Such a complex quote pyramid. Lots of cool points here and there for which I will share my two cents:
1) I don’t think Dream Theater, as a unit, were looking for something “different” when MM joined the band. The increase in their technical proficiency in their prog metal compositions was not as keen as some of you put it out. Sure, there are some pieces of music that are still as complex as they come to this day (Outcry’s instrumental section comes to mind), but form, emotion and melody have always been the priority. If anything, they’ve really tried to constrain their longer song forms (BCSL) into shorter, more concise pieces of music. People seem really eager, sometimes, to think of technicality and “feeling” or emotion as two separate entities in the art of writing music, which is something I don’t agree with. It’s like saying that a Paganini caprice is not an emotional piece of music because it’s as technical as Romantic violinistic writing goes.
2) I don’t think The Astonishing was a “failed experiment”, as it was proposed at some point. What’s the data from which you draw that conclusion besides your own subjective perception? Sales? Critical reception? Reviews? The way that fans endlessly need to boycott every internet discussion place to state that they do no like the album? True, the tour was cut short, but that was only expected given the circumstances of the band. DT is not going to have another Pull Me Under or another Scenes from a Memory at this point in their careers (maybe they’re gonna shoot close to the mark with their next Portnoy album, but who knows?).
3) It’s entirely true that MP is, by far, the most involved “music fan” in Dream Theater and will always be. That definitely adds something of a historical framework to DT’s sound, but I don’t think it’s as relevant to their sound nowadays. If anything, the constant references to other bands really turned some people off (me included) in their 2005-2010 output. Also, I was never really into the whole “let’s cover an entire album” thing. I mean, if I go to a Dream Theater concert I want to hear Dream Theater, not Dream Theater plays *x* band and that was a super Portnoy thing TBH. Also, not recognizing an Animals as Leaders tune is really not indicative of anything. True, they’re not entirely aware of what’s happening in the scene, but do they really need to be that aware?
4) Why would Awaken the Master be written as a sales ploy for Music Man? That’s just plain wrong and really unknowledgable of how brand endorsements work.
5) If anything, I feel that Pornoy’s return is like putting a puzzle piece back into the frame and making it feel as right as it can possibly feel. It’s more of a chemistry thing and the band wanting to finish off their careers and ride into their sunset in their ultimate formation. I can totally get along with that, but I really cannot imagine the next album to be radically different to what the band in their 2011-2022 era, in the same way that ADTOE was a very musical, yet slightly different, continuation of the band’s 2010s sound.
First and foremost, I apologise for the complex quote pyramid, I suck at post formatting and whenever I try and nit-pick a certain part of a quote, I screw things up, so the quote post ended up being very long.
Secondly, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
1) I too agree that they were not looking for anything different when they picked MM as the MP replacement. If they were looking to go a different route, they'd have picked a different drummer. In the documentary that they did for the process, there's this JR quote about Thomas Lang's interpretation of the audition songs: "Fans are used to hearing the songs a certain way." - Personally, I don't go to concerts to hear the tracks exactly as they are on the album, I'd like a bit more variation, but I also know where JR is coming from as he's classically trained and his early training would not have allowed for any sort of variation.
Arrangement complexity and creativity+compositional cohesion are two different things in my opinion. Personally, I find myself listening to Dream Theater for "parts" of songs, rather than the song itself lately which could signal a change in my musical preferences, but also a lack of compositional cohesion. Having watched all the "making of" documentaries from the DT camp, their drag and drop approach to composition is a contributing factor to this, I presume.
I pointed at the increase in technicality, not in terms of songs, but the ability within the band and the bands approach to music as a biproduct of technical proficiency. I think, the MM era instrumental members of the band care more about their instrumental proficiency rather than the quality of the end product that they put out.
2) The Astonishing is, in my opinion, a failed experiment by the band. It was a departure from their usual creation practices and I dub it a failed experiment based on all the things that you have listed: My own perception of the record, fan reception, sales and reviews. The album suffers from bloat and a terrible, horrible, absolutely horrendous mix. If it was shorter and mixed better, it could have done better. It's another DT venture that could have benefited greatly from an outside producer.
3) I absolutely agree with your comment regarding the constant references to other bands. From what I have experienced in the music industry, it is important for musicians to expand their musical horizons. One can be inspired by other bands and/or individual artists, but there are ways of not doing it so blatantly. They don't need to be aware of everything that goes on in the music industry, but listening to music critically, gives one a sonic framework to work with. Especially in terms of production and the auditory character of a piece of music or an album. JP has repeatedly stated that they take Rush as an example for themselves and ask "What would Rush do?". If a musician limits themselves to the same music over and over again, the sonic framework that they work with will also be limited. I would argue that the MP era albums sound much better than the MM era albums. If I was a member of Animals as Leaders, I would be cross if a band that I toured and shared the stage with was unfamiliar with a song that I played every night while I was on tour with them. These things matter.
4) It wasn't written for Music Man, but it wouldn't have been written if there wasn't an 8-string guitar coming out. The partnership between JP and MM isn't a simple endorsement deal. For comparison, it isn't the same as what JM has with Music Man.
5) I agree with this, but I also think that it is a commercial move too. DT with MP is a more powerful financial offer compared to DT with MM.
Topic: DREAM THEATER ANNOUNCE THE RETURN OF DRUMMER MIKE PORTNOY (Read 124800 times)