YTSEJAM Digest 5140
Today's Topics:
1) Re: YTSEJAM digest 5136
by "mikel@alphalink.com.au" <mikel@alphalink.com.au>
2) JLB singing
by "mikel@alphalink.com.au" <mikel@alphalink.com.au>
3) SFaM (***SpOiLeRs***)
by "Christopher Ptacek" <someone@digitalrodent.com>
4) Uh oh-> CDNow
by "Daniel T. Chen" <daniel_chen@unc.edu>
5) Re [buying] SFaM
by "Dick" <dick_rascal@softhome.net>
6) MP2:SFAM Spolier? Maybe!
by "Matt Mommaerts" <mattymo@inxpress.net>
7) Regarding SMPTe
by "Matthew A. Schnoor" <mschnoor@yahoo.com>
8) fx of dt nusic on normal minds
by "Schnipp -" <schnipp@hotmail.com>
9) godparents for people who can't get SfaM so easily
by "Schnipp -" <schnipp@hotmail.com>
10) Live
by "Trevor W. Hoit" <TrevorW@ms.kallback.com>
11) Re: SMPTe
by Matej Grginic <izolit@siol.net>
12) Well Well ...
by "Vandenabeele, Hein" <Hein.Vandenabeele@um.be>
13) F*** The Arirplay ..
by "Vandenabeele, Hein" <Hein.Vandenabeele@um.be>
14) A Memorable day
by Graham Borland <graham@picsel.com>
15) stratovarius
by Paul Dyer <s347742@student.uq.edu.au>
16) John Petrucci guitar clinic in Ljubljana 22.10.1999
by Matej Grginic <izolit@siol.net>
17) Re: SFAM etc.
by "Sasha" <sasa.cabaravdic@pu.tel.hr>
18) Site updates
by "Matthew W. Stanich" <mwstanic@mtu.edu>
19) No DT yet!/Vanden Plas review/Stratovarius
by =?iso-8859-1?q?Jesus=20Gonzalez?= <pesus_keystone@yahoo.com>
20) A lengthy SFAM review (spoiler)
by "Tanja Sorsa" <keskus@fng.fi>
21) Re: YTSEJAM digest 5137
by Barbara B <babs@pop.geneseo.edu>
22) Now I can talk :)
by Stephen LaMonica <sl080890@mailhost.sju.edu>
23) I agree with you, really...
by "Robert A. Jurado, MPH" <rojurado@pacific.net.ph>
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 16:41:39 +1000
From: "mikel@alphalink.com.au" <mikel@alphalink.com.au>
To: ytsejam@torchsong.com
Subject: Re: YTSEJAM digest 5136
Message-ID: <38154D23.A491CC1B@alphalink.com.au>
Santana!
> >
> > try and
> > come up with bands who had their "breakthrough" hit,
> > then a few lean albums
> > (in terms of mainstream/commercial success), and
> > then finally got big (at
> > least relatively speaking, not necessarily
> > platinum-selling big). I think it
> > would be an interesting thing to look at.
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 16:53:13 +1000
From: "mikel@alphalink.com.au" <mikel@alphalink.com.au>
To: ytsejam@torchsong.com
Subject: JLB singing
Message-ID: <38154FD9.7AC9CDB8@alphalink.com.au>
>
Umm, I think its pretty obvious why kids nowadays dont like JLB's voice.
Being only 17 myself I know the difficulty that goes into liking a band that basically
sounds like they are from the 80s.
I don't know if you realise 1978-1992 is a seriously uncool period in time. In
fact its horrible. And rightly so. I mean how can you justify bands like Poison,
Devo, Gary Glitter etc.
Unfortunately the power of self-image outweighs the power of music and so
kids won't even prod something that could be from the 80s with a ten foot long
stick.
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 02:29:38 -0500
From: "Christopher Ptacek" <someone@digitalrodent.com>
To: <ytsejam@torchsong.com>
Subject: SFaM (***SpOiLeRs***)
Message-ID: <001f01bf1f83$dd33ce80$013ca8c0@madstation>
So you got the album now, mostaya?
I'd like to hear a lot of first impressions. I know mine were like complete
180 degrees from the Matt dude who reviewed the album. I dunno, man, if you
can't pick up a Metropolis theme (as well as a PMU drum theme, a Mirror
theme and a Burning My Soul theme) then perhaps you ought to take a couple
more listens. I don't mean in just a couple quotes here and there, but in
just about every song, there's something remeniscent, lyrically,
melodically, and theoretically.
What I know struck me right away (when I first heard the album) was the
opening track's dryness, and the huge Danny Elfman-ness in Jordan's playing.
He also has a technique on the piano which is just disgusting... this big
wash of notes... just amazing. And the most shocking thing on this album,
altogether, has got to be the drums, for me. WOW! Especially on Finally
Free! Man, if I ever doubted Portnoy, I take it back now.
Is there anything I don't like about this album? Hmm... I think Through Her
Eyes will be the song that dies for me fastest, but I think it's great right
now. The only BAD thing on this album, IMO, is the little Myung solo.
Don't get me wrong... there are some bass parts on this album that I can
barely believe, and I was certainly knocked off guard by how tight he is,
but that solo, to me is just kind of goofy.
Anyway, I will start writing up an in depth review of this album, perhaps on
a web page if it gets too long for the jam, and get it out soon. This is
the future of prog, and the album that ties the Dream Theater world into one
coherent bundle. Beautiful.
Chris Ptacek - someone@digitalrodent.com
"Everything that can be invented has
been invented." -- Charles H. Duell,
Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 03:26:41 -0400
From: "Daniel T. Chen" <daniel_chen@unc.edu>
To: ytsejam@torchsong.com
Subject: Uh oh-> CDNow
Message-ID: <381557B1.61B2351E@unc.edu>
Welp folks,
As usual, CDNow has decided to give me the fork. =/ I pre-ordered
SFaM on Sept 16th, and I am now listed as backordered. Two hours ago it
was still in processing. Guess what? I just canceled my pre-order.
Hopefully someone else who pre-ordered will get my copy; I'm headed to
the store like the majority of you good folks and will dutifully shell
out whatever exorbitant sum the registers ring up.
On a more cheerful note, I finally received my Ice Age and Tiles CDs.
Wow. Ice Age (on Magna Carta) is wonderful. They have a really heavy,
pounding edge to their fast-paced sound, but it's good. I admit that
hearing a mp3 of "Join" convinced me to obtain _The Great Divide_ by
legal means, and wow, that mp3 surely did not do the album any amount of
justice-- it simply rocks. As for Tiles's _Presents of Mind_, I cannot
even begin to say that I am disappointed. There was a twinkle of
apprehension when I previewed some sound clips on CDNow, but this album
is *good*. Or perhaps it's this amazingly stupid Turing program that
I'm coding now that has convinced me that it's amazing... ;-) In any
case, I can heartily recommend Ice Age and Tiles to anyone who is
interested in both a heavier "metal" sound and a more improvisational,
looser sound, a la "art" rock.
Okay, seven and one-half hours until this program is due. Then after
class it's off to The Record Exchange. =)
-d
-- Daniel T. Chen chenda@cs.unc.edu NP : Tiles - Modification------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2099 14:51:19 +0700 From: "Dick" <dick_rascal@softhome.net> To: <ytsejam@torchsong.com> Subject: Re [buying] SFaM Message-ID: <002e022f3cff$9fa0cfa0$80fd92ca@mangar>
Amanda wrote: >Damn. Maybe I can sit around and whine with the Indonesian >jammers about not getting the album ;)
Yup, import is the only way for us to get the cd soon. Not likely though, our currency still in the crazy level. we even got a new president, but the dollar won't down any soon here ;-)
So, how much is the price of the CD? 15 bucks? Damn, that's a half that I pay to the college every semester. And also the same amount that can buy me meals for a month.
Prog music is a very expensive hobby, dontchathink?
Guess I must unsubscribe right now, 'cause after this the Jam will be full of nothing but spoilers ;-)
The world isn't a very fair place, eh?
Another Indonesian jammer
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 02:47:11 -0500 From: "Matt Mommaerts" <mattymo@inxpress.net> To: <ytsejam@torchsong.com> Subject: MP2:SFAM Spolier? Maybe! Message-ID: <00f201bf1f86$56868b40$99f1fea9@mattymo>
I propose we make this the new Acronym for the CD! HA Haa
Actually, I'm suprised there hasn't been talk about:
"WHERE'S PART THREE!!!???" "Why did the band rip off the Title SFAM from Mike Bahr's bootlegs? "why did the band rip off the song title TDOE or DOE from the other bootlegs?" Who's Nicholas going to be reincarnated as in his next life? Mike Portnoy? Then he'll put the smack down on that mean old Ed. That would rule, huh huh, yeah.
Great CD, and as I've seen posted before... with ACOS, and now this... This band is for the fans, NOT sellouts and they just plain rule. Congrats guys, this is big, looking forward to the tour!
<free plug> If you are in the Madison, WI... area... tune into my Radio show on 89.9FM WORT. I played MP2:SFAM up to track 6 tonight, and I'll be playing it in the weeks to come (Monday nites 11p-2a) </free plug>
Thanks for the bandwidth
Matt
P.S. WE WANT PART 3 now guys!!! (kidding of course... or am I?)
MattyMo mattymo@mattymo.com www.mattymo.com www.mattymo.com/moshpit AIM: MattyMo Yahoo Messenger: mattymodotcom ICQ: 1952320
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 01:11:12 -0700 (PDT) From: "Matthew A. Schnoor" <mschnoor@yahoo.com> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: Regarding SMPTe Message-ID: <19991026081112.10437.rocketmail@web123.yahoomail.com>
In the last Digest, sK@Rre wrote:
> Eh......Stolt, Morse, Portnoy, Trewavas, but what's with the "e" at the end?
Slap me with a catfish if I'm wrong, but doesn't it stand for the self-named video/audio time-code standard created by the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers? (Yes, that's right, say it quickly in a high voice, just like Frank Zappa. Bonus points if you can name the song... :)
Recording engineers, anyone? Al? :)
===== -- Matthew A. Schnoor -- mschnoor@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 10:14:42 CEST From: "Schnipp -" <schnipp@hotmail.com> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: fx of dt nusic on normal minds Message-ID: <19991026081443.57396.qmail@hotmail.com>
hi, i was just thinking of different grades of anticapation and expectations. When I heard that Mr.Big had a new release I went immediately to the store and boughht it, played it twice or thrice and now only occasional. Malmsteen (who was my hero for a long time) has a new one, but I decided I had to eat and thus no money. Vai'S new one I bought, but didn't really have time to get into it. Now, DT, being my fav band, I haressed(sp) the record store, thought fuck food, and put everything on hold(like university, etc.) and took time to listen to it. I liked it already during the first listen (kind of like the guy who said that listening to prog for so long probably makes it easier to perceive such an album) and yesterday almost killed myself because I had forgotten to charge the batteries of my discman. I don't want to say this song sucks, because of this and I like that song because of that, because I love them all, but foremost in its entirety. I have yet to listen to a song specifically, meaning up til now (about 10 listens) I started the cd at the beginning and listened to it through, or started where I had stoppped. For me it's just one awesome song(like, but better than ACOS). Granted there are melodies that one llikes better than others, but not vice versa(melodies I don't like as much as others).
THat's all, thanks to mike for the veil, which made my level of anticapation level rise to christmas back when i was 10. is it banners again at the concerts? thanks for the new UACM site, guys, check it out. seb
btw, how do you pronounce the name of the hockey player shawn McEachern?
______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 10:23:59 CEST From: "Schnipp -" <schnipp@hotmail.com> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: godparents for people who can't get SfaM so easily Message-ID: <19991026082359.2949.qmail@hotmail.com>
hi, I just thought, since some people are fearing, and most justified so, that it will be weeks or months til they get the album and the jam usually makes things possible, why not compile a list of godparents, who are willing to ship a cd to you unhappy guys, whereas you send the money? There's enough of us on both sides, so theoretically it should not be a problem, more of loistics and effort. Contemplate, seb
______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 01:32:57 -0700 From: "Trevor W. Hoit" <TrevorW@ms.kallback.com> To: "'Ytsejam'" <ytsejam@torchsong.com> Subject: Live Message-ID: <E04FDFCFDC87D21194D300A0C9D4BAFA01CB4F63@ms.kallback.com>
I was checking out the top ten at CDNow for DT and noticed the new Live cd on there. If you care, you can get it at Mass Music for $9.95 with no shipping. http://www.massmusic.com
Shit, I can't buy DT today, because I know my girlfriend will give it to me tomorrow for my birthday.
Trevor
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 00:54:02 +0200 From: Matej Grginic <izolit@siol.net> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: Re: SMPTe Message-ID: <3814DF8A.E91E1B67@siol.net>
>Eh......Stolt, Morse, Portnoy, Trewavas, but what's >with the "e" at the end?
Experiment?
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 10:48:35 +0200 From: "Vandenabeele, Hein" <Hein.Vandenabeele@um.be> To: "'ytsejam@torchsong.com'" <ytsejam@torchsong.com> Subject: Well Well ... Message-ID: <F999CB08F9C7D21195E30008C70D350681CCD0@julia.um.be>
Hi everybody over there,
As it is now safe to comment on the new masterpiece, here we go... I got it since last Friday (aren't we lucky bastards over here in Belgium) and I only listened to it a couple of times - this is not the music that I put on when parents are coming over... After the first time I had to recover (I also had after the first time I listened to FII, but this feeling was totally different, more, a lot more intense...). It is really difficult commenting on this, but this 77 minute song (if I can call it that way) is really blowing away anything else they produced... Talking about progress, this is it... What I really admire is the tons of creativity these guys are blessed with, the musical ideas keep on coming... LTE, Platypus, ... all these side projects, and the cherry on the cake is this incredible album... I must truly admit (sound maybe a bit silly but it is true) that this music brings more happiness in my life then (almost) anything else... WAW !!!!
BaaiBaai
Hein
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 10:54:35 +0200 From: "Vandenabeele, Hein" <Hein.Vandenabeele@um.be> To: "'ytsejam@torchsong.com'" <ytsejam@torchsong.com> Subject: F*** The Arirplay .. Message-ID: <F999CB08F9C7D21195E30008C70D350681CCD1@julia.um.be>
<I wanted to post this before I got the CD tomorrow. I don't want anyone <including any band members to question my thoughts because of the euphoric <effects of the new music. I don't think I'm letting any secret out at this <late date by my next comments. We as Dream Theater fans owe the band our <thanks and support. Mike and the guys didn't just answer our demands for Met <2 by giving us a 10-12 minute follow up, they dedicated the whole damn CD to <us! They could have sat down and kicked out a CD with a dozen new unrelated <songs that might have gotten decent air play, but they didn't. They listened <to us and they gave us one of the best earliest Christmas presents I will <probably ever get... a 70+ minute Met 2. I know of no other band at DTs <level that would say F*** the air play, let's make a kick ass CD that OUR <fans want! So Mr. Portnoy, as I sit here waiting for tomorrow to arrive. <Thanks for the present that sits under the Christmas tree tonight, I'll <probably not be able to sleep at all.
Couldn't agree more with this !!!!! (Suppose most of the other guys as well)...
HeinV.
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 09:56:57 +0100 From: Graham Borland <graham@picsel.com> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: A Memorable day Message-ID: <4956f7ef03graham@picsel.com>
Pleasant surprise of the day, no. 1: Walking into a record shop, here in the UK, to discover literally dozens of SFAM CDs on the *day of release*. Completely unprecedented!
Pleasant surprise of the day, no. 2: The album cover, and the good old DT font.
Pleasant surprise of the day, no. 3: The album. It didn't move me at all on the first listen, but now it's woken up and given me a right good kick up the arse. Incredible! :-)
Pleasant surprise of the day, no. 4: The new-look web site. Well done, Mark.
-- _______________________ ___________________________ |o o| |o o| | Graham Borland |:: | Picsel Technologies Ltd |:: | graham@picsel.com |:: | Glasgow, Scotland |:: |_______________________|:: |___________________________|:: ::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 19:05:41 +1000 (GMT+1000) From: Paul Dyer <s347742@student.uq.edu.au> To: Multiple recipients of list <ytsejam@torchsong.com> Subject: stratovarius Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.4.10.9910261903560.26018-100000@student.uq.edu.au>
I was under the impression that the violins (really old antiques - worth a packet) were called Stradivarius...so the strat in Stratovarious is some sort of power metally play on words kind of thing...
anyone confirm this??
Cheers
Paul D.
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 01:25:16 +0200 From: Matej Grginic <izolit@siol.net> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: John Petrucci guitar clinic in Ljubljana 22.10.1999 Message-ID: <3814E6DC.E46B01B9@siol.net>
Hello fellow jammers, especially the guitar slinging ones among you :)
For those of you who intend to go to Johns guitar clinic on this tour, cover your eyes, you might consider my post as a ********SPOILER!!!!!!!!******
I've seen many Johns clinics on tapes, but I guess there's nothing like seeing the man live :) John started the clinic with a little 'warm-up' as he put it and totally shred the place apart with Paradigm Shift. When he was warmed up (*KHEM* :), he taught us a little bit about guitar. It seems like John decided to teach more about the roots of guitar playing than the usual speed picking. He concentrated alot around bending, vibrato, slides, pullofs hamerons etc. and how these contribute to the playing. He taught us how to play the opening riff to Paradigm Shift and to check if we were paying attention, he called someone up to repeat it. The guy did okay, but it was obvious that he was one of those bedroom wankers :) John performed some more songs from LTE-1 and FII with backup CD, he said he forgot his band...too bad :) The turnout was quite incredible, a bit over a thousand people, not bad for a guitar clinic, no wonder Johns first words were 'WOW.....WOW...this is like a concert......' hehe He answered a ton of moronic questions and wouldn't play some of the solos people requested (he said he had a bad long-term memory ...LMAO!). After the show, he took the time to signe everything people threw at him, which was alot, it took him about an hour. I fear our John has developed carpal tunnel syndrome :) After everyone left, we (me and my best friend) helped John clear the stage. And then we went backstage where John gave us guitars we bought from him. My acoustic is totally amazing and plays like nothing I've ever strummed. John is not sure if it's the one he played in the video Another Day, but the chances are it is :) I like to think it is hehe. My friend got the camuflage P4 which is extremely playable and sounds awesome through his Triaxis. John took alot of time to take pictures, answered everything we wanted to know and signed a ton of stuff :) He is one of the sweetest persons I ever met.
John, thank you for an incredible evening and I'm sending you the copy of the video I took.
Matej, still not comprehending :)
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 11:52:52 +0200 From: "Sasha" <sasa.cabaravdic@pu.tel.hr> To: "Ytsejam Mailing List" <ytsejam@torchsong.com> Subject: Re: SFAM etc. Message-ID: <005601bf1f99$311859c0$26ed1dc3@sasa>
>From: Matej Grginic <izolit@siol.net>
>To all of you who just got the album, listen to it at least >5 times before you post a review.
>I'd like to thank the band for making the most kickass album, >DREAM THEATER FUCKIN' RULES!
I just wanna know where you slovenian guys bought the album! I was just in the music store and asked for it and the guy said that he doesn`t know when will it come... damn! I said that i`ll drop by at the end of the week, just in case. I think it took 2 weeks before new Queensryche arrived here... damn, i hate living here sometimes!
anyhow... Matej, have you taped Petrucci`s clinic at Friday? What`s our acoustic like? :-))) Have you played it yet?
p.s. Two new purchases today... Mike Oldfield`s "Tubular Bells II" and DT`s "When Dream and Day Unite". Right now I`m playing Oldfield... still haven`t put WDaDU in my cd-player, and it`s on my shelve! Heee... how i love torturing myself... :-)). Okay... i admit, I took a peek at the booklet :-)).
"Lifting shadows off a dream Once broken She can turn a drop of water Into an ocean..."
John Myung of Dream Theater ["Lifting Shadows Off A Dream"]
sasa.cabaravdic@pu.tel.hr http://chronosphere.zambizzi.com ICQ UIN - 6098813
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 06:52:47 -0400 (EDT) From: "Matthew W. Stanich" <mwstanic@mtu.edu> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: Site updates Message-ID: <199910261052.GAA05670@phylab.mtu.edu>
Hello All-
Go check out UACM and mikeportnoy.com, they have both been updated;) And they look great!
-Matt Stanich
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 04:01:00 -0700 (PDT) From: =?iso-8859-1?q?Jesus=20Gonzalez?= <pesus_keystone@yahoo.com> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: No DT yet!/Vanden Plas review/Stratovarius Message-ID: <19991026110100.15839.rocketmail@web1603.mail.yahoo.com>
Hi jammers!
Yesterday I went to buy the new DT but It wasn't out there. I'll have to wait a few days more (snif)!
At the time they were playing the new Vanden Plas album "Far off grace" and the three songs I heard sounded so cool that I decided to buy it. Besides I remembered the things I've read about them at the jam (great album, better melodies than DT, the only criticism was that they were a "wannabe DT" band) . After playing the whole album I was dissapointed. The cuts they played at the record shop were the most prog-ish, but the album as a whole I don't considered can be regarded as prog. It has a great sound and produccion, good metallic riffs, not bad songs and I'm sure if it had fallen in my hands when I was 18-20 I would have said it was the best motherfucking band ever. But nowadays I ask more of an album, it's quite repetitive and boring after you've heard a few songs. The keyboards are poor, quite similar all the time to the end of "You not me", the instrumental parts left me quite cold, and after playing it two-three times I'm sure there's nothing more to discover.
So if you like commercial metal with good production and a layer of progish make-up powder buy it, you will love it. The rest of the jam think twice. BTW, does any jammer from Madrid wants to buy the brand new Vanden Plas' album?
Stratovarius comes,IMO, from Stratocaster (the guitar) and Stradivarius (the violin) and it may referred to de neo-clasical style.
"While looking for the light, you may suddenly be devoured by the darkness and find the true light." - Jack Kerouac __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 14:00:58 EET From: "Tanja Sorsa" <keskus@fng.fi> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: A lengthy SFAM review (spoiler) Message-ID: <16E43562EB8@fng.fi>
Hello!
** do I still have to write SPOILERS here **
This is a review my boyfriend posted on the Perpetual Motion board. He's not on the ytsejam list so I'm forwarding this to you on his behalf. I was so stunned after listening to the CD that I couldn't write a decent review myself. :-) All I can say is "praise the lord!". Hehe. Enjoy the review! Tanja
------- I bought Metropolis PT II last Friday, it was released here in Finland last Thursday. I've listened to quite a lot already. Background: I never thought Dream Theater would top Images & Words, since that album was pretty much perfect in my taste. I also loved Awake, and I thought it was possible to squeeze out a more than decent album of FII, by doing some programming on the cd player...I haven't listened much to the fairly weak live album. I love LTE, and I always thought the writing chemistry seemed to work better in LTE than in Derek-era DT. So, I'm very happy to see Jordan Rudess in the band. I think he plays great, and his sounds are not as cheesy anymore as they were in some places on the first LTE-album in particular.
Now here are some of my thoughts about SFAM: - DT sounds more like themselves again, the classic DT-sound is back! They don't imitate their idols as much as on FII. That's great. That being said, I still think that some parts sound a bit too much like Pink Floyd (Regression is a lot like Pigs On The Wing for example), and the female gospelsingers have "The Great Gig In The Sky" written all over them.
- DT are more progressive again. Great! They shred more again. Also great! I love it especially when Petrucci shreds, I think he is the best technical guitar player out there right now, most likely even my favourite of all time. (I mean I even have his signature model at home...)
- I think James LaBrie sings better than ever. He has a great charisma, and I love his voice.
- I have always loved concept albums. Although it is an old idea, and SFAM borrows heavily from some classics (The Wall, Dark Side Of The Moon, Rush's Cygnus X-1, etc.) I still think it=B4s great they went all the way with this one. I remember that Portnoy talked about a concept album when Awake was finished, but I didn't have any high hopes for that happening anymore after FII. I don't think I have to explain why I was pessimistic.
- Some conceptalbums have too many fillers to make the concept work. I don't think SFAM suffers from that. Most importantly: there are some clear high points, individual songs that sound brilliant also played alone. My favourite song is Fatal Tragedy. I couldn't believe how good it was when I first heard it, and when Petrucci started shredding it up I thought I was going to cry from happiness. Beyond This Life, Home (the full 13-minute version) and Finally Free also shine as individual songs.
- The concept is not that clear all the way through. Maybe it's intentional, but I like understanding stories. I don't like reading books either if I don't get what the story is about. I'm not sure I got all of SFAM right, and I look forward to some explaining interviews. The basic idea for the album could be seen as fairly corny, at least without hearing the music, but I really think that the murder&romance idea is good enough after having thought about it. Not that many bands have tried concepts like this before. - Actually I think SFAM should be called a rock opera, since the persons in the story have their own lines, and it's really more to it than just a concept.
- The one part that sucks on this album is the Mariah Carey-like whining at the start of Through Her Eyes. Sorry, I know people like that are supposed to be good singers, but I hate the sound. Sorry.
- SFAM sounds surprisingly little like LTE.
- I think DT really has progressed again, there is something new about the feeling of SFAM, the band has more groove ("this rocks", like they say), and it has the "mature" sound of FII combined with the (immature?) progressiveness of their old stuff. And there really is lots of riffs and parts that really don't sound anything like what the band has done before. (That must be Jordan's input then??) About FII's sound being "mature", I mean that the actual sound and sound production on that album was among the best I've ever heard. I'm not talking about the songs or overall direction of the music.
- With 1999 being such a lame year for prog metal (let's face it, there have been no true classics so far, at least not for me) I think DT stands head and shoulders above the competition. It's certainly my choice for album of the year so far, and it's one of the contenders for album of the decade already if nothing drastic happens.
- A side note: I was very disappointed with Shadow Gallery's Tyranny, I thought it was very weak musically (New World Order was great, but the rest???) compared to Carved In Stone, and I also didn't think it had the mood of a "real" concept album. Scenes From A Memory is more like it! I wish Tyranny would have been as good for me as this one is.
I know I'm partial and I have always been a self-confessed member of the Dream Theater honor guard. I can't view my heroes' work critically and blablabla. So what? I can't help really loving their music! Scenes ]From A Memory gets a 10 out of 10, and a 99,5 out of 100 (that Mariah Carey-sounding part...) Images & Words was around 99,3 out of 100 :) (that snare-sound)
Thanks for reading this,
Michael K (oilfield@hotmail.com)
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 08:54:54 -0400 From: Barbara B <babs@pop.geneseo.edu> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: Re: YTSEJAM digest 5137 Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19991026085454.006df6a8@pop.geneseo.edu>
>Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 12:20:55 EDT >From: D2112T@aol.com >To: ytsejam@torchsong.com >Subject: Dt in da mall :) >Message-ID: <0.7c286c35.2545dd67@aol.com> > > >To anybody going tuesday night....I am five tall with crazy blond curly >hair....come say hello :) I tried to get my students to come too, but when I asked "does anybody here like dream theater" ...they all looked at me >like I was crazy...damn college kids :)
Laugh, I hear ya sister! I work on a college campus too and if it isn't Limp whatever the heck it's called, forget it. Damn shame, I've now made it my mission to educate the young people (snort) - if I can just reach one person it will be worth it (giggle).
BTW, I'm short like you too, you at least made it to 5 Ft! Don'tcha just hate it when there's ytsejam and DT shirts that just don't fit us shorties? BLATANT HINT TO ALL ENTERPRISING S0ULS - THERE'S A MARKET FOR SM/MED T-SHIRTS!
Bye peoples, talk to you after I get the new CD.
Babs
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 09:21:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Stephen LaMonica <sl080890@mailhost.sju.edu> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: Now I can talk :) Message-ID: <199910261321.JAA03411@polaris.sju.edu.sju.edu>
Ok...I bought the new CD yesterday afternoon. When I saw the tracklisting a few weeks ago, I was disappointed that Metropolis 2 wasn't there, especially since the name of the album was a lyric from part 1. When I saw the album.... I almost creamed myself! The entire thing is Metropolis Pt 2!!!! Finally DT does a concept album. IMO, it will definitely rank up there with the great concept albums.......The Wall, Operation Mindcrime, 2112, and Pleasant Shade of Grey! The musicianship is absolutely amazing, a throwback to Images and Words (used to be my favorite DT album, but not after hearing SFaM). The lyrics......incredible. Much better than FII! Enjoy the album everybody, I know I did and will enjoy it some more later today!
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 21:33:36 +0700 From: "Robert A. Jurado, MPH" <rojurado@pacific.net.ph> To: ytsejam@torchsong.com Subject: I agree with you, really... Message-ID: <3815BBC0.4DE04EAD@pacific.net.ph>
Snipping from Ptacek again...
> I hate the idea of anyone pretending I really have enough experience to > offer "a critique." I'm still a punk ass college student shredder dude, > with my own formulae for inserting my head up my ass. I'm just offering > opinions and nonsense, like everyone else.
That's cool. I was just trying to agree with you on something. Perhaps, I shouldn't have used the word "critique." I just think you have some intelligent stuff to say. That's all. Anyway... whatever...I'm not putting you up on a pedestal or anything. Don't worry. :)
> > > comes from advertising revenues. If Korn makes people > > > tune in, that's fine from the advertisers' point of vew. > > Do you realize that Korn spent something like 9 years as an > underground band, and it's efforts exactly like this one, but with more > tact, that helped launch them? They went gold or platinum with NO label > support (read this in an article about them some time ago). It CAN work > in today's climate. Screw anyone who wants to say that reality won't > allow a fan to have an impact!
Well...okay. Bad example. Maybe Korn deserves more credit than I'm giving them. They're just not to my taste, at least, not the CD I have. I hate that CD. I was just trying to come up with a name of a band I don't particularly care for that just happens to be popular right now. Granted, I am kind of interested to hear some other Korn, because I have heard some stuff that I do kind of like. Anyway, to get back on track....I'm not saying that we can't make a difference in this whole airplay campaign. I'm not sure if you're saying that I am. In any case, I believe in the concept, but like you, I'm offering up nonsense too regarding the motivations of radio station owners. Of course, I could be completely wrong about those things. I'm perfectly willing to admit that.
I'd like to have some other people do the thinking about how to go about doing these things. I want someone to come up with some intelligent way of doing/organizing this airplay campaign. I'd like to participate, but I have too much other stuff to do with my time to try to figure out a way to organize this. The other thing is that I'm just lazy. I guess I can just go about e-mailing here and there and being nice about it.
Anyway, enough random musings...
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