Tag Archives: Dream Theater

Copyright, Derivative Works, Influenced

The Kashmir Effect

Stone Temple Pilots – Plush (1992)

And I feel that time’s a wasted go
So where ya going to tomorrow?
And I see that these are lies to come
Would you even care?

Yes, Stone Temple Pilots did a derivative work of Kashmir.  Instead of going up the fret board chromatically, they go chromatically down the fret board.  The drums and the feel of the song, is John Bonham reincarnated.

Plush is from the excellent debut album Core.  Regardless of the Scott Weiland shenanigans going on right now, there is no denying that Stone Temple Pilots released two ground breaking albums.

Kingdom Come – Get It On (1988)

We’ve come a real long way to be with you
It’s not that easy doing what we do
There are those lonely times and then there’s happiness
Now it’s time we gonna do what we do best

Get It On was the reason why people went out and purchased a million plus units of the debut Kingdom Come album. People actually thought this was Led Zeppelin. The verse riff is very heavily inspired from Kashmir.

Whitesnake – Judgement Day (1989)

We walk toward desire,
Hand and hand
Through fields of fire
With only love to light the way
On the road to Judgement Day

The Kashmir effect strikes again. Whitesnake must have said, if Kingdom Come can pull it off, why can’t we.  It should have been the lead off single instead of the re-recorded Fool For Your Loving.  Dave Coverdale had a lot to prove when he started to write the follow-up to the mega successful Whitesnake 1987 album that was penned with John Sykes.

Metallica – The Call Of Ktulu (1984)

The same riff that Mustaine wrote for The Call of Ktulu, is the same progression that is used in Kashmir.  It is also in the same key of D minor.  The only difference, is that Dave Mustaine arpeggio’s the notes.  Dave Mustaine doesn’t play on the Metallica version, that was released on Ride The Lightning, however he is the creator of the main piece of music on this song.

Dream Theater – Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper (1992)

As a child, I thought I could live without pain without sorrow
As a man I’ve found it’s all caught up with me
I’m asleep yet I’m so afraid

Somewhere like a scene from a memory
There’s a picture worth a thousand words
Eluding stares from faces before me
It hides away and will never be heard of again

When the verse riff kicks in, it’s Kashmir at a prog level.  The chordal keys that happen over the Em triplets, is all hair on the back of the neck stuff.  Pull Me Under introduced Dream Theater to the world, however Metropolis is the star on the Images and Words album.

Megadeth – Hanger 18 (1990)

The military intelligence
Two words combined that can’t make sense
Possibly I’ve seen too much
Hangar 18 I know too much

Kashmir and The Call of Ktulu merged into an excellent thrash opener that deals with aliens and conspiracy theories.  Dave Mustaine references himself and Jimmy Page again.

Coheed and Cambria – Welcome Home (2005)

You stormed off to scar the armada
Like Jesus played martyr,
I’ll drill through your hands

The verse riff and the John Bonham drums.  It’s Kashmir again.  Coheed and Cambria knew they had a winner with this song.  It is the song that announced them to the world.  It is the song that we all wanted to hear at the recent concert I attended at the Metro Theater in Sydney.

Megadeth – In My Darkest Hour (1988)

My whole life is work built on the past
But the time has come when all things shall pass
This good thing passed away

The B to C to C# to D note changes over a E pedal point from In My Darkest Hour is the same is the A, B flat, B, C over a D pedal point from Kashmir.  Music written after the death of Cliff Burton, had to be epic and it had to be big.

Kashmir is Led Zeppelin’s definitive statement.  It was released in 1975 on the excellent double album Physical Graffiti.  It’s influence since then on the rock / metal scenes is extraordinary.  Even Hip Hop sampled it.  The Tea Party built a career on it. The bands mentioned above wrote career defining songs on it.

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music

Classic Album Closing Songs

Diary Of A Madman (1981)

Entries of confusion
Dear diary, I’m here to stay

What can I say, it had to be a Randy Rhoads song.  Diary shows the monster that Randy was becoming.  Despite being seen as Ozzy’s band, the star of the band is Randy Rhoads.

Diary Of A Madman is the perfect fusion of progressive metal, technical rock and sinister classical all rolled into one potent song.  As much as Sharon Osbourne tries to re-write Ozzy’s history, she can never re-write the music that was created.  The music comes from the guitar, bass and the keys, all instruments her beloved Ozzy doesn’t play.

Australian Bob Daisley as the lyricist and bassist is the unsung hero in Ozzy’s second coming.  He doesn’t even get credited as playing on the album, thanks to a spiteful Sharon Osbourne.  He was recruited from the Dio fronted Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow.  How ironic, that Dio would leave Rainbow to sing for Black Sabbath, and Daisley would leave Rainbow to join the singer that Black Sabbath fired.

Hallowed Be Thy Name (1982)

Mark my words believe my soul lives on
Don’t worry now that I have gone
I’ve gone beyond to seek the truth

When you know that your time is close at hand
Maybe then you’ll begin to understand
Life down there is just a strange illusion

It’s a Steve Harris composition, however the voice of Bruce Dickinson is the savior. It gave Iron Maiden the fire to break away from the New Wave of British Metal image and forge a new direction.  It made them relevant.

Iron Maiden became a household name on the back of The Number of The Beast along with it’s anthem Run To The Hills.

However the real star on this album is the closer, Hallowed Be Thy Name.  The definitive version is the live version featured on Live After Death (1985).  The tempo is increased slightly and Nicko McBrain (who replaced Clive Burr) on the drums, gives the song the fury it needs.  The song is about the last moments of a prisoner before the execution.

Who We Are (2011)

We are the young
And young at heart
The strong and the brave that are destined to start
We are the change
The world needs to see
Look in our eyes and see our belief

This is who we are
This is what I am
We have nowhere else to go
Divided we will stand

The mighty Machine Fucken Head.  It’s a Robb Flynn composition.  He should have changed the Divided We Will Stand to UNITED WE WILL STAND.  It would have fit the lyrical message of the song to a tee.  The only time we metal heads stand united as a metal show.  Apart from that, we are in a elite class of the genres we like.  I like Black Veil Brides.  Try telling that to my elite Slipknot and Mudvayne friends.  Do you get what I mean.

S.M.F (1984)

Black sheep of the family, nothing like the rest
Separate from the others, failing all their tests
Can’t they see you’re different, so hungry and so lean
You’re a walking wonder, you’re a metal machine
Look and you’ll see you’re a lot like me

You’re an S.M.F.

Any closing song that abbreviates the term Sick Mutha Fucker has my attention.  Twisted Sister was one band, that knew how to write songs for the live show.  Put that down to their 9 years of playing the club scenes before they even got a shitty independent deal.  Dee Snider was a master.

Of course the Stay Hungry album was known for the smash hits, We’re Not Gonna Take It and I Wanna Rock.  However the real star of the album is the ode to all of those Twisted SMF’s who supported the band.

The lyrical theme follows the same theme as We’re Not Gonna Take It and I Wanna Rock. It’s about metal fans versus the system and the family dynamic. This time the band is telling me, it’s okay to be different, it’s okay that I don’t fit a mold made for me.  There are others out there, that are experiencing the same and let our love of music, find us a home.

Shogun (2008)

Time has come to face all evil

It’s an epic.  The musicianship is excellent.  Trivium to me are part of the current Big 5 of metal bands, along with Machine Head (actually Machine Head to me are part of the Nineties Big 4 as well as the 2000’s Big 5), Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God and Five Finger Death Punch.

That time to face all evil came to me in 2010, however I should have faced it in 2008.  Avoiding it, only made it worse.

If you succeed in this battle
You still will lose so much more

Ain’t that the truth.  Winning a battle (albeit a court case, a street fight or a real battle) is one thing, dealing with the aftermath is another thing.

Aerials (2001)

Life is a waterfall
we’re one in the river
and one again after the fall…

life is a waterfall
we drink from the river
then we turn around and put up our walls

System Of A Down nailed it on Aerials.  They really captured their European Armenian minor key arrangements and fused it with modern metal. The music is written by guitarist and backing vocalist, Daron Malakian and the lyrics are shared between Serj Tankian and Malakian.  I got into SOAD because of the unique vocal style of Serj.  In bands, it doesn’t matter how great the music is, if the singer cannot connect with the listeners and deliver, then it’s time to find someone who can.

How true is the statement?  We flow into each day, into each routine without any effor and we could flow like that for days.  Then one day, it all changes and we are going down the waterfall.  It’s quick, it’s crazy and when we come out of it, we will flow again like we did, but we will be different.

 

The Count Of Tuscany (2009)

Could this be the end?
Is this the way I die?
Sitting here alone
No one by my side

I don’t understand
I don’t feel that I deserve this
What did I do wrong?
I just don’t understand

Dream Theater deserves a mention for this beauty.  The lyrics by Petrucci could have been better, however the last section makes up for it.  Furthermore, there is no denying the impact of the music.  I also have my own edited version, where I cut out that atmospheric 4 minute keyboard and guitar interlude.

The stars of the band have always been the guitarist and the keyboardist for me.  John Petrucci and Kevin Moore was Mark 1.  John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess is Mark 3.

The great fear in humans. Death.  There isn’t a subject on it.  Hell, there even isn’t a subject about getting old.  I know that the lyric lines quoted above are about how John Petrucci as a child, got lost on a family holiday in Italy and he was fearing for his life, in an Italian cellar with a strange-looking Christopher Lee.  The beauty of lyrics done right, means that they can also be taken in a different way.

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A to Z of Making It, Music

Far From Being Normal – That Is Why We Love Them

I remember a band member once asking me, what do I believe needs to be done to make it.   I always had the viewpoint that successful people are far from being normal.  The ones that make it had something to prove to someone.  There could be abandonment issues, broken homes, mental issues, drug dependencies or some other X factor.  Of course, there are the 1 percents of the small 1 percents of people who make it, that just keep on persisting their way to the top.

Let’s look at Motley Crue.  Nikki Sixx was the driver of that vehicle and look at his childhood. 

Machine Head’s driver is Robb Flynn.  He was adopted.  He had something to prove. 

Metallica at the beginning was all Dave Mustaine.  He was the one that had something to prove as he had the abandonment issues from Mustaine Senior.  Once he was ousted, it was all James Hetfield.  His Christian Science upbringing was the catalyst.  Lars was the connections guy in the band, while James was the driver.

Van Halen had David Lee Roth, the troubled son from a renowned eye surgeon.  Yes, I know that Eddie Van Halen wrote the music and the riffs, however DLR was the show, the ideas man, the troubled teen that had something to prove.

Megadeth had Dave Mustaine.  Mustaine had something to prove when he was in Metallica and after his ousting he really had something to prove. 

Dream Theater had Mike Portnoy.  Portnoy’s mum died in a plane crash and his step dad was a prick.  Talented as John Petrucci is, if Mike Portnoy wasn’t there, Dream Theater would never have made it.  Portnoy delivered the X Factor.

Slipknot had Corey Taylor. Corey had even overdosed twice in his teens.

Something to think about when our heroes mess things up.

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Music

Mike Portnoy

I’m not a casual listener. My name sits in the liner notes of “Lifting Shadows”. I chased the bootlegs, bought the club editions, stood in the crowd in Australia. I saw Petrucci and Portnoy together on stages where the electricity felt like a revelation. I paid for that music because it was the songs that grabbed me, not the spectacle.

So let’s be straight: technique is everywhere now. Virtuosity used to be a miracle; now it’s a YouTube commodity. A kid can learn a sweep pick and a double bass blast between breakfast and lunch. What still separates the great from the merely flashy is songcraft, melody, arrangement, that singular idea that lodges in your skull and refuses to leave.

That’s why I struggle with some of Portnoy’s post-Dream Theater output. Not because he’s a bad drummer, he’s not, but because being prolific isn’t the same as being precise. When someone spreads their creative capital across a dozen plates, the best work can get crumbs.

Dream Theater worked because the band added up to more than the sum of parts. Petrucci’s riffing and compositional voice gave those albums a spine. The drums were essential, sure, but they were the heartbeat of something built around guitars, keys and bass. “Pull Me Under” hooked me because the music did more than impress; it told a story.

Does that make Portnoy small-minded?

No.

Does it make him the wrong man for every project?

Also no.

The point is structural: some players are catalysts. They need the right chemistry to make magic. Portnoy amplifies greatness. He doesn’t always manufacture it on his own. That’s an observation, not an insult.

Adrenaline Mob is the closest thing he’s had to raw, no-nonsense heavy rock that actually lands. Those songs hit. The riffs bite. The singer cuts through. That project finds a balance: muscle and melody. It’s proof that when focus and songcraft align, everything else follows.

Flying Colors? Not my cup. The ambition’s there, but ambition without bite becomes languid. It’s like watching a celebrity-level practice session and being asked to call it an album. That’s okay to say. We want fewer filler projects and more full-blooded records.

Now The Winery Dogs. The concept, three masters in a room, sounds promising on paper. But promise isn’t product. When the guitarist is also the frontman and the primary songwriter, the record needs a distinct voice that wasn’t borrowed from other eras. Technical chops are table stakes. The question is: does the music say something new, or just recycle yesterday’s influences?

Richie Kotzen can play, no argument there, but the job at hand isn’t to impress other players. It’s to write songs that refuse to be background music. To front a trio, you need a personality that sings through the riffs, not a voice that echoes familiar silhouettes. Again: not an attack, just a reality check.

And the final point, because this is where the truth lands hard: a career built on collaboration requires choices. Spread yourself across side projects and the core product decays. That’s not celebrity shade; that’s simple math. Attention and intention are limited resources. Pick where they matter most.

If Portnoy wants to recapture that lightning, he doesn’t need to be “the guy” in every headline. He needs to be the guy who brings his full attention to one record, one song, one uncompromising statement that can stand beside the true classics. Focus. Patience. Let the songs breathe.

Because at the end of the day, fans like me didn’t sign up for fills and bombast. We signed up for the songs that make you feel something you can’t name. Deliver those, and the rest writes itself.

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Music, My Stories

Storm Thorgerson – Off to the Bright Side of The Afterlife

The album cover was an important part of each album release.  A lot of the times we purchased albums based on how the cover looked.  Iron Maiden immediately comes to mind.  Most of the times people are unaware who the artists are that create these iconic images.  In this case, Storm Thorgerson is a name that people either know or don’t know.

I guarantee if you mention to anyone the name Storm Thorgerson they would look at you like you are speaking a different language.

However if you mentioned Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon, then you get a reaction.  You can say that he is best known for creating the prism-spreading color spectrum on the front of Pink Floyd‘s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ album.  (All images are sourced from Wikipedia, so that I can showcase my favourite album covers by Storm).

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Pink Floyd – A Momentary Lapse Of Reason was the first Pink Floyd album I purchased in the late eighties.  From this album I started to go back and explore the others.

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Storm passed away, on Thursday 18th April after a long illness with cancer and the after effects of a stroke in 2003. He was in his 69 years old.

If you have Dream Theater’s – A Change of Season EP, Falling Into Infinity album or Once In A Livetime album, then the cover art was all designed by Storm.  Dream Theater is one of my favourite bands at the moment.

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Megadeth’s – Rude Awakening DVD cover, was designed by Storm.  This cover is a dead set classic.

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Europe – Secret Society – again very creative, the secret society is faceless people pulling you in all directions.

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Thornley – Come Again – this is one of his best covers, the trap door exit into another world or an alternate reality.

Peter Gabriel – I love the ghostly face in the car with the raindrops. The light and dark shades capture the moment.

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Black Sabbath – Technical Ecstasy – this one was a rare one from Storm, as most of his album covers involved photographs and manipulation of photographs.  This one is more or less a drawing.

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Muse – Absolution – the shadows of the people falling down from the sky, while the person looks up.  Brilliant. Or are the people finding absolution and are being taken up the sky.  Again it makes you think.

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Led Zeppelin – Presence – I always took this photo as showing a side of the wealthy/powerful and the black presence in the middle of the table.  I am sure others have a different take on it.  It has been known the Jimmy Page dabbled in black magic, and could this be the presence that the album cover refers too. It makes you think.

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The Mars Volta – Frances The Mute – we are all faceless people bypassing each other, just to get ahead.

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Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions – i love the contrast of the Red and the Blue.  Very war like.

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There are a lot of other covers out there, so delve deep and remember the man who is iconic to pop culture.  He worked with the best and he is the best.  Rest in Peace and thanks for the memories.  

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Music

Dream Theater

Article at Loudwire

I will be up front here and say that Dream Theater is one of my favourite bands.  I thought i was pretty good guitarist and then i heard Erotomania from the Awake album.  I was dumbfounded.  Here in Australia, we were saturated with the grunge movement.  As a guitarist that meant no solos.  In all of this, you had Dream Theater.   Awake was my first introduction to them, and i quickly went back to Utopia Record Store at Clarence St and purchased Images and Words and When Dream and Day Unite.  That is how we did it back then.  You had to catch a bus, then a train, then walk a little bit, just to purchase music.

250,000 people voted.  This poll/vote contest could seem to be a silly exercise, however it is far from that.  Dream Theater found out that they where in the final, and they put it out there to their fans.  The fans responded.  They took time to go and vote.  That is the key.  Connections.  The DT fans felt enough of a connection with the band, to respond to their call to arms.  They beat Metallica, who makes them look like small fish when it comes to selling concert tickets.  

Dream Theater are in the midst of recording their next album.  They have an online presence.  They all use Twitter and Facebook.  They offer video updates, video interviews and whatever else they can offer.  They even hired Michael Brandvold to be their Internet marketer.  They do Guitar Clinics, Keyboard Clinics and Drum Clinics.  That is a face to face connection.

If the fans respond to the album the same way they responded to DT’s call to arms to vote, expect big things.

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