Saber Forum

Huge Dream Theater fan here. I'm into a lot of different genres, but Dream Theater has been one of my favorite bands since I was a kid.

Really looking forward to The Astonishing in a little more than a week!

Hmm...I like certain of their works, but I never really was a great fan of Jordan Rudess.  They seem hit and miss to me in that era.  The recent self-titled album was pretty decent though (thinking getting rid of Portnoy was a good move?), so I will at least listen to some samples to see what I think. :)

Jordan is not for everyone, that's for sure. I think getting rid of Portnoy was a good move, but I'm not sure that directly changed the direction the music's gone. I really liked their last album...having high hopes for their next one.

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For me getting rid of Portnoy got rid of some nasty, angsty lyrics.  (Please note discussing specifics of some lyrics cannot be done publicly on the forum.)  I am more of a fan of Petrucci when it comes to DT lyrics.  Rudess...needs to learn that less is more.  Sherinian and Moore don't get enough credit for their understanding of that.  Especially Sherinian...Falling into Infinity gets so much IMO unjustified hate.

YES. This right here. I have NO idea why Falling Into Infinity gets all the hate.

I think if Portnoy were still in the band now, DT would be a death metal band! LOL Just seemed to be the direction he was taking the band.

The crazy thing about Jordan (I agree with you) is that he HAS shown in DT that he can slow it down and play some beautiful stuff without breaking the 10000 notes per second barrier. Disappear and Far From Heaven are two that come to the top of my head right now. He can do it, he just...doesn't. I will say that the string section he wrote for Illumination Theory (from the latest album) is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard in a DT song.

I'm a keyboard player myself, and I love shredding from time to time, but I think it should be balanced with more restrained stuff. Kevin Moore was excellent in this regard.

I tend to find Symphony X more consistent.  Romeo and Pinnella can shred it every bit as much as Petrucci and Romeo but they never run over IMO...they always know just when to stop (and Pinnella has better taste in what tones to use on his synth...some of Rudess' favorite patches--no, just no).

Couldn't agree more. Symphony X is my favorite band. Pinnella's keyboard work is absolutely spot-on for their overall sound. Underworld was such a great album...had the chance to see them during their US tour recently. Russell Allen sounded even better live...which I didn't think was possible.

I have never seen Symphony X live...but hilariously I had a trip to Medieval Times when I was in middle school.  Come to find out I almost certainly saw Russell Allen performing there!

Dang it, I still need to buy Underworld!

Oh man...it's so good. I'll be honest, the first time I listened to it, I wasn't sure what to do with it. After the second playthrough, I was sold.

What kind of points do you want?  For the recommendation/endorsement I'd like to give you one...

Thank you!

I like light side. I'll update my sig.  :)