JOHN PETRUCCI AND JORDAN RUDESS

I find this album very difficult to rate, mainly because all of the songs are actually very enjoyable, there's no song at all I would rather skip while playing the album. On the other hand, there is no particular song I feel I would like put on just because of how much I love it, there are no particular highlights for me. If I'm going to listen to this album, then it must be the whole album, and only when I'm in the mood for it. If you are interested on this album because of it's Dream Theater connections, think it twice of try to listen to it first, for it has very little to do with said band's music, it doesn't have one bit of metal in it, though I would say it's definitley prog. Mainly soft music in a sense, but it's got a lot of chops, really great playing all around, with piano and acoustic guitar, or soft (but fast) electric guitar. Also, if you hate Dream Theater, you might want to give this one a try, surely most of the aspects that could make people dislike them are actually missing here. Definitley an album worth checking out.

One of the best performances by two musicians who do not conform themselves in just one thing

Back in the early and all through the late 2000's, Dream Theater was the hottest band around. Many would question that statement regarding that most of their albums from that time period are not among their most brilliant works (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence excepted), but looking only to the band's studio output would be undermining all of their hard work, dedication and, most of all, pure and unadulterated talent and passion in playing music; you can see in any of their live recordings from that time the passion they have when playing, how they pour their souls into what they are doing, specially in the Live in Budokan and Score albums.

What does this all has to do with this album? Well, nevertheless all the band members were putting some of their most impressive efforts into Dream Theater's albums, that period in time was also fertile in successful side projects by all of the band members, either with other bands, such as Transatlantic, Jelly Jam and Liquid Tension Experiment, or with solo projects, much like did John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess in releasing solo material.

An Evening With John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess manages to merge both things that said era of Dream Theater had together: the side project and solo project. This live recording brings us an unique presentation by the band's guitarist and keyboardist, two of the band's main creative forces behind it all as well as two of the most gifted and talented musicians in current progressive rock.

This record, however, showcases them both in a place that we usually don't see: Petrucci stays (for the most part) outside of his heavy metal comfort zone of hurling countless notes at us and delivers an impressive, emotional and at times unexpected guitar lines that vary from jazz, classic guitar, blues and classic progressive rock, just to mention the most apparent styles he portrays in his guitar. Here, I believe, even the critics of his work at Dream Theater would agree that his performance is far from cold and heartless technical guitar lines he does at the famous progressive metal band.

As for Jordan Rudess, we do see a different side of him than we usually see at DT: the flamboyant, overly technical and multifaceted keyboard wizard. Nevertheless, for those who follow his solo work this kind of performance would not come to a surprise; the subtle and yet impressive ways he can twist and turn a single melody line into something incredibly good and unexpected without resorting to elaborate sounds or equipment can surprise even the most experienced of music listeners.

All songs from the live performance itself (excepting State of Grace, which was written in Liquid Tension Experiment) are original compositions for this presentation alone, or so I presume since I have never seen or heard they being played before or after, use extensive improvisation from both players for large parts of the performance, what give an even more impressive and fresh feel to each song. As mentioned before, the music's tone here is definitively not what one would expect from members of a progressive metal band; indeed the introspective and elated feel to the melodies played here accentuate the distance from their rather aggressive and powerful side, so often seen in Dream Theater. The extensive use of acoustic instruments (or, in Rudess's case, the sound of acoustic instruments like the piano or the harp) emphasize that tone, even though Petrucci does uses his electric guitar quite a lot (but not in a heavy metal manner or attitude, though) and Rudess sparsely uses synthesizers/synthetic sounds.

The only exception is the last song, Bite of the Mosquito, which is a studio version of the famous Rimsky-Korsakov song Flight of the Bumblebee. For me, it is only here to showcase the technical prowess of both instrumentalists, specially if you take into account how fast it is played, and serves to set a contrast from the rest of the album, all based on emotional and sensible playing by both Petrucci and Rudess; if that's the case, mission accomplished.

The moment captured in this album, almost an hour and a half of pure musical bliss, testifies the inventiveness and quality of both this musicians amazing compositional and playing abilities. Indeed, John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess show to all that they definitively not bound to the realms of progressive metal that made them famous, as well as that they are incredibly skillful outside that field of music. For that, I believe that the most honest rating would be 5 stars.

Wow, this came out of nowhere.

I have to truly say, that it really breaks my heart to listen to this album, and realize what absolutely beautiful, deep and emotional music John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess are actually capable of making. Its amazing how much the quality level increases, when Portnoy is removed from the equation.

To listen to this album and then listen to Systemic Chaos or Black Clouds and silver linings, I seriously feel nauseous. This is the music Dream Theater could have been making. Ten years of sub par Dream Theater albums and we could have had music along the same quality of An Evening with JP and JR. There's no cheese metal lyrics about Dark Masters or Counts with vintage wine, no horrible growling, and no fake dark metal wannabe posing. Its genuinely beautiful music. This album inspires me and gives me chills. Every song is brilliantly composed and the album flows very well. I just wish I could have seen this performance in person.

In a way this LIVE album is not unexpected at all ,au contraire,it's en extension of what both musicians did on the sensationals LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT albums in a more electric and prog fusion way!!Definitelly,there is an alchemy between this 2 amazing musicians,they have an extra sensorial mutual preception from the musical point of view!It's a superbe album,made for pure pleasure for true art and I am really angry when I see that this album is severelly criticized by other PA reviewers!I don't understand why?It has everything what a good music lover is waiting for,it shows the tremendeous talents of Rudess on classical piano and- if it's still necessary-that Petrucci is a guitar master able to perform and play in a quite different style compared of what he usually does in DREAM THEATER!There are some unbelieveble arpeggios abd great legato tones from Petrucci in AL DI MEOLA style and this is really unexpected from a maestro that is skilled especially in electric guitar sounds in a more aggressive veine!There are plenty of electric guitar madness here too,but being only 2 instruments in this kind of music,the whole ensemble is more clear and pure,leaving a huge possibility for each artist to explore new ways of creativity.We are delighted here by some unbelieveble solos from both musicians,but the atmosphere of the album is quite calme and definitelly very progressive!Almost 80 minutes of pure musical enchantment and the joy of the listener to make an excellent audition of a true memorable album,a display of the heavenly talent that God gave to this 2 out of this world musicians!All the album is pleasant and very,very enjoyable.Personally I am surprised by the versatile piano accords of Mr Rudess,trully played by a master of this beautiful instrument!All songs are pretty long-beyond the 10 minutes timing each,but we don't have any second the feeling that this album is a competition between the 2 outstanding musicians,no way,it's a delightful musical meeting abd the product of some inspired artists for the passion for good musis-simply that!For me this album is a musical jewel and it must be in every serious collection of any prog music lover,not only of DREAM THEATER fans! 5 STARS and all our respect for something magical!

Ok. Looking forward to another review year and start with an album of two of the greatest musicians I know. And I know what I'm talking about because I saw them live at least 5 times by now with their band Dream Theater and never caught them on a poor or even lesser performance. Does this mean it's a guarentee for success with this live album ? Hmmm....

Well, I'll answer it right away: not quite I'm afraid. As was to be expected the musicianship is fabulous but where I was ready for some metal loaded material the boys decided for a different approach. Maybe they noticed they had a fancy audience or something but somehow they must have thought it was a better idea to play in an easy listening style I guess. And I'm being nice when I call this easy listening, this is almost cheesy at times with the audience clapping along ... Come on guys, what's this ?

Ok, it's ot the case for the entire album and the positive thing is: we've seen them in a different way with this live album and there is also some more energetic material to be consumed. But all in all it leaves me slightly disappointed and therefore can't give it the four stars I had in mind before giving it several listens. So three it is ...

I always watched on Dream Theatre music as on secondary product, and their weakest point always been a lack of originality. But their pros (at least in my eyes) is their function as accessible prog-related music supplier to wide masses. Similar situation is with separate band musicians' solo works: being enough skilled and technical, they are never enough innovative or original.

This live semi-acoustic album contains original music ,played by two Dream Theatre members, and possibly is one of the best work, ever recorded by any of DT musician ( all together or solo).

Jordan Rudess plays acoustic piano and shows ability to play wide range of music with high level of ... musicality! No way classic or jazz, this music sounds at some steps higher level of musicality, than Jordan usually demonstrates when playing with DT. Petrucci's participation isn't so successful, but at least demonstrates his wish to play something more attractive, than stereotypic heavy metal. Part of the songs are played by him using unusual acoustic guitar. Not too much original, his acoustic sound is heavily influenced by acoustic works of Al Di Meola.

Compositions where he plays electric are less successful, whenever his guitar sound are always too metallic, never intelligent enough for Rudes' acoustic piano.

This album is interesting for DT funs with open years ( just to find the way to a bit wider world of progressive music), and for everyone who want to listen one of the most musical album from Dream Theatre team.

Around 3,5.

I may be exagerating by putting this as a masterpiece, so I won't... but this one really holds a sepcial place in my DT's side projects.

Simply keyboard and guitar, but what a mixture with these guys playing! This CD consist mostly of structured ideas serving as base for a lot of jams. This was my favorite one to listen to while doing some school work or playing Morrowind The Elder Scrolls when I passed the 100 hour mark and was quite too familiar with the in-game music (which I still appreciate and respect by the way, a great inspiration for me).

I really think it's an excellent addition to any Prog collection, though I would rather recommend it to some open-minded Dream Theater fan.

John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess - 'An Evening with.' 4 stars

Anybody that listens to prog undeniably knows who these two musicians are and the band they are famous for. Dream Theater is one of the biggest love it or hate it bands around. Personally I like them quite a bit, but I respect other people's opinion about them. Some find that they lack true musicianship and songwriting abilities, which is plausible. Others would include having feeling implemented into the music and the disability to change sound. These arguments are again, plausible. With this album, it is safe to say true musicianship is projected from these two musicians. This is a live recording of John Petrucci on electric and acoustic guitar along with Jordan Rudess on the acoustic grand piano.

There are some nice reasons to own this impressive album.

First, this cd has nothing to do with Dream Theater's music in any sense. There are very few, if at all, showcases of metal. Most of the influence is taken from the Classical, Latin and Jazz realm. The material for the show was written in a very short period, leaving it open to improve, which was executed beautifully. John Petrucci had the only flaw on this show, which wasn't that big of a deal anyway. He was obviously 10 times more controlled then on his band's studio albums but there was still a few spots where he started to get a little over the top, but again, he maintained control mostly. His acoustic guitar consisted of some nice work influenced by the likes of Al Di Meola with the flamenco technique, which he has come to be a master of over the years. The classical influence was showed mostly when he played some chords and arpeggios, mostly when Jordan was at the forefront. While on topic, Jordan Rudess made this cd what it is. His performance was one of the best a listener can ask for. He was extremely controlled, partly because there were no synths or effects of the type. Everything Jordan did was on the acoustic grand piano, which was played flawlessly. Most of the music Jordan played was in a classical vein.

Secondly, I thought the improvisation was a nice touch to this album. Being able to improvise in front of a live audience is another thing in itself. The improv was great; every one that John and Jordan did was certainly fulfilling and done in a coherent matter, while still showing technical proficiency. John certainly can prove the people that criticize the fact that he cannot put emotion into his playing with the album. His guitar solos (except the few that he couldn't be zany with') all had some great bends and slides that made them tasteful and interesting.

Finally is just the overall sound of the album itself. The quality is excellent for a live album. This was not just a nice Classical/Jazz/Latin show by these two, they also kept the concert interesting by adding more to what they were limited to by adding some classic novice techniques like dynamic changes, tempo changes and crescendos. The limitations lied within the instruments, which is not a bad thing by any means. Remember that this was largely an acoustic concert, minus electric guitar, but that and the piano lacked any distortion or effects. Lastly, the guitar and piano complimented and worked together very well throughout this album.

So, why not? This is a great concert by these two gents. Highly recommended.

First off, just because this is Dream Theater related, please don't go into it automatically hating it because you hate Dream Theater, also don't automatically love it because you love Dream Theater. This is much different from a Dream Theater album. First off, it's a live album from a one off show featuring guitarist John Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess of the aforementioned Dream Theater. This contains none of the metal elements of said band, and is an interesting cross between jazz, latin, and classical music. Each member gets to show off his unique influences and style,although Rudess is quite a bit more restrained in his playing style here, instead letting Petrucci do most of the soloing while he provides piano and synths in the background. However, he does have a few exceptional solos. This album covers many different moods, from the slow and beautiful State of Grace, originally from the Liquid Tension Experiment album and Rena Song to extremely intense songs like the studio recording Bite of the Mosquito, which sounds a bit like Rimsky-Korsokov's Flight of the Bumblebee, which is why the names of the songs are probably similar. I'd recommend this for anyone open minded and into instrumental music. Again, don't compare it to Dream Theater and you should be all set.

What an amzing live album!

The story goes that this was done as a small recording, with Petrucci and Rudess wishing to address their alter egos and write in a variety of styles. The majority of the songs on here are largely improvised on, but why not! They are masters of improvisation. Rudess has had great experience on his Rod Morgenstein projects and is known to be able to create amazing things when he does improvise...and it shows! John Petrucci is just naturally a guitarist who exceeds almost anyone. Steve Vai heard the recordings and said it was ingenious work and released it on his Favoured Nations label.

One of my favourite live albums of all time. It is brilliance through with so much consistency. Petrucci and Rudess show that they aren't just progmetal masters like many would know them for, but have a large appreciation for so many styles. Jordan comes naturally from a progrock and classical background. Petrucci can just play anything he wants. These two are both some of the greatest in the world at thie instruments, and here they both show their compositional and technical sides beautiful. Every track is incredible. From Rudess's piano solo on Fife and Drum (which takes you to a beautiful place) and John Petrucci's emotion in In the Moment, this album proves to be a masterpiece.