New LTE - LTE 3 2021!!

[devieira73]

I love every single song on both discs, don't know what it is but I'm really enjoying every note of it.

Sure, there's favorites, but I'm totally in this camp too. Great, great and very inspired double album!

[Architeuthis]

This transcription completes LTE3! Always a blast to transcribe JP's stuff.

Liquid Tension Experiment | Liquid Evolution | Guitar Tab

LTE3 tabs playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNYXfMfhF-A9bxJNK46S8GhWeulkfwWl8

Dude, you are ON IT!  Thanks for sharing.. 

[Dream Team]

Hopefully they got a lot of the shredding out of their system so that DT15 has a lot of well-developed soundscapes and melodic ideas.

[NoseofNicko]

The jams are really enjoyable. What a pleasant surprise.

[majo]

The jams are really enjoyable. What a pleasant surprise.

I find myself enjoying them even more than the actual record/tracks...

[kirksnosehair]

I love every single song on both discs, don't know what it is but I'm really enjoying every note of it.

Me too!  Even the weirder stuff.  I like that they put those in there to kind of break up the insanity of the other songs. 


This may end up being my favorite LTE album. 

[DTA]

The jams are really enjoyable. What a pleasant surprise.

Yep. I have almost zero interest in the main disc but the bonus disc is definitely something I enjoy.

[HOF]

The jams are really enjoyable. What a pleasant surprise.

Yep. I have almost zero interest in the main disc but the bonus disc is definitely something I enjoy.

I am enjoying the main disc quite a bit, but apart from Liquid Evolution most of the emotiveness and feel are on the bonus disc.

[darkshade]

I'm loving every second of both discs. They complement each other.

I thought about how I might get tired of RIB in the future, but so far when I listen to the album, RIB just works. I think RIB would have ruined the vibe that disc 2 has, and I think it works well on the main album where it is. They Dream Theatered the song up enough that I really like it as if it was LTE's own tune. Thankfully LTE4 presumably won't have any cover songs.

[CrimsonSunrise]

Quite an adventure for sure.  Disc one is exactly what I would expect from LTE and I LOVE it!   Dynamic, crisp and exciting.  Disc 2, or the "Bonus" disc is nothing short of spectacular though.  For myself the bonus disc tracks are just phenomenal and provide the hooks for me.  LOVE at the end of "Blink of an eye" where they say... MP- "Our first jam in a dozen years..."  JP (I think) - "Yeah!... that's fuckin awesome!.."

Also is it just me or is there a Pain of Salvation nod in View from the Mountaintop around the 2:15 mark.  Sounds a lot like Dryad of the woods 1:27


**Edit....  on a side note, as much as I enjoyed Rhapsody in Blue during the LTE2 tour, I think it's probably my least favorite track on the album.  Not sure if that's because I know the song already or that the other tracks are just so damn good!

[Elite]

I must say that I don't have the slightest bit of interest in the new LTE. I just cannot get excited about it.

Same. I also still haven't heard John Petrucci's solo album.

Quoting myself here, because despite this comment, I actually bought the album after being quite impressed with the third single.

I actually enjoyed the record! To me the standout track was definitely Rhapsody in Blue. What a cool adaptation. Having never heard whatever version they played of this live, this was a nice surprise. I also enjoyed the second track, which apparently was the second single ('Beating the Odds'), more than the first single, which left me quite underwhelmed (and which was my reason for writing the comment above). All in all, I liked the entire album and will listen to it again.

The bonus disc though... wow, what a boring snoozefest. Absolutely uninspiring and uninteresting. The last track was probably the 'best', but that one got ruined by unnecessary bullshit at around the halfway point too. I see that a lot of you here think otherwise, so I'll stop there but it's unlikely I'll listen to that one again.

[gzarruk]

The bonus disc though... wow, what a boring snoozefest. Absolutely uninspiring and uninteresting.

Finally someone that agrees with me

I think jams are cool if you're watching live in real time, but listening to a bonus disc of jams only? Definitely not.

The composed tracks are amazimg, tho

[gmillerdrake]

The bonus disc though... wow, what a boring snoozefest. Absolutely uninspiring and uninteresting.

Finally someone that agrees with me

I think jams are cool if you're watching live in real time, but listening to a bonus disc of jams only? Definitely not.

The composed tracks are amazimg, tho

Agreed. The composed tracks are nice to listen to. It's exciting to hear new music but I won't go as far as some that are in awe of them. It was cool to hear MP/JP/JR play together again and these are neat songs.....but, well....out of respect to those who are really digging it I'll leave it at that.

But man, the 'jams' are pretty hard to take. I love those guys to death as musicians but it's clear that not everything 'needs' to be released, there's a reason to develop ideas and flesh them out. MP's on auto pilot and sounds completely uninspired and JP/JR just noodling back and forth with no direction or purpose does nothing for me at all no matter how many notes they hit and/or how fast. I'm assuming Levin was in the room as well because you hear some bass every now and then.

I'm glad they were able to catch up and release something but for me...this was more like a nice line drive double in the gap and they were left stranded on second......and far from being a home run. There are select tracks that are enjoyable to listen to but all in all I'm not sure how often I'll revisit it or if any of those tracks will ever be on the level of 'When the Water Breaks', 'Universal Mind', 'Paradigm Shift', 'Acid Rain', 'Biaxident' or 'Another Dimension'. I don't feel the 'magic' in this latest release like I do with the originals. I won't used 'forced' to describe what I feel but it's certainly a different feel from the others.

[XeRocks81]

The bonus disc though... wow, what a boring snoozefest. Absolutely uninspiring and uninteresting.

Finally someone that agrees with me

I think jams are cool if you're watching live in real time, but listening to a bonus disc of jams only? Definitely not.

The composed tracks are amazimg, tho

Agreed. The composed tracks are nice to listen to. It's exciting to hear new music but I won't go as far as some that are in awe of them. It was cool to hear MP/JP/JR play together again and these are neat songs.....but, well....out of respect to those who are really digging it I'll leave it at that.

But man, the 'jams' are pretty hard to take. I love those guys to death as musicians but it's clear that not everything 'needs' to be released, there's a reason to develop ideas and flesh them out. MP's on auto pilot and sounds completely uninspired and JP/JR just noodling back and forth with no direction or purpose does nothing for me at all no matter how many notes they hit and/or how fast. I'm assuming Levin was in the room as well because you hear some bass every now and then.

I'm glad they were able to catch up and release something but for me...this was more like a nice line drive double in the gap and they were left stranded on second......and far from being a home run. There are select tracks that are enjoyable to listen to but all in all I'm not sure how often I'll revisit it or if any of those tracks will ever be on the level of 'When the Water Breaks', 'Universal Mind', 'Paradigm Shift', 'Acid Rain', 'Biaxident' or 'Another Dimension'. I don't feel the 'magic' in this latest release like I do with the originals. I won't used 'forced' to describe what I feel but it's certainly a different feel from the others.

did you feel the same way about the jams on the first two records? That stuff was never my favourite either. 

[gmillerdrake]

The bonus disc though... wow, what a boring snoozefest. Absolutely uninspiring and uninteresting.

Finally someone that agrees with me

I think jams are cool if you're watching live in real time, but listening to a bonus disc of jams only? Definitely not.

The composed tracks are amazimg, tho

Agreed. The composed tracks are nice to listen to. It's exciting to hear new music but I won't go as far as some that are in awe of them. It was cool to hear MP/JP/JR play together again and these are neat songs.....but, well....out of respect to those who are really digging it I'll leave it at that.

But man, the 'jams' are pretty hard to take. I love those guys to death as musicians but it's clear that not everything 'needs' to be released, there's a reason to develop ideas and flesh them out. MP's on auto pilot and sounds completely uninspired and JP/JR just noodling back and forth with no direction or purpose does nothing for me at all no matter how many notes they hit and/or how fast. I'm assuming Levin was in the room as well because you hear some bass every now and then.

I'm glad they were able to catch up and release something but for me...this was more like a nice line drive double in the gap and they were left stranded on second......and far from being a home run. There are select tracks that are enjoyable to listen to but all in all I'm not sure how often I'll revisit it or if any of those tracks will ever be on the level of 'When the Water Breaks', 'Universal Mind', 'Paradigm Shift', 'Acid Rain', 'Biaxident' or 'Another Dimension'. I don't feel the 'magic' in this latest release like I do with the originals. I won't used 'forced' to describe what I feel but it's certainly a different feel from the others.

did you feel the same way about the jams on the first two records? That stuff was never my favourite either.

I do feel the same about those as well. I can count on one hand the number of full listens they've received.    I 'appreciate' their talent to be able to jam like that and do what they do but it does nothing for me. I see that some people enjoy it and that's great.....I personally like the composed songs that have been designed with a purpose.

[Buddyhunter1]

I think the tracks on the second disc have a good sense of emotion and structural groundedness that the main disc could have used a bit more of. They need a bit of restructuring and editing to feel like proper songs IMO, but they're still nice listens while they're on.

[kirksnosehair]

I have a feeling that the bonus tracks may be a love it or hate it kind of thing.  I enjoy them for what they are.  But when I reach for this album I am most likely going to listen to the first disc more often than not. 


Also, I don't know who else got the box set here but holy shit is it one of the best box set super-deluxe kind of things I've ever gotten from any band.  Just an outstanding package with a lot of cool stuff including a BIG 2-sided poster with the band on one side and the album cover on the other side.  The art book is great too.  I haven't had a chance to go through it all yet.

[HOF]

The bonus disc though... wow, what a boring snoozefest. Absolutely uninspiring and uninteresting.

Finally someone that agrees with me

I think jams are cool if you're watching live in real time, but listening to a bonus disc of jams only? Definitely not.

The composed tracks are amazimg, tho

I can see not liking jams in general, but for me that second disc contains their most interesting playing and expression. I like both discs a lot so far though.

[HOF]

I think the tracks on the second disc have a good sense of emotion and structural groundedness that the main disc could have used a bit more of. They need a bit of restructuring and editing to feel like proper songs IMO, but they're still nice listens while they're on.

Yep. You could tell they were mining a certain vibe on those jams. Definitely could have refined some of those parts to have more complete songs, but they are still really cool as is.

[kirksnosehair]

I think the whole point of improvisational jams is to NOT refine them in any way, tho

[HOF]

I think the whole point of improvisational jams is to NOT refine them in any way, tho

Well, a lot of bands will start out by jamming and then refine the best bits and turn them into songs. Not saying they should have done that, but it might have been interesting to hear what they would become if they did.

[Elite]

The bonus disc though... wow, what a boring snoozefest. Absolutely uninspiring and uninteresting.

Finally someone that agrees with me

I think jams are cool if you're watching live in real time, but listening to a bonus disc of jams only? Definitely not.

The composed tracks are amazimg, tho

I can see not liking jams in general, but for me that second disc contains their most interesting playing and expression. I like both discs a lot so far though.

I'm a big fan of improvised music, but to me this wasn't interesting to listen to at all. They all sound like they're on auto-pilot and especially John Petrucci's random senseless noodling turned me off big-time. And I truly think that's a disappointing thing to say, because he is/was/used to be one of my favourite guitarists. Harmonically there's not a lot happening either, so the 'jams' don't really go anywhere and melodically there's not a lot to take away from it if all you're doing is play 15 notes per second. It gets boring after a while, impressive as it is to be able to play this sort of technically demanding music. Granted, I have only heard the bonus disc once (this afternoon), but I kind-of zoned out listening to it. It just wasn't holding my attention at all and slowly turned into random background noise.

[HOF]

The bonus disc though... wow, what a boring snoozefest. Absolutely uninspiring and uninteresting.

Finally someone that agrees with me

I think jams are cool if you're watching live in real time, but listening to a bonus disc of jams only? Definitely not.

The composed tracks are amazimg, tho

I can see not liking jams in general, but for me that second disc contains their most interesting playing and expression. I like both discs a lot so far though.

I'm a big fan of improvised music, but to me this wasn't interesting to listen to at all. They all sound like they're on auto-pilot and especially John Petrucci's random senseless noodling turned me off big-time. And I truly think that's a disappointing thing to say, because he is/was/used to be one of my favourite guitarists. Harmonically there's not a lot happening either, so the 'jams' don't really go anywhere and melodically there's not a lot to take away from it if all you're doing is play 15 notes per second. It gets boring after a while, impressive as it is to be able to play this sort of technically demanding music. Granted, I have only heard the bonus disc once (this afternoon), but I kind-of zoned out listening to it. It just wasn't holding my attention at all and slowly turned into random background noise.

Yeah, that’s not the impression I get from it at all. There’s a lot of melody in the jams and while there is some repetitiveness I don’t feel like it’s senseless noodling. Overall it’s a nice contrast to the sort of full blast nature of the main disc.

[KevShmev]

Blink of an Eye is pretty awesome, but I kind of agree that the other jams from LTE3 are becoming a bit of a blur to me the more I listen. 

Chewbacca and Liquid Dreams from 2 are still the bee's knees, though.

[HOF]

Blink of an Eye is pretty awesome, but I kind of agree that the other jams from LTE3 are becoming a bit of a blur to me the more I listen. 

Chewbacca and Liquid Dreams from 2 are still the bee's knees, though.

I was listening to these in the car this morning and had to restart Your Beard is Good when it was done because I enjoyed it so much. A lot of cool stuff in that one.

[darkshade]

I like improvised music a lot. I like things like the bonus disc, Spontaneous Combustion, or When the Keyboard Breaks, but they are not things I will listen to on any regular basis. LTE are not Phish by any stretch. They don't let the music play the band.

The main disc is surely the main attraction. I grade the new album based on the main disc.

[Stadler]

Anyone order through Amazon?  I just got an "updated delivery notice" that says between May 15 and June 1.  WTF?

[Madman Shepherd]

Anyone order through Amazon?  I just got an "updated delivery notice" that says between May 15 and June 1.  WTF?

For the 2 disc version, yes. Got it on release day.

Did you get that or the art book?

[kirksnosehair]

I think the whole point of improvisational jams is to NOT refine them in any way, tho

Well, a lot of bands will start out by jamming and then refine the best bits and turn them into songs. Not saying they should have done that, but it might have been interesting to hear what they would become if they did.

It would be a cool way to develop songs for an entire album.  Record themselves jamming like that for like 3 or 4 all day sessions then go through, lift out the best stuff and turn them into full-fledged songs 

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Have been listening to LTE3 in my car whenever I drive. Even though the group is primarily known for their crazy chops, and understandably so, I always find myself blown away by the beautiful and melodic sections of their work, such as in The Passage of Time.

[Max Kuehnau]

Have been listening to LTE3 in my car whenever I drive. Even though the group is primarily known for their crazy chops, and understandably so, I always find myself blown away by the beautiful and melodic sections of their work, such as in The Passage of Time.

I'm not surprised honestly, seeing as that is one of John's strengths as it were. (and btw, in some recent interview pertaining to LTE 3, he was adamant about mentioning that he is about both chops and melody (or beauty if you will)

[Setlist Scotty]

I think the whole point of improvisational jams is to NOT refine them in any way, tho

Well, a lot of bands will start out by jamming and then refine the best bits and turn them into songs. Not saying they should have done that, but it might have been interesting to hear what they would become if they did.

It would be a cool way to develop songs for an entire album.  Record themselves jamming like that for like 3 or 4 all day sessions then go through, lift out the best stuff and turn them into full-fledged songs 

I might be off, but I was under the impression that this was the way DT generally worked, especially during the MP-era. And I believe Rush kinda did the same thing for a at least part of their career, too.

[Podaar]

Have been listening to LTE3 in my car whenever I drive. Even though the group is primarily known for their crazy chops, and understandably so, I always find myself blown away by the beautiful and melodic sections of their work, such as in The Passage of Time.

Yeah, The Passage of Time is the standout song to me so far. The general mood of the song is great, John's lead tone is perfect for the song, and his lead playing is perfect for my tastes. It's hard to describe, he stays just this side of his most muscular shred style, but not so much that it get to his soaring Phuck of the Mountain solos. I dig it.

[kirksnosehair]

This is now officially my favorite of the three LTE records.  Which is quite symmetrical as my favorites stand like this:


LTE 3
LTE 2
LTE 1

[Schurftkut]

for me it's 2-1-3