JP/Guitar One

[MikeVt]

I just got my June issue of Guitar One. For those interested, theres a two page article on JP (pg 56) where he discusses Systematic Chaos, the new record deal, and his F-1. There's also a close up shot of him on pg 89 where he appears to be playing the F-1 prototype (bound neck, no BFR inlay). The article was pretty interesting, and I'm really getting psyched for Systematic Chaos. JP said it's really heavy and dark, with no light tunes like 'Another Day' or 'Lifting Shadows'. Sounds like a good follow up to Octavarium.

In case anyone is interested!
Mike

 

[Paul in WV]

Great! Now, if I can just get my subscription straightened out so I can GET it...I didn't get the May or June issue!

 

[rmh925]

Great issue i almost bought it today...

 

[the24thfret]

with no light tunes like 'Another Day' or 'Lifting Shadows'.

Lifting Shadows off a Dream is a light tune? I must be crazy. I know this is an EBMM forum, not DT, but IMO Awake was a much better album because of LS. Regardless, I hope it's not another Train of Thought, which was dark enough to be monotonous and boring.

Aside from my nitpicking, looking forward to seeing the article and him talk about the F1!

 

[MikeVt]

Lifting Shadows off a Dream is a light tune? I must be crazy. I know this is an EBMM forum, not DT, but IMO Awake was a much better album because of LS. Regardless, I hope it's not another Train of Thought, which was dark enough to be monotonous and boring.

Aside from my nitpicking, looking forward to seeing the article and him talk about the F1!

Hehe...I understand how you feel. I actually didn't think Lifting Shadows was that light either. Another Day, yes - and I supposed he could have mentioned half the tunes on Falling Into Infinity. BUT, I like all their light stuff, and I also like TOT. But given that I thought Octavarium was bit on the lighter side, I'm ready for another heavy one.

Mike

 

[OrangeChannel]

Lifting Shadows is a totally light toon. That has all the atmospherics of a U2 album, there's only one part where the dirt really kicks in...I liked ToT...it was one sided but that was the name of the game there....get it Train of Thought? That's what the Train of Thought was....heavy.

 

[francric]

I hope it's not another Train of Thought, which was dark enough to be monotonous and boring.

 

[Jimothy JP7]

+1

Train of Thought is a great record. It actually had a theme, like Awake and IAW, and it showed the riff beast in Petrucci. If they had scrapped Vacant and threw the extra time onto Stream of Consciousness or something, it would be top notch. I actually hoping for them to outdo TOT, and I've heard that this album contains "the heaviest thing [they've] ever done."

 

[JSX]

I gotta pick up that magazine ASAP.

 

[the24thfret]

+1

Train of Thought is a great record. It actually had a theme, like Awake and IAW, and it showed the riff beast in Petrucci. If they had scrapped Vacant and threw the extra time onto Stream of Consciousness or something, it would be top notch. I actually hoping for them to outdo TOT, and I've heard that this album contains "the heaviest thing [they've] ever done."

Good points but I'll stand by my opinion. Recently, I think 6doit and Octavarium are much, much better albums than ToT. I think Vacant is a breath of fresh air on an album that is too dense with similar sounding metal riffs. Believe me, I love metal, but IMO variety is important on an album to distinguish songs, themes, sounds, etc. I appreciate metal a whole lot more when it's selectively mixed into lots of other music (6doit) than when its 74mins of metal riffs, half of which aren't that unique.

Of course I'm excited for the new album.

Agree to disagree? We should take this to the DT forums,

 

[73h Nils]

Too bad my school library only gets Guitar World. I'll have to pick this one up at a convenience store or somethin'. Oh, and Train of Thought is my favourite album of all time, and Awake is a close second, so Systematic Chaos = Heavy = Me being

 

[OrangeChannel]

+1

Train of Thought is a great record. It actually had a theme, like Awake and IAW, and it showed the riff beast in Petrucci. If they had scrapped Vacant and threw the extra time onto Stream of Consciousness or something, it would be top notch. I actually hoping for them to outdo TOT, and I've heard that this album contains "the heaviest thing [they've] ever done."

Well if it is the heaviest, it's apparently in standard tuning...so that's cool. That's per the man. From what I recall there is no oddball stuff with the tunings on this one.

 

[the24thfret]

That's per the man.

He said that? Interesting. Either a ton of 7string stuff or he's been listening to classic metal. To pick another bone, I didn't like C tuning on ToT.

 

[Jason5150]

I think every band goes through this.....(except maybe AC/DC ) For instance, Disturbed, Megadeth, Metallica, Queen or even Van Halen. I am a big DT fan and have liked all their releases so far. Whether it was structured frenzy/shredfest or the more melancholy tunes they always manage to pull it off and keep it entertaining!

They can Detune as many strings as they want as long as it still sounds cool.

More power to 'em

 

[greenwizard]

I think the awesome thing about DT is that they can play such a wide variety of song types. Another Day may sound poppy but it's still musical. Maybe it's a little more lyrics-oriented but that's not a bad thing. And the solo from that song is one of my favorites. You have to expect that JP will play some cooled-down stuff (he does have a piezo-equipped guitar!).
I don't really care that he switched labels. As long as he doesn't switch guitar manufacturers!

 

[G_Evolution]

any idea if the mag is out in the UK yet?

 

[MikeVt]

I'm going from memory here, but in the article I think he mentioned that he used a 7 on several of the tracks, and an alternate tuned original 6 on one. The rest were BFRs and the BFR prototype.

The thing about Dream Theater IS the variety. It's the variety that keeps me coming back album after album, song after song. Of all their albums, I can't name more than 2 or 3 songs that I don't really care for. I always play their CDs beginning to end. I can't say that about any other band. How many CDs do you all have where you like 1 or 2 songs and the rest are filler? DT is unique to me in that respect.

Mike

 

[OrangeChannel]

7 songs in total on this one...i saw a from the studio vid where he mentioned standard tuning...but that could mean the 7's too...i think it was a guitar world dvd actually...

 

[Jimothy JP7]

Good points but I'll stand by my opinion. Recently, I think 6doit and Octavarium are much, much better albums than ToT. I think Vacant is a breath of fresh air on an album that is too dense with similar sounding metal riffs. Believe me, I love metal, but IMO variety is important on an album to distinguish songs, themes, sounds, etc. I appreciate metal a whole lot more when it's selectively mixed into lots of other music (6doit) than when its 74mins of metal riffs, half of which aren't that unique.

Of course I'm excited for the new album.

Agree to disagree? We should take this to the DT forums,

Agreed , and this is why Dream Theater is such a great band. No matter what your stand point is in Metal, or music for that matter, they have something that's right up your alley. I love The Glass Prison, The Test That Stumped Them All and Blind Faith, but songs like About to Crash and Goodnight Kiss just don't do anything for me. I will admit that listening to Six Degrees in it's entirety [and watching it on Score] is very awesome, but I'm all about the chug. The Mirror, Caught in a Web, This Dying Soul... me likey


What's not unique on ToT? I agree that the first impression is "Damn, thats metal!", but nothing sounds stale to me...

 

[AlexL]

I've been a huge DT fan since they first started playing "Pull Me Under" on the radio when IAW was released.

TOT was an album that kept teasing with songs that started awesome, and then nose dived. For God's sake, I hope James doesn't rap on this new album.

Octavarium didn't do a lot for me either.

Still, one of the greatest bands ever, especially live, and I hope to pick up a JP6 or JP7 this year.


- E.