Systematic Chaos Special Edition DVD

[adamrogo]

It's awesome! I'm 20 minutes in, and it's the most fun documentary of an album I've seen. Very in depth, and tons of EBMM content. Definitely a must buy!

At HMV in Canada, the Special Edition album is actually priced $2 cheaper than the normal edition, at only $15. The DVD alone is worth it.

 

[germangallardo]

thanks for the heads up I'll be picking this one shortly

 

[73h Nils]

Good to hear, even though I pre-ordered through amazon. Hopefully, it's there when I get back from school. If not

 

[DT1607]

Just got it from HMV! I thought $15 was great...amazon has it for $21.

I havn't got a chance to see the dvd yet. I'm still only on the 1st track. And can't wait to check out that 5.1 mix on my home theatre system.

 

[roburado]

Cool stuff. Very entertaining for the EBMM and DT fan.

 

[dannymusic]

on truck for delivery! should be good.

 

[Danserrano]

just finished watching the doc. very cool. Love how they fill u in on all the inside stuff.....album rox too. Nice to see them mess up, shows they're human lol.

 

[kissmyaxe]

I am on track 5...I am judging early , but it is not nearly as good as Octavarium. I know some fans frown on the album,but the first time I heard the title track I had my first eargasim, yup that is when I lost it. This is good, almost too dark though, they wrote their lyrics power metal style.

 

[adamrogo]

SC is one of my favorite albums they have ever put out, much better than Octavarium (IMO).

Tracks 1 and 2 are my favorite.

 

[kissmyaxe]

Yeh agree, the opening piano line on Forsaken is chilling...but no Octavarium is better

 

[73h Nils]

Well, it WAS waiting for me when I got home today, so I ran downstairs and listened to the whole thing in 5.1 before I went to work. My initial reactions:

1) Smokes Octavarium. Hands down, the albums don't compare in the slightest.
2)JP's tone is godly, like always, but still manages to sound better than always
3)MP's drumming is the best I've heard since, well....I dunno. Maybe his best ever?4)The mixing is perfect
5)Ministry of Lost Souls = Eargasm. Absolutely love this song.
6)The comparisons to Rush (for the epic) aren't really apparent, to me anyways.
7)You can hear Myung. (I always could, but lots of people complain about this)

Complaints?
1)ITPoE Pt.2's ending isn't up to snuff...But then again, live, JP'll no doubt add something.
2)I have to wait two months before I can see them.

9.9/10

 

[philiprst]

I got it today from Amazon and have had a few listens. Here are my first impressions:

JP's tone on this recording is amazing. I believe he mostly used a Mark IV. It seems to prove the point that the smaller the amp the better the recorded sound.

MPs drumming is always impressive. He uses his special effects cymbals a lot on this recording and there is some very neat double bass drumming here and there.

I agree that it is great to hear John Myung's bass parts. His tone is very much like Geddy Lee. I'm very impressed with the keyboard parts too.

It's a good album. Better than average for DT, in my opionion. Unlike most bands, although they have had their ups and downs, they have bever gone into a terminal decline.

What's the story with the Metallica song? Sounds like a mish-mash of classic bits from Master of Puppets complete with the Hetfield clone vocals. Is it a joke or a tribute of sorts. Very strange.

 

[jeffrey]

Yep, good stuff.

I watched it on the way home from Best Buy at lunch and the rest at work.

Can't wait to see'em in August.

 

[OrangeChannel]

This record has the best bass tone Myung's ever gotten...could it be due to.....? I think so. Albums tight...I like it alot, better than Octavarium in my heirarchy...has some impressive playing on it...and some impressive space too. I'm a biiiiiiiiig fan of space.

 

[roburado]

Count me in the "like it better than Octavarium" crowd. I don't know that this album would have been possible had they not done Octavarium. It seems like they went over some ground and went through some growth there that made this album possible. I have been listening to this album nearly non-stop all day long with the exception of some time to watch the DVD, eat dinner, attend to personal hygiene. I haven't done that with any album by anyone for...well...I can't remember ever doing that. I can't stop listening to this thing. I'm listening now, as a matter of fact. I like it better with every spin of the disc.

I rearranged the song order in a playlist that puts In the Presence of Enemies parts I and II together. I think I like it better that way. We'll see how I think the album works with this song order.

I think JP really brought "it" this time. Just awesome playing. His performances really stand out IMHO.

 

[adamrogo]

Agreed, I like it so much because I think JP's playing is possibly his best yet.

 

[Meedleyx10]

Well, i bought the album (special edition ftw) expecting to enjoy it, but not be blown away or anything. Dream Theater is my favorite band, but I wasn't really a fan of Octavarium and where they might have been heading after that. At the same time, I'm not one of thoseprog-snob jerks who sits on the sidelines behind my laptob criticizing everything I don't like acting like I'm in some sort of position to bitch at a band for what they record and tell them how they could've done it better (sorry for the rant....a quick scan of the JP forum seeing some of the posts about the new album put me in a mood )

That being said, I LOVE this album. I'm on my second listen and have watched the DVD already and I'm really excited about how awesome this album is. The only things I'm not fond of are the lyrics on The Dark Eternal Night and Prophets of War, but both are still kickass songs. This is definitely one of my favorite DT releases, and the only one that's been able to rope me in so quickly. I'm in love with JP's tones throughout the disk. Production is ace from start to finish, easily the best mix I've ever heard on a DT cd. Like most people have said, Myung sounds great (it's great enough just to hear him!). Labrie is more "on" than I think he's ever been, Portnoy is as rocking as always...and I like the drum sounds on the heavier tunes way more than I liked them on Train of Thought. Jordan is as killer as always (no surprise there!), but what I really felt was different this time around is that there wasn't a much of a disconnect between Jordan and the rest of the band as I feel there has been on past efforts. Sometimes when Jordan would go off into keyboard land it seemed (at least to me) that it was more of a "okay, lets give jordan his spotlight here and then we'll get back down to business". Now things seem a lot more integrated I guess.

Anyway, i'll stop before I start getting TOO gitty.

 

[Zor]

Great album and fun doc plus cool EBMM content too, can't wait to see them in 20 days

 

[eliot323]

To be honest, I don't think you can say whether an album is better (or worse) than another - it all comes down to personal taste and you have to take each album separately.

A band like Dream Theater always try to change, evolve, and push their boundaries (within their sphere of being heavy, melodic and progressive), so each album has its own personality and emotions - and we connect better with some rather than others.

I love all the Dream Theater albums, there are some I like better but I think the new one is in my top three. For me, the standout tracks are "In the Presence of Enemies Parts 1 and 2", "Forsaken" and "The Ministry of Lost Souls" - JPs playing on that track is nothing short of beautiful - tone, colour, emotion, energy, passion, melancholy - had me in tears (what a wuss! I'm starting to sound like Steve Vai! Don't worry I'm just getting old and senile.)

Seeing them on Saturday - only three days to go!

 

[paranoid70]

I just got it last night, so I only listened to a few tracks so far... I really like what I have heard. I'll probably watch the DVD this weekend.

You know, Octavarium really had to grow on me. It took quite a few months and spins on the CD player before I really started liking it. Now I would say that the song Octavarium is probably my 2nd favorite Dream Theater song!