YTSEJAM digest 2056

From: ytsejam@ax.com
Date: Tue Nov 26 1996 - 12:02:48 EST

  • Next message: ytsejam@ax.com: "YTSEJAM digest 2060"

                                YTSEJAM Digest 2056

    Today's Topics:

      1) Eric Johnson's Headphones
     by michael.bradley@mail.cc.trincoll.edu (Michael Bradley)
      2) Galactic Cowboys show & 4th Estate (NDTC)
     by dantemm@erinet.com (Dan Temmesfeld)
      3) john p.
     by <raitz@guvatrak.ee> "Raivo Hool"
      4) You can always tell a newbie when......
     by Partha Mukhopadhyay <ahtrap@umich.edu>
      5) The gender thing
     by "NEVANS.US.ORACLE.COM" <NEVANS@us.oracle.com>
      6) set lists
     by jefffalk@bu.edu (Jeffrey Falk)
      7)
     by
      8) tidbits
     by "Glenn Pillsbury" <PILLSBUR@HUMnet.UCLA.EDU>
      9) Birch Hell pre-show; Web-page notes
     by "Paul W. Cashman" <vanyel@crl.com>
     10) DT Lie single
     by tallufo@juno.com (Tall UFO Productions)
     11) Rockin' Grlz!!!
     by Cliff & Pam Wheaton <cwheaton@micron.net>
     12) GREETINGS!
     by Vangelis Ballas <vballas@athena.auth.gr>
     13) Portnoy IS here...
     by 0lli-Pekka Komonen <op777@freenet.hut.fi>
     14) WE WANT DT IN GREECE!!!
     by "Student Account (95)" <csst9525@cs.uoi.gr>
     15) Re: YTSEJAM digest 2052
     by sebastjan.videc@uni-mb.si
     16) Re: YTSEJAM digest 2055
     by babs@sgenva.cc.geneseo.edu (Barb Battaglia)
     17) Phil's heaviness
     by svjohnson@amoco.com
     18) WomenJammers @ Rush in Boston
     by Anthony G LaSorsa <agls@christa.unh.edu>
     19) JP & Soul
     by Jon Parmet <jonp@mailstorm.dot.gov>
     20) Re: YTSEJAM digest 2055
     by Dan <drussell@thunder.ocis.temple.edu>
     21) Re: Phil's heaviness
     by "Vincent G. LuPone" <vgl@u.arizona.edu>
     22) The Soul of JP
     by rwarren@memphisonline.com

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 21:28:04 -0500
    From: michael.bradley@mail.cc.trincoll.edu (Michael Bradley)
    To: ytsejam@ax.com
    Subject: Eric Johnson's Headphones
    Message-ID: <199611260225.VAA01597@mail.trincoll.edu>

    Hey all!

    I've been MIA for a while, so I'd like to say hey to everyone and I look
    forward to seeing some of you at the CT DT show this December.

            About Eric Johnson wearing headphones on stage...Unfortunately,
    years of listening to his amps at very loud volumes has caused EJ to
    develop tinitis, a fairly serious condition of ear damage. Thus, the
    headphones. I believe one can recover from this condition, which causes
    ringing in the ears, but it takes some serious attention. Later all!

    -Mike Bradley

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 21:55:20 -0500 (EST)
    From: dantemm@erinet.com (Dan Temmesfeld)
    To: ytsejam@ax.com
    Subject: Galactic Cowboys show & 4th Estate (NDTC)
    Message-ID: <v01520d00aebf6261181e@[207.90.116.82]>

    Got back from seeing GC in Elgin, IL this weekend!! Awesome concert,
    despite the 12 hours driving.

    They played some new stuff, plus I got to talk with Wally some more. Monty
    and GC were wild on the stage, as ever. Monty actually dove into the crowd
    at the end of the show.

    4th Estate, one of the openers, was really good. They are all
    instrumental. Great guitarist! I only have one of their albums, See What
    I See; but I think they have other albums too. Worth checking out!

    Later,
    Dan

    ---+ +---
    Dan Temmesfeld - dantemm@erinet.com / s1133627@cedarville.edu
                 "Home of the Galactic Cowboys Page"
       http://www.cedarville.edu/student/s1133627/gcowboys.htm
    ---+ +---

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 06:16:15 +0200
    From: <raitz@guvatrak.ee> "Raivo Hool"
    To: ytsejam@ax.com
    Subject: john p.
    Message-ID: <199611260320.FAA13384@pepe.online.ee>

    > quarter-note. I'd say that Petrucci's playing HAS feel, passion, and
    > soul. I'm not sure I understand that the difference between the three
    > is, though....not in any meaningful way.

    One die-hard Dream Theater fan told me that he likes everything about
    the band except for Petrucci, 'cause "I know he's great, but he
    sounds ordinary".

    Flame away, but he really doesn't impress me as much as John Myung
    (for instance). For me, he doesn't have the "flashiness" that Vai
    has, or Richie Kotzen.

    I'm not insisting I'm any better though. I do pretend playing guitar
    and I am the first to admit I'm lightyears behind everybody. Petrucci
    plays where he belongs to, and what he's good at, but that's no good
    enough reason to praise him constantly. *Or* anyone else in the band
    either. I know it's an old statement, but they're really just guys
    making good music, and who cares who's faster (yuck... go find a job
    as a typist, if pure speed is the only thing that matters) or more
    "passionate" than the other.

    It's getting too harsh already. Damn, I didn't want it to. It only
    seems to me that the arguments here tend to sound like "he rules",
    "he kicks ass", "he rules and kicks ass", "he's so fast", "he's a
    true genius", "no one else is better than him"... Just like Nirvana
    fans explaining why Kurt Cobain was the best guitarist in the world.

    Flame via email, nobody wants to see it on the jam anyway.

    "Always constant, accurate, and intense."

    raitz

       maybe all I need besides my pills and surgery
       is a new metaphor for reality

                    queensryche, "dis con nec ted"

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 22:47:43 -0500 (EST)
    From: Partha Mukhopadhyay <ahtrap@umich.edu>
    To: Multiple recipients of list <ytsejam@ax.com>
    Subject: You can always tell a newbie when......
    Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.95.961125224603.12044B-100000@moonpatrol.rs.itd.umich.edu>

    They take Bafu TOO seriously......
    Since I got another Jam waiting, I'm sure this topic has already been
    addressed, but......
    Nicole, meet Bafu, aka Steve (but don't call him that to his face ;)
    aka supreme high jester/king of the ytsejam

    (glad to be of service)
                            partha

    ------------------------------

    Date: 25 Nov 96 19:22:16 -0800
    From: "NEVANS.US.ORACLE.COM" <NEVANS@us.oracle.com>
    To: ytsejam@ax.com
    Subject: The gender thing
    Message-ID: <199611260403.UAA10414@mailsun3-fddi.us.oracle.com>

    Just to throw out another question on the DT gender/appreciation issue:
     
    If someone could tell me why so few women decide to play the guitar, or the
    drums, or to make hard/progressive rock music, maybe the answer would shed
    some light on why few(er) women appreciate DT. It seems to me that the
    majority of DT fans are musicians, and the relative scarcity of female fans
    may have more to do with the relative scarcity of female hard rock musicians
    than any genetic bent toward using or not using certain regions of the brain..
     
    -Neil.
     
    /===============================================================\
    | Neil Evans Phone: 415.506.3503 |
    | Server Technologies Division Fax: 415.506.7370 |
    | Oracle Corporation email: nevans@us.oracle.com |
    \===============================================================/

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 23:29:28 -0500
    From: jefffalk@bu.edu (Jeffrey Falk)
    To: ytsejam@ax.com
    Subject: set lists
    Message-ID: <v01540b01aec0202add44@[128.197.8.225]>

    >I'll admit, I haven't been paying attention to 100% of the jam posts
    >recently, but does anyone have an idea of what Dream Theater will play for
    >the December shows? I assume they'll be trying out some new material, but
    >as for the older stuff, what does everyone think? Last time they were
    >around, there were a number of us who posted about wanting to hear some
    >songs from WDADU. Although I doubt this is a possibility, it would be
    >nice to hear. The songs I think they will stick with this December: Lie,
    >Mirror, CoS, PMU, LtL, and I think they may even stick with a covers
    >medley instrumental. It seemed like they had such a great time doing that
    >last time I saw them. Just speculating.....ryan
            I don't know about "ACoS" or "LtL" (I'm sure they won't do "LtL" at
    every show). I would expect "Lie," "PMU," "TTT," "LSoaD," "TSM" "AD" and
    "Voices" at just about every show. I would rather hear "Innocence Faded,"
    "Learning to Live," "Caught in a Web," and "Surrounded," and "Metropolis."

    ------------------------------

    Jeff Falk
    Box 3208
    700 Commonwealth Avenue
    Boston, Massachusetts 02215
    (617) 352-8639
    jefffalk@bu.edu

    "Thanksgiving is a typically _American_ holiday. In spite of its religious
    form (giving thanks to God for a good harvest), its essential, secular
    meaning is _a celebration of successful production_. It is a producers'
    holiday. The lavish meal is a symbol of the fact that abundant consumption
    is the result and reward of production."
            Ayn Rand, "Cashing In on Hunger," _The Ayn Rand Letter_

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 21:10:43 PST
    From: "Glenn Pillsbury" <PILLSBUR@HUMnet.UCLA.EDU>
    To: ytsejam@ax.com
    Subject: tidbits
    Message-ID: <203165310C4@113hum2.humnet.ucla.edu>

    First, I like country music a whole damn lot and would rather not be
    thought of as a mindless simpleton.

    Second, Maiden as prog? hmmm. Have to say pro(g)ably not. I just
    don't hear the same overall effect of "progness" that I hear with DT,
    et al. In fact, I pro(g)ably (ok, I know, enough...) turn to Maiden
    when I want to hear great metal that _isn't_ prog.

    Second.5, I did get Dickinson's first solo album but haven't really
    bothered to get the later ones. I don't like the way his voice has
    changed since Seventh Son; it's not as pure and powerful as it was
    back in the day.

    Third, wait...is there a third thing? I don't remember...oh
    yeah...I'VE GOT A GREAT IDEA FOR A TOP 5 LIST!!!! hehe j/k D-Man...

    Looking forward to my metal lecture tomorrow,
    Glenn

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 23:07:23 -0800 (PST)
    From: "Paul W. Cashman" <vanyel@crl.com>
    To: ytsejam@ax.com
    Subject: Birch Hell pre-show; Web-page notes
    Message-ID: <199611260707.AA12151@crl10.crl.com>

    I'm still hoping to hear from some Jerseyites about setting up
    something before the BH show. We need:
      -- a fairly large restaurant
      -- that can be contacted beforehand and who would approve a
         gathering of us there (not too hard; we'd eat there, right?)
      -- that's near Birch Hill
      -- and isn't named the Fantasia Diner. :)

    Trey Allen, Bafu Vai, was the place we stopped at AFTER the show (you
    remember, Brandon hitting on the waitress :)) called the Seville
    Diner? That place was pretty cool, probably large enough, and had
    good pastrami. :)

    Newly added Web pages of note:

      www.crl.com/~vanyel/dt-lirr.html
          --My review of Ytsecon III, or more accurately, the hell-trip
            that surrounded it :)

      www.crl.com/~vanyel/taglines.html
          --A listing of some of the taglines I used to use on BBSs. Some
    of them are quirky, some make a little less sense now than they did
    back then, and some are just plain funny. :) Yes, BTW, there is
    some DTC. :)

    -- 
    Seen my diary on the newsstand           |            Paul W. Cashman
    Seems we've lost the truth to quicksand  |        www.crl.com/~vanyel
    It's a shame no-one is praying       <---+---  Dream Theater "Voices"
    'Cause these voices in my head keep sayin'.."Love, just don't stare."
    

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 02:45:09 EST From: tallufo@juno.com (Tall UFO Productions) To: ytsejam@ax.com Subject: DT Lie single Message-ID: <19961125.234547.7070.0.tallufo@juno.com>

    >>>>Best Buy opened a store here in Memphis last Saturday. I picked up a Lie CD single. The studio version of To Live Forever is coooooll!!<<<<<<

    YOU GOT THAT?!?!?!?!!!!!! I've been looking for that for MONTHS!!! YEARS EVEN!!! Everywhere I go, including the local BB, says it's out of print and they can't get it. I'll pay someone $25 if they want to sell me theirs, or perhaps a trade for "The Silent Man"? It seems I can find that one everywhere (but I have it already), but can never find "Lie".

    Oh, the irritation...and jealousy, no doubt.

    -Nate

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 10:40:22 -0700 From: Cliff & Pam Wheaton <cwheaton@micron.net> To: ytsejam@ax.com Subject: Rockin' Grlz!!! Message-ID: <3299DA06.4061@micron.net>

    Hi all-long time lurking for me!! I've just been working too much lately to catvh up on all of these-got a few caught up, tho!! a comment here: > > Well, Nicole, you're not entirely alone. I know there are more > >women on the Jam, though they might not be posting much these days. Let's > >see... Rachel, Charone, Patricia, the three Jenns, Stacy, Jaime, Anna, > >hmmmm... seems I'm forgetting a few.

    Well, what about me????

    I've been working alot-but it's been pretty ok. We took on a partner a week or so ago, I've got a car going in for engine replacement today, and its a holiday week, which means either it'll be very good or very bad for me-I'll know soon!! Hopefully I'll have time to post more when this all settles down again!!!

    New tunage for me: New Yes( Keys to Ascension-Awesome!!!!) My friend loaned me more Hawkwind-Warrior on the Edge of time, Live Chronicles and their new one, Love In Space. What great music!!! The tapedeck in the cab is getting alot of use!!!

    I got my birthday present from Cliff early this year-Sim City 2000 special edition!!!! needless to say, I got lost in that for awhile!!

    If I forget to say it Thursday-a very happy Thanksgiving to all!!!!

    Keep rockin' Pam

    -- Pam Wheaton Cliff Wheaton _____/----^---\____ The greatest tool for world peace </__"Rockin Cabbie"__\o THE INTERNET 0 0 E-mail: cwheaton@micron.net URL:http://netnow.micron.net/~cwheaton ************************************************************************************

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 96 11:52:34 EET From: Vangelis Ballas <vballas@athena.auth.gr> To: ytsejam@ax.com Subject: GREETINGS! Message-ID: <9611260952.AA05634@dialup.athena.auth.gr>

    Hello DT fans! This is the first time I am writing to ytsejam and the reason is that I read Theo's mail asking for Greek DT fans in order to convince DT stop in Greece on their next tour. I AM WITH YOU THEO! WE ARE COUNTING ON YOU!! Along with me there is a friend of mine who signs Elessar the Elfstone. Count him in too. Thank you.

    "Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials, Scully?

    "Don't expect your own Messiah, this neverworld which you desire is only in your MIND." (Voices)

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 13:05:51 +0200 (EET) From: 0lli-Pekka Komonen <op777@freenet.hut.fi> To: ytsejam@ax.com Subject: Portnoy IS here... Message-ID: <199611261105.NAA16892@freenet.hut.fi>

    Hello again!!

    OK, now we know that "big brother" aka. Mike Portnoy reads every jam, well, howcome he never posts, since he must know a handful of answers to ytse-questions. My guess is that he posts. Maybe not so often but he does. You say that you don't remember seeing any of his posts.Well if you were him, would you tell your E-mail address to hundreds of lunatics that would get your mailbox filled in no time? Of course you wouldn't. You would use someone others name & account, maybe even say something like "Portnoy suxx" or pretend not to well write enlgish langaaugi.(hey, maybe _I_ am Mike Portnoy...) Now, let's find out what acronym he uses, you can count in everyone, except the ones you know in person (or maybe Mike is even more subtle than I think and has an total fake ytseperson...) send in your guess to jam or via private E-mail!!!

    Come on Mike, let's make this easier to everyone, and come out, before anybody gets hurt!!!

    Olli-Pekka Komonen the number 1 DT fan in...

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 14:03:48 +0200 From: "Student Account (95)" <csst9525@cs.uoi.gr> To: Dream Theater Mailing List <ytsejam@ax.com> Subject: WE WANT DT IN GREECE!!! Message-ID: <329ADCA4.466A@cs.uoi.gr>

    > GREEKS WRITE AND COMPLAIN .....WE WANT DREAM THEATER AND WE WANT THEM > NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Hello Theo...here's another greek on this list and you are absolutely right!!Greeks are the most crazy audience and the most fanatical funs of Dream Theater!!!!They MUST visit Greece!!!

    Paschalis-Elessar

    e-mail csst9525@cs.uoi.gr or cmpsc126@cc.uoi.gr

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 14:45:40 +0100 (MET) From: sebastjan.videc@uni-mb.si To: ytsejam@ax.com Subject: Re: YTSEJAM digest 2052 Message-ID: <01ICB06HJLYA0017AN@mbgw.izum.si>

    A Reply to crapola... It's interesting to hear(read) that someone else is also playing trombone and bass... Anyway they are quite close(bass clef you know)... CA Sebastjan.Videc@uni-mb.si

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 09:08:34 -0500 (EST) From: babs@sgenva.cc.geneseo.edu (Barb Battaglia) To: ytsejam@ax.com Subject: Re: YTSEJAM digest 2055 Message-ID: <v01510103aec05f84f48a@[137.238.26.12]>

    >>Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 06:02:01 -0800 (PST) >>From: Steve Borzilleri <magellan@u.washington.edu> >>Subject: Hobbies & Flame-Bait > >>> another query - is it really so rare for a female to love DT? I noticed >>> one other besides me (i think her name is Jill) on the list, and in my >>> area, I am the only chickie. hmmm.......any explanations or ideas? >> >>Someone once said that DT's music was complex and intricate. "Thinking" >>music that an untrained ear or mind would have to plow through and ponder >>upon first contact in order to truly appreciate or understand. >> >>I venture that this has something to do with the parallel theory that men >>display a heightened usage of the analytical regions of the brain whereas >>women use more of the empathetic regions. This pattern of thought and >>choice within the human brain is not my decision or preference. It existed >>before I was born. I am observing what Is and answering a question based >>on a conclusion I have arrived at. Anyone with an eager swastika-brand may >>feel free to disinvite me from their sandbox.

    Alright. I just have to put in my two cents. Ok, I fully understand what you are trying to convey Bafu, but with you're being a man you couldn't articulate it very well. I'm not going to go all nuts here, but I just want to make you men aware that us women really do understand DT more than you guys know. Men tend to underestimate women when it comes to music, it's how can I put it? The law of the land so to speak. As the world continues to spin though things are changing and I think that you men will be pleasantly surprised - look at all the wonderful female talent out there! Look at music's past history and see the contribution that women made. Trust me Bafu - some of us really do "grasp it"....

    Now to totally get infantile for a bit - I want everyone to check out my sig of the week:

    Grow some dope - plant a MAN!

    -BABS :)

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 96 08:23:03 -0600 From: svjohnson@amoco.com To: ytsejam@ax.com Subject: Phil's heaviness Message-ID: <199611261423.AA18617@interlock.amoco.com>

    >That's the thing that I think is so funny. Anselmo has come down SO >hard on Metallica since the release of "Load." I mean, Pantera was >not exactly the heaviest band on the planet in the mid- and late-80's >and Metallica was putting together records like "Master Of Puppets" >and "...And Justice For All." The glass houses thing, y'know? I thought that Phil only played on (maybe) one disc when Pantera was glam (a la "Diamond Darrell" v. "Dimebag"). From what I understand, he was the biggest influence on the band getting its present hardness, that he wasn't as into the vibe the band had. Anyone care to confirm this? What was the name of Pantera's former lead singer? I haven't gotten a Mouth4War in a while or else I'd research myself. Happy THANKSGIVING to those in the U.S.! Be safe!!!!! Steve

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 09:54:56 -0500 (EST) From: Anthony G LaSorsa <agls@christa.unh.edu> To: ytsejam <Ytsejam@ax.com> Subject: WomenJammers @ Rush in Boston Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91a.961126095040.28832B-100000@christa.unh.edu>

    Hello again! I saw Rush on November 9th at the Fleet Center. They were obviously awesome. I was in the 17th row on the floor and a female jammer was sitting almost directly behind me. She had on an old ytsejam Tshirt. It was red. May I ask which person on this list it was? Please e-mail me @ agls@christa.unh.edu thanks! Tony PS. Got me some DT tix for Providence!!! Yay!!!!

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 15:01:27 +0000 From: Jon Parmet <jonp@mailstorm.dot.gov> To: ytsejam@ax.com Subject: JP & Soul Message-ID: <329B0647.6F59@mailstorm.dot.gov>

    How about the part in ACoS right before "I remember a time", where he takes it up an octave? That just spills soul all over the place! YES? NO? Time for another shock treatment? :)

    JP -- *------------*------------------------*--------------* | Jon Parmet | jonp@mailstorm.dot.gov | 617-494-2851 | *------------*------------------------*--------------*

    "An oak tree is just a nut that stood its ground."

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 10:56:24 -0500 (EST) From: Dan <drussell@thunder.ocis.temple.edu> To: ytsejam@ax.com Subject: Re: YTSEJAM digest 2055 Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.961126105426.19937B-100000@thunder.ocis.temple.edu>

    Yo people....one more time here!!! I have two tickets to see Dream Theater at Birch Hill on December 14th. If anyone is interested please email me in private. Thanks alot.

    By the way..Ronnie LeTekro of TNT is an unbelievable guitarist!!! And who out there is sick of the sounds of Yngwie J. Malmsteen???

    See ya All!! Dan

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 09:19:05 -0700 From: "Vincent G. LuPone" <vgl@u.arizona.edu> To: ytsejam@ax.com Subject: Re: Phil's heaviness Message-ID: <199611261619.JAA36516@kitts.u.arizona.edu>

    At 06:34 AM 11/26/96 -0800, you wrote: > I thought that Phil only played on (maybe) one disc when Pantera was > glam (a la "Diamond Darrell" v. "Dimebag"). From what I understand, > he was the biggest influence on the band getting its present hardness, > that he wasn't as into the vibe the band had. Anyone care to confirm > this? What was the name of Pantera's former lead singer? I haven't > gotten a Mouth4War in a while or else I'd research myself.

    There's no argument about how heavy Pantera is now. We were talking about how they completely changed before the release of Cowboys from Hell. As far as Phil, well, if you saw him with long hair in a style that's a cross between Tina Turner and Rod Stewart, you'd laugh your ass off just like I did.

    Peace be with you and God bless.

    ~Vince

    ------------------------------

    Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 10:51:16 -0600 From: rwarren@memphisonline.com To: ytsejam@ax.com Subject: The Soul of JP Message-ID: <3.0b33.32.19961126105110.006b8854@memphisonline.com>

    I have been on the jam for about nine months. I have posted several times but all small, pretty much meaningless posts. This one could get long. I guess it could still be meaningless?!?!

    >I know I'm gonna get slammed for this but oh well... I dont think JP >plays with as much soul as I would like. Passion yes, soul no. I know the

    I do not intend to slam you but I may come across that way. I apologize in advance. This just hits a nerve that has been stomped on for years. Historically, soul in guitar playing has been identified with slow playing. I have always maintained that the speed of notes or technical proficiency has nothing to do with soul. JP is a great example. Another great example is Tony MacAlpine.

    >difference. I think it has to with his classical training. I dont play

    I didn't realize he had classical training. My understanding is he was pretty much self taught until Berklee. I believe his training at Berklee was more Rock/Jazz. If he has any classical training, I can't hear it and I have several years of classical guitar training. The classical licks and arpeggios are more indicative of classical fusion guitarists of the 80's. I have never heard JP list a classical composer or instrumentalist as an influence.

    How do you define soul? One definition from "The American Heritage Dictionary" is "Emotional or expressive intensity, esp. in music". Can you honestly say that you do not feel the intensity in John's playing? If you can't I feel sorry for you. I feel John is one of the most refreshing guitarists I have heard in a long time. And how does classical training prevent a person from playing with soul? Do you hear the soul and passion in the works of Mozart, Beethoven or my personal favorite JS Bach? If not, I again feel sorry for you. Technical proficiency on an instrument does not mean you can't play with soul or (I am going to use the F word) FEEL. This doesn't just apply to JP, it applies to Dream Theater as a group. Can you not feel the intensity when listening to DT? Can you not feel how much these guys enjoying composing and performing their songs? They are writing and playing music they enjoy and it comes from their heart. They are not a group of musicians trying to cash in on the latest musical fad. When anyone composes something they believe in it comes from their soul.

    >player by training. Of course I'm comparing him to SRV and Hendrix.

    Why? You are comparing two completely different forms of music. If you want to listen to a great progressive metal guitarist listen to JP. If you want to listen to a great blues player listen to SRV. If you want to listen to an overrated guitar player play out of tune listen to Hendrix. (Fire away!!!) Personally I hate comparing guitarists, it is not a competition, it is art. However if you have to compare John to someone at least compare apples to apples.

    >there is little in the way of "soul." It seems written out and rehearsed

    You really need to listen to some other live recordings during this period. The chord progression is definitely written out and rehearsed but the solo is not. Sure he plays certain riffs everytime but usually in a slightly different way. However alot of times (at least in my experience) a certain riff signals the rest of the band to go to the next chord progression or variation during his solo. I will offer this advice for playing music. I wish I could take credit for it but credit goes to my late classical guitar teacher Mr. Fusco, "It is not the notes you play but how you play them. You can play every note perfectly and still not move anyone". This quote will stay with me forever. Even if every note of JP's solo were written out it does not mean he doesn't play it with soul.

    >there is always something to work on, to make better. In JP's case, I >think he can work on changing things up and work on his blues/soul

    Why do you want JP to play blues? IMO blues is not a very good fit with progressive music. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy listening to the blues sometimes. However I don't listen to Dream Theater at those times. I repeat, if you want to hear great blues listen to blues players such as BB King, SRV, Robert Cray, etc. If you want to hear great progressive metal listen to JP.

    Any comments, criticisms, are welcomed.

    Richard Warren rwarren@memphisonline.com

    18 DAYS TILL DT AT BIRCH HILL!!!!!!!!!!!

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    End of YTSEJAM Digest 2056 **************************



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