YTSEJAM Digest 2952 Today's Topics: 1) Michael Manring/FII Advance Copies by Nick Giannotti 2) DT FII LYRICS/MASTERMIND -Reply by Stefan Rau 3) Oops, taking a stand, rating CD shops by "Christopher R. Merlo" 4) Reviews... by "Blevins, Mike" 5) acronym problem by Eric Rodger 6) Labrie interview on FII and DT (DTC!) by "gene" 7) Re: DT Lyrics analysis by Eric Rodger 8) Lemur Voice (NDTC) / Jason Hartman's post / ACOS Project update by Brandon Vaughn 9) Release in Germany by Steffen Barabasch 10) Font used on FII postcard by "The Notorious B.I.G. S.W.I.F.T.Y." 11) Fw: The Musical Box in Philly by "Syrinx" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Sep 1997 08:32:18 -0400 From: Nick Giannotti To: "'email_address_removed'" Subject: Michael Manring/FII Advance Copies Message-ID: Rahul Anada wrote, >I picked up an album this week that caught my eye: Michael Manring's >"Thonk." It's got Steve Morse, Alex Skolnick, Tim "Herb" Alexander, >and Steve Smith as featured performers. The CD is all instrumental >(yay!) and this Manring dude is one hell of a bassist. > >But what is a "hyperbass?" No one I've asked seems to know, yet >it is the instrument that Manring primarily uses on the album. >Any of you guys know? Any bass player who hasn't heard this album should immediately run out and buy it, and then sit down and listen to it for days, taking notes on how the FUCK he does the shit he does. On a fretless. With no overdubs. (Brrr! /me gets the shivers.) Manring is *the* bass player's bass player, bar none. I have the sheet music book that goes along with this album and it is not only virtually impossible to read, but it has commentary by him on every song, as well as pictures of him playing two and even three (yes, three) basses -->at the same time<--. The dude can (and has) played two basses at once in his fucking SLEEP. He said this on an interview on Boston radio once; he was thrilled that he made it one minute twenty seconds asleep while playing before he woke up. A hyperbass is just a cool marketing name for the bass he uses; it's made by Zon, and it has a bottom cutaway that basically gives you something like 38 frets. _)_ _)__________ _ _ ____________ ) ) Cutaway on normal bass Cutaway on Hyperbass Oh, and they're, like, $4000 or something like that. But they sound the nutz. :) The album is hard to find; if anyone looks for it and fails miserably, let me know and I can tape it for you. -Nicholas email_address_removed ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 08:42:00 -0400 From: Stefan Rau To: email_address_removed, email_address_removed Subject: DT FII LYRICS/MASTERMIND -Reply Message-ID: >>> John R. Kotzian 09/08/97 11:05pm >>> > Has anyone ever heard/seen a band called Mastermind? I saw >them open for Fish last month. They were awsome. Yes! I have all of their CD's, and I have to agree...very very cool. Unfortunately, almost every review I saw of them on the Marillion/Fish list included words like "sucked," "lame," "hackers," or other nasty words which I dare not repeat on a family-oriented mailing list like this...:) I saw them open for Rush in Camden (and I met Chris Buzby from echolyn/finneus gauge while watching them!), and they're definitely the best opening act I've ever seen. If you want to get into them a bit more, I suggest starting with their second album, "Brainstorm" (which, vexingly, is probably the toughest one to find)...it includes a 21-minute song, a 17-minute song, and awesome versions of "The Ride of the Valkyries" and "The William Tell Overture." Stefan Rau Wyeth-Ayerst Research ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 08:46:24 -0400 From: "Christopher R. Merlo" To: email_address_removed Subject: Oops, taking a stand, rating CD shops Message-ID: > From: Matt Mommaerts > Subject: FII Promo CD and Web sites > = > This is what the back of the Jewel Box says... (get out your Thesaurus,= > whoever wrote this likes adjectives) > = > composition and performance to dizzying new heights. Over two albums, = an Wow, the record company doesn't even know how many albums the band has = released. And you guys expect the web page to be up to date? :) ---- > From: Jeremy Kube > Subject: What kind of cock is this? > = > > "Fallen Into Infinity" is an album with too much boring songs and > > only one or two of it, that sound A LITTLE BIT like Dream Theater!! > = > Fuck you Michael. There's so much love in this room. This next paragraph is directed at Jeremy, but it might benefit everyone = else = to read it as well. Hey. People are allowed to have and share opinions that differ from your= own. = Unless John Myung is your dad or something, and his success determines = whether you go to college or not, I don't see any reason to take *persona= l* = offense at a criticism of FII. Debate the points, fine. But to respond = to a = negative review with "Fuck you" is juvenile and out of place, both on thi= s = list and in real life. There are people out there, believe it or not, wh= o are = different from you. Deal. ---- > From: "John R. Kotzian" > Subject: DT in listening Stations > = > I managed to get my District Manager to make DT's FII a mandatory > listening station CD for 5 of Detroit's rock oriented Sam Goody's. She > doesn't even know who DT is, but because Elektra has been so cool about= > the listening party, she said "What the hell.". That freakin' rules. That's it. I'm moving to Detroit. Hey Partha, you= need = a roommate? ---- > From: "Brian Reeves" > Subject: KUPD in Phoenix > = > Everybody remember last week when our > resident asshole DJ Eddy Webb from KUPD > was talking all the shit about us? > = > He wouldn't get behind the new single because: > "If their label won't get behind them, why should we" > = > Remember him? > = > He don't work for the station no more. > = > Gee, I wonder why. Wow. All this public action by Jammers all happening at once. How come = none = of you live in southern Virginia? I'd go down to the local record store = and = try something like this, but with all the Spice Girls and Clint Black dis= plays = all over the place, there's hardly enough room. OK, everyone likes to talk about their favorite CD shops, but there's no = clear = way to determine which one is best, right? Well, I think I have the answ= er. The Ytsejam CD Shop Rating Guide: =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D It's very simple, actually. You give the store 2 points each for having = in stock I&W, Awake, and ACoS. 5 points for WDADU. (10 points if they h= ave both versions.) 2 points for every Fates Warning title they have. A= nd 5 points for every Magna Carta disc you find. This is not to suggest that I like Fates or MC bands more than any others= =2E Rather, I've found that those two are nearly impossible to find in s= tupid chain stores like The Wall, while better local stores sometimes rac= k up the points in those areas. It's just a guideline, not a preference.= So, let's see who shops at the best stores! :) -----------------------------------------------------------------------= - The Digital Man \|/ ____ \|/ "640 K ought to be enoug= h = email_address_removed "@'/ ,. \`@" memory for everyone." -Gate= s email_address_removed /_| \__/ |_\ "He won't need a be= d http://www.cs.wm.edu/~cmerlo \__U_/ He's a digital man" -Pear= t -----------------------------------------------------------------------= - Maintainer of the Official Dream Theater Frequently Asked Questions Lis= t http://www.cs.wm.edu/~cmerlo/dtfaq.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Sep 1997 09:33:40 -0400 From: "Blevins, Mike" To: "'email_address_removed'" Subject: Reviews... Message-ID: Partha wrote... >the mail was kind to me last week....got Angra's Reaching horizons >super-ep, Superior's behind and Division's Paradise Lost....... Wow - you reviewed us with Angra and Superior? I think we're outclassed here... :) >my impression was of an album that might have stood for a little >tweaking production-wise, something about how the noise was coming through >my speakers bothered me We still are not pleased with the mastering on the CD, but there's nothing we can do but apologize - the company that did the mastering and repro really messed up. Is it my fucking imagination, or has the fucking frequency of the fucking use of the fucking word "fuck" gone way the fuck up on the fucking 'jam fucking lately? What the fuck's up with that? :) Mike Division - DC Power/prog metal is completely stoked about playing with Dickenson on Oct. 4... http://www.crosslink.net/~division or human email email_address_removed ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 10:09:36 -0400 From: Eric Rodger To: email_address_removed Subject: acronym problem Message-ID: We seem to have an acronym problem. Everytime someone posts about how much they love LITS, I think of the "Lost in the Sky" bootleg, which is probably the best bootleg out there from the Images tour (along with The Dance of Eternity). Then I have to remember that there is this new song called "Lines in the Sand" which is most likely what people are referring to. The problem is, LITS has referred to Lost in the Sky for so long, that it's a hard habit to kick. Any suggestions? LITS for Lines and LitS for Lost? KAI ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Sep 1997 01:45:32 -0400 From: "gene" To: Subject: Labrie interview on FII and DT (DTC!) Message-ID: Guys, Here's an interview I found from James from Hard Radio! Pretty cool (if you already haven't read it) Canadian Exclusive!!! BW&BK chats with DREAM THEATER's James LaBrie!!! Here is an excerpt from the Dream Theater cover story found in Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles #19, out mid-September!!! LaBrie on Canada... "No offence, but home is really unfortunate. Canada is really unaware of Dream Theater. As hard as I've tried in the past to make it a different situation, it's been really difficult. Without getting into the political side of things, that is one of the reasons, I think, that stopped Dream Theater from being somewhat exploited up here. The way I look at it is we'll just keep plugging away and sooner or later, people will become enlightened to it. The 'Net is incredible. There's just so many Dream Theater pages that it's ridiculous." "There's not one day that goes by that I don't appreciate where I am and the potentials of where we can go. I don't take it for granted. I remember how hard I was working when I was down in Toronto and how many good musicians out there who never see this side of the business, and they never will. As much as people come up to us and go, 'Hey, man. You're so lucky.' I don't want to look at myself as lucky. I'm fortunate. I don't look at it as luck. Luck's not the proper word. You're fortunate. Obviously, talent has something to do with it, especially in a band like Dream Theater. Everyone has to pull their weight. We're always pushing each other further and harder. It's cool. We're all really appreciative of where we're going and the fact that we're worldwide and the fact that we're doing press all over the world." LaBrie on Falling Into Infinity... "We want to tap into the Rush crowd," LaBrie states simply. "If Rush is still selling 2, 3 million per album worldwide. Let us tap into that. Instead of us selling a million albums worldwide per album. How about we sell 3 million worldwide? We want to tap into Rush's crowd. We want to tap into Pink Floyd's people. Those people are out there. They obviously really enjoy this kind of music. I think the fact that the album sounds more rounded and more laid back is the fact that when you're around people a lot longer and you continue writing, obviously you're going to evolve and everything's going to follow suit. Or at least, you hope you're going to evolve as songwriters. Once again, it's proven that we've really matured. Everything is more focused on the song and not on the individual superfluous being, which might have been more evident on Images at some times and Awake at some times." LaBrie on his voice... "When I came up to do this album, I really wanted people to hear more of a character voice. I've always delved into lyrical content and try to immerse myself in it because I think that's the singer's job. You have to be able to convey what the lyrical and emotional content should be, whether you wrote the lyrics or not, even if the listener doesn't understand the language. So that the emotion just comes out in the voice. It's an instrument, that's how you have to approach it. With this album, I wanted to concentrate more on the cleanliness, but I wanted to give each song a personality. I wanted to give each song a life of its own, vocally. I think that pretty much sums up how I approached this album. I was consciously aware that I wanted to bring myself back to more of the Images approach to singing, but at the same time, grow as a vocalist and give it more character, more feeling, more emotion. There's some songs that you really notice that I got into my blues influence because I really love the blues. There are some sections when you could tell that I was just going for the blues and the guys were just digging it." ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 10:34:36 -0400 From: Eric Rodger To: email_address_removed Subject: Re: DT Lyrics analysis Message-ID: At 09:25 PM 9/8/97 -0700, you wrote: > >>I think the lyrics went downhill with Awake, and it sounds like they will >>deteriorate even more with the new CD. > >I agree... It's amazing how once Kevin Moore left, the lyrical quality >dropped off >somewhat.... so one would expect that it was very heavily KM influenced, >but then >when you look at some of the KM singles, the lyrics are not very good >either. (at >least the few I've heard/seen). One must wonder where the "great" lyrics >of surrounded, >Another Day, TTT, WFS, etc. (a few from Awake), have gone to? maybe I just Some of this doesn't make sense. I won't try to refute statement that the Awake lyrics went downhill, being that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I will say that I disagree by about 1000%. Compared to I&W, the lyrics are very dark and depressing, but the writing is just as emotional, moving, and eloquent - and this is coming from a guy who despises literature. Again, that's just my opinion, so I won't go on too long about it. The point that I can factually rebut, is the comment about the lyrical quality dropping off after Kevin left. How can you make that point, when we haven't really been exposed to anything POST-Kevin. Kevin was an integral part of Awake, lyrically. ACOS doesn't count, since it was penned by Portnoy, and while Kevin was in the band. Unless you already have the lyrics to FII, I don't see how you can make this statement. KAI ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 09:49:00 -0700 From: Brandon Vaughn To: email_address_removed Subject: Lemur Voice (NDTC) / Jason Hartman's post / ACOS Project update Message-ID: Since I've been hearing so much about this band the past few months from the Jam, I decided to get their album "Insights." So far, I have really enjoyed it. Just about all prog albums have to grow on me (including all of DT). That's why I'll wait to make any opinion on FII until about 3 months after I've gotten it. But this album I believe will quickly grow on me. It has got some good stuff on it. They really have some good moments on this CD. Some have mentioned them being a clone of DT. After my first listen, I don't think this is true. Maybe _at times_ heavily influenced, but not a clone. About 1/2 of their songs don't even sound anything remotely close to what DT would have done. Maybe some of the guitar/key unison parts remind people of DT. Those parts are the heavily-influenced DT part to me. But to call them a clone would be like calling the Galactic Cowboys a clone of King's X. I personally think the Galactic Cowboys are very much influenced (at one time) by King's X, but listen to the CDs side-by-side, and you'll hear two different bands with similar elements. The same with DT and Lemur Voice (my opinion...with DT being the better of the two obviously). Someone else mentioned that most of the CDs they bought were because of recommendations off the Jam. I know that is true for me. I really appreciate everyone who is kind enough to share their likes and dislikes for bands in the vein of DT on the Jam. I don't know what others thought of Jason Hartman's "finger" post, but for some reason I thought it was a particularly funny reply to the message. The original message was a bit rude, and it seemed like a funny response. I guess it was the drama of it. Usually, I would hope this would be sent by private email. But on my screen was first the quote of the replied post. I thought, "I wonder how Jason will reply to that? I wonder how I would reply to that?" Click my down screen and the image totally caught me off guard. I guess more than anything, I am taken up with ASCII art (ala my sig). I'm amazed at how you can take abstract characters and turn them into "seeable" pictures. The fan club thing is peculiar to me. I remember sending off for it when the Christmas CD was coming out. It seemed to take forever for it to arrive (months after others had gotten it). Now I think the new issue has been out for a while (right?), and I haven't seen anything. Maybe I'm on the bottom of the list and it takes a few months for them to finally get to me. Kind of like my Spock's Beard CDs that I'm still waiting for. As mentioned earlier, the updated files for the TAB of ACOS have been posted to the web site. Anyone interested in being a checker, please email me (I'll send you the web address). I'm hoping to be able to wrap up the checking by Sept. 23 (too much to do after that...I know I'll be listening to the new DT and Royal Hunt). Nobody has mentioned their preference on the bass tab for ACOS. Anyone interested in taking that over? \\||// ~~..'~ ( \ ) Brandon Vaughn \ c/ __\/__ "The Mad Tabber" / \ _< . _ \ email_address_removed \ `\ \ -' / \ \ ,,,_ >|""O[|||||nn[:::< email_address_removed /_,--- ._\ '''''~ ~ | | | | | ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 17:08:16 +0000 From: Steffen Barabasch To: email_address_removed Subject: Release in Germany Message-ID: Hi! To anyone who cares: The album will be released on the 22th. This is from the horse's mouth, I just phoned with EW Germany. Later, Steffen - THE MIRROR ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 10:12:14 -0500 From: "The Notorious B.I.G. S.W.I.F.T.Y." To: email_address_removed Subject: Font used on FII postcard Message-ID: Hello, everyone! While messing around with ideas for J-sleeve layouts I stumbled across a font called "Flexure." It looks suspiciously like the lettering on the "Falling Into Infinity" postcard that everyone (but me, it seems) has received in the mail. My first thought was "Storm uses shareware fonts," and my second was "I want to take a nap." Take it easy, Mark -- *********************************************************************** * Mark Peters -- email_address_removed -- Auburn University, Class of '99 * * Ytsejammer, tape trader at http://www.auburn.net/~swifty/index.html * * Progressive tape swap - http://www.auburn.net/~swifty/tapeswap.html * * * * "Sometimes when I watch a parade, I wonder how many of the marchers * * are in desperate need of a good piss." - George Carlin * *********************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 Sep 1997 11:10:48 -0400 From: "Syrinx" To: "A Ytse Besides Itself" Subject: Fw: The Musical Box in Philly Message-ID: for those of you who live in philly... >The Musical Box will be at the Electric Factory >in Philadelphia on Oct 15, 1997. Tickets are $18 >in advance. The Electric Factory (6th & Callowhill) >is much bigger than the TLA and has a decent bar! I had an opportunity to see them at the TLA in April, and it was one of the greatest shows i've ever seen. i HIGHLY reccommend going to this. I'll probably be there, so if you need rides.... wow. finneus and the musical box back to back. talk about a good week. =) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- e-mail: email_address_removed / email_address_removed erotomania! = http://www.mindspring.com/~syrinx offical lemur voice hompage: http://www.mindspring.com/~syrinx/lemur.htm ------------------------------ End of YTSEJAM Digest 2952 **************************