YTSEJAM Digest 3003 Today's Topics: 1) Is that a windows sound? by "Brian Anderson" 2) Zeros and otherness by Chris Ptacek 3) UNCLASSIFIED:-FII by email_address_removed.au 4) so, does it work *both* ways? by Kevin Madden 5) A note... by Adam Barnhart 6) Re: Is that a windows sound? by "ÞrØgßø¥" 7) random musings about FII. by Jim Beavens 8) Columbia Best Buy is Falling into Infinity by Kevin Madden 9) Re: YTSEJAM digest 3001 by MrQ 10) Yes, some FII Comments! by Jon Byrne 11) GRAMMAR, PLEASE!!!! by Eckie 12) Just curious (all FIIC) by Jon Dery 13) YKYADTFW by Jeff Olson 14) misspelling??? by Chris Daley 15) FII stuff... who's Vanessa? by "Chad L. Cook" 16) Some odds and ends by Keith Aspinall 17) Poison (no DTC) by "Richard A. Rivera" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 19:12:23 +0000 From: "Brian Anderson" To: email_address_removed Subject: Is that a windows sound? Message-ID: Hello, Is that a windows (as in Microsoft) sound I hear in Lines in the Sand somewhere around 10:15? You know, that standard sound that you get when open a window. Sure sounds familiar. Anways, I hear lots of different influences on the new stuff . . . and I like it a lot. That's all I'll say for now. -Brian Anderson ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 19:14:59 -0500 From: Chris Ptacek To: email_address_removed Subject: Zeros and otherness Message-ID: So far, the only thing I don't like on the album is the presentation of the vocal melody in Anna Lee... something about the doubling of Labrie's voice like that, or whoever is singing backup with him isn't ringing right to me. But as I've mentioned, this observation is with little or no merit this early on, since I've only heard that song about 4 or 5 times now. I think I like the variety of the album, and I hear a lot of familiar styles... I'm glad Petrucci is branching out a bit instead of playing so many scales... a lot of cool chromatic ideas here. > >Whoever was asking if we could lynch him... > >I say let's get the torches. I'd like this CD a whole bunch more if > >it weren't for the crappy production. And, before you ask, > >YES, I COULD do better! Hmm. I think the production is pretty good overall, but not spectacular by any stretch. But it's been my experience that this can also get screwed up at the mastering facility. Ron Thal produced his own most recent cd, and everything sounded great until they mastered it at a place that tended towards a different style of music. But I guess to some extent, production is in the ears of the listener. The album certainly isn't cutting edge production-wise, but I would definitely disagree if you say WDADU is better production! :) I put it a notch above I&W, but a notch below Awake and ACoS production-wise. >From: durnik >Subject: Thoughts on Lines in the Sand > > LITS: It's Voices meets Over My Head. Can it ever get any better >than this? > > Doug Pinnick adds an ingredient to that song that DT sorely >needed. KJLB is a good vocalist, but he plays the voice like an >instrument, taking it to heights and breadths unheard of to add power and >polish to the songs. That pretty much says everything right there for me on this issue. I'm a fan of both bands, and wasn't sure what to expect when the two bands collide... I think it sounds cool... I see that some people are hardlined the other direction. >From: Seroussi >To: email_address_removed >Subject: stuff... I have yet to see a post from this guy that isn't obnoxious (To put it as nicely as possible). And a note about two subjective terms we use here: Progress means there has to be some forward movement. Some change must occur that is a departure from what they've been doing. Whether Progressive has other meanings to you or not, you really can't argue the definition of progress, and that's the root or the term "progressive". As for musical maturity, I think it's all about making a song more "song-like". Writing to fit a song, instead of writing to fill space in a song. I think the thing I hate most on any DT album is the middle solo on ACoS (the big 3 octave minor scale... )... that just sounds like something that was thrown in for lack of anything better to do. It is a subjective thing, and yet, most people agree on what musical maturity is. If you're a musician, you can tell when someone's using something they just learned, or you can tell when someone's trying to merely impress you with their technical ability. These are very clear signs that there's growing to be done. A great session keyboardist I once met was discussing Dream Theater with me... he said something along the lines of (During Metropolis) "This is musically great... this is the kind of thing you'd LOVE to go see... but twenty years from now, outside of their hardcore following, this will no longer exist. This isn't a song... a song is something that gets stuck in your head, and never dies... like some of the more classic Beatles tunes, or even Hendrix..." I agree... any other opinions? Christopher W. Ptacek IRC: Madsman Tech Support EnterAct, L.L.C. http://www.enteract.com http://www.prognosis.com/madsman "You can be a dreamer You can be your dream come true Let imagination lead Reality will follow through" - Michael Hedges ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 10:18:29 +1000 From: email_address_removed.au To: email_address_removed Subject: UNCLASSIFIED:-FII Message-ID: Is fucking brilliant, love the ballards, 'Lines In The Sand' kicks me till it hurts, Doug's backing vox are awesome. Trial Of Tears reminds me a lot of Rush, another reason to love it. A very happy DT fan :) gRaham_ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 20:15:58 -0400 From: Kevin Madden To: email_address_removed Subject: so, does it work *both* ways? Message-ID: Chris Ptacek spouted: >I would never tell you that your opinion is wrong. I >WILL however, tell you that _I think_ (that's MY opinion) your opinion is >worthless, if it's based on 24 hours or less of being in contact with the >album. So all of you who love the new album just couldn't be right! Your opinions are worthless! You have only based them on less than 24 hours of being in contact with the album. ;-P CD of the Day (nod) - Dream Theater - Falling into Infinity Green Bay Packers - The Quest to Repeat 3-1 This Week: at Detroit Kevin ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 17:18:31 From: Adam Barnhart To: email_address_removed Subject: A note... Message-ID: >From: the great wazoo > >read you - jerry :--) >--------------------------------------------------------------- >Andreas Schaefer jerry@muc.de > ...bei 200 Grad 15 Minuten backen, und keine Eier! - Tool Sorry about this...I don't usually do this shit, but I must say that Mr. Schaefer shows some awesome taste in music with the above quote. The Balls of Satan, indeed! God, I love that song. Who says Tool has no sense of humor...it's awesome, it's radical, it's just generally cool. Five Gratuitous CD's: ===================== 1. Dar Williams: End of the Summer 2. Dream Theater: Images and Words 3. Sarah McLachlin: Surfacing 4. Genesis: Calling All Stations 5. Rush: Hold Your Fire Adam Barnhart email_address_removed email_address_removed http://www.cfmc.com/adamb ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 20:14:11 -0400 From: "ÞrØgßø¥" To: email_address_removed Subject: Re: Is that a windows sound? Message-ID: Brian Anderson wrote: > Hello, > > Is that a windows (as in Microsoft) sound I hear in Lines in the Sand somewhere > around 10:15? You know, that standard sound that you get when open a > window. Sure sounds familiar. Anways, I hear lots of different > influences on the new stuff . . . and I like it a lot. That's all > I'll say for now. > > -Brian Anderson hehee i cant find it anywhere!... hmm were you listening to the cd on your computer by any chanCE?? hehe lol! Its great btw... i dont wanna do another review -- In the stream of consciousness There is a river crying Living comes much easier Once we admit , We're dying. Dream Theater: Lines in the Sand http://premium.caribe.net/~calfaro mailto:email_address_removed mailto:email_address_removed Universal Internet Number (ICQ) 1254229 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 17:25:36 -0700 From: Jim Beavens To: email_address_removed Subject: random musings about FII. Message-ID: A few thoughts about FII after driving around aimlessly for an hour listening to it: * Is anyone else reminded of Extreme in some songs? In particular, in Just Let Me Breathe and Burning My Soul, those fast, funky, groovin' licks instantly made me think of Extreme (and I like!!! ;). * What's up with James? First of all, somebody should tell the producer that it helps to have the microphone in the _same_ room as the performer. Some songs sound like he's being recorded through a wall or something. * More James: What happened to his libratto? (libretto? vibrato? Or am I even thinking of the right word...you know, when a voice goes "wah wah" when holding long notes). JLB has the most natural-sounding I've ever heard, but for some reason he barely uses it in the entire album. Hollow Years, for example, has _none_ of this. All notes are held at the same pitch, and frankly I think it suffers for this; James' voice really loses something when he does this. * Jeez, I just can't get off James: Does anyone else think he holds back too much on some songs? It's almost like he's doing a half-whisper thing on some parts. Speak up James! We can't hear ya! * Btw, I'm a huge James LaBrie fan, and have loved everything he's done in the past. =) * CD-challenged people of the world, rejoice! All songs are included on the cassette! The track list is rearranged, however: 1. New Millenium 2. You Not Me 3. Peruvian Skies 4. Hollow Years 5. Just Let Me Breathe 6. Anna Lee 7. Burning My Soul 8. Hell's Kitchen 9. Lines in the Sand 10. Take Away My Pain 11. Trial of Tears * Oh yeah, the music kicks ass! -- Jim Beavens | If I had a witty remark that MD6 Design Engineer, Intel Corp, Hillsboro OR | would better the lives of my -=(UDIC)=- Subconscious Dragon -=(UDIC)=- | fellow mankind, do you really ** I don't speak for Intel ** | think I would put it HERE? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 20:29:10 -0400 From: Kevin Madden To: email_address_removed Subject: Columbia Best Buy is Falling into Infinity Message-ID: I went to the Columbia Best Buy this afternoon around 12:15 and believe it or not, there was another dude there picking up the disc at the same time. So there, Pat! You said you never saw anyone buy DT - imagine what the chick at the register was thinking when two people in a row bought it! So far I like what I hear - You Not Me excepted. CD of the Day (Besides FII) King Diamond - The Graveyard Green Bay Packers - The Quest to Repeat 3-1 This Week: at Detroit Kevin ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 19:39:02 -0500 From: MrQ To: email_address_removed Subject: Re: YTSEJAM digest 3001 Message-ID: ----- >2) "Roll The Bones?" YES, man! I know it's blasphemy, but I actually >like that record better than, say, "A Farewell to Kings" or "Power >Windows." Actually, there are a chunk of records -- "Moving Pictures," >"Permanent Waves," "Hemispheres," "Counterparts," "2112" -- that are all >kinda vying for the title of Adam's Second Favorite Rush Album ("Hold Your >Fire," far and away, is my first), but I think I'd generally say that "Roll >The Bones" is IT. > Sorry but RTB is one of the worst Rush albums for me. It has 5 really great songs on it but the rest are just boring for the most part. After "Where's my Thing?" it's all down hill. -"Q" THE VOID - http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/club/4605 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 20:57:27 -0400 (EDT) From: Jon Byrne To: email_address_removed Subject: Yes, some FII Comments! Message-ID: Just thought I'd throw in a quick 2 cents here: After about 1.5 listens, I'm definitely intrigued by the album. Only one tune strikes me as worthless ("Hollow Years"). "A New Millenium" definitely has a little bit of a _Discipline_-era King Crimson feel to it. There seems to be a goodly amount of variety in JP's guitar work here, which I think is a good thing. Overall, I'd say that "Lines in the Sand" is an instant classic, and "Just Let Me Breathe", well, it just rocks. :) Look for a more detailed review on my web page by this weekend (I hope). Jam on, Jonathan Byrne, 2L; WVU Collge of Law email_address_removed Album Reviews, Race Results, Commentary, and more at: http://access.mountain.net/~rael/home.htm ----------------------------------------------------------- "A daily dose of eMpTyV Will flush your mind right down the drain." -Mike Portnoy, "Just Let Me Breathe", Dream Theater ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 18:14:27 -0700 From: Eckie To: email_address_removed Subject: GRAMMAR, PLEASE!!!! Message-ID: > than the more power to them. Trying to make a Okay, the last thing I want to do is clutter up the jam with an NDTC post, but this is like the zillionth time I've seen the words "then" and "than" mixed up. PLEASE, read a grammar book, THEN use that word! It's one of 'em Eckie-pisser-offers (the term "pet-peeve" being another). ~Eckie, your 5th grade English teacher P.S. This is not a flame. FII slays everything. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 21:07:01 -0400 From: Jon Dery To: email_address_removed Subject: Just curious (all FIIC) Message-ID: Yo. Does anyone else here: - love the "Step Right Up Folks" Vocal Sample in Just Let Me Breathe? - love the subtle industrial seasonings that Derek adds to some of the songs? - love the cool sample after KJLB says "the wasteland" in Trial Of Tears? - now realize that they may have underestimated Myung in the past? (There are some pretty Jazzy lines that he plays on this album which just floor me.) - notice how some songs are very headphone oriented while others seemed to be created more for cranking out of a LOUD speaker? - think that Derek is a great prog player but an even better Jazz player? (Sorry. I just love Jazz/Fusion.) - find that Trial Of Tears is growing on you A LOT!? - think that Just Let Me Breathe should have been the first single?(!) I just figured I'd try to get some FII threads on the Jam other than reviews (I know. I'm a hyppocrate!) and "Is this prog?" posts. Later. ~-~Jon Dery~-~ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 08:19:58 -0500 From: Jeff Olson To: email_address_removed Subject: YKYADTFW Message-ID: You take off work to be the first one of your freinds to buy FII. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 21:19:07 -0400 From: Chris Daley To: email_address_removed Subject: misspelling??? Message-ID: In the song "Hollow Years", there's the following verse in the booklet: "Once the stone You're crawling under Is lifted off your shoulders Once the cloud that's raining Over you head disappears <----------over you head???? The noise that you'll hear Is the crashing down of Hollow Years" I think James distinctly says "your"..shrug.. Chris. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 21:26:59 -0400 (EDT) From: "Chad L. Cook" To: Dream Theater Subject: FII stuff... who's Vanessa? Message-ID: After about 5 full listens since noon, all I have to say is that this album ROCKS. Yes it's different. Yes it's DT. Yes I think more people will like it... this is a good thing. I like YNM despite everyone's complaint that it's got DC helping out with it. There's something strangely familiar about the melodies in that tune... Does anyone know who Vanessa is in Peruvian Skies? (did I miss the conversation on this already?) real? made up? I dunno about everyone else but I find lots of emotion on this album... another thing I'm psyched about is that there's a lot of jazzy licks on here.. very cool... Maybe I'm just a DT fanatic and will find something good in everything the do... hmmm ;) Chad ____________________________________________________________________________ Chad L. Cook BBN Technologies Senior Systems Administrator 733 Concord Avenue email_address_removed Cambridge, MA 02138 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 17:12:53 -0700 (MST) From: Keith Aspinall To: email_address_removed Subject: Some odds and ends Message-ID: Some random notes from the past week... 1. the reason anna lee made the album instead of WAYN is because james wrote the lyrics. he wrote 3, so they picked the one that fit the best. WAYN was written by JP, i believe, so if that made the album, most likely one of his would have gotten the squiggy (hollow years would be the only possiblity). 2. portnoy's use of the word 'shit' in BMS is not wrong or bad or whatever you want to term it. since profanity has never been used in DT's songs (except for that 'thought disorder'='fuck this whore') it has a certain measured effect. it fits the style of the song, and it lyrically fits. me, i have a bigger problem with 'new york city' and 'my own nonsense' in ToT. 3. my james defense. taking any one situation as indictative of a person's disposition is what psychologists call the fundamental attribution error (see, i'm learning stuff in school), which is basically when people interpret other people's actions as dispositional traits instead of a reaction to the situation. moments of 'stress' would make this error even larger. my opinion, though, is that james isn't really a people person. that was the vibe i got when i hung around before and after the european shows in april. but that doesn't really matter, because dude's got pipes, which is more important than anything. 4. the concert set list. i don't see any reason why LitS wouldn't be played just because JP or MP couldn't do Pinnick's work justice. from what i've heard, harmonies/backing vocals isn't a prime concern for DT live. but that could just be some selective recall. 5. but about the album... i kind of wish i hadn't listen to the audio files because it's like i'm only getting half a new album, but that's ok. i'll just have to cope : P anywho, LitS _is_ the bomb. i remember thinking it was good in april, but i wasn't truly blown away. after three listens, it's right there with voices, scarred, and LtL. epic stuff. what i really like, though, is that three truly great songs finally are put back-to-back-to-back (BMS, HK, and LitS). every other album always had something that didn't quite measure up. i like the hints of past instrumentals LitS. some of the keys sounded like bits from a crack in the mirror (not a alot, but some of them were there) and at the 6 minute mark, some stuff from mists in the evening. keith ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 22:16:14 -0400 (EDT) From: "Richard A. Rivera" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Poison (no DTC) Message-ID: On Tue, 23 Sep 1997 email_address_removed wrote: > Didnt Kotzen join poison when CC was fired?? ...that was way after flesh and > blood right? .. Im not flaming..just asking..cuz i dont know my Poison too well! > I do. Richie Kotzen joined Poison well after both Flesh & Blood and the subsequent live album "Swallow This Live." He only played on one album called "Native Tongue," which, although featuring some obviously stellar guitar work and some significant lyrical maturity, lacked the the hook-laden, radio-friendly signature of their previous albums, though it was by no means a bad album. After Kotzen came Blues Saraceno, who, in addition to being an established solo artist in his own right, actually was Poison's 2nd choice after Kotzen. During the Native Tongue tour, it was discovered that Kotzen was fucking around with the girlfriend of the drummer (Riki Rockett). Kotzen was kicked off the tour and Blues was called in at the last minute to finish the tour. The group, with Blues in tow, then recorded an amazing album together for Capitol records called "Crack A Smile." But due to difficulties with the record company (not unlike those experienced by a certain band we all know and love), the album was shelved and never released, though several bootlegs of it do exist with varying degrees of completeness. Now, C.C. is back in the band, having finally beaten his battle with drugs, and the band is currently writing for their next studio album, which will hopefully see the light of day sometime in '98. It has yet to be determined which label the album will come out on, since Capitol actually has the option in it's contract to release it. Kotzen is currently married to the woman that got him kicked out of Poison. Look for the first solo album by Bret Michaels (singer) in early '98. This is, I'm sure, way more than you wanted to know, but that's what I'm here for. Richie ------------------------------ End of YTSEJAM Digest 3003 **************************