Band Reviews: Dream Theater

Before I start this review, let me say two things. First, I had wanted to do a review of southern rockers Kings of Leon this week, but I haven't done enough research to be able to talk about their music in enough detail. Second, Dream Theater are tied with Lamb of God for my favorite band of all time, so this review may come across as biased, but I don't care because they're awesome.

Dream Theater are a 5 piece 'progressive rock' band from New York City, and are generally seen as one of the most technically proficient groups of all time. The band consists of John Petrucci [guitar], John Myung [bass], Jordan Rudess [keyboard], Mike Portnoy [drums] and James Labrie [vocals] all of whom are individually brilliant.

Dream Theater's sound is characterised by heavy but melodic guitar riffs, rhythmic and driving bass lines, complex time signatures, searing solos and smooth and epic vocals. Their two primary song writers are John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy, both of whom are big metal fans, which influences their writing a lot, which is why a lot of people classify them as 'Progressive Metal' rather than 'Progressive Rock'.

The thing that sets Dream Theater apart from other bands is that they are all naturally brilliant players. What I mean by that is that they have all practiced, and are brilliant so that when they play they play out of emotion but because they are so good their music comes out as technically amazing at the same time.

But the thing that really impress me is that while they play out of emotion, they have the ability to write at will. So where most bands write songs out of events that have shaped their lives, like a death or something like that, Dream Theater have an ability to decide to write a 'metal' song with an 'angry' sound, and do it. While on the same day they can decide to write a 'blues rock' song with a 'happy' feel, and they can do both equally well.

While all of the above things are true, Dream Theater are without a doubt a 'progressive' band, with most of their songs being over 7 minutes long, consisting of long solos and lots of interaction between the guitar and keyboard, and never failing to take the listener on a journey throughout the track.

So we know what's special about Dream Theater, but what's special about their members?

John Petrucci is widely seen as one of the best guitarists in the world, sporting searing speed, extreme technicallity and an ear for melody and harmonies. His sound has a distinctive 'metal' sound to it, but he uses a lot of effects which is very unique as most metal guitarists don't use effects at all. But these effects work well for their progressive style, and to compliment Jordan Rudess' keyboards.

Rudess is refered to as 'The Professor' because he is older than the rest of the band [he's 51 now I think] and has a Ph.D in music, which is quite impressive. The think that I like about Jordan is the fact that while he in a band that is heavily influenced by metal, he still manages to play keyboard in a way that not only gives the songs a heavy and edgy feel, but he plays amazing solos in the songs too.

When hearing they only have one electric guitarist, my first question was "how do they play metal tracks without a rhythm guitarist?" and the answer is John Myung. He is one of the most amazing bassists in the world. Not only is his tone the best bass tone I've ever heard, able to combine bottom end distinction with distortion, but he drives the songs and gives everyone else a platform to show off on, while showing off himself. Many of his riffs require him to play a basic bass line as well as a lead line higher up, giving the feeling of a bass and rhythm guitarist. And his timing is impeccable [to be honest, the entire band's timing is near perfect].

Which leaves us with Mike Portnoy. He's is an absolutely amazing drummer, being one of the most creative drummers I've ever heard, and doing it while playing weird time signatures like 11/8 or 5/4. While playing very complex rhythms filled with tom rolls and splash punctuation, he manages to keep a very heavy sound playing creative and melodic kick drum patterns, often very fast and precisely.

To be honest, their vocalist is the most normal in the band, his only claim to fame being the fact that he can sing lots of different style of music.

At the end of the day the thing that will blow your mind about Dream Theater is their technicallity. There is just so much going on with all the music all the time and I've even met people who can't listen to their tracks because there's just too much going on, but I guess that's part of what gets me going. Complexity, technicallity and heaviness. What more could you ask for?