The Alien Listening Party ! ALL SPOILERS !

[gzarruk]

I wish they didn’t have the time constraints that they did on Score. Stream of Consciousness should have been played with Vacant.

Yeah, same here.  I played around with different variations of the set list to see whether that could happen, and couldn't find a way to make space for it.  The most likely way would be if you cut TALW (which I am in favor of), and went with shorter available songs from WDADU, I&W, and FII, and that still doesn't get you enough additional time to fit SOC.  Adding the entire SDOIT really tied their hands on the set list within the structure of what they were trying to do (represent their entire catalog from the Majesty period through the current album AND support their new album).  I get why those chose to play SDOIT.  And I'm glad they did.  It was the perfect opportunity to do something like that, and it was awesome that they did.  But the consequence of them including it is that it destroyed a lot of their options to play anything other than what they did.  And in the grand scheme of things, that's fine.  It's a great set.  It's just that, in hindsight, a lot of us would have preferred some different songs in some of those slots.  In the end, it is what it is.

They could've dropped Metropolis, though.

[bosk1]

They could have.  But there's no reason they should have.  I don't think dropping one of the possibly three "definitive DT songs" from the set and, simultaneously, deciding not to have an encore is something that hardly anyone would consider to be an improvement. 

[Trav86]

They could have.  But there's no reason they should have.  I don't think dropping one of the possibly three "definitive DT songs" from the set and, simultaneously, deciding not to have an encore is something that hardly anyone would consider to be an improvement.

And I think the choice of having Vacant and The Answer Lies Within in there was to have a little bit of a breather. After the epic SDOIT and then Sacrificed Sons and Octavarium, a little space in the middle was good to break those up. When Score first came out, I didn’t like the setlist but over time I feel that it works perfectly.

[bosk1]

They could have.  But there's no reason they should have.  I don't think dropping one of the possibly three "definitive DT songs" from the set and, simultaneously, deciding not to have an encore is something that hardly anyone would consider to be an improvement.

And I think the choice of having Vacant and The Answer Lies Within in there was to have a little bit of a breather. After the epic SDOIT and then Sacrificed Sons and Octavarium, a little space in the middle was good to break those up.

Yeah.  And one can certainly argue that they were just trying to do TOO MUCH by wanting to represent their entire catalog AND heavily promote their new album (which included a 24 minute epic), while also then incorporating a 40+ minute song and an orchestra, all in one show.  That's a valid opinion.  But bottom line is, that's what they decided, and that wasn't going to change.  And that series of decisions pretty much locked the vast majority of the set into place.  So at the end of the day, we can either like or dislike the decision, but lamenting over particular song choices is pretty pointless. 

[TAC]

There are tons of other great sounding shows from that tour so anyone can find a decent version of anything they're looking for.

[ZirconBlue]

They could have.  But there's no reason they should have.  I don't think dropping one of the possibly three "definitive DT songs" from the set and, simultaneously, deciding not to have an encore is something that hardly anyone would consider to be an improvement.

Also, that's probably my favorite live version of Metropolis, and the best use of the orchestra (on a song that didn't already have an orchestra).  I miss the French horns whenever I listen to any other version of that song.

[Peter Mc]

Yep, love Metropolis with the Orchestra, like you, it’s my favourite version of the song.

I think the set is great in that it represents all the albums and, for the most part, it’s all songs that weren’t on any of the other main live albums.  I’d much rather have a professionally recorded live SDOIT, which didn’t exist previously, over another live recording of SOC when we just got that on the previous live release.

A lot of these songs were not fan favourites but that’s because we already had live versions of most of those and Mike was always conscious of not repeating things on live releases.  I raised my eyebrows when I saw the set list for the dvd as there’s not many of my faves on there.  As it happens though, it works great and is far and away my most watched live dvd of Dream Theater.

[TAC]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avFxqG3BC7U

[Architeuthis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avFxqG3BC7U

I don't know whether to like that or loathe it. 
Glad to see James is into it and having fun though.

[SeRoX]

Well that was good actually.

[erwinrafael]

Way to derail a thread to Score.

[illusionist]

Guys,guys,guys....
It's a topic about The Alien,not about Score,not about DT live albums,and not about MP drumming.

You can take your disagreements to so many other existing threads where people disagree about anything DT related.
You can even start a new DISAGREEMENTS thread,where you can fight about anything,and keep all the others clean,for people to talk.
We don't need you to derail a NEW one,as @erwinrafael said.

That thing where a thread turns into whatever anyone says and all the others comment on his irrelevant post here in this forum is very annoying.
It's time to stop.
Either we want DT fans to participate here and share their opinions,in a tidy way,or some people will continue to annoy other members,
and the admins will keep allowing it.

[Architeuthis]

 I hear ya bro,  but trust me, that's the nature of the beast around these parts.      

[nobloodyname]

Way to derail a thread to Score.

It wouldn't have been derailed had someone not taken an unnecessary swing at MP

[Kyo]

Don't think this has been posted yet, Shawn Crowder did a video dissecting some of the drum parts of The Alien:
https://youtu.be/uC3tiQqyICQ

[Kotowboy]

Haha. Nothing makes me cringe like anything extra terrestrial being " out of this world ". 

It's probably the most over-used cliche there is.


Also reminds me that I saw a drum channel video trying to re-create Mike Portnoy's kit and they just *had* to drop in a "Labrie sucks lol." 

[MinistroRaven]

Watch Mike Mangini match the album track for The Alien at 110% speed as part of his preparation for the Top Of The World Tour!

https://youtu.be/EFx19PMxGTc

[erwinrafael]

Mike Mangini is the alien. That drumming is sick.

[devieira73]

Incredible! 

[Architeuthis]

I like that drum set a lot! 

[hunnus2000]

So if it is sped up to 110% of the original shouldn't the vocals also be sped up?

Back in the day, we used to do the speed trick in rehearsals in theater. It sure helped to memorize lines and kept the crew on our toes. This carried over to my band days where we would rehearse songs in double time. Great tool for muscle memory.

Oh - and MM - 

 

[Pax]

Having been disappointed by all DT releases since ADTOE, I didn't expect much from this album. I have just listened this song for the second time; the first time, it sounded very promising. The second time (now), I was blown away by how good it felt. A lot of sections left me amazed, one of those being the end of the guitar solo with that Blind Faith/Steve Vai vibe

I will certainly need more listens to digest this properly, but my god, this song has been amazing so far, coming together perfectly, not at all disconnected like some claimed.

I have been very critical of over-compressed song structures in the last few albums, so now I really have to say THANK YOU DT for finally giving the song breathing space and taking time to develop the motives/melodies.

If they keep this up for the whole album, I might end up becoming the DT fanboy again like I was in high school!

[emtee]

Very impressive! Love his new setup. Can't say enough about how amazing that performance is. Still feeling like this will be a top tier album and I can't wait to hear it!

[devieira73]

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe this isn't MM new drum setup, but only the drum configuration necessary to play The Alien. But, I also think this one's works greatly!

[TAC]

Mike Mangini is the alien. That drumming is sick.

[Ben_Jamin]

That was an amazing drum playthrough and it was great to hear it in a faster speed, but it does sound too fast and that's the speed MP would've been playing the song in. 

[Chomesuque]

That was an amazing drum playthrough and it was great to hear it in a faster speed, but it does sound too fast and that's the speed MP would've been playing the song in. 

Here we go again

[Kotowboy]

So if it is sped up to 110% of the original shouldn't the vocals also be sped up?

Not if it's time stretched. You can speed up the song without changing the pitch.

[Kotowboy]

I find with a lot of Mangini era DT songs - that non 'epic' tracks feel like they sort of wind down as if they were writing an epic.

I don't know how to explain it. Like a 7 minute song will have the big finale and de-crescendo.

[erwinrafael]

Some people still shitting on Mangini in the Youtube video in his personal channel because Portnoy supposedly could have played this song with more feel.

[Kotowboy]

This video was actually one of the times I thought Mangini *didn't* sound mechanical.

If it was Portnoy - it would be full of his bag of tricks.

[Kocak]

This video was actually one of the times I thought Mangini *didn't* sound mechanical.

If it was Portnoy - it would be full of his bag of tricks.

I can almost hear the overuse of 16th notes.

[erwinrafael]

This video was actually one of the times I thought Mangini *didn't* sound mechanical.

If it was Portnoy - it would be full of his bag of tricks.

I can almost hear the overuse of 16th notes.

If you watch the video, the song is actually full of 16th notes.

[hunnus2000]

This video was actually one of the times I thought Mangini *didn't* sound mechanical.

If it was Portnoy - it would be full of his bag of tricks.

If it were Portnoy, I'm not sure this song gets written.

[Kyo]

If it were Portnoy, I'm not sure this song gets written.

It was Mangini who brought in the 5+5+7 pattern that a large chunk of the song was based on, so it certainly wouldn't exist without him.