Overheard in the pub last night: Dream Theater are Kansas on steroids! Intriguing/ludicricous/spot on (delete as applicable)!
Cheers
Wayne
Overheard in the pub last night: Dream Theater are Kansas on steroids! Intriguing/ludicricous/spot on (delete as applicable)!
Cheers
Wayne
Can't see any connection here. DT doesn't have any of the qualities Kansas had.
It makes sense for those who might only have those two bands as reference points and are not familiar with much other prog rock type stuff.
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ahhh, no, gonna haf ta say no go on that...don't hear that at all.
More like Styx on steroids
Poor, simple fools...Originally Posted by Plasmatopia
Wouldn't go that far necessarily. I'm not overly familiar with Dream Theater's work but what little I have heard suggests that, like Kansas, they're melodic with longish, complex instrumental flurries. Beyond that though, I reckon that Kansas have an emotional punch that Dream Theater (and, in fairness, most other bands) lack. Alternatively, maybe I have'nt given DT enough of a listen for their sound to open up.
To put my original post in context, it's rare to hear prog being discussed in English pubs so I quickly zoned into the conversation the two long-hairs on the next table were having. Turns out they were a singer & guitarist in an extreme metal band, with the guitarist trying to convince the singer that the lighter sounding Kansas were worth a listen. I fear his words fell on stony ground.
I can see where Kansas is an influence on Dream Theater, but saying that DT is "Kansas on steroids" is kind of exaggerating that point, IMO.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Kansas was one of the biggest influences on Dream Theater as they have said many times in interviews. They are very different bands, but I can hear a connection.
you give Dream Theater too much credit.
Last edited by BravadoNJ; 10-21-2014 at 06:28 PM.
The best DT description I ever read was the one that made me buy Images and Words without hearing a note. One of the Guitar magazines I used to read had a CD review section that described DT as a heavy metal Marillion. After listening to the CD, I'm not sure I agreed with the review, but I have been a DT fan ever since.
Opeth is like John Tesh on acid.
I heard a Flower Kings live recording that I downloaded once where a guy in the audience said something like "they sound like Peter Gaberol..." The other guy said "you think so?..."And yes I do know how to spell but that is how the guy said his last name. I wonder if those guys got busted for DUI after the show that night. Lol.
Interesting story. I figured this was in England since in the US most people call "pubs" bars. Anyway, I was in a bar once and a guy was talking to two friends(one male and one female). I over heard the one guy say that he liked progressive music but the only thing he said about it to his friends was "like RUSH." At first I thought I was hearing things because this never happens but then the other guy said "I only know of progressive house music." I really kick myself for not saying anything to them but I guess I just wasn't in the mood to interrupt a conversation that night. This was approximately ten years ago.
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Throw albums by Rush, Kansas, Elton John, Journey and Metallica into a blender, and you get Dream Theater.
Heavy Metal Dixie Dregs with bad 80s vox.
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
Iron Maiden/Moving Pictures=Dream Theater
I suppose I'd tipped down enough ale (American, strangely enough. It really is becoming popular in the U.K) not to worry about sticking my oar in where it wasn't necessarily wanted! In any event the metallers were decent chaps & I'm going to a little festival they're organizing next weekend. So all's well!
Over here, as everywhere else, I imagine, prog still has the image of being indecipherable, insufferably long songs about elves & wizards played by blokes in capes. I have a pal who loves Muse but will not have that they're in any way progressive. I've also lent him stuff by bands like The Pineapple Thief & Engineers which he grudgingly likes) but still "no capes so it's not prog", so yeah, it was a unique experience to hear folks openly discussing proper music in the boozer!
They have done live medleys with all of the above except Elton .
The Path is Clear
They cover “Funeral For A Friend” on the “Change Of Seasons” album.
I should have known, they do get around.
There is a live version out there of “Funeral For A Friend-Love lies Bleeding” from Toy Matinee that is super fantabulous.
The Path is Clear
I always though of DT as Uriah Heep on steroids. Maybe someday they'll record a remake of Demons and Wizards.
"The Bill of Rights says nothing about the freedom of hearing. This, of course, takes a lot of the fun out of the freedom of speech." - Pat Paulsen
My Art- http://www.facebook.com/williamallenrenfro -My Life
He-he-he, sounds like folks here don't like DT too much
How come nobody said something like DT are poor man's Kansas/Iron Maiden or Journey?
IMHO neither Rush/Maiden/Kansas/Journey were/are as consistent as DT with their output, especially from prog point of view. The former bands recorded some brilliant albums, that's for sure, but IMHO at least 1/3 of their output is pretty weak. DT has a few weaker albums, but none of them as weak as X Factor, Fear of the Dark, Freak of Nature, Hold Your Fire or Presto that have at best just a couple of good songs.
Last edited by Booba Kastorsky; 10-25-2014 at 11:59 AM.
I'll take Rush's catalog over Dream Theater's any day of the week, thank you. Rush never had albums as weak as Black Clouds & Silver Linings or Systematic Chaos.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
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