Portnoy starts up ANOTHER new band...

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I don't think TWD's vibe is specifically 80s/90s...much more timeless/classic IMO...could have come out in any decade. It's very melodic, it's soulful, it showcases each individual member's own strengths without showboating, and the songs are hooky as hell.

Nah, it's most definitely 80s. Look at the song "Elevate", interspersed throughout are these little noodly bits that stick out like a sore thumb because the rest of the song is very simple in structure. "Let's throw in a couple flashy bits so we don't die of boredom while playing the rest of the song". VERY 80s in attitude.

S.D. wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I don't think TWD's vibe is specifically 80s/90s...much more timeless/classic IMO...could have come out in any decade. It's very melodic, it's soulful, it showcases each individual member's own strengths without showboating, and the songs are hooky as hell.

Nah, it's most definitely 80s.  Look at the song "Elevate", interspersed throughout are these little noodly bits that stick out like a sore thumb because the rest of the song is very simple in structure.  "Let's throw in a couple flashy bits so we don't die of boredom while playing the rest of the song".  VERY 80s in attitude.  

Yeah, I don't see it that way at all.  

Eyesore wrote:

Dark Horseman wrote:

Wow, big praise but knowing your tastes I can understand. This sounds like a real band unlike say an Adrenaline Mob which is hard to describe and of course only my opinion.

Adrenaline Mob sounds like a real band to me; they're just probably too modern-sounding for most of you.

 I love Adrenaline Mob. Which is funny because I hate most newer hard rock.

Dark Horseman wrote:

Listening to this and really enjoying the classic vibe. Many have compared the vocals to Cornell which is sort of there but I am reminded of Foghat in both the vocals and playing. Maybe they'll replace BCC as the poster boys of throwback classic rock.

 That's what I'm thinking. Love BCC & it's a shame they didn't work out.

I tried so hard to get into BCC, and I just found it boring. I know I'm in the minority with that comment. Streaming TWD and finding it very enjoyable, however. Lots of hooks, great tone, and Portnoy really fits, which is unexpected to me after hearing him play miles of technical prog. Not that I ever did doubt his range.

Amob was never my thing.

Yeah, I never got into Adrenaline Mob either...

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I don't think TWD's vibe is specifically 80s/90s...much more timeless/classic IMO...could have come out in any decade. It's very melodic, it's soulful, it showcases each individual member's own strengths without showboating, and the songs are hooky as hell.

My take on this album is completely different.. After loving "Elevate" I was hoping this album would keep me interested but after listening to the whole thing on Spotify, it bores me to tears.  Nothing stuck after I listened to it the first time through, other than the Musicianship.  Killer musicians, but the songs just bored me LOL!!!

Ill give it another try in the near future, hoping something sticks..

MetalRob331 wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I don't think TWD's vibe is specifically 80s/90s...much more timeless/classic IMO...could have come out in any decade. It's very melodic, it's soulful, it showcases each individual member's own strengths without showboating, and the songs are hooky as hell.

My take on this album is completely different.. After loving "Elevate" I was hoping this album would keep me interested but after listening to the whole thing on Spotify, it bores me to tears.  Nothing stuck after I listened to it the first time through, other than the Musicianship.  Killer musicians, but the songs just bored me LOL!!!

Ill give it another try in the near future, hoping something sticks..

Wow. See, I think Kotzen's sense of melody and emotion is amazing! The dude is such an emotive, passionate singer and the vocal hooks and performance are what really grab me...the musicianship is window-dressing.

I think it's a very good album. I wouldn't call it "hooky as hell," but it's definitely catchy enough. And yeah, the musicianship is stellar. Solid album.

And I still say that illegal downloading, Spotify, and any other streaming services often keep music fans from really giving an album a chance. When you invest nothing (and if you pay for premium service on Spotify, virtually nothing), you're far less likely to give an album a real chance. Today, people skim an album, give it one or two listens, maybe, and declare that it sucks.

Do you think if everyone paid $15 for those same albums they'd be so flippantly quick to judge?

Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone or every album someone dislikes, but I'd bet my life that it happens more often than not.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

MetalRob331 wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

I don't think TWD's vibe is specifically 80s/90s...much more timeless/classic IMO...could have come out in any decade. It's very melodic, it's soulful, it showcases each individual member's own strengths without showboating, and the songs are hooky as hell.

My take on this album is completely different.. After loving "Elevate" I was hoping this album would keep me interested but after listening to the whole thing on Spotify, it bores me to tears.  Nothing stuck after I listened to it the first time through, other than the Musicianship.  Killer musicians, but the songs just bored me LOL!!!

Ill give it another try in the near future, hoping something sticks..

Wow. See, I think Kotzen's sense of melody and emotion is amazing! The dude is such an emotive, passionate singer and the vocal hooks and performance are what really grab me...the musicianship is window-dressing.

I liked his vocal approach a lot but if nothing grabs me in I just fall asleep real quick and one of those listeners that want to be grabbed right away. im picky about what I like, so if its just mediocre I'll prolly just move on. This Lineup is so good though that Ill listen again..

You Saved Me and I'm No Angel are killer tracks IMO!!!

Eyesore wrote:

I think it's a very good album. I wouldn't call it "hooky as hell," but it's definitely catchy enough. And yeah, the musicianship is stellar. Solid album.

And I still say that illegal downloading, Spotify, and any other streaming services often keep music fans from really giving an album a chance. When you invest nothing (and if you pay for premium service on Spotify, virtually nothing), you're far less likely to give an album a real chance. Today, people skim an album, give it one or two listens, maybe, and declare that it sucks.

Do you think if everyone paid $15 for those same albums they'd be so flippantly quick to judge?

Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone or every album someone dislikes, but I'd bet my life that it happens more often than not.

I want to be blown away from the start. There is SOO much music out there that if I don't like it right away, Imma move on to the next. This keeps me looking for new bands. I judge albums by how much I come back to them. This is one I wouldn't venture back to bcuz it lacks what my ears want to hear.

Portnoy needs to pay his mortgage. He thought he struck gold with Killswitch Sevenfold or whatever, but after that fell through, he soon realised it's an amazing struggle to even get back to where Dream Theater is, popularity wise.

Lari wrote:

it's an amazing struggle to even get back to where Dream Theater is, popularity wise.

It's utterly impossible.

Lari wrote:

Portnoy needs to pay his mortgage. He thought he struck gold with Killswitch Sevenfold or whatever, but after that fell through, he soon realised it's an amazing struggle to even get back to where Dream Theater is, popularity wise.

Portnoy didn't THINK he struck gold with Avenged Sevenfold, they asked him to do the drum parts bcuz their drummer tragically passed away. You make it sound like he did it for the money. Sure money is always great but I think Mike has always wanted to just do his own thing musically.

I will also go as far as to say, A7X is a bigger draw than Dream Theater is..

I would wager, realistically, that after all these years, his projects AND Dream Theater, that Portnoy is a millionaire. He's not doing anything solely "for the money"...but even if he was, are YOU making a living playing drums? Thought not...

Eyesore wrote:

And I still say that illegal downloading, Spotify, and any other streaming services often keep music fans from really giving an album a chance. When you invest nothing (and if you pay for premium service on Spotify, virtually nothing), you're far less likely to give an album a real chance. Today, people skim an album, give it one or two listens, maybe, and declare that it sucks.

Do you think if everyone paid $15 for those same albums they'd be so flippantly quick to judge?

Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone or every album someone dislikes, but I'd bet my life that it happens more often than not.

You're dead on, actually, although I do use Rhapsody to listen to brand new music, just to check it out, but never to determine whether or not to buy it. Like the Queensryche s/t; wasn't too fond of it when I streamed it, but I invested in it anyway, and hey I ended up liking it. As for illegal downloading, I can testify that it's the WORST way to discover music. How can anyone experience an ROI without ever making the "I" in the first place?

I think the problem is found in people skimming tracks. It's a weird disorder that's plagued today's audiences. I have to listen deep, to full tracks, to fully engage with the music on a contextual level, and that's when true appreciation sets in. I believe most of us did this religiously when we were younger. Years ago I had a friend in his late teens buy a brand new CD. He had me over to listen with him. He threw it one, enjoyed ten seconds at the most of each track, took it out, said it sucks and returned it the next day. I started noticing a ton of kids doing the same thing, but now it's with mp3's and the like.

The listener and the music converge; a relationship happens. If a man dicks around with his girlfriend for ten seconds just to see if she's marriage material, and dumps her immediately after...

I liked his vocal approach a lot but if nothing grabs me in I just fall asleep real quick and one of those listeners that want to be grabbed right away. wrote:

I wonder have you never had an album grow on you until it's one of your favorites?

I gotta say, there's music that's meant to grab and music that's meant to...ferment. Same with movies. Or any art, for that matter.

The accessible and the challenging. Mr. Big and Thom Yorke. Manowar and Amorphis.

They're both beautiful.

Of course there are also times when you hear something and immediately know; "I'm never going to like this". No reason to ponder those, plenty of other albums out there to choose from.

MetalRob331 wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

I think it's a very good album. I wouldn't call it "hooky as hell," but it's definitely catchy enough. And yeah, the musicianship is stellar. Solid album.

And I still say that illegal downloading, Spotify, and any other streaming services often keep music fans from really giving an album a chance. When you invest nothing (and if you pay for premium service on Spotify, virtually nothing), you're far less likely to give an album a real chance. Today, people skim an album, give it one or two listens, maybe, and declare that it sucks.

Do you think if everyone paid $15 for those same albums they'd be so flippantly quick to judge?

Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone or every album someone dislikes, but I'd bet my life that it happens more often than not.

I want to be blown away from the start. There is SOO much music out there that if I don't like it right away, Imma move on to the next.  This keeps me looking for new bands.  I judge albums by how much I come back to them.  This is one I wouldn't venture back to bcuz it lacks what my ears want to hear.    

I'll never forget the day my roommate in Korea was perusing my CDs and said, "Dude, Ultraspank? That's a bad-ass band name." Then he asked me if they were any good. I said no, I didn't really care for it. But I couldn't remember what they sounded like, so we put it on, and then this song came on...



And it blew me away. No one here except for you, maybe, will like this song, but it kicked my ass! Obviously the time I listened to it before, I was just not in the mood, and so I blew it off and moved on.

I don't do that anymore. If I don't really dig an album at first, I keep trying it. Quite often I change my opinion.

Rush, for example, is a band I could never get into because of Lee's vocals. They drove me bananas. But I've picked up a number of album in the last year or so, and now I'm wondering what my problem was all along.

Lari wrote:

Portnoy needs to pay his mortgage. He thought he struck gold with Killswitch Sevenfold or whatever, but after that fell through, he soon realised it's an amazing struggle to even get back to where Dream Theater is, popularity wise.

Portnoy is a multimillionaire. He doesn't need Dream Theater. Why everyone continues to diss the guy is beyond me. I'm not sure why people take such issue with a guy who wants to work with a lot of musicians, put out a lot of records.

This isn't a Geoff Tate thing where he can't play a lick of music or write anything but lyrics. By all accounts, Portnoy is a classy guy who just wants to jam. Why do so many people have a problem with that? Because he had a short stint filling in for Avenged Sevenfold?

Nearly everything he's done outside of Dream Theater—Liquid Tension Experiment, Flying Colors, Transatlantic, Neal Morse's solo albums, OSI, The Winery Dogs—has been good to great. Yet for far too many none of that matters because it's not Dream Theater.

Eyesore wrote:

Portnoy is a multimillionaire. He doesn't need Dream Theater. Why everyone continues to diss the guy is beyond me. I'm not sure why people take such issue with a guy who wants to work with a lot of musicians, put out a lot of records.

A lot of people seem to look down on musicians who move from band to band - Ripper Owens being a prime example.  They're somehow viewed as being in it just for the money rather than for the music.

And I think Portnoy has ended up in the same category.  He played drums for a band who have had mainstream success, and Adrenaline Mob was seen as an attempt at breaking into the modern metal scene which he appeared to bail on because they didn't get anywhere.

But what people overlook is that, as you say, Portnoy doesn't need the money.  I'm sure he wouldn't object to extra cash, but Dream Theater have been successful enough that he should be well-set financially.

So his situation is different from those who do play with a lot of people so that they can earn a living (and I don't think there's anything wrong with that either), but because he's exhibiting similar behaviour he gets lumped in with them and receives the same sort of criticism.

Portnoy is king, and loves his artistry. Nothing wrong with that.

Eyesore wrote:

Lari wrote:

Portnoy needs to pay his mortgage. He thought he struck gold with Killswitch Sevenfold or whatever, but after that fell through, he soon realised it's an amazing struggle to even get back to where Dream Theater is, popularity wise.

Portnoy is a multimillionaire. He doesn't need Dream Theater. Why everyone continues to diss the guy is beyond me. I'm not sure why people take such issue with a guy who wants to work with a lot of musicians, put out a lot of records.

This isn't a Geoff Tate thing where he can't play a lick of music or write anything but lyrics. By all accounts, Portnoy is a classy guy who just wants to jam. Why do so many people have a problem with that? Because he had a short stint filling in for Avenged Sevenfold?

Nearly everything he's done outside of Dream Theater—Liquid Tension Experiment, Flying Colors, Transatlantic, Neal Morse's solo albums, OSI, The Winery Dogs—has been good to great. Yet for far too many none of that matters because it's not Dream Theater.

Good post! I could care less how many bands he plays in, he's done some good stuff outside of DT. Plus, I personally think DT is better off without MP. Granted he DID do a lot to build the DT brand and had a big part of their success, and that will never be taken away from him. BUT that was a case of "change is good"

I checked out Winery Dogs and it was OK, nothing that stood out as fantastic to me. I'll give it a few more listens before I decide if it's worth spending my hard earned money on - we'll see.....

Start of rant:  

I have been guilty of it in the past, but as I get older I have a bit of an attitude towards people who seem to put down musicians for making a living. "He's doing that for the paycheck" or like above "Portnoy needs to pay his mortgage" or "He thought he struck gold w/ A7X".

Give me a break. The dude makes a living playing drums. If he wants to do something "for the money", f**k off and let him do it. Playing music is how he supports his family, pays his bills and lives his life, nimrod. Of course takes money for doing it.

Nobody looks at you and throws a backhanded insult like "Pfft, you're only working 8 to 5 for the paycheck...poser!"...it's like, "No $h!t...that's how I make my living." If I could play in badass rock bands and make a living at it, I'd sure as hell do it too.

Music fans are irritating sometimes...

End of rant.