A Special Post Dedicated To Dream Theater

Quick update:

I started writing to a new website and I would love to know if you like my content there.
Can you visit two of my articles? ➝ Click here and here! ☺

When I was a teenager, I listened to a song called "Panic Attack" by Dream Theater and I really liked it. I usually listened to that song various times a day and I still like it to this day!
What I want to say is, that I din't know this band that well in 2009 and coincidentally a few years later, I discover that my lovely boyfriend is a HUGE fan of them!

I also have an album of James Labrie (he's the lead singer of Dream Theater). Oh yes, I can't deny that I absolutely love that album. For the ones that feel curious, listen to Elements Of Persuasion (it's amazing).

The purpose of this post is not to talk about the solo album of James, but to tell you a few things about Dream Theater!

Let's get started, shall we?

First things first, I will present the band for the ones that don't know much about it:

Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to concentrate further on the band that would ultimately become Dream Theater.

(Source: Wikipedia)

(Credits: Sonickarma!)

Count Of Tuscany:

The song Count of Tuscany talks about a real experience of John Petrucci.

I've made some research and the Dream Theater Wiki wrote this about the song:

"The lyrics are anecdotal, recalling an event on the Train of Thought tour whereby Petrucci and his guitar technician were taken to visit an Italian Count's mansion."

• Length: 19:17
• Release date: May 2009
• Lyrics by John Petrucci
• Music by Dream Theater

Twelve-step Suit:

The Twelve-step Suite or Twelve-step Saga, is a set of several songs (five, to be more precise) by Dream Theater.
The lyrics of the songs were written by Mike Portnoy, the band's then-drummer and the songs refer his experience with alcoholism. According to my research, each song represents a specific number of the 12 steps referred before. 
One thing that I think it's quite fascinating about this band, are the super long songs. If we put together these songs, it gives us a total of 57:16 minutes. 
Also, these songs had the initial plan of being played live as one piece.

Raw Dog:

As a fan of video games, I was pleased to know that Dream Theater has done a song to a game. 
I have made some research about it and one again, thank to the Dream Theater Wiki I have some information about this specific work:

"Raw Dog is the third track on the God of War: Blood and Metal EP - a compilation album written to celebrate the release of Playstation 3 game God of War 3. Dream Theater, along with five label-mates (six on the special edition) including past and future tour-buddies Opeth and Trivium respectively, wrote new songs for the EP, taking the mythological violence of the game as inspiration.

Raw Dog is an instrumental, Dream Theater's first since Train of Thought in 2003, and the last track to be written by and feature Mike Portnoy on drums."

I personally like the song. It's powerful! 

Unusual time signatures:

This band has some songs with unusual time signatures. I love music, but I don't know much about the technical aspect of it. 

I have found a page on Wikipedia that explains this, so that you can understand what I'm talking about: 

"Unusual" is here defined to be any time signature other than simple time signatures with top numerals of 2, 3, or 4 and bottom numerals of 2, 4, or 8, and compound time signatures with top numerals of 6, 9, or 12 and bottom numerals 4, 8, or 16."

Dream Theater have some songs that have different signatures. They have a pretty unusual style, but that's what makes them a good band, in my opinion. 

I will list the songs with a small explanation:

• Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper. Third bar of rehearsal R is in 1
  4.
• A Nightmare to Remember. Measure 31 is in 1
  8.
• "The Count of Tuscany". The verse riff is in 9
  4, with a rhythm of 3+2+2+3+3+2+3
  8.
• "Erotomania", the first 3 bars of the intro progression are in 10
  8.
• "Home" (ends in 19
  16)
• "The Dance of Eternity". This instrumental contains mixtures of faster and slower beat groupings in 8, 7, 6, 5, and 4. It goes through over 128 time signature changes in just over six minutes.

And now, the latest news from the band!

According to Loudwire.com, Mike Portnoy had some special plans for his 50th birthday. He revealed that (via Loudwire) he would be performing Dream Theater‘s “12 Step Suite” live for the first time ever aboard the Cruise to the Edge.

Pretty cool, right?

Before you go, I would like to say what are my favorite songs from this band:

• These Walls

"Watch me

Fading

I'm losing

All my instincts

Falling into darkness

Tear down these walls for me

Stop me from going under

You are the only one who knows

I'm holding back

It's not too late for me

To keep from sinking further

I'm trying to find my way out

Tear down these walls for me now"

• Panic Attack

"Why do I feel so numb

Is it something to do with where I come from

Should this be fight or flight

I don't know why I'm constantly so uptight

Rapid heartbeat pounding through my chest

Agitated body in distress

I feel like I'm in danger

Daily life is strangled by my stress

A stifling surge shooting through all my veins

Extreme apprehension, suddenly I'm insane"

• War Inside My Head

"Hearing voices from miles away

Saying things never said

Seeing shadows in the light of the day

Waging a war inside my head

Feeling strangers staring my way

Reading minds never read

Tasting danger with each word I say

Waging a war inside my head"

I would like to dedicate this post to my boyfriend (for many reasons) and I would like to say that he's a wonderful human being.

Thank you for everything, I love you! ♡ 

And thank you all for reading this, for all your support and I am so grateful for everything.

Have a great day, guys!

I'll see you on my next post.

XO,

Di.