John Petrucci did a brief interview with the dudes from the Roadrunner Records podcast. The journalism is about as hard hitting as you’d expect from a label interviewing a band on its roster, but there’s a couple interesting gear and performance-related nuggets of info in there.
First of all, it’s weird hearing “Dream Theater” and “spontaneity” in the same sentence. The band wrote the record in the recording studio, mic’d up and ready to go (Jesus I can’t imagine the recording budget involved there), and used bits of those jam sessions in the final versions of the songs. It sounds like it was just some drum passages and rhythm guitar, all of it heavily overdubbed over, but it’s still unique for a band known for meticulously polishing every aspect of its sound.
I haven’t heard the band’s new album yet, but Petrucci gives the impression that the songs are more concise (note that his point of reference is the fan-favorite Awake and not the oft-panned Falling Into Infinity). He makes the usual disclaimer that shorter songs don’t have to equate to pop songs, and it can be more of a challenge to make every note count. I’m not a prog-snob and usually I agree with the sentiment, but you know, James LeBrie.
Anyway, Dream Theater’s new self-titled album (their first with producer Richard Chycki) is out now.
https://soundcloud.com/roadrunnerpodcast/roadrunner-podcast-7-october
Source: Blabbermouth
