John Petrucci - Terminal Velocity (Fall 2020)

[RodrigoAltaf]

I missed a little bit of oomph in the bass throughout the album, but listen closely and you can definitely hear Dave LaRue's distinguished bass lines. And you're right, this is Petrucci's solo album, first and foremost.

[tuto]

The album is streaming now in my neck of the woods. And holy shit is Happy Song even BETTER than when I saw it performed live😍!

[chwik]

My review was published today: https://www.sonicperspectives.com/album-reviews/john-petrucci-terminal-velocity/

Great review - eloquently written, and good insights into the musical landscape of the album. Best reivew of the album so far!

[RodrigoAltaf]

Thank you so much!!!

[goo-goo]

For those who missed the Newbury Comics pre-order, another colored vinyl version is available

https://www.newburycomics.com/products/john_petrucci-terminal_velocity_exclusive_2lp_with_autographed_postcard?fbclid=IwAR3pNGlwP5UOb5vuQHo1VpuCYb3emL9pHE2ttkxXZHq_0tuZ7F5vvnze45M&variant=32755466010729

[Peter Mc]

Only on song 2 but there is an undeniable chemistry between JP and MP.  Insanely good playing from both and the best I’ve heard MP sound in ages.

[LKap13]

Gemini -- just wow

[Ben_Jamin]

OMG... ...When Sum 41 meets Satriani is the perfect description for Happy Song. And Happy Song is the perfect description for the way the song makes me feel.

[V_R11]

Like almost always with JP, I like this album more the more I listen to it...I personally think SA had more "storytelling", though. Not that that's what a solo album HAS to be about

Temple of Circadia had such a "DT opening riff"-vibe I was half expecting James to start singing

[BRGM]

The album sounds Great! Really enjoying Gemini and Out of the Blue.

It appears as though that JP stated that the band is getting together this fall to start writing DT15. He said so in yesterday's interview with Ola Englund.

[Kotowboy]

Yeah the next Dream Theater album needs to sound like this.

Imagine how amazing a comeback it would have been if A Dramatic Turn of Events had this production.

[gmillerdrake]

Only have one full spin and currently on spin two but I’ll just say this is some fantastic stuff! JP is incredible and IMO outside of SOAD this is MP’s best sounding output since he left DT.....he sounds great.

[Max Kuehnau]

Only have one full spin and currently on spin two but I’ll just say this is some fantastic stuff! JP is incredible and IMO outside of SOAD this is MP’s best sounding output since he left DT.....he sounds great.

the only irony about your opinion is that MP (see, I didn't use my usual mode of reference to him to not annoy some social justice warriors here ) never was with System Of A Down. (although he might have had some Chop Suey while he held down his job delivering Chinese food before WDADU was released)

[gmillerdrake]

Only have one full spin and currently on spin two but I’ll just say this is some fantastic stuff! JP is incredible and IMO outside of SOAD this is MP’s best sounding output since he left DT.....he sounds great.

the only irony about your opinion is that MP (see, I didn't use my usual mode of reference to him to not annoy some social justice warriors here ) never was with System Of A Down. (although he might have had some Chop Suey while he held down his job delivering Chinese food before WDADU was released)

Similitude of A Dream.....The Neal Morse Band

[Max Kuehnau]

Only have one full spin and currently on spin two but I’ll just say this is some fantastic stuff! JP is incredible and IMO outside of SOAD this is MP’s best sounding output since he left DT.....he sounds great.

the only irony about your opinion is that MP (see, I didn't use my usual mode of reference to him to not annoy some social justice warriors here ) never was with System Of A Down. (although he might have had some Chop Suey while he held down his job delivering Chinese food before WDADU was released)

Similitude of A Dream.....The Neal Morse Band

aah right hehe, see that's the problem with acronyms, you can be so used to what you think is the most obvious meaning

[goo-goo]

Loving TV and surpasses Suspended Animation. Shit, I miss MP's drumming with DT. Those little cymbal nuances and octaban use is what made DT's drumming memorable before Mangini.

[emtee]

Yeah, MP is on fire with this one. I guess these two were born to play together. They bring out the best in each other.

[hunnus2000]

Yeah, MP is on fire with this one. I guess these two were born to play together. They bring out the best in each other.

There's a listening party that JP is hosting beginning in 15 minutes for those who don't know - https://twitter.com/JPetrucci/status/1299337879563444225?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

[Kotowboy]

Only have one full spin and currently on spin two but I’ll just say this is some fantastic stuff! JP is incredible and IMO outside of SOAD this is MP’s best sounding output since he left DT.....he sounds great.

He was never in System of a Down 😝

[devieira73]

I'm loving this album! I think it has more variety than SA, also within the songs. It's proggier, no doubt. Also loving the mixing/production! Ok, maybe the bass could be a bit louder... (as a traditional complaint haha), but when Dave don't follow JP lines, we hear him clearly. And MP is wonderful here. It's cool to hear something different from him, like in Out of the Blue (also different for JP), and some bits in some places, like in Snake in My Boot (by the way, I love JP's Van Halen influence in this one and MP and JP laughing - very nice touch!) and some cool syncopation in Temple of Circadia. Anyone can hear that MP and JP has a great chemistry, which brings a lot of inspiration in MP playing, no doubt.
Also Gemini is amazing, that latin part is incredible! Also amazing is the solo on The Way Things Fall, JP/MP/LaRue really are killer on it!
Great great album!

[Dublagent66]

MP has had a lot of great output since he left DT, but this is truly special because he and JP have so much history together and the chemistry is incredibly tight.  So awesome to hear these guys together on the same album again.   

[nobloodyname]

Not usually a fan of instrumental albums but it really is a good listen.

Great to hear JP and MP playing together again. Perfect fit.

[DT89]

I posted this in my tab book thread as well, but I've transcribed the first two songs. More coming soon!

Terminal Velocity guitar tab

The Oddfather guitar tab

[Dublagent66]

Oh wow!  Glassy-Eyed Zombies!  Melting my face off!  Some of the heaviest stuff I've ever heard from JP.  The tone is just downright raunchy.  Also love the tribute to Van Halen tone riffing in Snake in My Boot with a little bit of Satriani sprinkled into the soloing.  So many other moments that caught my attention.  One spin down, many more to go. 

[hefdaddy42]

I gave it a listen this morning at work.  Good stuff!

[Anxiety35]

I've listened to about half of the album so far and I like it better than SA. Great playing. Great chemistry between MP & JP. I know it's JP's album and he programmed the drum parts, but this is the best MP has sounded to me in a very long time.

[gmillerdrake]

I've listened to about half of the album so far and I like it better than SA. Great playing. Great chemistry between MP & JP. I know it's JP's album and he programmed the drum parts, but this is the best MP has sounded to me in a very long time.

Well he's said that he gave MP the green light to add his flare to the drum parts. Plus, there's a high likelihood that JP's "influence" on drums and the arrangements he likes came from MP anyway.....JP knows his tendencies and abilities more than anyone and I'd assume he has that in the back of his mind when programming drums.....so, it was probably a custom fit base for MP to run with.

I agree that this is the best MP has sounded since he left DT.....except for his drumming in Similitude of a Dream......that was excellent as well. All the other stuff just feels/felt forced and generic. He sounds great in this.

[BRGM]

I posted this in my tab book thread as well, but I've transcribed the first two songs. More coming soon!

Terminal Velocity guitar tab

The Oddfather guitar tab

That's awesome!

[drod1985]

I’ve only gotten one listen in so far...but this lives up to the 15 year wait. Really digging the variety of tunes and the production sounds great.

[lanemeyer]

Is it just me or is this album technical as fuck?! Seems like JP is on top of his game, at least from a chops perspective. The album rips though. I'm so glad Happy Song is in my life now.

[SystematicThought]

I love Snake in My Boot. I wish DT had more moments like this that just groove and get you moving. I really enjoyed it

[geeeemo]

I am not a big fan of instrumentals. I usually skip the DT instrumentals (except for Scenes), but this album is just so good. It's got head banging, heart feelies, grooviness and just plain delicious JP guitar.

[erwinrafael]

Listened to it thrice. Very good guitar playing as expected from JP, but I am not digging it as a guitar instrumental album. With the exception of the title track and a couple others, the songs felt like songs composed with vocals with the lead guitar just substituting for the voice. There is just a way of writing songs for a guitar, a way of writing riffs and melody that specifically has the guitar in mind, something that one can hear in Satch, Vai, Johnson, Al Dimeola, even the ITGD album. I can't feel it in this album.

[hunnus2000]

I am very slowly digesting this album and loving every minute of it! What ultimately draws me to DT is their melodic tones that JP and JR write so for this solo work, it's JP melodicism that puts a smile on my face.
MP's drum work is .......... well............ very MPish which means he's fucking awesome but I honestly don't think he's doing anything special that other talented drummers couldn't pull off. And to call this a collaboration or saying that there's chemistry between JP and MP is a stretch IMO. MP is nothing more than a session player for this effort. I mean, we're talking about 25 years of muscle memory.
Also, I'm really digging Out of the Blue!

[chwik]

I am very slowly digesting this album and loving every minute of it! What ultimately draws me to DT is their melodic tones that JP and JR write so for this solo work, it's JP melodicism that puts a smile on my face.
MP's drum work is .......... well............ very MPish which means he's fucking awesome but I honestly don't think he's doing anything special that other talented drummers couldn't pull off. And to call this a collaboration or saying that there's chemistry between JP and MP is a stretch IMO. MP is nothing more than a session player for this effort. I mean, we're talking about 25 years of muscle memory.
Also, I'm really digging Out of the Blue!

I agree - there is a lot of recency bias going around lately. Is it great to hear JP & MP playing together? Yes. Is the album fantastic? IMO, Yes! But that is about 99 percent down to JP - he wrote all the songs, even outlined the drums and bass, though giving some freedom to MP and Dave during recording. In fact, people forget that all guitar tracks were finished before MP even entered the picutre and recoreded his drum tracks, nevertheless that JP stated - in interview with Ola E. if I recall correctly -  that he even worked with MP on spesific drum parts because he wanted a segment to sound in a spesific way.