AN EVENING WITH JOHN PETRUCCI AND JORDAN RUDESS

On many occasions, John Petrucci disgusted me in Dream Theater, and quite often would dismiss his notable talent in the context that DT's music provided. Now I understand that putting Petrucci's licks over a different musical enviroment might had changed my perception of his playing. Never had, however, doubts that Rudess was a very special instrumentalist (as I could had heard from his work with LTE). This is not exactly a prog- metal album in a strict sense (though more than once you'll hear some metal trademarks); more it is a decent night-club jazz-metal music with overdriven guitar and good amount of electro-acoustic guitar; accompanied by mostly acoustic piano, perfectly executed by virtuoso Jordan Rudess. The songs often take from folk, spanish folk to bossa nova; at other sets, they rework on pieces from their Liquid Tension/Dream Theater sessions, without giving much clearance but sometimes cliched in the middle of the songs. What surprises me about Petrucci in this album is his ability with his guitar harmonics, and how he could give the latin feel when he plays the background guitar (specially on Hang 11); of course there's no surprise when I listen to his shreds, sometimes very "Di Meola" sounding (like Furia Taurina, which reminds me of "Mediterrean Dance-Rio Ancho" by Di Meola-Paco De Lucia) and sometimes just applying his usual metal licks. Jordan Rudess, apart from playing fast, provides the music not only with classical style, but also proves himself to be an amazing jazz pianist as well; "From Within" is an angelical solo spot where Rudess uses a synthetized harp-like sound on the keyboards, also exposing himself as a virtuoso classical pianist.

"Hang 11" and "Furia Taurina" are my favourites from this album; but I won't dismiss the rest because they do justice to this purchase as well, with it's certain lows and highs. 4 stars