Album of the Day - Dream Theater

   This album was suggested to me by my roommate, and at first I was a little leery.   Not having been the biggest fan of metal, I had usually dismissed the genre, and if that is a cliche thought then the next one will be even more so - Dream Theater's music is nothing but solos with pathetic attempts at songs holding them together.    Though harsh, this sums up how I felt about the band for years.    In the past couple years, they had changed drummers, and maybe it was time for me to give them another shot...

Dream Theater's 2013 self-titled album.

 This album(Dream Theater's Dream Theater) was full of energy, and most of the criticisms I had about the band had been addressed.   Most of these songs are short, or at least shorter then standard Dream Theater songs.   Most lasting around four to six minutes.   Being a classical musician, it may seem odd to complain about longer songs, but sometimes you don't have time to sit down and listen to an entire symphony, and in the case of contemporary music, most of them are not built around the complex structures found in some classical works.   Normally a couple songs in I would have felt an urge to change over to and head bang to Tchaikovsky - don't judge, it has happened before - I wanted to hear all this album had to offer, and even more surprisingly felt that I would need to listen to it several more times to fully appreciate what it has to offer.

And now....Mozart!

 I dig Mike Mangini on Drums, and he brings something to the band that I very much enjoy, and brings a very melodic approach.   What is also amazing is despite his amazing technical ability he does not try to over shadow the other members of the band.   This album, as well as their previous album in 2011 have made me fans of Dream Theater.    

 On a side note, I love all the technology that keyboardist, Jordan Ruddess continues to use.   Making full use of a keyboard, as well as ipad.   I have seen some of the other instruments that he is part of the development(Seaboard) and has opened me up to using more technology as a musician.

 The album ends in a twenty-two minute epic, Illumination Theory, and by this point in the album I was ready for something big, and complex.   It did not dissapoint, as each instrument got its time to shine, guitar solos, kickin' bass lines, and even some great piano lines working their way in.

I am looking for suggestions of albums to do for "Album of the Day," in any genre, I will listen and write about my thoughts on the album, whether I like it or not.    I am compiling a list, please leave suggstions in the comments below.