Just finished "Bridges in the Sky." Tie between LNF and BitS for favorite so far. I loved the Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds, but this is definitely dream Theater's most cohesive and creative album since Octavarium (which is still my favorite though.) there was something... Predictable about the songs on those albums. After I played LNF on audiosurf, I saw a comment that said something along the lines of, "some of the instrumental parts, while technically hard to play, sound awful." I think what the person meant was, "those measures should have been in 4/4 because my ears and brain can't understand them." All the notes were in the right key and sound awesome. For anyone wondering why they would do something like that in a song, YOU MUST BE NEW. As I mentioned, I've been playing the album on Audiosurf, one of my favorite ways to experience a piece of music for the first time. It's a cool way to concentrate mostly on the music, as playing the game takes very little to no concentration. Once you get into the groove of the music, it's natural. During one of the Songs I was thinking about the various factors that might have had an effect on the way this album turned out. in the end, I believe it can all be attributed to Mike Portnoy leaving. However, I don't think he was bringing them down the way others have said. If anything, I believe he might have had a point when he said he was getting bored of Dream Theater (not a direct quote) Perhaps they were all getting too comfortable with where they were. Both JR and JP have mentioned that Octavarium was their Magnum Opus, so perhaps they weren't trying to top it? not that they should be trying, but maybe they needed a fresh start or something to shake things up a bit, and Mike leaving was the catalyst. Something is different. Maybe it's John Myung contributing in a bigger way again, or John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess spreading their wings a little more. Probably a combination. Either way, this is good. And I really really hope they add more songs from the album to their setlist. 11 Days!!!! I might post more about it later.
