays everywhere" brand more than the "MP the virtuoso drummer" brand that he had a couple of decades ago.

And also, the guy is smart. He knows his (and DT's) fanbase like the palm of his hand. He knows people are discussing this as we speak, because he knows his "harmless" Instagram comment triggers people like us  As someone said, it derails attention from DT's actual recording process to him. Maybe he meant no harm, but he's not dumb. He knows what happens every time he comments things like these. You'll never see JP or even JR (the actual members he's still close to) posting things like those in his social media because, well, they're JP and JR.

And on the actual subject of the album: I'm so excited that MM is bringing lyrical ideas into the fold. That's going to be something incredible because I have no earthly idea of what to expect out of that.

[Adami]

Based on how I hear and play it, his entire playing vocabulary is in Metropolis Pt. 1, The Mirror, Peruvian Skies, Trial of Tears, and The Glass Prison. Study all the techniques in those songs and you pretty much can feel the familiarity in the other songs. It's not bad, that is already an amazing drum vocabulary and there are so many variations MP did, but it is also true that the vocabulary never expanded much after SDOIT.

Once again, I don't agree with that simplification.. I don't think he has a new "letter" (following your metaphor) for every new song he makes, but the ones he uses and the different combinations he makes are great enough for my ears..

It's worth mentioning that what I and many others like of his style (and this would work on every other musician and maybe it's a obvious thing to say, but I'm saying it anyway) has a lot to do with the bands he has played in, mainly DT for being his main band for that many years, and also obviously with a lot of drummers that have inspired him... not only with his talent or practice.. Moreover, I never said his vocabulary "expanded much" after SDoIT.. I think he just thought his playing was fine the way it was, and didn't bothered to improv much since then.. But everyone can listening to those albums and easily notice the new stuff he brought to the band in songs like TDS, SoC, ItNoG!!, PA, SS, 8V, TDEN!!, or TMoLS.. And I'm not talking abut the obvious sounding changes, but about different rhythms and fills especially in all those songs..

tfw you see a few new pages in the thread and got excited because you think there's a new update, but it turns out to be another load of shitpost

tfw you see people getting upset to other people for debating in a forum made for people to debate..

I think we're just mixing up observation with judgment of quality.

For instance. James Hetfield might be my favorite guitarist. Has been for over 20 years. Dude is my biggest inspiration. Is he repetitive? OH HELL YEA. Does it matter to me? Nah. Dude is amazing, even if he largely sticks to the same notes.

Being repetitive does not mean you're a lesser musician. There's some great qualities to it. I can hear a MP song I've never heard and instantly recognize it's him. That's not the case with most drummers. The reason I recognize is him is because he has a specific style (as varied as it can be) and part of that is how repetitive he is. MP is one of my favorite drummers, but the dude DOES use the same bag of tricks over and over. They're a great bag of tricks and work 95% of the time, but he is repetitive.

[Anxiety35]

My bad for making mention of MP's response in JP's Instagram post. I was the one who derailed the thread here. Sorry.

Back to the new album, I'm excited for it. Can't wait for the next update. Can't wait for the first song to be released for all to hear. I have high hopes for this release simply because it's the next DT album.

[fadetoblackdude7]

Looks like Jordan has begun tracking keyboards!

[gzarruk]

Looks like Jordan has begun tracking keyboards!

If both James and Jordan are tracking simultaneously, I really really hope they finish the recordings this coming week, so they can move into the mixing stage very soon

The cool thing is, they seem to have applied almost everything the vast majority of the fanbase wanted: writing as a band, lyric inputs by the other members, lots of studio updates, better drum sound, etc, which makes me even more excited to know who is going to mix the album this time. Nothing against Chycki, but the consensus seems to be that pleople want someone else mixing DT.

[Dream Team]

I’m still in shock that it takes a professional band 4 albums to get a good drum sound (assuming it is actually good on this latest effort).

[Architeuthis]

I’m still in shock that it takes a professional band 4 albums to get a good drum sound (assuming it is actually good on this latest effort).

I thought the drum sound has been just fine on the previous three albums, especially TA..  I don't understand why people think the drums sound so bad. Maybe someone with better trained ears can tell me what I'm missing. I've been in bands myself, and I am kind of picky about a good drum sound.
That was my biggest complaint about Rush's Clockwork Angels tour, the drums were so muffled.

[Sebastián Pratesi]

For instance. James Hetfield might be my favorite guitarist. Has been for over 20 years. Dude is my biggest inspiration. Is he repetitive? OH HELL YEA. Does it matter to me? Nah. Dude is amazing, even if he largely sticks to the same notes.

Last year I was given a CD copy of Hardwired... to self-destruct as a present. My favourite bit is the intro to "Confusion"...

Bam
Bam
Ba-ba-ba, Bam
Bam
Bam
Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba, Bam
                                 Bam
                                 Ba-ba-ba, Bam
                                 Bam
                                 Bam
                                 Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba, Bam...

So stupidly simple, it can't get any better. 

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I’m still in shock that it takes a professional band 4 albums to get a good drum sound (assuming it is actually good on this latest effort).

I don't think the drums are as terrible as lots of people think, but I agree there hasn't been a moment in these past records that I'm astonished (pun very intended) with the drum sound. I think it's more of a thing that MP had a SUPER distinctive and really good (IMO) drum sound that we had all grown used to for many years. Not only the sound, but his playing and the whole way DT records were mixed were very constant in the band's history, and we were comfortable and happy with that. That being said, I can listen to those three records just fine without the need of nitpicking every subtle drum nuance.

With Portnoy not co-producing (or playing) in the records, it was obvious that things were not gonna be the same. I could almost bet that, if ADTOE/DT/TA were released by a band that wasn't Dream Theater, there wouldn't be such a big outbreak regarding the drum sound. NOTE: I'm talking from a studio album perspective, the live records are something else. I have more of an issue with Luna Park's overall mix than any other of the Chycki-era DT releases, which feels weird given Chycki has mixed some wonderful live and studio albums. Maybe it was a tracking thing? Probably we'll never know (listens to the overcompressed and uncomfortably loud vocals from the acoustic set in Luna Park).

That being said, I'm super happy they went a totally different way with this record, regarding the studio, the engineering, the production, etc. The few clips that have had drums sound killer and I'm very positive it's going to turn out great.

[TAC]

Last year I was given a CD copy of Hardwired... to self-destruct as a present. My favourite bit is the intro to "Confusion"...

Bam
Bam
Ba-ba-ba, Bam
Bam
Bam
Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba, Bam
                                 Bam
                                 Ba-ba-ba, Bam
                                 Bam
                                 Bam
                                 Ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba, Bam...

So stupidly simple, it can't get any better. 

[SystematicThought]

I thought the drum sound has been just fine on the previous three albums, especially TA..  I don't understand why people think the drums sound so bad. Maybe someone with better trained ears can tell me what I'm missing. I've been in bands myself, and I am kind of picky about a good drum sound.
That was my biggest complaint about Rush's Clockwork Angels tour, the drums were so muffled.

For me, ADTOE, the drums are too much in the background. Mike is doing some amazing things, but they get lost under the guitars. At the end of Bridges In The Sky, it literally sound like machine guns with what MM is going on the kick drums and toms. That was a cool part that got lost. Also, it's a small complaint because I only noticed it on the isolated track, but the snare is weird. A lot of reverb.

DT's sound is very processed, doesn't sound real. It all sounds triggered.

TA was the step in the right direction. The little clip we've seen so far of the drums, they sound way better

[ToT-147]

@Adami  Are you trying to change my mind by comparing Hetfield to Portnoy?.. Good luck with that lol.. Fwiw, I agree with the rest of your post, except with the "repetitive" part, which is getting very repetitive btw...

@DarkLord_Lalinc  Two things: first, the discussion was never about my reaction.. The guys were expressing their opinion about MP's playing, which is fine in itself, but not in the way one of them first put it; also, they weren't understanding what my opinion was and, worse, they started to misrepresenting it, so I needed to clarify it.. Second, about getting upset, well, sorry for being a human being that happens to like something and feels bad when someone (or some, like in this case) attack that very thing.. You can't deny the way it was first said was very childish and calling for discussion, as MP does regularly..

One Last Thing (:v): even if the thread might have derailed a bit with this back and forth about MP (as someone said, we started this little chat for something a former member of the band posted on a current member's post about the new album; it's not that we're talking about sports), this tinny deviation from the thread's main issue doesn't change our hype or focus on the news about the album.. As soon as we keep getting updates we'll be talking about them as we actually never really stop doing.. So I don't see the point in complaining that much about all this Little Debate..

[Trav86]

So, it seems Jordan has just started tracking
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm9dehTnGj_/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=6h0t8od0i6c9
Sorry to get back on topic

[ToT-147]

So stupidly simple, it can't get any better. 

Actually, as simple or stupid you might think it is, that section is on 3/4 and 5/4, so, while maybe still being stupid, at least is not that simple..   I actually remember that in my first listen of the song I wasn't able to catch the time signature in all the time the pattern is repeated, and that's a very long time..

So, it seems Jordan has just started tracking
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm9dehTnGj_/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=6h0t8od0i6c9
Sorry to get back on topic

Speaking of the "topic", it isn't maybe time to update the thread's title?..

[Sebastián Pratesi]

Actually, as simple or stupid you might think it is, that section is on 3/4 and 5/4, so, while maybe still being stupid, at least is not that simple..   I actually remember that in my first listen of the song I wasn't able to catch the time signature in all the time the pattern is repeated, and that's a very long time..

Vos sabés que la primera vez que la escuché me pasó lo mismo - me costó un huevo encontrar la métrica. Al principio me pareció como vos decís: 3/4 + 5/4. Pero, desde entonces, lo escucho como 2 compases de 4/4; como referencia uso los riffs que se escuchan por arriba. ¿Vos no te perdés al contar de a 3 y 5? (Quizás por eso le pusieron "Confusion". )

[gzarruk]

Yeah, someone please change the thread title. They entered the studio more than 2 weeks ago

[Max Kuehnau]

Looks like Jordan has begun tracking keyboards!

If both James and Jordan are tracking simultaneously, I really really hope they finish the recordings this coming week, so they can move into the mixing stage very soon

The cool thing is, they seem to have applied almost everything the vast majority of the fanbase wanted: writing as a band, lyric inputs by the other members, lots of studio updates, better drum sound, etc, which makes me even more excited to know who is going to mix the album this time. Nothing against Chycki, but the consensus seems to be that pleople want someone else mixing DT.

Chycki was never mentioned during the updates given to us. The person that actually was mentioned is James Meslin (aka Jimmy T), so IMHO it's safe to assume he will mix and engineer. (he worked on the Xanadu cover with the guys as one example) Chycki is working with Phil X and Richie Sambora right now if I'm not mistaken. Anyone who knows better may gladly correct me if I'm wrong.

[bosk1]

Wow, I came in here to catch up from the weekend, and found almost 3 pages of completely off-topic discussion.  It should go without saying that the out-of-nowhere MP bashing and criticism of his fills was completely uncalled for, as was the over-the-top defensiveness in response.  Keep the thread on topic, and keep the MP bashing to Facebook and Blabbermouth comments.  It has no place here.

[erwinrafael]

But we can talk about his Instagram post re: the album?

[ToT-147]

Vos sabés que la primera vez que la escuché me pasó lo mismo - me costó un huevo encontrar la métrica. Al principio me pareció como vos decís: 3/4 + 5/4. Pero, desde entonces, lo escucho como 2 compases de 4/4; como referencia uso los riffs que se escuchan por arriba. ¿Vos no te perdés al contar de a 3 y 5? (Quizás por eso le pusieron "Confusion". )

   Tal cual.. Pasa que los compases por lo general se dividen según en dónde esté puesto el énfasis, por eso creo que en la partitura original debe figurar como 3/4 y 5/4.. Pero bueno, mejor volvamos al tema porque ya suficiente cagada a pedos me comí, jajaa..

[RMGadelha]

A question for the more experienced in such things: how long does the mixing stage usually take? Or is it totally random?

[mikeyd23]

A question for the more experienced in such things: how long does the mixing stage usually take? Or is it totally random?

Totally depends on the band and the album. For DT, they usually don't take more than a couple weeks.

[Adami]

A question for the more experienced in such things: how long does the mixing stage usually take? Or is it totally random?

Depends on a lot of things. Number of songs, how dense the songs are (track wise) how much time went into pre-production, how good the performances were, how bad JP wants to make the drums sound, figuring exactly how low to keep JM in the mix, etc. Also depends on how many hours a day/days a week they dedicate to it.

[Bertielee]

A question for the more experienced in such things: how long does the mixing stage usually take? Or is it totally random?

Depends on a lot of things. Number of songs, how dense the songs are (track wise) how much time went into pre-production, how good the performances were, how bad JP wants to make the drums sound, figuring exactly how low to keep JM in the mix, etc. Also depends on how many hours a day/days a week they dedicate to it.

You, naughty boy!