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

[mikeyd23]

Well...

There's hope!

Wasn't it already confirmed that Rich isn't going to be their engineer this time around?

I don't believe so...

[pcs90]

I think that was only speculated based on people saying he was busy with other projects or something.

[Kocak]

I think that was only speculated based on people saying he was busy with other projects or something.

I hope he is busy... for the next 4 album cycles.

[TheLordOfTheStrings]

I think that was only speculated based on people saying he was busy with other projects or something.

Maybe that's what I remember then.

[Schurftkut]

writing's finished!

[Ben_Jamin]

With burgers and beers.

[GasparXR]

With burgers and beers.

"Don't flip those fuckers"

[Ben_Jamin]

Yeah seems like the guys were feeling good when they made that vid.

[gzarruk]

So, they should start recording in a couple days, right?

[RMGadelha]

Would be nice to hear some snippets

[Bertielee]

Would be nice to hear some snippets

You bet!

[MirrorMask]

A month or little more in a relaxed environment with everyone contributing and being relaxed and energized.... can't wait for the results! 

[Fritzinger]

Loved to see JMX practicing in the back in the video while everyone is enjoying themselves

But WOW they already finished the writing?? Isn't that a little fast? I hate to be the guy criticising, but I think they could have taken a little more time...

But then again I could give less f**ks how long it took them to write this album because I know it's totally gonna kick ass 

[MirrorMask]

But WOW they already finished the writing?? Isn't that a little fast? I hate to be the guy criticising, but I think they could have taken a little more time...

They've been at it for a month and probably a little more, and they worked all day. When you're secluded away for the only specific purpouse of writing an album and everything else you do is just resting, eating and sleeping, a month can be very productive.

[Spin]

From my understanding Train of Thought was written in about a month (it's in the making of documentary somewhere), so it's not unheard of by Dream Theater's standard to write an album in a month.

But certainly throughout the rest of the recording process they will be writing more.  For example, solo sections at this stage are more likely just blank spaces and the guys will write their solos when recording their tracks.

[Fritzinger]

Yes, I think ToT was written (and recorded iirc) within around 2 weeks.

And I also think that in the future weeks and months a lot will be changed, arranged, re-arranged; solos will be written, maybe some lyrics.

All in all, this seems to be a pretty spontaneous album. Imo, this is a welcome, fresh approach after the very thought-though Astonishing.

[cramx3]

That video is great.  "Cooking with the Pirate"  The excitement in this video makes me want the music 

[chaotic_ripper]

They've been camped out in the studio for right about a month.  And from what they said, working 12 hours a day.  I think it's pretty reasonable for them to be done writing. It sounds like they were very inspired.  Excited for this album!

[mikeyd23]

Yeah, a month of writing is actually pretty long by DT standards. Also, keep in mind they demoed (or will be demoing) all that material and might tweak it before final recording.

[chaotic_ripper]

Yeah, a month of writing is actually pretty long by DT standards. Also, keep in mind they demoed (or will be demoing) all that material and might tweak it before final recording.

Yep!

[pg1067]

But WOW they already finished the writing?? Isn't that a little fast? I hate to be the guy criticising, but I think they could have taken a little more time...

Time has nothing to do with it.  Some of the greatest albums in history were written in less time, and some really crappy albums took years to write.

With burgers and beers.

"Don't flip those fuckers"

Now I'm hungry...and it's only 9:40 a.m.!

[Mladen]

That video is great.  "Cooking with the Pirate"  The excitement in this video makes me want the burgers.

FTFM.

[Ben_Jamin]

That video is great.  "Cooking with the Pirate"  The excitement in this video makes me want the burgers.

FTFM.

Haha, I felt the same way. I was all Damn, now I want a burger.

[Setlist Scotty]

Yes, I think ToT was written (and recorded iirc) within around 2 weeks.

ToT and Awake were each written in roughly 3 weeks time.

I would imagine that as they start doing the proper recording of the album, that there will be some adjustments. My biggest hope (and one I doubt they did) was write more than enough material, so that they could pick out the best stuff to put on the album, but to record all of it, and release the additional tracks as B-sides and/or bonus tracks for deluxe editions, etc.

[devieira73]

Now that the album is written, I'm curious if the band really feels  that the songs turned out the style they envisioned before they went to the studio. Anyway, very happy with the news!

[Cool Chris]

If something isn't good enough to make the album proper, why would they bother recording and releasing it? I know lots of people are interesting in this sort of thing (hey, I just answered my own question!) but I don't care about cutting room floor material.

[Adami]

If something isn't good enough to make the album proper, why would they bother recording and releasing it? I know lots of people are interesting in this sort of thing (hey, I just answered my own question!) but I don't care about cutting room floor material.

I dunno. Raise the Knife is one of my favorite DT songs.

[Cool Chris]

I thought about this more... (and using that example as I would say RtK if better than half off the stuff on FII) just because something makes the album doesn't necessarily mean it is "better" than material that didn't make the cut. Of course, it stands to reason the best material will make the cut. But sometimes those pesky suits from the record label know better.

[cramx3]

I thought about this more... (and using that example as I would say RtK if better than half off the stuff on FII) just because something makes the album doesn't necessarily mean it is "better" than material that didn't make the cut. Of course, it stands to reason the best material will make the cut. But sometimes those pesky suits from the record label know better.

Yea, it could have to do with flow and overall atmosphere of the album.

For example, the last Epica album cycle the band I guess had the juices flowing and wrote too many songs for a single album.  They kept saying there were more songs but they cut them from the album not because of quality but because they felt they didn't fit in with the overall feel of the rest of the songs/album.  They then released them as an EP later and that EP fucking rocks and really sounds just like any of their other music.

[Chris Hinton]

If something isn't good enough to make the album proper, why would they bother recording and releasing it? I know lots of people are interesting in this sort of thing (hey, I just answered my own question!) but I don't care about cutting room floor material.

I dunno. Raise the Knife is one of my favorite DT songs.

I think RtK and the other non-album tracks from Falling into Infinity are a different animal.  They wrote them with the full intention of them being on the (double) album.

[Setlist Scotty]

Yea, it could have to do with flow and overall atmosphere of the album.

Exactly. Another perfect example of this was when Steven Wilson wrote the song Drown With Me. He thought it was an awesome song and would be a perfect single. However, after he finished writing everything else that he intended for the In Absentia album, he recognized that Drown With Me wouldn't fit with the overall feel of the rest of the songs, and so he chose not to include it on the album.

Another example: DT planned on writing a dark, heavy album, and they ended up with ToT. However, during the writing sessions, they developed some ideas that became an upbeat song. However, they realized that it wouldn't work on the album, and so they discarded those ideas. In this case, MP remembered this song (dunno how close it was to completion) when they were working on Octavarium, and they ended up using them on the album. The song was I Walk Beside You.

So in both these cases, it's not that the songs were bad or of lesser quality, but rather that they didn't fit with the rest of the songs.

I think RtK and the other non-album tracks from Falling into Infinity are a different animal.

They were a different animal, but not because they intended to write/record a double album. It was only because the label wouldn't allow them in the studio to start recording what became FII and was pushing for more radio-friendly songs, that DT continued writing more.

In the same way, if the guys are "in the zone" and are cranking out great song after song, why stop just because they have an album's worth of material? Why not continue writing to see where it takes you? Maybe you'd come up with some even better songs. Or maybe the feel/vibe of the album might be different. At the very least, you'd have more material to pick and choose from. Had they not continued to write more material while waiting to get the OK from the label to go into the studio, Trial of Tears, Cover My Eyes, Hollow Years, New Millennium and Speak to Me wouldn't exist. How many other awesome songs might have existed if DT didn't stop writing the moment they had enough material to fill a CD during other writing sessions? Obviously we'll never know, but the idea to just write enough to fill a CD instead of following your muse (especially given that they're not writing the album in a full-blown studio) and seeing what more you can come up with seems to be selling yourself short.

[Cool Chris]

Those are both good points, I had not thought of either of those.

[PetFish]

In the same way, if the guys are "in the zone" and are cranking out great song after song, why stop just because they have an album's worth of material? Why not continue writing to see where it takes you?

Isn't this how they came up with the entire Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence piece?

Personally, I love b-sides, but it's also related to genre as well.  Prog/metal bands tend to write the music that they want and not worry too much about "hits" whereas pop/rock bands *do* worry about "hits", or at least the company does, and it pushes them to write 20-30 songs per album so they can pick the best ones... or at least the most likely to be "hits".  Falling Into Infinity is a great example of this with the company trying to dictate everything and we ended up with some great b-sides.

[Polarbear]

It is weird to be excited about a DT album again, but I'm slowly getting there!

I was hoping for more of a Spontaneous, "back to basics" approach, and it seems that's exactly whats happening. Also the fact that this seems to very much a group effort, as opposed to the Astonishing which was clearly JP's and Jr's brainchild, is encouraging! Mangini seems to be more involved than ever in the writing process, which is also great!

What they have communicated through the updates about this new album, ticks all the boxes for me so far. Very much excited to hear the results!

[Setlist Scotty]

In the same way, if the guys are "in the zone" and are cranking out great song after song, why stop just because they have an album's worth of material? Why not continue writing to see where it takes you?

Isn't this how they came up with the entire Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence piece?

I believe in a way it was, but unintentionally. When they reconvened after the break from the G3 tour JP and MP did, they knew they wanted to include an epic on the album, so their goal was to write a piece roughly 20 minutes in length. They got on a roll and before they knew it, they had actually written 40 minutes of music. So it wasn't a matter of "hey, we've really hit our stride - let's just keep writing until we start to run out of great ideas" - it was more like "holy crap! I can't believe we just wrote 40 minutes of music!"