Dream Theater
 

I enjoy their music very much. I found a quote on the internet and I would like to share it with you. If you are a musician or work with music on a very personal and professional level could you give me your take on this?

"I'm a 17 year guitarist and 7 year recording engineer. My opinion of Dream Theatre is simply that their music stems deeper than anyone here can even probably understand. They are all mathematical geniuses, well schooled in Theory at Berkeley Music. These guys can play any style of music they want to by simply using the "Formula" for that music. Different styles of music use different scales and intervals, creating unique harmonic overtones to that style. Egyptian, Persian, Japanese, Neapolitan, Spanish, etc. When you understand music a little more, you can hear different things, your ears are more receptive and your always trying to understand what they are playing. They are indeed "MASTERS" of the trade and no one can come close to the talent these guys possess. Maybe some of the earlier masters, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, but that's it."

- Melodyssey


Thank you for your input.

It's ingenius, but overly technical if you ask me.
It's a product, not music in the first place. I like DT by the way, but I realise that it lacks a bit of feel. Tool is even more technical, but at least has some feel to it :)

I like Dream Theater, and at one point I would have ranked them as one of my favorite bands. It's funny that the quote uses the word "formula" because my largest knock of Dream Theater between 2002-2010 was that they had became too formulaic during that period of 4 albums, I think each release got worse and more formulaic, culminating with "Black Clouds and Silver Linings," which I personally did not care for at all.

It's also not rare to have professional trained musicians in bands. I will admit that it is, however, somewhat rare that all the musicians in DT are professionally trained, including Labrie, who has frequently used an Opera coach, but to say that they are all mathematical genuineness seems somewhat odd and a complete overstatement, and even if they were, I don't think that has much to do with creating quality music.

All in all, I like DT, and I won't deny their technical prowess, but a lot of their music lacks an emotional component; therefore, some of it doesn't resonate with me at all.

Agreed, what you are referring to as "feel" I wrote as "emotional component"... agree completely. I feel the same way about Gentle Giant (two completely different bands in style, I know), but for me, both bands can lack a certain feel or emotional resonance-- and that doesn't come from a math formula.

Dream Theater is not a band I can listen to very often but when I'm in the mood I can appreciate their music. I do agree that their music feels a bit lifeless.

Haha, well Tool once based a song on a math formula as you probably know.
I saw Tool live and it sent shivers down my spine the whole concert. Haha, I even feel them whilst typing this. It was an epic experience. I'm not sure what Tool does right.
I see what you mean with the Gentle Giant comparison, altough I must say I never listen to GG, and I to listen to DT a couple of times a year. Not too often.
I should admit that I really only play Images and Words every now and then. Because I like the music, but also because I'm an audiofreak and even though the record has a sharp 90's sound to it, it's a brilliant recording :)

Part of this is due to the singer I think. The music is, imho, far better than the singing itself. Technically he's a very good singer, but again, it lacks feel.
Or, if you will, emotional component (I couldn't think of that, being dutch and all :))

In terms of the Tool math thing, I'm sure you're referring to Lateralus and the whole Fibonacci sequence thing, which was cool. That is a great album, and you are right about the math there; however, Tool still adds a layer of feel or emotional resonance on top of that,which made that album great.. if that album or any album was based solely on a math formula it would fall flat on its face. Agreed on GG vs. DT. I spin DT somewhat frequently, but I rarely listen to GG. I also saw Tool live on the Lateralus tour and it was amazing. Better than any DT show that I have seen.

Honestly, the assessment sounds pretty fanboyish. To claim an artist is greater than the classical minds of history, and that nobody in our century comes close to them is short sighted and frankly, ridiculous.

Matters how badly you have insomnia.

Dream Theater bores me to death. It reminds me of Siberian Orchestra but without the visuals. Lifeless describes it rather well. Its like a machine but not in a good way. I'd much rather listen to Bach, Mozart, or Schubert. I've seen DT live because it was free and even live it lacked any luster. I would call it tedious and severely lacking.

You lot seem to be confusing DT with Eric Clapton here.:p:

I never liked clapton, except for a yardbirds song and a couple of cream songs.
I do like DT ;)

The quote sounds like something that I would have written about Rush when I was in middle school, at which time I was completely obsessed with them. They are still my favorite band, but I would never make a claim like the one in the quote above now, or even call them the greatest band ever... there has to be a clear difference between personal favorites and everything else, and that is true in anything, not just music.

Well then your assessment of DT in middle school would have been correct if that were the case. Personal favorites or not, if something sounds like drivel to MY EARS, then its exactly that to me. DT does bore me, its clear everytime i hear them. DT just lacks any punch whatsoever, its needless noodling. Enjoy.

Clapton at least has some feeling in his music, it doesn't have that robotic feel that DT does. I'd probably rather listen to Coldplay also, good point.

Fred, my bad... I meant to quote the original quote from the original poster, not from your post. I'll edit my comment.

No worries. I thought there was something abstract going on here. DT does that to people. :drummer:

Cream were great, but that was largely thanks to Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

Ever since I`ve been a member on this forum, DT probably rank up there as one of the most hated bands on here. Personally I really like em and have quite a few of their albums, but I also see why a large number of people would dislike them though and they probably wouldn`t be very high on my list of bands to see live.

I never hold any hate in my heart for a band. I honestly can see these guys have talent. They can play any speed they want, they're technically gifted, and they have a huge fanbase. I don't enjoy their music, but it gets a bit ridiculous when people say they hate a band. My friend happened to have an extra ticket to see them live so I went. They sound great live, for what they do, what they do just doesn't impress me much.

i think Dream Theater may not be the worst rock band ever but they do come close (i'd nominate Dragonforce as the worst rock band ever, but i digress)

i have Images & Words and have heard most of their "hits" - they bore me till no end, and I&W is supposedly their "best" album and if that's their best, i certainly wouldn't want to trifle with the others

i also don't think they're fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Tool (who takes a lot from King Crimson and add their own slant to it) or Rush (who are quite enjoyable in their pomposity or just their FM rock staple songs)

sure, they're technical - any musician can go to a research station in Antartica and learn theory, composition and skill for 10 years or so, but if it doesn't sound captivating, he/she might as well stay there for the rest of his/her life

Dream Theater is NOWHERE near being the worst rock band of all time (they're not even a rock band). Their music can be amazing if in the mood.

Do you really think they're worse than the Monkees, Jonas Brothers, Bee Gees, Slipknot, Green Day, Korn and all the other crap bands I don't know?

They lack emotion but their music is very interesting.

yes

except for Jonas Brothers, which i haven't heard enough of

how would you know if they're crap if you don't know them or heard them?

i wouldn't place too much credo on word of mouth or critics in general

they're playing prog-rock - it would fit under the penumbra

how would you classify them as? jazz? classical?

it may sound like i'm needling you unnecessarily, but your posts sound rather un-informed, and remember, mine is just an opinion, you need not get so worked up about it - but at least i try to justify my opinion and answer you point-by-point

you, on the other hand, just pick and choose what seems like "attacks" whilst ignoring my other valid points

Dream Theater are a rock band (very technical) who just added prog tendencies to their sound along with metal, listening to Dream Theater especially on their earlier material its easy to see where most of their musical influences came from and they were from prog bands like Rush and especially Kansas, along with AOR acts like Journey and Toto etc.

The acts that you`ve named are crap, but as said don`t take too much notice of music critics about who is good and bad. It still amazes me, that when you look at say "Rolling Stone`s" greatest 500 albums of all time list, that almost 50% of those albums were slammed and given the thumbs down on their initial release by the same magazine and years or decades later they were seen as claasics.

They're Progressive Metal.

You think I'm riled up? Haha. I'm not mad at all.

So you think Korn is a better band than Dream Theater?

39. "Please Please Me" by the Beatles
...
...
...
43. "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd
66: "Led Zeppelin IV" by Led Zeppelin

It's a crap list.

Are these the only 3 you like? Or are you saying these 3 are crap?

They put one of the Beatles early albums above Dark Side of the Moon and Led Zeppelin IV. That is crap.

Octavarium is their best album. You should give it a listen. I don't think it's a good idea to listen to one album and a few songs to determine how good a band is. When I first listened to Genesis I had no interest in them but after giving them a real chance I grew to like them. Give Octavarium a try. I think you might like it.

I prefer the Zeppelin and Floyd album to that Beatles one, but you need to remember that the list takes into consideration just how influential an album is as well. That Beatles album pretty much started off the Beatles legend, I`m not saying that the other two albums were any less influential but the Beatles were the most influential of the three bands. Also in a list of the best 500 albums, whether a band is 39, 43 or 66 becomes quite irrelevant.

My thought is that this person needs to learn that it's spelled "Berklee" not "Berkeley". Berkeley is a different school on the opposite coast famous for completely different reasons.

48. "It Takes a Nation of Millions" by Public Enemy
...
...
400. "Illmatic" by Nas.

I agree. The list is crap.

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum >>>>> Dreamtheater

:laughing:

Technical ability is not equal to quality.

This is kind of akin to saying anyone can play raw black metal because the genre requires little in the way of technical ability, little in intelligence, and virtually no understanding of music theory. Yet, for some reason, it's a genre that few have figured out, despite the fact - as metal archives informs us - there's no shortage of people who've tried.

metal is still rock

Korn for the first two albums, at least

i've heard stuff from Octavarium, i'm not impressed

i also don't see the Gentle Giant link

That's your opinion. To be truthful though most Metal and Rock doesn't have much emotion compared to New Age music. That doesn't diminish my respect for Rock and Metal bands. One thing I know is that Dream Theater has members who have excellent technical ability. Their music lacks emotion compared to other Metal bands but those same bands lack emotion compared to Enya or Miles Davis.

Everyone has their preferences though. One thing I can't respect from your posts is the claim that Dream Theater is one of the worst bands of all time. That couldn't be further from the truth (subjectively of course).

nuff said

:laughing:

This is every form of music. Really, Technical ability is a paintbrush, not the painting itself.