Scenes From My Memory v. Honor Thy Father

[Podaar]

I'm with you on the melodrama is awesome bit, but as JFK points out, when it's presented as being deep it looses its fun and becomes easier to dismiss. Also, try to remember that, for me, the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. I don't hate SDV.

[millahh]

I'm with you on the melodrama is awesome bit, but as JFK points out, when it's presented as being deep it looses its fun and becomes easier to dismiss. Also, try to remember that, for me, the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. I don't hate SDV.

I'll jump in on SDV...why does everyone assume the KM wrote it from his own perspective?  Some of his lyrics in ChromaKey are from the point of view of some imaginary person, not himself.  And there are plenty of DT songs that are certainly not 1st person (Disappear, Misunderstood, all of 6DoIT, Forsaken, Ministry....)

[Podaar]

I'll jump in on SDV...why does everyone assume the KM wrote it from his own perspective?  Some of his lyrics in ChromaKey are from the point of view of some imaginary person, not himself.  And there are plenty of DT songs that are certainly not 1st person (Disappear, Misunderstood, all of 6DoIT, Forsaken, Ministry....)

I can only speak for myself, millahh, but all those songs you mention have cool/interesting music to go with them that really spice up the cheese. I'm repeating myself but my indifference to SDV has nothing to do with anything exterior to the song itself.

[TAC]

Also, try to remember that, for me, the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.

Wow..so melodramatic.   

[AngelBack]

I was kinda so-so on SDV until Breaking the Fourth Wall vid came out.  MM's drumming and JP's solo made the song much more enjoyable and now, somehow, I enjoy the studio version more.

[robwebster]

I'm with you on the melodrama is awesome bit, but as JFK points out, when it's presented as being deep it looses its fun and becomes easier to dismiss. Also, try to remember that, for me, the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. I don't hate SDV.

I'll jump in on SDV...why does everyone assume the KM wrote it from his own perspective? 

Cos he said so.

"I was looking through a clothing catalog and saw a picture of a girl modeling this piece of clothing called a space-dye vest. And, so, I fell in love with her [laughs] for some strange reason and so the minute I did that, the minute I was just like obsessed with this person, I was like, 'why am I doing that?' and I noticed that I was doing it a lot lately. And I think the prime reason that I was doing that, and this is what I figured out at the time, was that I had just come out of a relationship where I'd gotten dumped, basically, and so I think the situation was that I wasn't finished giving all that I was ready to give, so I was just, like, throwing it around, you know, just aiming it in different directions. It was a total case of projection. And this song is just trying to sort it out and just kind of admitting that I'm just kind of lost. So it's kind of a dark song. It was very cathartic though."

[TAC]

Right. I don't know why anyone would have an issue with that. I went through a similar thing in 1995. I had a nice upbringing, but why would that preclude me from being sad, alone, scared, confused?

If someone just plain doesn't like the song, fine. I think Take Away My Pain blows, but I love The Best Of Times. But I don't get the whole "Kevin Moore's a spoiled brat, who is he to try and write a lyric like this?". I think that's crazy.

[Indiscipline]

millahh, robwebster, pull up a chair whenever you like.

AngelBack, I don't want beef with broccoli, I want my enhanced Hilary back!


Allright,

Dear readers, before opening courtains on our next scene, I really need to cover my bases and hang a sort of disclaimer upon the proscenium valance, because I am a horrible person but a caring one nonetheless.

I feel like I can safely state we are (or have been) all DT captive fans in here, featuring various degrees of hardcore dedication. Sometimes such status may involve actions and words opening the way to ridicule. Well, this chapter is going to mock them, hard.

Even though my conscience is at peace because I know I'm implicitly mocking myself and I've been formally trained and professionally paid to make fun of what people do and never of what people are, still I'd hate to hurt or be offensive to anyone or anything. That is not what this thread is meant for.

About that, you focking ponce, what is this thread meant for?

Glad you asked. To provide laughter, conversation, chopbustin' with pals, like some kind of waiting room coffee table funny magazine you can browse whenever you feel bored or tired of dissecting video snippets or judging snare mixings.

Aaaaaaaand?

My personal attention whoring outlet, of course. Never gonna deny it.

Back on topic, if you feel any funny comment about extreme DT fandom can in any way shape or form offend your sensibility and self esteem, see you in Scene 5. No hard feelings.


Scene Four: Through My Galoshes – The Deluge and The New Guy

Quick recap of a whole year of indisciplined life, in perfect symmetry as fates usually warn:

The Highs:

A) Got myself a 125cc motorbike, my pride and joy.
B) Was into Morphine. The jazzy band, you smartfock.
C) Began playing guitar and singing in a bunch of bands.
D) Girlfriend#1 still going strong. I was and am a lustful but loyal creature.

The Lows:

A) Smashed motorbike into smithereens and broke many bones, which ...
B) ... Got me into Morphine, the jazzy treatment.
C) Said bunch of bands sucked, but we'll talk about that in Scene 5.
D) Girlfriend#1 Awake Incident repeated at her place, her brothers involved. Many bones again.

But to me 1995 will always be the year of the First Close Live Encounter with Dream Theater, a band whose every published note, pause and lyric I could recite by heart yet I knew sweet fock all about, except for names, instruments played, and general booklet info.

I repeat for the stunned youngsters, this was a story of falling in love with songs and songs alone, the rest was delicious fantasising without any guidance but musical knowledge, personal taste and street buzz. Never bought a rock magazine, the interweb was a focking mirage and Heroin Junkie Record Store Clerk – bless his soul – was the sole (sub)human hub for albums and concert tickets. We did have electricity and combustion engines though.

So, if you are born after the Berlin Wall went down, reading this tale requires basically the same zeitgeist jump you need to perform in order to read, say, Ivanhoe. [/old fock]

When I knew about the concert I spazzed out, when I knew about the venue I totally lost it. It was basically a rock-disco on a slope by the sea, 100 miles tops from Indiscipline Beach House. The Big Banging Bro used to check the place for Metal Pussy on summer saturdays and he swore you couldn't physically Tetris-cram more than 500 bodies inside the concert room.

The only reason a godly foreign band accepted that kind of booking must have been pleasing ME! It was going to be the show of a lifetime, and boy was I right about that. Furthermore, no one in my town – if not pestered by yours truly – knew or cared about DT at the time. Chances were I could be the only hardcore fan at the concert, and boy was I wrong about that. 

Two tickets, planning to bring along Drive Licensed Girlfriend#1. Yes, in my neck of the woods you could have sex at 16 but couldn't drive until 18. Now, ask me again how come Van Halen opened for Bon Jovi in 1995 Europe ...

I should have known what comes of Mice and Indiscipline best laid plans, and mine went downhill fast. Here's approximatively what transpired:

"My angel, I've got a present for you!"

"Penis-enlargement?"

"Not yet, light of me eyes. A ticket for a kick-arse concert!"

"You dare mention Dream Wankers and I'm calling my brothers."

"I gather that's a no, muse o' me life?"

"Fock you"


I needed a trusted person, someone able to appreciate the band and, above all, owning a focking vehicle. Enter Drumming Dad, my last hope:

"Hey Dad, you busy next wednesday?"

"It depends"

"Fancy bringing me to Rimini? Dream Theater are playing"

"Not my cup of tea, son"

"Whattafock, you brought me to see Iron Maiden three years ago. I saw you rocking out!"

"It was your birthday, and they played Cross-Eyed Mary pre-show on PA. I haven't rocked out once after that"


It shouldn't have come to that, but I was left with the mother of all worst case scenarios available: Techno Buddy. Now, just try to imagine being driven on the highway by a guy going through Ecstasy like M&Ms with a penchant for philosophical disquisitions at 100 mph and forgetting where, when and who the fock he is in random mid-sentence. Pure fear, but I had to do it.

Only God knows how, but we got there through a monstrous motherfocking deluge. Yes, I was going to my first date with my favourite band wearing focking galoshes, due to a cast on a mangled left shin (please refer to Lows section, point A). Should someone who was there that day be here on the forum today (why not?), I'm proud to say the obnoxious ponce in crutches and galoshes accompanied by basically Spud from Trainspotting was, in fact, me.

Coming Next: Concert Highlights


EDIT: Typo Demon, my personal albatross

[Podaar]

Two tickets, planning to bring along Drive Licensed Girlfriend#1. Yes, in my neck of the woods you could have sex at 16 but couldn't drive until 18. Now, ask me again how come Van Halen opened for Bon Jovi in 1995 Europe ...

Nice call-back to another thread. Always a good move.

[bosk1]

Back to SDV:  I had forgotten that I had written that.  Or that Podaar (I will always hear your name in Wey's voice now as he was trying to pronounce your name in that Q&A video the band did with us a few years back) wrote that response.  That pretty much sums up my feelings, and much more articulately than I remembered.

That said, I was glad they played it on the AFTR tour.  Seeing/hearing it live in person was a treat, and I know how much it meant to a lot of fans present.  But the subtle changes they made really made it sing.

Not much more to add that I didn't say in that ancient quote Podaar brought up. 

And Bon Jovi can headline any show they darned well please, thank you very much.

[Indiscipline]

AngelBack, don't think I haven't noticed. This one's for you.

When your heart's on fire
You must realise
Smoke gets in your eyes

Oh, crap.

Hey there, Bosk! The clap was obviously a signal for the nurse to sedate me I gather? It's all good, I would do the same.

Podaar, I missed you man.

This is going to take a while, amigos. Grab a cigar, pour some wine.


Concert Highlights:

M) It was raining tigers and hounds, and - although indoorish - NO ONE was there. I mean, we must have been no more than 200 drenched maniacs, which allowed me to spend a wonderful evening standing five feet removed from Johnny P's pedalboard. Naturally Techno Buddy vanished soon, drifting wherever his kender-like focked up mind drew him. I never asked, he never coherently told. I was keeping the car keys anyway.

A) A very big guy on my direct left, very gentle and caring, took incredible pains in order to mantain a small but effective void zone around my broken leg. That's the kind of kindness you hope to find in hard-rocking youth, and I suddenly believed I had found a hi-fives go-to-guy for the evening. I never noticed the DT Fan Club T-Shirt until it was too late, and by then he had become the Kathy Bates to my James Caan.

D) Lights out, we roar. The intro sets in and I immediately fail my totally pulled-out-of-arse prediction about the hypothetical pre-show song. I went for Tom Sawyer, Cowboys From Hell or Where The Streets Have No Name, by sheer gut feeling. Alas, it seemed they weren't paying homage to influences but really wanted us to have breakfast in black tie talking about Like a Virgin.

"Reservoir Dogs? Funny" - Big mistake

"They always use that it's called Little Green Bag Portnoy is a big movie buff I know it well I'm in THE MAILING LIST." - Ok, buddy. Breathe.

"Uh, didn't know. Thanks, I guess" - Crutches as last line of self-defense, maybe?

WAKE UP! - Thank God.

E) Guys in! I'm feeling like Rick Jones visiting Avengers Mansion for the first time, I even got the Hulk beside me apparently. The stage ceiling is so low that Mighty Mike is literally eating all the lights, and loving it. I knew who the singer was, now I know who the frontman is. Hey, wait a focking minute ...

Y) ... "Who the fock is at the keyboards?" - Big Mistake, Part II

"He's the new guy Derek Sherinian Berklee graduate played with Alice and KISS Kevin Moore quit he had to learn the songs in no time I'm on THE MAILING LIST I know things want to see my Majesty tattoo?" - Mother of God, he's even speaking in 9/8.

Stop right there, Indy. You are telling me you didn't KNOW?

I feel fuzzy when you call me Indy. How the fock was I supposed to know? Why, even? Great band puts out record, kid buys record, loves it, learns music, words, faces, names. Rinse, lather, repeat until band folds or switches to polka. What else did I really HAVE to know? Everything else is their focking business, as far as I was concerned.

Little did I know we were running, 25 years down the road, towards crazy scenarios as:

"Hello, Dream Theater Custom Shop?"

"Morning, sir"

"Right, for MY next album I would like 60% heavy songs inside the 9 minutes mark, 20% short and to the point groundbreaking singles, and you can split the rest in two epics, one reminiscient of MY top DT album of all time, the other inspired to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. Usual time changes, trim the solo trade-off, and I would like to hear the bass, even when it's not playing. Album title should be Back When Apples Tasted Better, cover art by Joe Madureira."

"Anything else, sir?"

"Of course. I'm mailing you a list of trusted candidates for mixing, they did a splendid job on MY favourite albums. If possible, fire the singer. His performance isn't really up to snuff with MY VISION of Dream Theater anymore, MY VISION, you know, the whole focking reason you have worked during these last 30 years. ME, THE FAN! Also, I would like an ounce of Water's Edge and a pinch of Home mentions, and MY snare sound medium rare."

*click*

A) They are human! They have spectacularly focked up a UaGM stop and go. I mean, at least five seconds of embarassed silence, a quick turn of glances and a new drum count was necessary. It was glorious. As always, I can't keep my big mouth shut:

"Eheh, at least we know they are not cyborgs" - Return of the Son of Big Mistake.

"Whattyamean?" - God, take this cup away from me.

"I mean, you heard it. They focked up royally." - Why do I even care?

"No it was intentional they love to change up bits now and then we mere mortals can't grasp the will of technical prodigies did I mention I'm on THE MAILING LIST I'm organising a pilgrimage to Long Island wanna come?" - Dude.

F) I will be forever thankful to Johnny P, he opened my eyes. I was waiting for UaGM solo with a stupid "Let's see if you are for real" look on my stupid face. I watched him perform the feat like a dog would watch a magic trick, then he focking looked at me – melting me - with a shit-eating grin and yelled YEAAAAAAAAAH! like a happy kid who can't believe how awesome he is. It's obvious these guys aren't out for pussy and booze. They are the nerdest music fans in a room half-full of nerdy music fans. The continous joyous eye-contact among them is telling us: "We are doing it! We are like Rush and Maidens! Now we're going to quote 8 bars from Fragile and we're gonna talk about it in the bus for hours!" That was the moment I fell in love for ever. Fock it, I even hugged my verbose neighbour.

O) Big James' beautiful face. I had never seen a broader piece of visage on a biped, including Pavarotti. No wonder you're born to sing, man, with resonators the size of a t-bone. Also, from where I stood, you could hear his acoustic screams before amplification.

C) The 12 Labors of Johnny M. I swear, he's Atlas carrying the world on his shoulders. He's almost hypnotic in his constant frantic calm, like a man who has surrendered to drowning yet keeping his body afloat with the methodical flailing of spider fingers. I spoke this exact sentence to my kind tormentor/protector and he surprisingly went:

"Uh. Yeah." - That's it. Maybe I am onto something here.

K) A Mind Besides Itself. God, what a furious rendition. The new guy is waaaay louder than Dr Moore's recording and Mike and Johnny P seem to feel the need to catch up. The result is an amazing three way arms race, significantly faster than the original version.

"They are rushing this is not the perfect creation I know the venue acoustics are screwed up they should strive for the perfect conditions they're the best in the business after all I am going to formally protest through THE MAILING LIST" - Frank was right. The torture never stops.

I) Wait. This is an existential impossibility. An intro I can't recognise to a song I never heard. And it goes on, and on, and on. I am feeling like the third guy in a porn movie, but I am not the only one apparently. I really hate to do this, but I HAVE to know. I turn towards the maniac on my left who seems to focking read my mind.

"It's a new song I mean it's old but new they are playing it live everywhere it's called A Change of Seasons it's very long I read on the MAILING LIST it goes ..."

"Focking stop right there please. Let me hear it"

"But I can tell you about every bit and ..."

"No, man. Nobody wants a minute by minute running diary of a focking great song stuffed with a focking weirdo's inane comments. It's annoying, boring and stupid"

Words to live by.

N') Techno Buddy is back, materialising from thin air, vodka lemon in one hand, a girl by the other. How does he do it will forever beat the ever loving fock outta me. Then, like an epiphany, a Hannibal Smith Bulletproof Plan surfaced in my head.

"Hey, Mailing List guy, this is my buddy. He doesn't know Dream Theater, can you put him up to speed?"

Birds. Stone. Win.

L) Unbelievable. We were few to begin with, scared by the deluge, now some people are even going away, unsettled by a 20 plus minutes unknown song they can't sing along. I hate this focking country and forever will. I really understand the Drumming Dad now. Time for a digression, and to finally answer kingshmegland's question in the hyatus thread, "who are you and who's your daddy?". I am lucky small fry, Dad was another whole story.

In mid '60s he played with a bunch of gifted guys, relegated to studio and mostly uncredited session work in a backarseward shithole country. He got sick of it and left for England, where he focked around with some guys from the Canterbury Scene, ended up doing mostly studio work and horrible touring, met me Mom, got her pregnant, game over. He went back to uni, got a job and kept himself sane giving lessons and occasionally jamming with a toothless Chet Baker who – God knows why – liked to have drinks in my hometown from time to time.

Funny thing, some of the guys he left at the beginning eventually became Quelli, and shortly after PFM. Great timing.

Point is, we are disappointing Dream Theater. I actually heard my torturer utter the following desperate words:

"THEY WILL NEVER COME BACK HERE!"

Time proved him wrong, but we would have deserved that.
 
O) Wait for Sleep, the acoustic serenade. Magical, almost an immaculate conception by Segovia's Jeux Interdit, embellished with an impish tambourine. One hundred lighters popped up in unison. You read correctly. Lighters, not smartphones.

Why in the fock would you watch a concert through a phone screen?

Watch it through a lighter.

O) Learning to Live. FGHkhgjhgljgkjgòhòlkjàljàòljkhjguguliuglugugòugòugkjgjhgyflyflgòhòiàiuàiuàihghkugòiugòiugòugòkgòugòugòàgoiugàoiàsldkhlbvjkbavòj
ròhfeàrkhvgàeihvetihgiàohngioàaktnjbàlkgtnàbrtngàirtnbàitnbàrtinbàrtnbràtnàbntàorbùhotntànàrgjàgbhàoeruuoaègirhgàoithgiprhgprihg
p+orhgpohrgperopghohgirghirghràghòorihgòirhòihòiiiiiiiiiiihiààààààhà.

I love everybody. Especially you, Mailing List guy.

K) Show's over and I am so out of my mind I believe my leg is healed. Then, out of the focking blue, the "crowd" begins to violently demand:

METROPOLIS! METROPOLIS! METROPOLIS! METROPOLIS! METROPOLIS!

I swear, it's like we wrote the lyrics to Never Enough that day.


I didn't care. I had my taste of divinity. I just had to wait to put my hands on that 20 plus minutes masterpiece.

Coming Next: A Change of Seasons, The (Long Distance) Running Diary


EDIT: More than I could chew

[Podaar]

Grab a cigar, pour some wine.

I'm going to wait until tonight to read this when I can do exactly that.

[Indiscipline]

*eloquent thumbs up smiling happy emoticon*

[bosk1]

Concert Highlights:

...

Yup.  Ya' did make me.  And I did.  And I didn't care.  Fun read. 

Oh, nurse!  "It's ten minutes past curfew.  Why are you still up?"

[Indiscipline]

[bosk1]

Sweet dreams...you bastard.

[Indiscipline]

I remember now.

[AngelBack]

This thread is the jelly of the month club.  Received my Rat Pack starter kit* AND a serenade.  Warms the cockles of me cockles.  I feel pretty.

*Began the tutorial, almost leveled up to "drunk, desperate Shelley Winters".

[TAC]

Focking Indiscipline.  I sit down at lunch and started to read your last entry. Except being on my phone it's making me blind.

I'll read it on my laptop when I get home. 

[Implode]

It's obvious these guys aren't out for pussy and booze. They are the nerdest music fans in a room half-full of nerdy music fans. The continous joyous eye-contact among them is telling us: "We are doing it! We are like Rush and Maidens! Now we're going to quote 8 bars from Fragile and we're gonna talk about it in the bus for hours!" That was the moment I fell in love for ever.

This is such a good image of the band. I adore this.

[TAC]

It's obvious these guys aren't out for pussy and booze. They are the nerdest music fans in a room half-full of nerdy music fans. The continous joyous eye-contact among them is telling us: "We are doing it! We are like Rush and Maidens! Now we're going to quote 8 bars from Fragile and we're gonna talk about it in the bus for hours!" That was the moment I fell in love for ever.

This is such a good image of the band. I adore this.

Indiscipline, I saw this show a month after you did. It was the seventh time I had seen Dream Theater to that point.


I brought a buddy of mine who was a few years older and had been to many concerts, including with me. It was his first time. He walked out of that show and said this;" You just concert ruined me. I will never see a better band.".


Those early days were special. They were musicians' musicians. It was a weird, but amazing experience to be with Dream Theater back then.

[Podaar]

I meant to get to this a couple of days ago, but my little buddy Lewis stopped by and dragged me to the Taj Mahal & Keb Mo' concert. Then last night, Mrs. P and I started drinking a bit early and one thing lead to another...we wound up having a conversation! I know, I know, but it's exhausting, so I passed out early.

I've read this installment over coffee this morning and have to say the experience was much like finding out the hair at the back of your throat is from a blonde dame. Pleasantly surprising, but it doesn't stop you from gagging while you get through it.

I wonder if Noxon, knows Incredible Kathy Hulking Bates?

At the risk of making you smell more like butter than you already do, the DT Custom Shops bit was brilliant. Don't let it go to your head.

You'll probably want to break A Change of Seasons into a few installments, me thinks.

[Indiscipline]

I feel pretty
Oh so pretty
I feel pretty, and witty, and gay
And I pity
Any girl who doesn't do Q&A

This thread is the jelly of the month club.  Received my Rat Pack starter kit* AND a serenade.  Warms the cockles of me cockles.  I feel pretty.

*Began the tutorial, almost leveled up to "drunk, desperate Shelley Winters".

Next level's a tricky one: "tormented disillusioned Richard Burton."

It's obvious these guys aren't out for pussy and booze. They are the nerdest music fans in a room half-full of nerdy music fans. The continous joyous eye-contact among them is telling us: "We are doing it! We are like Rush and Maidens! Now we're going to quote 8 bars from Fragile and we're gonna talk about it in the bus for hours!" That was the moment I fell in love for ever.

This is such a good image of the band. I adore this.

Thanks buddy. The - inevitable - day the band catches wind of this thread and rightfully demands admin to erase all evidence of its existence, that paragraph shall be my court defense.

I'll read it on my laptop when I get home. 

I meant to get to this a couple of days ago, but my little buddy Lewis stopped by and dragged me to the Taj Mahal & Keb Mo' concert. Then last night, Mrs. P and I started drinking a bit early and one thing lead to another...we wound up having a conversation! I know, I know, but it's exhausting, so I passed out early.

God I love you guys. No worries, really. The day this vaudeville becomes a chore I'm closing shop.

That's why I love the message board format and despise social media. Free fruition time and free fun.

Also, I'm focking long-winded and once upon a thread I was missing for 8 years, so eh!


Furthermore:

Focking Indiscipline. 

+

At the risk of making you smell more like butter than you already do,

=

Last Tango in Paris *smiling grinning kidding emoticon*

Plus, Breaking ACoS in episodes is the right thing to do.


EDIT: Obscure movie puns need words, not images

[lucasembarbosa]

Oh, man... Are we getting this in 7 pieces like the song's structure? Gonna take too focking time, but might get the deserved detail level and attention it surely needs (beware of the Indiscipline Custom Shops!). This is by far my favorite song of the band by many reasons. Listening to it with your POV and amazing side notes will be certainly a fun time.

[Indiscipline]

I think (big out of place word, I know) I'm gonna break it down in 4 very idiotically arbitrary Vivaldi/Tracy Hickman-inspired Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer entries.

We are all guilty of at least one Custom Shop call now and then.

[TAC]

Hopefully you'll get through it before you have to go back to jail.

[Indiscipline]

Priorities, you know.

[Indiscipline]

A Change of Mind: we go full geek and fantasy trilogise this baby. After all, it was 1995 and I'm not ashamed to confess I was really into d&d and Dragonlance shit at the time. Sorry I've just ruined the otherwise perfect image of Teenager Winner Indiscipline I've strived to project so far *Ol' Blue Rolling Eyes Irony Emoticon* Ha!

So, let's pour some mead, put our Wakeman Cape on, unsheath the +2 Laptop of Sense-proof Recapping and roll initiative on:

A Change of Seasons, book I: Arpeggios of Autumn Twilight

(The Crimson Sunrise + Innocence)

0:00 – 0:23: Welcome to where time stands still, no one leaves and no one will ... Sorry, couldn't help it.

0:23 – 0:44: Nice tip-toe piano introduction, New Guy. Very humble way to make yourself known. The same can't be said about plastering your baby photo on the album cover, howewer. In fact, we're going to call this EP Baby Derek from now on.

0:44 – 1:27: Ooooh, very athmospheric and suspenseful with bonus glockenspiel. Also, reason #141 I love these guys is their average intros are longer than a Ramones song. Foreplay, dammit!

1:27 – 2:12: Now you have to trust me like you've never trusted a deranged fock before: this is Ride the Lightning intro with some steampunk make-up and odd-meter pants on. Give it four listens and you'll see.

2:12 – 2:49: I would like to crystalise these 30 seconds and fervently state they are to Prog (no matter the suffix) what the 1969 Ferrari Dino 246 is to Car. Plus, Mighty Mike and Johnny M are reinventing the (steering) wheel.       

2:49 – 3:50: Interesting. I guess here's where Erotomania's trimmed fat went. Of course, DT trimmed fat could be enough for a couple prog careers. By the way, if this song goes on like this – super-dense self-sustaining one-minute bits sewn together with effortless mastery – I am naming my firstborn Baby Derek.

3:50 – 4:27: Baby Derek it is. Bo Derek if female.

4:27 – 5:00: Welcome aboard, Big James! Are we toying with a slightly less emphatic yet in the same ballpark Dio storytelling pose, my friend?

5:00 – 5:29: It takes a special kind of talent to cram such a catchy chorus between musical intricacies. I'm five seconds away from going in the streets, grabbing the first pedestrian by the collar and maniacally yelling: "Why don't you people like DT? Like them, goddammit! Soylent Green is people!" You think I'm kidding, huh?

5:29 – 6:00: The Return of the beloved Space Soda (reference for long-time thread aficionados) and Johnny M pulling a Pastorious. He's the shy one, but I feel he's the real cornerstone upholding this streak of great music. He's Harrison Ford from 1977 to 1997: you seldom remember him when talking about supestars, yet he's behind every major blockbuster.

6:00 – 6:15: And here's Under a Glass Moon trimmed fat! This means this shit was longer in the making than I thought. Mmmmm, I feel a DT Custom Shop Call is coming ...

6:15 – 6:55:

"Dream Theater Custom Shop, how can I help you?"

"Right, you were sitting on AcoS before you published Awake, weren't you?"

"Sir, please calm down"

"AcoS: 23:09, right?"

"..."

"6 o'Clock + Caught in a Web + The Mirror + Lie = 24:17. DON'T YOU FOCKING SEE?"

*click*


C'mon, like you never thought about that ...


Coming Next: A Change of Seasons, book II: Wankery of Winter Night

[Podaar]

Well, no natural 20 on your first roll.

An 11 with a +1 for references to Sanatarium, the glockenspiel, and Soylent Green each = 14 which isn't too shabby. But I'm going to award you a +2 for Baby Derek (Beau Derek?) which gets you to 16! Against AC 4, that's a hit, baby.

Roll your damage!

[Indiscipline]

*giggles*

I knew it, man.

[lucasembarbosa]

"AcoS: 23:09, right?"

"..."

"6 o'Clock + Caught in a Web + The Mirror + Lie = 24:17. DON'T YOU FOCKING SEE?"

*click*

I really never thought of that, and I would love Awake even more with this switch of songs.
But if we had ACoS on Awake, it probably would be the older version, as KevMo still would be in the band. That's a nice discussion for another topic, under the "what ifs" label...

[TAC]

"Dream Theater Custom Shop, how can I help you?"
"Right, you were sitting on AcoS before you published Awake, weren't you?"
"Sir, please calm down"
"AcoS: 23:09, right?"
"..."
"6 o'Clock + Caught in a Web + The Mirror + Lie = 24:17. DON'T YOU FOCKING SEE?"
*click*

C'mon, like you never thought about that ...

You know what? I have literally never thought of it in those terms. You just put a pit in my stomach thinking about it though, so thankyouverymuch.

Now THAT surely would've been a true follow up to I&W. Awake is great, but my problem is how great can it be when I want to lop off more than a third of it?

If ACOS led off Awake, and then went right into Erotomania...holy shit!



The other thing that I love about these breakdowns, other than popping Advil like candy from trying to decipher all of the references, is the appreciation of such small sections that are simply mind blowing on their own. The brick by brick construction of some of these songs are easy to get overlooked.

And yes, John Myung rules this.

[Indiscipline]

lucasembarbosa, a "what if" appendix is definitely coming.

Clap for the nurse!

TAC, a "what if" appendix is definitely coming, jailtime permitting.

Seriously, I'm honoured you're loving the micro-breakdowns. Sometimes with DT the real shame is not seeing the trees for the forest.

[AngelBack]

lucasembarbosa, a "what if" appendix is definitely coming.

Clap for the nurse!

TAC, a "what if" appendix is definitely coming, jailtime permitting.

Seriously, I'm honoured you're loving the micro-breakdowns. Sometimes with DT the real shame is not seeing the trees for the forest.

So true!  That is why, for me, so much of DT's music remains fresh.  If you dig, you can always find another tasty nugget never before heard.

"Rock out with your Fock out"!

[Indiscipline]

"Rock out with your Fock out"!

T-Shirts. Mass production. Now.

God bless you.