Who is MVP of A Change of Seasons?

[LKap13]

This is a tough one for me. I'm torn between Portnoy, Petrucci and Sherinian (even though I believe a lot of they keyboard work was written by Moore). Ultimately I voted Portnoy.

Edit: I'm talking about the song here.

[RoeDent]

James LaBrie, 100%. His vocal performance on ACOS is utterly stellar.

[kaos2900]

I went JP. That tone is amazing.

[pg1067]

I'm sort of thinking only about the song, but maybe you meant the album/"EP" as a whole.

In any event, in terms of performance, everyone was pretty much on fire.  I'd probably put DS down a slight notch since the song was already written before he joined (although I don't know when the changes were made in relationship to when DS joined and whether he had any involvement in writing).  That being the case, I gave the MVP to MP, by a nose, for the lyrics.

[Lonk]

though I think JP and MP are amazing in this piece, I will go with Labrie. This is the one piece where I think from beginning to end he is stellar. Even on the recent I&W tour he was incredibly good on that song. Better than I expected.

The "Another world" is so emotionally driven because of Labrie.

[The Walrus]

If we're talking the whole EP then it's absolutely James. His voice on those covers is 

[Podaar]

If we're talking the whole EP then it's absolutely James. His voice on those covers is 

Oh, good point about the EP. I was thinking the song only and voted for MP. If we're talking EP I'd vote JP because of his chameleon playing on side 2. It's one thing to match other players tones but to accurately imitate everyone from Davey Johnstone to Kerry Livgren to Steve Morse is astonishing.

[CharlesPL]

MP

[Max Kuehnau]

James, IMHO anyway. Nice vocal lines by him on all pieces, good range as well. (possibly JP as well)

[TAC]

It's one thing to match other players tones but to accurately imitate everyone from Davey Johnstone to Kerry Livgren to Steve Morse is astonishing.

He is amazing.

[Volante99]

Portnoy.

I actually think LaBrie sounds a bit weak here.

[RaiseTheKnife]

Derek's keyboard choices in both sound patches and solos are a VAST improvement over Kevin Moore's prior version.  When taking the original version into consideration, this is a showcase piece for Derek with the way he distinctly infuses his personality in the song, therefore Derek gets my vote.

[Northern Lion]

I chose James, I agree with others, his performance is among the best of his career.

[Peter Mc]

Went with Petrucci as lots of memorable guitar moments but LaBrie runs him a very close second, that “oh come let us adore him” section gives me chills every time for the vocals and the solo.

Surprised at how many votes Portnoy is getting on this one, seem to remember that the drums sound pretty horrible on this, probably the worst drum sound of his career. I suppose he did write the lyrics and vocal melodies though so I can understand it more for that reason.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Portnoy. His drumming is amazing on it and his lyrics are among the best in their entire discography.

[Loggins]

Labrie for sure. This album is really amazing all the way around, but James is what I always think of here.

[bosk1]

I can't vote for this one.  For one thing, it's one song, aside from the heavily-doctored live tracks (which I love, by the way).  But more importantly, I just don't ever listen to this EP.  When I want my ACOS fix, I always go for the live version from LSFNY.  Always.  When I listen to the EP, it is usually for the Perfect Strangers cover or The Big Medley.

[Max Kuehnau]

I can't vote for this one.  For one thing, it's one song, aside from the heavily-doctored live tracks (which I love, by the way).  But more importantly, I just don't ever listen to this EP.  When I want my ACOS fix, I always go for the live version from LSFNY.  Always.  When I listen to the EP, it is usually for the Perfect Strangers cover or The Big Medley.

I do too (mostly, these days I only listen to the Budokan version in 2017, it's cleaner and easier to listen to for me), because of Jordan's funny bits. I actually like James' performance on the EP though (on all tracks), so I voted

[nattmorker]

I do too (mostly, these days I only listen to the Budokan version in 2017, it's cleaner and easier to listen to for me), because of Jordan's funny bits. I actually like James' performance on the EP though (on all tracks), so I voted

That's the reason I prefer the LSFNY version, every time I listen to the original version, my ears keep expecting those parts.

[Max Kuehnau]

I do too (mostly, these days I only listen to the Budokan version in 2017, it's cleaner and easier to listen to for me), because of Jordan's funny bits. I actually like James' performance on the EP though (on all tracks), so I voted

That's the reason I prefer the LSFNY version, every time I listen to the original version,my ears keep expecting those parts.

mine do too

[Ninjabait]

Portnoy tbh. His drumming on here is pretty good, but darn it A Change of Seasons is some of the best lyrical work in all of DT.

LaBrie would be the runner-up, as the vocals and lyrics are really what makes this song great.

[KevShmev]

Derek's keyboard choices in both sound patches and solos are a VAST improvement over Kevin Moore's prior version.  When taking the original version into consideration, this is a showcase piece for Derek with the way he distinctly infuses his personality in the song, therefore Derek gets my vote.

While I do not agree with the Kevin Moore comment, and wouldn't necessarily pick Sherinian as the MVP of this record, I will say that I was so thrilled and relieved in regards to the keys when I first heard this song. I was majorly bummed when Kevin Moore left the band, and even though I saw the band for the first time on the Awake tour with DS, it was impossible to know how things would go on new material, but then I heard A Change of Seasons and thought, "Yes, everything is going to be okay!"

[Cool Chris]

Did you still think that when you heard FII? (a tad bit of snark there, but genuinely curious). I hadn't heard about the lineup change till I saw the FII booklet, and didn't hear the ACoS EP till later. When I heard NM, then YNM, I wondered what the hell happened? Certainly it couldn't be just a new keyboardist, though his sounds didn't help matters.

[KevShmev]

Did you still think that when you heard FII? (a tad bit of snark there, but genuinely curious). I hadn't heard about the lineup change till I saw the FII booklet, and didn't hear the ACoS EP till later. When I heard NM, then YNM, I wondered what the hell happened? Certainly it couldn't be just a new keyboardist, though his sounds didn't help matters.

Yes.  Very few Dream Theater moments have wowed me on their first listen like the keyboard lead at the beginning of Lines in the Sand did. Plus, I was never disappointed with Falling into Infinity as a whole.  While it was clearly a step down from I&W and Awake, it was still damn good and it wore out my CD player.

[RaiseTheKnife]

Surprised at how many votes Portnoy is getting on this one, seem to remember that the drums sound pretty horrible on this, probably the worst drum sound of his career. I suppose he did write the lyrics and vocal melodies though so I can understand it more for that reason.

Given the trends at the time, MP's snare sound felt like an intuitive move to me in 1995, as I knew other metal drummers that were gravitating toward a more "pop" tom sound.  I welcomed it openly.  But that's just me.

[TAC]

When I heard NM, then YNM, I wondered what the hell happened?

You and me both, Brother.

[pg1067]

Did you still think that when you heard FII? (a tad bit of snark there, but genuinely curious). I hadn't heard about the lineup change till I saw the FII booklet, and didn't hear the ACoS EP till later. When I heard NM, then YNM, I wondered what the hell happened? Certainly it couldn't be just a new keyboardist, though his sounds didn't help matters.

I love Derek's "solo" on ACOS (a LOT better than anything I've ever heard JR do in that place), so I had no big concerns about KM leaving.

However, when I heard FII, I also wondered "what the fuck?! but it didn't really have anything to do with the keys"  The intro to New Millennium sounded promising, but it's a complete mess of a song that, to this day, I regard as a bottom 10 DT song.  I remember liking Hollow Years from the start, but nothing else resonated with me for a LONG time, and I still consider FII a bottom 2 or 3 album.  Fortunately, things got better quickly.

[Anxiety35]

I went with Portnoy because I think ACOS is the apex of his creativity as a drummer and his drumming shines on this song. I wonder if there is an isolated drum track on YouTube for ACOS?

The lyrics are Portnoy's too.

LaBrie's vocals are awesome. I almost went with him on this poll but I think his vocals on Awake are better by a hair.

These are all difficult to choose!

[jjfumbly]

I voted James but the mixing plus the dialing in on the amp gave the guitar an amazingly snappy tone on that track. Really unique sound for DT.

[El Barto]

MP. Between the drumwork, the lyrics, and most importantly the theme of the whole thing, it's his finest hour.

Derek's keyboard choices in both sound patches and solos are a VAST improvement over Kevin Moore's prior version.  When taking the original version into consideration, this is a showcase piece for Derek with the way he distinctly infuses his personality in the song, therefore Derek gets my vote.

Agree completely (though still vote for MP).