The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 140,000 times in 2014. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 6 days for that many people to see it.
Dream Theater have shown, with their latest live album, Breaking the Fourth Wall, that they are the kings of progressive metal. This album, recorded live at the Boston Opera House on March 25, 2014, brilliantly embraces all aspects of the band’s incredible career. I purchased the Blu-ray version of the show, mainly because I am completely enamored by their latest studio album, Dream Theater. Breaking the Fourth Wall goes further beyond their last album.
I am relatively new to Dream Theater, being introduced to the band by their latest album. I am still sifting through their back catalogue, and I am certainly enjoying it. It seems that many long-time Dream Theater fans disliked their latest album, and I’m not really sure why. Yeah, Mike Portnoy isn’t a part of the band anymore, but Mike Mangini is a more than capable drummer who brings his own heavier style to their music. For those that say the new album is missing soul or heart, just read the lyrics. It is probably the most personal and spiritual album that the band has ever made. Do I miss Portnoy? Yes and no. I have become a massive Mike Portnoy fan in the past year, and he has been making some incredible music outside of Dream Theater – music that probably wouldn’t have been made had he still been a member of DT.
Alright, enough of my defense of Dream Theater. Their music can stand as a defense.
Act 1 of the album begins with a rocking rendition of the grammy nominated “The Enemy Inside.” We then bounce back to music from Black Clouds and Silver Linings, Falling Into Infinity, A Dramatic Turn of Events, and Dream Theater. While it is all awesome, especially enjoyable are “The Looking Glass,” “Trial of Tears,” and “Enigma Machine” (instrumental). The first two songs have clear Rush influences, with “The Looking Glass” sounding like a Rush arena rock song such as “Spirit of the Radio,” and “Trial of Tears” beginning and ending like “Xanadu.” As usual, the musicianship is in top form, and the concert gets off to a rousing start.
Act 2 begins with several songs off of 1994’s Awake album. It was really nice to hear the band play the older music, and it was interesting to hear the differences in drumming styles throughout the concert. Mangini Dream Theater is definitely heavier (in a Bonham way) than Portnoy Dream Theater. It isn’t particularly noticeable until music from across their catalogue is played together at once. The Act ends with the emergence of the Berklee College of Music Orchestra and Choir to aid in “Illumination Theory.” Wow! I’m often skeptical of orchestras and rock bands, but this combination was perfect. The melding of the band with the choir and the orchestra creates a full and beautiful sound.
The Encore consists of portions of Scenes from a Memory, on which the orchestra and choir continue to aid. I found this choice of music for the encore interesting, considering the tour was for their latest album. At the end of the show, you are left wondering if you saw a tour for Dream Theater, or DT playing some of their favorite overlooked music from the years. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering how good the show sounded as a whole.
I think my favorite part of this show is Jordan Rudess. He clearly loves what he is doing, and he is a true wizard on the keyboards. At some points, I wish he had been playing a Steinway because it would have sounded so much better and much more epic. For me, what truly distinguishes a good band from a great one is their keyboardist. What do Genesis, Yes, ELP, Queen, Muse, and Dream Theater all have in common? A pianist who can play anything from Brahms to hard metal and do it with such virtuosity as to make the most elitist music connoisseurs stand in awe.
Particularly nice is the quality of James LaBrie’s vocals. He sounds good at this show. Either he was in fantastic form, or they did a bit of adjusting in the studio… or both. Either way, it makes for a great show to watch. Whether or not he actually hit those high notes live doesn’t really matter to me since I am watching the Blu-ray, and I paid to see a great show.
My disappointment with this live show comes not from the musicianship, but from the production and mixing. Overall, the mixing is pretty good, especially for the drums. The drums sound great with surround sound – so great that you almost feel like you are sitting in the middle of the drum set. The biggest annoyance is John Myung’s bass is far too low in the mix. On the album, Dream Theater, his bass is front and center, but here he often seems to blend into the background. The overall sound still has a heavy bass feel from the combination of Myung’s bass and Mangini’s bass drums. James LaBrie’s vocals are also too low in the mix, which can make it difficult to understand what he is saying sometimes. Annoyingly, the crowd is up too high in the mix at some points, especially early on in the show.
Further disappointment comes during the middle of the Awake set, in which the editor felt it necessary to play some weird, indiscernible background image over the footage of the musicians. It makes it so that you can’t clearly see the musicians, and it pulls you out of the music. It is needlessly distracting. Other than that, the rest of the show has beautiful HD footage, from many different camera angles. What I especially like is the footage doesn’t jump around every 1/2 second (like on ACDC’s Live at River Platte concert). They give enough time to each shot before moving on. Unfortunately, John Myung is not shown nearly enough in the footage, which I don’t understand at all. Everybody else is shown quite a bit, with John Petrucci shown a lot, but not enough of Myung.
I also wish the entire Dream Theater album had been played, especially “The Bigger Picture,” my favorite song from the album. For me, an inclusion of those songs would have pushed this show over the top.
My disappointments with Breaking the Fourth Wall are rather minor, and they should not keep anyone from purchasing this album. It is probably the best live music DVD/Blu-ray/cd released this year. The music consists of a wide array of pieces from across the Dream Theater collection, and the package itself includes a nice booklet detailing everyone involved in the production of the show and tour. Dream Theater continues to show why they are the leaders of progressive metal and have been for over 20 years.
Thank you to Dave Kerzner for letting Progarchy know what the correct track order is on the forthcoming 2-CD Deluxe Edition release of New World. Apparently an incorrect track order listing was posted earlier on to the Burning Shed site (it was an email accident and no fault of theirs) but it has since been corrected. The correct track order is up at eSoundz.com. So, for the record, here is the correct track order on the Deluxe Edition, in case anybody got confused:
CD 1:
Stranded (Part 1-5)
Part 1- Isolation
Part 2 – Delirium
Part 3 – March Of The Machines
Part 4 – Source Sublime
Part 5 – The Darkness
Into The Sun
The Lie
The Traveler
Secret
Reflection
Under Control
Premonition Suite
Part 1 – Premonition
Part 2 – Resilience I
Part 3 – Subtle Signs Of Life
Part 4 – Altered State
Part 5 – Illuminessence
In The Garden
The Way Out
Recurring DreamCD 2:
Biodome
Crossing Of Fates
Theta
My Old Friend
Ocean Of Stars
Solitude
Nothing
Erased
Realign
Nexus
New World
Redemption (Stranded Part 6-10)
Part 6 – The Oasis
Part 7 – Resilience II
Part 8 – High On The Dunes
Part 9 – Mirage Of The Machines
Part 10 – To The Light
Readers of this blog will know that I get skeptical when artists monkey with the integrity of previously established track ordering, so I am pleased to see that Dave is simply expanding New World and not scrambling what is already a masterpiece in the Standard Edition.
Dave also kindly pointed out that I was going around telling people that Stranded was one of the best albums of the year, whereas the real title of the album is New World.
How embarrassing! I feel like I just bumped into David Gilmour and then told him I was unsure whether he or Roger was the Mr. Floyd! (“By the way, which one’s…?”)
Calling all Progarchists: You can listen to a preview of “Premonition Suite” here and pre-order the Deluxe Edition here.
Prog on, Dave!
“Give me reason, give me art!”
I have already shared with you my Top Ten Prog Albums of 2014, but today I would like to share the first half of my Top Ten Rock Albums of 2014 list.
These are ten additional albums that I think are a part of the cream of the crop of 2014, but they would probably not be counted by the Progarchists here as prog music.
They do exemplify, however, really great rock and roll. I listened to them a lot in 2014, and so I heartily recommend them to you, along with my regular Top Ten Prog list already shared.
The first five albums on my additional Top Ten Rock Albums of 2014 list (in alphabetical order) are:
Foo Fighters — Sonic Highways
Nothing More — Nothing More
The Pretty Reckless — Going to Hell
Slash — World on Fire
Sloan — Commonwealth
Note that side four of the Sloan album has a track that is 17:49 long, so there is an argument that could be made that this is a prog album. But due to the album’s other three (excellent) power pop sides, I place it on my rock list. Besides, the Top Ten Prog is already maxed out at 10 and chock full of excellence! But please, do check out the new Sloan album.
Tune in tomorrow for the last half of my Top Ten Rock Albums of 2014 list as I give you five more (in alphabetical order).
Long live rock! Prog on!
Dave Kerzner comments:
Here’s a sneak peek at what the Deluxe Edition of my album New World sounds like. In this special expanded version of the album, it has been enhanced with both an elaborate dramatic “live concert” feel and lush cinematic atmosphere. The Deluxe Edition also includes 5 additional vocal songs and the entire double CD set contains over 140 minutes of new music.
This teaser is an edited sampler taken from the 9+ minute “Premonition Suite”, a 5-part instrumental that reprises songs from the standard edition of New World such as “Stranded parts 5 and 7” and more. It features Francis Dunnery on lead guitar who co-wrote the first two instrumental parts of “Premonition Suite.”
New World (Standard Edition), in case you didn’t know, is one of the Best Prog Albums of 2014.
I had no idea this thing existed until about 10 minutes ago. I really want one. Call me a materialist pig dog!
Don’t let the title–which has to be one of the worst titles in book publishing history–fool you. RUSH FAQ is an excellent book.
It’s not just one of the best books on Rush I’ve ever read (and I’ve pretty much read them all), it’s, simply put, a great book. Insightful, factual, captivating. Mobley can write like no one’s business. He’s a huge Rush fan, but he allows this aspect to become playful part of the book. I’m always a huge fan of good writing–whether it’s Dante or about the latest software upgrade for the Mac. This is excellent writing. And, frankly, it’s the equivalent in the book world of what BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE is in the movie world.
Why the title of the book? Not a clue. I ordered this assuming it would be a reference book, and I had almost no hope that I would enjoy it. What a happy shock I got when the UPS man delivered it. RUSH FAQ is so far from a reference book. . . it’s a great series of coherent essays. Love it.
I’ll write a real review soon. But, for now, order the book and enjoy.
The book: Max Mobley, RUSH FAQ: ALL THAT’S LEFT TO KNOW (Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 2014.)
With Dave Kerzner’s sonic marvel, New World, I today finish sharing with you my Top Ten Prog Albums of 2014. It’s been an incredible year for music, as the best of 2014 began with the release of the new Transatlantic, and then ended with this prog masterpiece from Dave Kerzner.
Tracks 1 and 11 on their own (“Stranded” [Parts 1-5: “Isolation,” “Delirium,” “March of the Machines,” “Source Sublime,” and “The Darkness”] and “Redemption” [“Stranded” Parts 6-10: “The Oasis,” “Resilience,” “High on the Dunes,” “Mirage of the Machines,” and “To the Light”]) would have been enough to make this a two-song Top Ten album, as together they comprise a 28-minute, ten-movement top-flight prog journey. But instead the two tracks are epic bookends to a concept album that tells a story with nine other amazing tracks between the bookends.
There are a number of great influences that can be heard on this album. It’s like Dave asked himself, “What could I do to make a prog lover smile from ear to ear?” and then went ahead and did it, with detail after detail. Dave is his own man, and transcends all his great influences, while simultaneously paying homage to them. You will begin listening to this album and be amazed that it sounds like a side three of Dark Side of the Moon, where in an alternate universe Genesis showed up and combined with Pink Floyd to rock further into the beyond. And no wonder: Steve Hackett actually shows up to provide wonderful guitar work on Parts 3, 9, and 10 of the epic “Stranded” bookend tracks.
Dave himself is able to sound somewhat like David Gilmour and his vocals on this album establish him as major force in prog. But even above and beyond his vocal charisma is the fact that he is now the Keyboard King of Prog, which he shows on this album with its incredible array of keyboard colors and textures. One of my favorite moments (on an album chock full of them) occurs in the song “The Lie” where, after Fernando Perdomo dazzles us with a virtuoso guitar solo, Dave comes in unexpectedly with a cool 80s synth sound and makes us smile from ear to ear. If I collected keyboards like Dave, I am sure I could identify the synth model that generates this distinctive retro sound, but the important thing is that it shows you what kind of guy Dave is and what he is up to on this album. Namely, every moment is obviously him saying to himself, “What would be awesome here…?” and “Hey, let’s try this… oh yeah!! That’s it!!! Hahaha!!!!” It is uncanny how Dave has a magic ability to surprise and excite us with his new sonic soundscapes and yet at the same time reference what is familiar to us from the history of prog. It is this “genius blend,” of the familiar old, blended with the articulation of the visionary new, that distinguishes this album. How many albums can you think of that pull this off, where they sound completely and astonishingly new, and yet feel familiar and comfortable, like an old friend? Dave does it!
The album is nicely paced between tracks that are bridges in the storytelling and that reward repeated listens because they reveal their subtle charms more slowly, and those tracks that arrest your attention immediately with their prima facie brilliance. I call these latter tracks the “event songs,” because their arrival instantly declares an undeniable excellence that is immediately convincing and appealing to even the general listener. For me, these “event songs” are all the odd numbered tracks, since they immediately show themselves to be instant classics accessible to all: i.e., in addition to the opening and closing bookends, we have “The Lie,” “Crossing of Fates,” “Ocean of Stars,” and “Nothing” that are undeniably rare events in the history of rock: unforgettably great songs channelled by perfect musicianship. The only exception to my “odd numbered track” rule is “My Old Friend,” which is obviously also an “event song,” (don’t believe me? I defy you not to think of Pink Floyd as Dave sings, “Hello…”); but that’s okay, it gets to be a special exception because it is the central track in the sequence, as 6 comes in the middle of 1 and 11, and it is obviously a totally epic prog guy move to have three “event tracks” positioned in the centre of your album: “Crossing of Fates,” “My Old Friend,” and “Ocean of Stars.”
Perhaps you might wish to quibble with my favorite tracks on this album; my favorites may be all the odd-numbered ones (because during the even-numbered ones I am always anticipating what is coming next), but no doubt you might have your own particular favorites. After all, who can deny the greatness of a track like “Into the Sun,” especially at the spine-tingling moment where Dave sings, “Brace yourself for impact”? This is a brilliant album and surely we can all agree to call it an “event album” — in its entirety.
With its arrival this year, we have witnessed what it is like to be present at the creation and dissemination of a seminal moment in prog. Don’t miss downloading this album this year and getting in early on what is destined to become a classic album for the ages. Nick D’Virgilio on drums is perfectly teamed up with Dave and Fernando, and I hope we will hear much more from this astonishing trio (and their parade of prog guest stars — be sure to read the jaw-dropping album credits!) in 2015. I can already predict that the Deluxe Edition of New World will be a highlight of next year.
Prog on, old friends!
I hope this isn’t obnoxious. . . but I want to let every progarchist (writer and reader) know that I’m very, very happy to return to the actual day-to-day editing of progarchy, along with Chris and Carl. I’m sorry I had to fade out of the scene for past few months, but I was really overwhelmed with work and family matters. Nothing is wrong–in fact, everything is going extremely well at work and with family. But, there was just too much to do for a bit there, and I let events overwhelm me. All has passed, and my life has calmed down.
And, now that all has returned to normal, I realize just how much progarchy means to me.
A huge thanks to Carl and Chris, my co-founders, for being patient with me, and for welcoming me back as an equal. So, as of December 27, we’re back to mutual editorial duties, though Chris said I can keep the title “Founding Father.” Granted, I’m no George Washington. . . but, I’m more than happy to have the accolade.
But, seriously, I hope you all (all y’all in Texas) realize how much I love this website and what it stands for. And, I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished in just a little over two years.
As I see it, sites like progarchy match the current music scene very well. Just as record labels are failing as the market continues to decentralize through the web, so I hope those establishment rags–such as Rolling Stone and NME–fall big time. This is the time of the entrepreneur and artist, not the time of the corporatized and tapioca-addled propagandist.
For all intents and purposes, WE ARE THE NEIL PEART generation, and we offer whatever nasty gesture we can at the establishment that has done so much to promote conformity rather than excellence.
Let us never sell our dreams for small desires!
Coalesce, the stellar debut album from Ascending Dawn, quickly ascended into my Top Ten Prog Albums of 2014.
I love this album and I think it is totally brilliant. It’s a rare thing for me to want to return again and again to listening to an album out of pure passionate craving. Usually, programming my playlists is more of a daily routine and chore: today I will listen to…. etc., etc. But lately, I had the happy experience where the first thing I wanted to listen to every day was Coalesce! And then, later in the day, I wanted to hear it again! I tell you, it has been awhile since I have so thoroughly enjoyed and craved an album with such intensity.
I know my desire comes from the intense musical intelligence that is built in to every song. This album has so many nice little touches and details to enjoy. The first track to instantly appeal to me was “Integral,” no doubt because it has a tastefully virtuoso guitar solo. But that track only came fourth on the album; it took me longer to appreciate the genius of the first three tracks because there was no flashy guitar solo to immediately leap out at me. Instead, there is a careful layering of sonic elements that appears quite dense in its ambient tone at first, but then slowly unfolds its beautiful structures with repeated listens. The band describes their ambient prog metal sound thus:
Pummeling riffs and soaring ambient lines are complemented by clean melodies and harmonic backings, defining our signature sound.
“All in Now” (4:10) kicks off the album and it is really quite an interesting song. As here, the vocals on the whole album seem deliberately mixed lower in volume in order to make the vocals an integral part of the total band sound, rather than to place the vocalist up front and to relegate the other musicians to “back up” status. Yet Marlain Angelides is such a powerful singer that the listener’s first reaction is to want to hear her a bit more up front in the mix. For example, at 1:37 into the first track she belts out a dazzling melisma that makes you want to hear her highlighted more up front as the superstar vocalist that she obviously is. But, over time, a more profound appreciation for the band’s intricate craft grows, as you begin to understand how she is carefully woven into the musical panorama of the band’s signature sound for greater purposes. The “All in Now” track deceptively seems to end at 2:25, but it then mounts a comeback with some very satisfying musical surprises. It builds and builds with fabulous riffing and killer drums and siren-like vocals to announce as its implied conclusion: Watch out, world! Ascending Dawn has arrived!
“Miscommunication” (4:11) is the second track and it has a supercool riff with sharp contrasts of alternating timbre that is very unusual and extraordinarily fascinating. The whole track unfolds with Ascending Dawn’s characteristic tastefulness for building musical drama and interest. Particularly notable on this entire album is the way that drums and guitars are so tightly synchronized in ways you do not usually hear with other bands. Chalk that up to the fact that the band’s main composer, drummer Mark Weatherley, also plays guitars on the album. Constanze Hart on bass and Owen Rees on guitars also contribute to the solid arrangement of it all, and their musical talent is manifest in the unusually and impressively tight band sound of the coherent whole. Marlain Angelides co-writes all the songs with lyrics, and I suspect she must be thus responsible for the poetic side of musical images. These are some really great songs! What a band. They work together perfectly on this album.
“Cannonball” (4:40) regularly lays down an impressive enfilading fire of drum fills, yet the whole track is further proof of the band’s dedication of individual virtuosity to a greater group sound in service of the whole song. It’s the putative single off the album, but any of the first four tracks could serve that role, since they are each individual, self-contained wholes that introduce the band’s unique sound with carefully embedded musical touches that repay repeated listenings.
In fact, I would argue that the fourth track, “Integral” (4:40), is the more natural single off the album, since its instantly accessible guitar solo performs the invaluable service of getting prog metal heads like me interested in the band and willing to give them further listens, to unlock further access to deeper levels of musical virtuosity. “Integral” has some of my favorite lyrics on the album, and I really love it as the band rocks out at the end and Marlain’s soaring vocals exhort the listener to “become a truth addict.”
Beginning with track 5, “Opposites” (4:09), we have next a four-song sequence that is cross-faded together, so that unless you are paying attention you almost won’t be able to tell when one song turns into another. Thus, the album opens up into my favorite territory: a nineteen-minute prog epic that is comprised of “Opposites” (4:09), “Simplify” (4:11), “Inside the Silence” (6:19), and finally the dazzling ambient instrumental, “Opaque” (3:57). It is this coherent musical epic that had me returning again and again to listen to this brilliant album.
In fact, in my mind I consider album track 4, “Integral”, to be a kind of prelude to the whole sequence of the album tracks 5, 6, 7, and 8, and then I further consider track 9, “Indiscretion” (5:21), to be the epic coda to it that ties it all together. So, in effect, Ascending Dawn serves up a prog epic in six movements: tracks 4 through 9 — an epic 29 minutes in total.
I love the way the album pacing is constructed: tracks 1 through 3 get you warmed up, and then the epic goods are delivered for the remainder of the album. The instrumental track “Opaque” lets you experience the band in its full-on musical intensity of ambient intelligence, and then the whole experience concludes with Marlain’s epic wailing over the pummeling guitars that conclude “Indiscretion” (track 9). There is an uplifting and transcendent feel to the album’s conclusion that lives up to the band’s name. In the end, we ascend with Ascending Dawn.
Don’t miss this album. On it, you will discover all your own favorite moments with nice little touches, such as the musical burst at 2:47 in “Simplify” that is so perfectly timed you can never fail to revel in its satisfying sonic seductions. If you’re like me, you can’t get enough of top-quality music like this! This album rightly occupies its prominent place in my Top Ten Prog Albums of 2014.
Progarchy 