Prog Metal and Dream Theater

bytor2112 wrote: darkshade wrote: Because John Petrucci is a bear and can kill you, Jordan Rudess is a magical wizard who can kill you, John Myung is a ninja and can kill you, James LaBrie is a pirate and can kill you, and Mike Mangini is a genie.... and can kill you. Also, Mike Portnoy and other past members can kill you. for some reason I read this whole post with this guy's voice

HAHA Yes!

The Mystical wrote: Dream Theatre are to prog metal, what Yes is to prog. Not the inventors of their genre, but perhaps the biggest faces of the genre.

When it comes to prog rock, I think you have to include the entire Big 6 from the 70's as the biggest face of prog rock, even if Yes is your preference.

Dream Theater has gotten so big now, that they aren't even compared to their influences anymore, because they are THE influence.

As far as the vanilla Prog Metal sub genre goes, Dream Theater have an unquestionably huge influence on that genre. Yes, many of the early bands like Fates Warning, Queensryche, Psychotic Waltz, Sieges Even, Symphony X, Vanden Plas etc don't sound too close to them as they were doing their own thing with the same influences DT had (I reckon this is why there are many similarities between the bands but distinct differences as well).  However, through the 90's DT alone sold massive amounts of albums and from the 2000's onwards we've been getting bands that take DT as their single biggest influence. Now the genre is filled with the likes of Pathosray, Suspyre, Andromeda, Myrath, Votum, Adagio, Pagan's Mind etc, who all sound very similar to DT but maybe watered down a bit, leaving a rather stale and stagnent genre.

Of course there are stand out bands that doent sound like DT, the likes of Riverside and To-Mera are completely unique and it can only be hoped that the next generation of Prog Metal bands take their influences from these two.  

They are just a convenient benchmark for those of us not highly expert in Metal, if a review tells me that I can expect something 'similar to DT's Octavarium period but with shorter and more accessible songs and more emphasis on the guitars and less in the keyboards' I get more useful information that if it says that 'the style is similar to Constellation X in their album "Amžina kruizas palei galaktika šviesos greičiu", you know that album where they had Laszlo Petrukovitch as guest on 3rd lead guitar and bassist Jon Myinski was having a nervous breakdown due to drug abuse'.

Dream Theatre are to prog metal, what Yes is to prog. Not the inventors of their genre, but perhaps the biggest faces of the genre.

darkshade wrote: Well, even Dream Theater get compared to Dream Theater, so no one can escape the band's grasp.

Tapfret wrote: Triceratopsoil wrote: It's because your average prog metal fan has extremely limited taste FIFY

It's because your average prog metal fan has extremely limited taste

In my view Dream Theater are the pinnacle of prog metal (a genre that they single handedly moulded into what it is). I don't expect everyone to like them as we all have individual tastes and preferences but there can be no denying what they are and the fact that they're damn good at what they do. I really don't mind the haters out there but what I do mind are those who rate DT pinnacle albums with a 2 or a 3 because they're showing me that they are reviewing emotively without taking much musical theory and practice into account which, to my view, is not a review. I can't stand Tool and that being the case I simply avoid reviewing their albums as it would perhaps be unfair of me to do so as there are those who like and love their albums. I also don't much see the point in spending 45 minutes or so reviewing an album that I don't at least like a little as that time would be better spent listening to and doing something that I enjoy. There are albums that I will give a 1 and a 2 rating to although those are albums that I find very little musical value in and invariably I will have reviewed those albums for the sake of being a completionist regarding an artist that I do like.

Because we all know Dream Theater too well! And that bands that play progressive metal will inevitably have some DT's influence, so little this is showing. But their a lot of bands that don't have much DT's influence, i am thinking about Devin Townsend, Unexpect, Symphony X, Ayeron, etc. Finally, i am talking about myself, since DT are my favorite prog metal band, i am unconsciously looking for band that have a similar style, and when i will do a review, it is always useful to give a band name to give a better idea to the reader. I know a lot don,t like DT, but no one can't argue their immense influence on this genre.