Classical Composer Reacts to Various DT Songs

[pg1067]

I found part 2 similarly underwhelming. He did react so the video fulfilled its purpose but I think the next thing to do to make these these things more interesting is for Doug to talk about what's going on in the song or in a section. It doesn't have to be a deep dive, but just reading some of the lyrics and making drum movements gets boring. That's why part 1 and 2 are basically the same.

He obviously has the knowledge to talk about these songs in more depth so would love to see him react maybe to the different musical ideas employed in the songs. That would take a lot more work on his end so I get why it's probably not happening but just a thought.

All of this x1000.

[Dublagent66]

Well, it's not like he should talk too much over the song.  He can always stop the song if he needs to make a specific point, but he probably doesn't want to do that a whole lot either.  It detracts from the flow of the song.  It is what it is.  I'm sure a lot of viewers are listening to these songs for the first time.  I'm sure they're not looking for a lot of in depth analysis like those of us who are more familiar with the material.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Well, it's not like he should talk too much over the song.  He can always stop the song if he needs to make a specific point, but he probably doesn't want to do that a whole lot either.  It detracts from the flow of the song.  It is what it is.  I'm sure a lot of viewers are listening to these songs for the first time.  I'm sure they're not looking for a lot of in depth analysis like those of us who are more familiar with the material.

Interesting. I would have thought the opposite. If you'd never heard the song why would your first encounter be watching someone else react to it?

[Dublagent66]

Well, it's not like he should talk too much over the song.  He can always stop the song if he needs to make a specific point, but he probably doesn't want to do that a whole lot either.  It detracts from the flow of the song.  It is what it is.  I'm sure a lot of viewers are listening to these songs for the first time.  I'm sure they're not looking for a lot of in depth analysis like those of us who are more familiar with the material.

Interesting. I would have thought the opposite. If you'd never heard the song why would your first encounter be watching someone else react to it?

Why not?  Are you here just to start an argument?  You don't think he has first time listeners tuning in to his channel?  You don't think he turns people on to certain types of music with his reaction videos?  If you're trying to start a debate with me, you're wasting your time.  Move on.

[pg1067]

Well, it's not like he should talk too much over the song.  He can always stop the song if he needs to make a specific point, but he probably doesn't want to do that a whole lot either.  It detracts from the flow of the song.  It is what it is.  I'm sure a lot of viewers are listening to these songs for the first time.  I'm sure they're not looking for a lot of in depth analysis like those of us who are more familiar with the material.

Interesting. I would have thought the opposite. If you'd never heard the song why would your first encounter be watching someone else react to it?

Agree, and I doubt many people are hearing these songs for the first time via Doug's channel.

[hefdaddy42]

Well, it's not like he should talk too much over the song.  He can always stop the song if he needs to make a specific point, but he probably doesn't want to do that a whole lot either.  It detracts from the flow of the song.  It is what it is.  I'm sure a lot of viewers are listening to these songs for the first time.  I'm sure they're not looking for a lot of in depth analysis like those of us who are more familiar with the material.

Interesting. I would have thought the opposite. If you'd never heard the song why would your first encounter be watching someone else react to it?

Agree, and I doubt many people are hearing these songs for the first time via Doug's channel.

I would think many people are.

Many people get turned on to a particular reactor because they found or heard about a video where they are reacting to their favorite band.  Then if they like the reactor, they will watch some other videos they put out reacting to other acts.  From there, it is only a hop, skip, and a jump to watching your favorite reactor react to a song you've never heard before.  It happens a lot.

[PetFish]

I started this thread but now I'm over it.

A guy with his musical pedigree talking about a musically-complex band should be doing more analysis of the music.  Some lyrics, sure, but they're only about 33% of the package.

[Architeuthis]

  IT'S THE DAILY DOUG.. 🎶🎵         

[Evai]

I enjoy the videos, maybe a slight annoyance at how he'll do a spoken word version of the lyrics as those same lyrics are actually being sung 

[Wim Kruithof]

I notice that, somewhere along the way, he has stopped complaining about double bass drum parts.

He will be when it's Mangini playing... Doug 's a huge Portnoy fan, that's crystal clear after all these reaction videos.

[TheCountOfNYC]

I notice that, somewhere along the way, he has stopped complaining about double bass drum parts.

He will be when it's Mangini playing... Doug 's a huge Portnoy fan, that's crystal clear after all these reaction videos.

Watching his other recent metal reactions, I think he's finally gotten used to the constant double bass. And he's like most Dream Theater fans: highly complimentary of Mangini but prefers Portnoy.

[pg1067]

I started this thread but now I'm over it.

A guy with his musical pedigree talking about a musically-complex band should be doing more analysis of the music.  Some lyrics, sure, but they're only about 33% of the package.

This is it.  "Classical composer reacts" carries some implication of musical analysis.  Otherwise, it's noting more than "Random white guy mouths some lyrics and plays air drums while listening to songs."

[hefdaddy42]

The air drums is probably what bothers me most lol

[axeman90210]

As far as the amount of lyrical discussion/analysis, he's a classical composer, but predominantly of choral music, so lyrics generally are fairly important to him.

[TheCountOfNYC]

I watched him react to another song by another band recently (it was Man in the Box by Alice In Chains to be specific), and he talked about chord progressions as well as lyrics. I think for the more musically dense stuff like Dream Theater and Haken, it's a lot to digest in real time so he focuses on lyrics and highlights the musical things that really grab him. The thing I wish he would do more is rhythmic analysis, as the rhythmic complexity is a big part of these prog metal bands' sound, and I think it would be interesting to hear his take as classical music has a looser rhythm structure so he would be coming at the topic from a different perspective.

[Evai]

Regarding the double bass, it's entirely down to the headphones he was using before. The cheap ones he was using hyped up the bass way too much and made double bass sound terrible. Ever since he upgraded to proper headphones, there's been no complaints

[Wim Kruithof]

As you all probably 've seen by now, he reacted to The Stream of Consiousness, Budokan. "Spicey as shit," as Doug mentioned. I truly like this reaction video... but it could also be because of my new Marshall headphone.

[Wim Kruithof]

Doug did Octavarium again, but now the live version on Score. Once again a very nice reactionvideo, worth watching.

And man, what nailed LaBrie the lyrics here, perfect performance.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Doug did Octavarium again, but now the live version on Score. Once again a very nice reactionvideo, worth watching.

And man, what nailed LaBrie the lyrics here, perfect performance.

Is it just me or did Doug actually spend a reasonable amount of time this time around actually talking about the music itself, rather than just air drumming and reading lyrics?

I felt like he did a much more analytical job on this one.

[The Letter M]

Doug did Octavarium again, but now the live version on Score. Once again a very nice reactionvideo, worth watching.

And man, what nailed LaBrie the lyrics here, perfect performance.

Is it just me or did Doug actually spend a reasonable amount of time this time around actually talking about the music itself, rather than just air drumming and reading lyrics?

I felt like he did a much more analytical job on this one.

Maybe a bit easier to do when you can watch the players play their instruments rather than looking at the album art. If he's got a music video to watch, I feel like he's not looking at lyrics as much, so he'll probably analyze the music more.

-Marc.

[Wim Kruithof]

True.

He also analyzed a live performance of Dance of Eternity (Fourth Wall) and have to say, didn't spoke about the lyrics that much there either...

[The Letter M]

True.

He also analyzed a live performance of Dance of Eternity (Fourth Wall) and have to say, didn't spoke about the lyrics that much there either...

It's amazing how James nails TDOE everytime, though!

-Marc.

[Wim Kruithof]

It's amazing how James nails TDOE everytime, though!

-Marc.

It really is, stunning...

[TheCountOfNYC]

Doug did Octavarium again, but now the live version on Score. Once again a very nice reactionvideo, worth watching.

And man, what nailed LaBrie the lyrics here, perfect performance.

Watching this video, and in turn rewatching this performance, how the hell have Dream Theater not brought this song back into a live setting? The crowd was already into it back then, and now this song is considered one of their absolute best.

[mariner]

Saving it (Octavarium) for 2025 live?

[bosk1]

Doug did Octavarium again, but now the live version on Score. Once again a very nice reactionvideo, worth watching.

And man, what nailed LaBrie the lyrics here, perfect performance.

Watching this video, and in turn rewatching this performance, how the hell have Dream Theater not brought this song back into a live setting? The crowd was already into it back then, and now this song is considered one of their absolute best.

No promises as to whether it will show up in the future, but I mentioned it to JP after the DreamSonic show a few weeks ago, and he seemed really receptive to the idea of bringing it out live again at some point.  There have been plenty of times I have mentioned songs and gotten a colder response, but he seemed pretty enthusiastic about Octavarium.

[gzarruk]

Doug did Octavarium again, but now the live version on Score. Once again a very nice reactionvideo, worth watching.

And man, what nailed LaBrie the lyrics here, perfect performance.

Watching this video, and in turn rewatching this performance, how the hell have Dream Theater not brought this song back into a live setting? The crowd was already into it back then, and now this song is considered one of their absolute best.

No promises as to whether it will show up in the future, but I mentioned it to JP after the DreamSonic show a few weeks ago, and he seemed really receptive to the idea of bringing it out live again at some point.  There have been plenty of times I have mentioned songs and gotten a colder response, but he seemed pretty enthusiastic about Octavarium.

[Wim Kruithof]

I would be over the moon... complete.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

we love the daily doug!!! 

[Trav86]

Doug did Octavarium again, but now the live version on Score. Once again a very nice reactionvideo, worth watching.

And man, what nailed LaBrie the lyrics here, perfect performance.

Watching this video, and in turn rewatching this performance, how the hell have Dream Theater not brought this song back into a live setting? The crowd was already into it back then, and now this song is considered one of their absolute best.

a

No promises as to whether it will show up in the future, but I mentioned it to JP after the DreamSonic show a few weeks ago, and he seemed really receptive to the idea of bringing it out live again at some point.  There have been plenty of times I have mentioned songs and gotten a colder response, but he seemed pretty enthusiastic about Octavarium.

Not to derail this too much but I just wanted to ask you a question. When talking to JP do you get the sense that he has a pretty good grasp on what the average fan likes? Like what the fan favorites are?  It seems like Octavarium would have been brought back out by now without you or anyone else bringing it up to him.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Doug did Octavarium again, but now the live version on Score. Once again a very nice reactionvideo, worth watching.

And man, what nailed LaBrie the lyrics here, perfect performance.

Watching this video, and in turn rewatching this performance, how the hell have Dream Theater not brought this song back into a live setting? The crowd was already into it back then, and now this song is considered one of their absolute best.

No promises as to whether it will show up in the future, but I mentioned it to JP after the DreamSonic show a few weeks ago, and he seemed really receptive to the idea of bringing it out live again at some point.  There have been plenty of times I have mentioned songs and gotten a colder response, but he seemed pretty enthusiastic about Octavarium.

I could legitimately die happy if I heard this live.

[Setlist Scotty]

Doug did Octavarium again, but now the live version on Score. Once again a very nice reactionvideo, worth watching.

And man, what nailed LaBrie the lyrics here, perfect performance.

Watching this video, and in turn rewatching this performance, how the hell have Dream Theater not brought this song back into a live setting? The crowd was already into it back then, and now this song is considered one of their absolute best.

a

No promises as to whether it will show up in the future, but I mentioned it to JP after the DreamSonic show a few weeks ago, and he seemed really receptive to the idea of bringing it out live again at some point.  There have been plenty of times I have mentioned songs and gotten a colder response, but he seemed pretty enthusiastic about Octavarium.

Not to derail this too much but I just wanted to ask you a question. When talking to JP do you get the sense that he has a pretty good grasp on what the average fan likes? Like what the fan favorites are?  It seems like Octavarium would have been brought back out by now without you or anyone else bringing it up to him.

I don't want to answer for Bosk as his answer may be different, but from my experiences, I think he has a pretty decent grasp of things, but the difference between him and MP is that he worries more about the general audience response to a setlist than MP, which is why you would see rare stuff and covers in the set with MP, but even when some rarities were included in the setlist after MP left (specifically TLF and DLPM on the 2017 tour), they were quickly dropped.

When I e-mailed him about the setlist changes between the 2022 and 2023 setlists, I congratulated him on how much the set was changed up, but I also did express some disappointment at some of the things that were brought back again (CiaW, parts of SDoIT) as opposed to other things that haven't been played in the MM era. So he asked what I would like to have and my first response was "anything that hasn't been played with Mike Mangini yet" but then I gave a list of specific songs, including 8v, and he responded that some of those songs will definitely be played on the next DT world tour. So while there's no guarantees that 8v will be included on the next tour cycle, it's a distinct possibility (especially given how they resurrected TCoT for the 2022-23 tour) and several others that haven't been played with MM yet. 

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

have y'all seen the kglw daily doug? a classic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U5qfYaKOyU

warning: he hits a pipe! 

[Kyo]

but I also did express some disappointment at some of the things that were brought back again (CiaW, parts of SDoIT) as opposed to other things that haven't been played in the MM era. So he asked what I would like to have and my first response was "anything that hasn't been played with Mike Mangini yet"

You'd think this would be the obvious request, and thus you'd think it would also be the obvious approach to picking older songs for a setlist. And it's not even about "I wanna hear what Mangini will do with these songs", it's just the very basic "this is stuff you haven't played in at least 13 years". Most of which used to be played every now and then until 2009, so we're not talking about songs that nobody ever liked in the first place. I mean, songs like The Glass Prison, Blind Faith, Hollow Years, Lines in the Sand, Erotomania... come on!

[gzarruk]

Most of TOT and OVM have been neglected for the last decade. Not my favorite albums, but there's some very nice stuff there that has been ignored for long time.