Distant Memories - New live release

[TAC]

I bought this because I want to support the band.  I went for the 5LP/3CD/2DVD and Partridge In a Pear Tree combo, or something.

If I bought that, I'd need someone to support me!

[MoraWintersoul]

Listening / watching PBD now. Thoughts along the way:

- I hope James is OK, he looks rather tired here and his face all swollen!
- Great playing as always
- James sounds good. No idea how much is fixed post recording, but I don't care that much. It's still him singing.
- The guys really need to work on their stage presence. They're turning into a parody of themselves, four guys locked in the "zone" playing their stuff. No interaction with the crowd whatsoever, they could just as well be playing in a basement all by themselves.

Not sure if I'll pick this up, but then again Christmas is approaching and I need something for my wish list.

Yes, when I saw James, I did a double take as he looks so different with his face so swollen.  Does anyone know if he has any health issues because steroids can cause something like that.  I hope he's OK.

My first thought was that he had gotten sick or that he was on the cusp of getting sick and so he took some shots to mitigate that. Singers do that sometimes when they get a cold and such. Whatever it was, he looks the same as he always did in the recent video.

[Moor]

Listening / watching PBD now. Thoughts along the way:

- I hope James is OK, he looks rather tired here and his face all swollen!
- Great playing as always
- James sounds good. No idea how much is fixed post recording, but I don't care that much. It's still him singing.
- The guys really need to work on their stage presence. They're turning into a parody of themselves, four guys locked in the "zone" playing their stuff. No interaction with the crowd whatsoever, they could just as well be playing in a basement all by themselves.

Not sure if I'll pick this up, but then again Christmas is approaching and I need something for my wish list.

Yes, when I saw James, I did a double take as he looks so different with his face so swollen.  Does anyone know if he has any health issues because steroids can cause something like that.  I hope he's OK.

My first thought was that he had gotten sick or that he was on the cusp of getting sick and so he took some shots to mitigate that. Singers do that sometimes when they get a cold and such. Whatever it was, he looks the same as he always did in the recent video.

I believe this is due to Botox or face fillers (not sure though); it is well known that the face swells after a an injectable filler treatment.

[MoraWintersoul]

I believe this is due to Botox or face fillers (not sure though); it is well known that the face swells after a an injectable filler treatment.

Doesn't check out visually to me (and I know a thing or two about both), plus people who get Botox and/or fillers usually know not to get it right before an important event because of the possible effects. Not saying he never got any, men of all professions can and do get Botox and fillers, but to go for a treatment in the middle of a tour outside of your home country would be pretty dumb.

[Mladen]

To me, he looks like he just put on a bit of extra weight. That's all. He looked exactly like that when I saw the band in Budapest.

[Zydar]

Maybe food poisoning due to a contaminated shrimp?

Oh god, it's 1994 all over again.

[emtee]

I've watched the PBD video a couple times. As usual, great performance...BUT, where's the energy? At times they look so uber focused on getting their parts right that they almost forget, at the core, it's a rock show.  That was the area MP shone the brightest. Showmanship and coolness factor.

Oh well, guess it happens to all of us as we age.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I've watched the PBD video a couple times. As usual, great performance...BUT, where's the energy? At times they look so uber focused on getting their parts right that they almost forget, at the core, it's a rock show.  That was the area MP shone the brightest. Showmanship and coolness factor.

Oh well, guess it happens to all of us as we age.

Mangini is as energetic as one can be. The only difference is that he's not as often in the edit as Portnoy usually was during his time.

The rest of the guys seem to me as they've been for the past 15 years or so.

[Mladen]

I think the video is representative of the stage Presence the band has had in the last five or so years. The guys are getting older and cannot be expected to put on rock poses continually, and the fact that they were never too energetic to begin with doesn't help neither. This is Dream Theater today, for better or worse.

[gzarruk]

I would worry if they couldn't play the stuff anymore, not about their "stage presence".

[pg1067]

I've watched the PBD video a couple times. As usual, great performance...BUT, where's the energy? At times they look so uber focused on getting their parts right that they almost forget, at the core, it's a rock show.  That was the area MP shone the brightest. Showmanship and coolness factor.

Oh well, guess it happens to all of us as we age.

Mangini is as energetic as one can be. The only difference is that he's not as often in the edit as Portnoy usually was during his time.

The rest of the guys seem to me as they've been for the past 15 years or so.

I'd say closer to 25 than 15.

Rudess is tied to down in the same way as Mangini, except when he uses his keytar, which he does with roughly the same frequency as he has since he started it.

Myung has been a statue at least since the SFAM tour.  I have to admit though, I&W era Myung on the larger stages would be a lot of fun.

Petrucci never did a ton of moving/running around and hasn't really changed anything in as long as I can remember.  Maybe it was falling off the stage that glued his feet down.

Even the guy with the most freedom to run around -- Labrie -- has never been Dickinsonian.

And I'm one who never really cared about any of the stuff MP did, so that's no change for me.

[Dublagent66]

Listening / watching PBD now. Thoughts along the way:

- I hope James is OK, he looks rather tired here and his face all swollen!
- Great playing as always
- James sounds good. No idea how much is fixed post recording, but I don't care that much. It's still him singing.
- The guys really need to work on their stage presence. They're turning into a parody of themselves, four guys locked in the "zone" playing their stuff. No interaction with the crowd whatsoever, they could just as well be playing in a basement all by themselves.

Not sure if I'll pick this up, but then again Christmas is approaching and I need something for my wish list.

Yes, when I saw James, I did a double take as he looks so different with his face so swollen.  Does anyone know if he has any health issues because steroids can cause something like that.  I hope he's OK.

My first thought was that he had gotten sick or that he was on the cusp of getting sick and so he took some shots to mitigate that. Singers do that sometimes when they get a cold and such. Whatever it was, he looks the same as he always did in the recent video.

James was puffy last year also when I saw them twice, in January and again in October.  In this new video, MM looks heavier too.

[Architeuthis]

Listening / watching PBD now. Thoughts along the way:

- I hope James is OK, he looks rather tired here and his face all swollen!
- Great playing as always
- James sounds good. No idea how much is fixed post recording, but I don't care that much. It's still him singing.
- The guys really need to work on their stage presence. They're turning into a parody of themselves, four guys locked in the "zone" playing their stuff. No interaction with the crowd whatsoever, they could just as well be playing in a basement all by themselves.

Not sure if I'll pick this up, but then again Christmas is approaching and I need something for my wish list.

Yes, when I saw James, I did a double take as he looks so different with his face so swollen.  Does anyone know if he has any health issues because steroids can cause something like that.  I hope he's OK.

My first thought was that he had gotten sick or that he was on the cusp of getting sick and so he took some shots to mitigate that. Singers do that sometimes when they get a cold and such. Whatever it was, he looks the same as he always did in the recent video.

I believe this is due to Botox or face fillers (not sure though); it is well known that the face swells after a an injectable filler treatment.

Prednisone which is a steroid for pain or lethargy can make your face swell up. That happened severely to Alan White of Yes.
I'm not saying this is what was going on with James though.

[Fritzinger]

By the way, I found like an alternative cover or some artwork that appears in the booklet (?) in the InsideOut shop:



Found it here https://www.insideoutshop.de/Item/Dream_Theater_-_Distant_Memories_-_Live_in_London_-Ltd-_Deluxe_3CD-2Blu-ray-2DVD_Artbook-/16709


I think this cover is much better than the actual cover. It's still a generic Hugh Syme image, but better than that weird collage they will use as the front cover. I wonder when they finally get a new cover designer who is not that lazy as Syme.

[MirrorMask]

Lovely!

[MoraWintersoul]

I love that!!! Yes, it is a typical Hugh Syme, but it's cute and funny.

[Zydar]

Yeah, that's much better than the actual one.

[Peter Mc]

By the way, I found like an alternative cover or some artwork that appears in the booklet (?) in the InsideOut shop:



Found it here https://www.insideoutshop.de/Item/Dream_Theater_-_Distant_Memories_-_Live_in_London_-Ltd-_Deluxe_3CD-2Blu-ray-2DVD_Artbook-/16709


I think this cover is much better than the actual cover. It's still a generic Hugh Syme image, but better than that weird collage they will use as the front cover. I wonder when they finally get a new cover designer who is not that lazy as Syme.

I like this cover more but not sure a phone box in the middle of the countryside screams London.

[Kotowboy]

If there's a phone box in a forest and nobody is around...Does it scream London?🤔

[devieira73]

This one is a great cover!

[fadetoblackdude7]

I've watched the PBD video a couple times. As usual, great performance...BUT, where's the energy? At times they look so uber focused on getting their parts right that they almost forget, at the core, it's a rock show.  That was the area MP shone the brightest. Showmanship and coolness factor.

Oh well, guess it happens to all of us as we age.

Mangini is as energetic as one can be. The only difference is that he's not as often in the edit as Portnoy usually was during his time.

The rest of the guys seem to me as they've been for the past 15 years or so.

I'd say closer to 25 than 15.

Rudess is tied to down in the same way as Mangini, except when he uses his keytar, which he does with roughly the same frequency as he has since he started it.

Myung has been a statue at least since the SFAM tour.  I have to admit though, I&W era Myung on the larger stages would be a lot of fun.

Petrucci never did a ton of moving/running around and hasn't really changed anything in as long as I can remember.  Maybe it was falling off the stage that glued his feet down.

Even the guy with the most freedom to run around -- Labrie -- has never been Dickinsonian.

And I'm one who never really cared about any of the stuff MP did, so that's no change for me.

Which is weird, because I think that's why they added the steps/catwalk to the stage design and JP went wireless - so that they can have somewhere to go and walk around a bit

[Ben_Jamin]

By the way, I found like an alternative cover or some artwork that appears in the booklet (?) in the InsideOut shop:



Found it here https://www.insideoutshop.de/Item/Dream_Theater_-_Distant_Memories_-_Live_in_London_-Ltd-_Deluxe_3CD-2Blu-ray-2DVD_Artbook-/16709


I think this cover is much better than the actual cover. It's still a generic Hugh Syme image, but better than that weird collage they will use as the front cover. I wonder when they finally get a new cover designer who is not that lazy as Syme.

That reminds me of Live in Luna parks cover with the Clown riding into the Engines...

It's good, but I prefer the other artwork.

[bosk1]

Yeah, the actual cover is fantastic.  But this is a cool piece of additional artwork as well.  I believe it is likely some booklet art.

[Ben_Jamin]

Yeah, the actual cover is fantastic.  But this is a cool piece of additional artwork as well.  I believe it is likely some booklet art.

It plays into the album art concept. 

After the NOMACS took over Earth and Transhumanistic droids were created, longing for the human connection, they live with the animals in Nature.   

[goo-goo]

It's the art for Frost's Milliontown remixed version 2020 

[Madman Shepherd]

By the way, I found like an alternative cover or some artwork that appears in the booklet (?) in the InsideOut shop:



Found it here https://www.insideoutshop.de/Item/Dream_Theater_-_Distant_Memories_-_Live_in_London_-Ltd-_Deluxe_3CD-2Blu-ray-2DVD_Artbook-/16709


I think this cover is much better than the actual cover. It's still a generic Hugh Syme image, but better than that weird collage they will use as the front cover. I wonder when they finally get a new cover designer who is not that lazy as Syme.

I like this cover more but not sure a phone box in the middle of the countryside screams London.

Yeah. They should have called it Live in England.

[425]

I liked but did not love Distance Over Time, and I already have LSFNY. So for me the decisive factor on getting this or not is about A Nightmare to Remember and In the Presence of Enemies Part I, both songs I love and would be thrilled to have good live versions of. Can anyone who saw this tour speak to how well those two songs came off? How did they handle the "day after day" section in Nightmare?

[Madman Shepherd]

I liked but did not love Distance Over Time, and I already have LSFNY. So for me the decisive factor on getting this or not is about A Nightmare to Remember and In the Presence of Enemies Part I, both songs I love and would be thrilled to have good live versions of. Can anyone who saw this tour speak to how well those two songs came off? How did they handle the "day after day" section in Nightmare?

I never cared about Portnoy doing the growling like it seems a lot of people did. That said, I dug how James did it which kinda shifted between spoken and raspy to slightly singing. Pretty cool.

[bosk1]

I liked but did not love Distance Over Time, and I already have LSFNY. So for me the decisive factor on getting this or not is about A Nightmare to Remember and In the Presence of Enemies Part I, both songs I love and would be thrilled to have good live versions of. Can anyone who saw this tour speak to how well those two songs came off? How did they handle the "day after day" section in Nightmare?

I saw them twice in the U.S., and both songs sounded GREAT at both of the shows I saw.  To me, James doing the "day after day" section in Nightmare isn't as good as Mike's more gruff vocals, but it was fine.  And the tradeoff is Mangini crushing the blast beat section, which I feel Portnoy, as good a drummer is he is, wasn't able to get quite right.

Zero complaints about ITPOE.  Flawless. 

Also, there is a certain atmosphere to the first set, and both songs fit in really well with that atmosphere. 

[Ben_Jamin]

I liked but did not love Distance Over Time, and I already have LSFNY. So for me the decisive factor on getting this or not is about A Nightmare to Remember and In the Presence of Enemies Part I, both songs I love and would be thrilled to have good live versions of. Can anyone who saw this tour speak to how well those two songs came off? How did they handle the "day after day" section in Nightmare?

I saw them twice in the U.S., and both songs sounded GREAT at both of the shows I saw.  To me, James doing the "day after day" section in Nightmare isn't as good as Mike's more gruff vocals, but it was fine.  And the tradeoff is Mangini crushing the blast beat section, which I feel Portnoy, as good a drummer is he is, wasn't able to get quite right.

Zero complaints about ITPOE.  Flawless. 

Also, there is a certain atmosphere to the first set, and both songs fit in really well with that atmosphere.

Those songs fit the vibe the D/T songs give out, and the production of the show, how loud it was...

[Max Kuehnau]

I liked but did not love Distance Over Time, and I already have LSFNY. So for me the decisive factor on getting this or not is about A Nightmare to Remember and In the Presence of Enemies Part I, both songs I love and would be thrilled to have good live versions of. Can anyone who saw this tour speak to how well those two songs came off? How did they handle the "day after day" section in Nightmare?

I saw them twice in the U.S., and both songs sounded GREAT at both of the shows I saw.  To me, James doing the "day after day" section in Nightmare isn't as good as Mike's more gruff vocals, but it was fine.  And the tradeoff is Mangini crushing the blast beat section, which I feel Portnoy, as good a drummer is he is, wasn't able to get quite right.

Zero complaints about ITPOE.  Flawless. 

Also, there is a certain atmosphere to the first set, and both songs fit in really well with that atmosphere.

I'm never one (and never will be) for death growls (or whichever term is appropriate), so I liked James' approach a lot. (Blastbeats included of course, that section finally sounded great. Never thought that will happen. Not because Mike couldn't do it. He can. But because I never thought that ANTR would ever be played live again after 2010.) What kind of atmosphere did you think it was?

[Fritzinger]

DT just posted on Facebook that the phone booth cover will be used for the deluxe edition. I wish they used that one for all formats.

[Trav]

Has anyone seen anything about the video being available digitally? Like, Live at Luna Park? That's the only way I watch movies/concerts/tv. I got rid of my blu-ray player a long time ago.

[Max Kuehnau]

DT just posted on Facebook that the phone booth cover will be used for the deluxe edition. I wish they used that one for all formats.

yes. (and I like both covers. IMHO the deluxe cover has a bit more of a Rushian aspect to it. Reminiscent of Signals in some way)

[Fritzinger]

DT just posted on Facebook that the phone booth cover will be used for the deluxe edition. I wish they used that one for all formats.

yes. (and I like both covers. IMHO the deluxe cover has a bit more of a Rushian aspect to it. Reminiscent of Signals in some way)

Agreed, it's the puppy and the inclusion of a red object in green surroundings. I like Signals better though. The new Syme covers all look like random collection of objects to me.