Wow, I haven't posted in a while.
Jon Anderson is the singer of Yes.
Ian Anderson is the flautist/singer of Jethro Tull.
Ian Gillan is the singer of Deep Purple.
I think a Venn diagram is in order here.
We need Jon Gillan, the progressive rock flautist. He doesn't sing.
Really, you could say "Anderson (or Jon or Gillan) means singer, Ian means flute player," but that would make Ian Gillan only a flautist. He's only a singer. So if neither Ian nor Anderson is present in the name, it means flautist. Jon Gillan switched logical places with Ian Gillan.
Remember, Ian=flute, Jon/Gillan-singer.
I want Tim Storms as the singer for my band.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Greatest Hits and Communism
I was shopping in Family Christian today for Mothers' Day and saw that Greatest Hits albums of famous Christian artists that actually deserve it are being produced under one uniform label (not record label, but title). Similarly, I saw several two-for-one packs of CDs under one standard formatting. I decided to buy the Petra double pack instead of a Stryper DVD.
This is an example of the Great Dichotomy. The artist in me thinks that total creative freedom is intrinsic and necessary to a good life and culture, while the logic side of me regards uniformity as very convenient and organized. Thing is, these Christian artists have both. Steven Curtis Chapman has released a few Greatest Hits albums (he is certainly entitled to with all his hits) and this uniform format released the most popular songs for people that have heard that name and a few songs on Smile.fm but want more. The library often buys Greatest Hits albums in parallel economic spirit, and I have borrowed many. The logic part of me loves monopolies, and the spirit of Uniformity Makes It Easier, but the creative side is about freedom and no rules and the philosophy of Variety Makes Life Worth Living. I will write a progressive metal epic on this bipolarity. I've been writing the music for nearly a year now.
This is an example of the Great Dichotomy. The artist in me thinks that total creative freedom is intrinsic and necessary to a good life and culture, while the logic side of me regards uniformity as very convenient and organized. Thing is, these Christian artists have both. Steven Curtis Chapman has released a few Greatest Hits albums (he is certainly entitled to with all his hits) and this uniform format released the most popular songs for people that have heard that name and a few songs on Smile.fm but want more. The library often buys Greatest Hits albums in parallel economic spirit, and I have borrowed many. The logic part of me loves monopolies, and the spirit of Uniformity Makes It Easier, but the creative side is about freedom and no rules and the philosophy of Variety Makes Life Worth Living. I will write a progressive metal epic on this bipolarity. I've been writing the music for nearly a year now.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
"Rite of Passage" by Dream Theater
Yesterday Roadrunner Records released a free download of "Rite of Passage" off of Dream Theater's album "Black Clouds and Silver Linings" coming June 23rd. Click here to download the song.
The opening riff, which could be a heavily effected bass (most often when the bass plays solo these days it is drenched in effects) is boring and cliched, and the rest of the intro is nothing remotely special. Then the key goes up a half step when the verse hits, which is a peculiar technique Dream Theater uses. But the end of the phrases are back in the original! Perhaps it is to make it easier to play or sing, or just to be inconsistent and annoying. The beginning rythm guitar tone is thin and awful. Dream Theater has always done an ostinato bass line while the other instruments mess around over it, but lately it's been a simple guitar rhythm repeated indefinitely. (See "Constant Motion"as compared to "Learning to Live.") The chorus melody is nothing creative, although the voluminous harmonies add a full sound to it that is quite appealing. Dream Theater claims that their compositional skills are improving, but subtle variations and transitions have disappeared, and solos are now self-indulgent and horrible. This is a band that is not improving. I also have heard "A Nightmare to Remember" and they both remind me of the simple blandess of 2003's "Train of Thought." The chorus key is up a fifth from the verse, probably to accomodate James LaBrie's perishing voice. So of course, the transition from chorus back to verse is just static and callous, like a caveman. It takes a while to switch tonality in the mind, so of course they repeat the riff a few times before the singing starts and they repeat it some more. After the second chorus comes a band hit with a continuing guitar rhythm a la thrash or power metal. The rhythm is boring, but the way they play around with the rhythm harkens back to a couple songs on Awake, I wish I could remember. I now yearn for the progressive sound of Awake, which upon initial listening I deemed quite mainstream compared to Images & Words. Dream Theater used to have cool instrumentals with harmonized parts and progressive unision riffs, like in "Metropolis Pt 1" and "Take the Time." Now they do what every other band does, which is play chords while the guitaist solos. John Petrucci's solo shredded like "Stream of Consciousness," but with a wah-wah tone that made it sound nauseating. Later on in the solo, after he gets the self-indulgent note-playing out the way, he does ome cool stuff reminiscent of "Under a Glass Moon" but without the sweeteness. The subsequent keyboard solo was simply awful. He started with his traditional lead sound reminding me of "The Ministry of Lost Souls" then used a different tone and did a weird tone that reminded me of "Constant Motion." Then he played random, horrible sounding noise that sounded like a Continuum with a robotic, mechanical sort of timbre. Then we repeat the chorus and play some more riff that a middle schooler could improvise. Then Bam, there goes a sixth of their upcoming album. I'm not sure I want to buy it anymore. "Stream of Consciousness" does not compare to a different instrumental like "Dance of Eternity." Now that I think of, this whole soung is a lot like "Constant Motion." See the video for Rite of Passage here. It's actually pretty sweet. The Constant Motion single video cut out most of the sweet stuff- Dream Theater took the initiative this time and didn't put any in. Mike Portnoy says in this interview that they prevented themselves from doing sweet stuff so the song could be focused, like a single. For me, the chorus and stuff are usually just filler that they need for many people to like the song- the real good stuff is the instrumental passages (which pretty much makes Dance of Eternity the ultimate song).
An email I received yesterday offering the free download (which is now expired by the way; it's streaming on their artist page) had this to say about the piece: "It's a great song - very different from other DT music." Different as in it SUCKS!!!!
The opening riff, which could be a heavily effected bass (most often when the bass plays solo these days it is drenched in effects) is boring and cliched, and the rest of the intro is nothing remotely special. Then the key goes up a half step when the verse hits, which is a peculiar technique Dream Theater uses. But the end of the phrases are back in the original! Perhaps it is to make it easier to play or sing, or just to be inconsistent and annoying. The beginning rythm guitar tone is thin and awful. Dream Theater has always done an ostinato bass line while the other instruments mess around over it, but lately it's been a simple guitar rhythm repeated indefinitely. (See "Constant Motion"as compared to "Learning to Live.") The chorus melody is nothing creative, although the voluminous harmonies add a full sound to it that is quite appealing. Dream Theater claims that their compositional skills are improving, but subtle variations and transitions have disappeared, and solos are now self-indulgent and horrible. This is a band that is not improving. I also have heard "A Nightmare to Remember" and they both remind me of the simple blandess of 2003's "Train of Thought." The chorus key is up a fifth from the verse, probably to accomodate James LaBrie's perishing voice. So of course, the transition from chorus back to verse is just static and callous, like a caveman. It takes a while to switch tonality in the mind, so of course they repeat the riff a few times before the singing starts and they repeat it some more. After the second chorus comes a band hit with a continuing guitar rhythm a la thrash or power metal. The rhythm is boring, but the way they play around with the rhythm harkens back to a couple songs on Awake, I wish I could remember. I now yearn for the progressive sound of Awake, which upon initial listening I deemed quite mainstream compared to Images & Words. Dream Theater used to have cool instrumentals with harmonized parts and progressive unision riffs, like in "Metropolis Pt 1" and "Take the Time." Now they do what every other band does, which is play chords while the guitaist solos. John Petrucci's solo shredded like "Stream of Consciousness," but with a wah-wah tone that made it sound nauseating. Later on in the solo, after he gets the self-indulgent note-playing out the way, he does ome cool stuff reminiscent of "Under a Glass Moon" but without the sweeteness. The subsequent keyboard solo was simply awful. He started with his traditional lead sound reminding me of "The Ministry of Lost Souls" then used a different tone and did a weird tone that reminded me of "Constant Motion." Then he played random, horrible sounding noise that sounded like a Continuum with a robotic, mechanical sort of timbre. Then we repeat the chorus and play some more riff that a middle schooler could improvise. Then Bam, there goes a sixth of their upcoming album. I'm not sure I want to buy it anymore. "Stream of Consciousness" does not compare to a different instrumental like "Dance of Eternity." Now that I think of, this whole soung is a lot like "Constant Motion." See the video for Rite of Passage here. It's actually pretty sweet. The Constant Motion single video cut out most of the sweet stuff- Dream Theater took the initiative this time and didn't put any in. Mike Portnoy says in this interview that they prevented themselves from doing sweet stuff so the song could be focused, like a single. For me, the chorus and stuff are usually just filler that they need for many people to like the song- the real good stuff is the instrumental passages (which pretty much makes Dance of Eternity the ultimate song).
An email I received yesterday offering the free download (which is now expired by the way; it's streaming on their artist page) had this to say about the piece: "It's a great song - very different from other DT music." Different as in it SUCKS!!!!
Friday, May 1, 2009
"Someone Like Him"
The first movement of the title track off of Dream Theater's 2005 CD Octavarium seems to follow the same "carpe diem" theme explored in "A Change of Seasons." Some theorize that it's talking about John Petrucci's musical career- he never wanted to be a musician. That is stupid. Very dumb thing to speculate. No grounds in reality. Just dumb. I use the word "dumb" because I've been trying to eliminate my use of other words. Read this hugely in-depth analysis that I love.
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