TAKE YOUR FINGERS FROM MY HAIR

If the question is pointed to me, I am afraid I can answer accurately. Before I purchased this deluxe edition of Dream Theater 'Black Clouds & Silver Linings' album I thought I knew a lot about rock music. In fact I am NOT at all! I am just a rock fan for groups that I know. Man ... it's a pity that Had claimed myself as a rocker / proghead of the 70s but I had never heard that there has been a band called Zebra on planet Earth. Oh .. shame on me man! And yeah, thanks to Dream Theater who shows me the hill to see this band even though in its cover version.

As a matter of curiosity I then asked my dear friend Dr. Wiki to let me know who Zebra is. And this is his answer: Zebra is a hard rock band that came together in 1975 in New Orleans, Louisiana. It features Randy Jackson (guitar and vocals), Felix Hanemann (bass, keyboards and vocals) and Guy Gelso (drums and vocals). Their mainstream debut on Atlantic Records was in 1983, highlighted by the singles "Tell Me What You Want" and "Who's Behind The Door"

Oh my God..!!! It's the band of the 70s and I had never known it before! Lucky that I know Dream Theater so that Portnoy cs introduced me to the band through this cover of their single in 1983 (the year when a new band, out of the blue singing 'So here I am once more ...!!!').

How should I put it into perspective?

Especially with the fact that until now I have never heard any music at all from the unknown band (my case) called Zebra? Is it fair for me to write a review on this cover? If you don't think it's fair, you should stop reading it, it's gonna be a waste of time for you to continue ... I tell you!

Thanks for being with me until this sentence because you can afford to bear with me on where I should put my standpoint on a review of cover song that I had never heard before. First, learning from other covers that DT makes from songs that I already knew before, I would assume that DT has not made any significant change on the basic arrangement. If it differs, I believe it would be on guitar solo. But major riffs would be similar (I assume). Second, I can put my words on how the composition of Zebra on this song. I think you understand my standpoint now.

First off, let me tell you .. the song reminds me to 70s band called BOSTON especially when I heard the acoustic guitar version at the intro of this song. It reminds me to Boston's 'More Than a Feeling' even though the basic structure and patterns are different. But at least the nuance is similar. Even though the band is actually a hard rock band, I can see the progressive nature of this song especially when I look at the structure - it changes as the music flows from on segment to another, even though not as dynamic as symphonic prog music. I suddenly remember Triumph / Rick Emmet's song called 'Blinding Light Show' in which this 'Take Your Fingers From My Hair' shares similar structure. I am not saying plagiarism at all.

I really enjoy this song and I regret only know this song nowadays. The flow from intro part using acoustic guitar and vocal line into heavier part has been crafted smoothly by the band. What is so dominating (and it's very good) is the guitar solo by Petrucci. He plays his guitar like crazy in fast speed, it reminds me to Yngwie Malmsteen's guitar style. This song which consumes 8 minutes duration is an excellent song to enjoy. Keep on rockin' ....!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

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