Dream Theater - Invisible Monster (Official Video)

[mpexus]

New video just came out.

[Ghost.]

Musically this sounds like Old Dream Theater (Metropolis Era) with a Modern Twist.
Absolutely love it.

The song itself musically was cool and James sounds good vocally but that chorus is terrible lyrically. It feels goofy.

[scole]

That fizzy chug leading into Petrucci’s solo is so unsatisfying. This song is a musical madlibs of DT’s catalog…

[pjr]

Musically this sounds like Old Dream Theater (Metropolis Era) with a Modern Twist.
Absolutely love it.

[Bloody_Inferno]

The song itself musically was cool and James sounds good vocally but that chorus is terrible lyrically. It feels goofy.

Based on the promo interviews, sounds like Petrucci wrote the lyrics so you're absolutely right about the goofiness.

Also the chorus melody sounds like another example of Petrucci writing a vocal melody that's awkward for a singer to sing, something he does all the time.

[Chris]

This song has no balls as all and is just DT going through the usual motions. Labrie sounds like he's singing along with the car stereo.

[Ghost.]

Based on the promo interviews, sounds like Petrucci wrote the lyrics so you're absolutely right about the goofiness.

Also the chorus melody sounds like another example of Petrucci writing a vocal melody that's awkward for a singer to sing, something he does all the time.

I guess so, yeah. His lyrics are fantasy like usually.

Chris


I really wish they would get a proper producer to push them. Just call Portnoy. He'll fix it.

[RevDrucifer]

I'll never listen to that again.

The title and repeating of "Invisible Monster" was just too much. That's a title you give a song that doesn't actually say "invisible monster" throughout it the whole fucking time because it's the cheesiest fucking song title they've had yet and that goes for the rest of the lyrics.

The music didn't do anything interesting enough to hold my attention and goddamn those vocal melodies. Those sound like every single time someone else in my previous bands would write lyrics, bring them to me and tell me how they thought it should go and it was never anything a singer would write. The bridge (or second verse? the section between the 1st and 2nd choruses) in this song must be the biggest example of that I've ever heard in a Dream Theater song.

Now that I've shit all over it; the first verse when the vocals came in, musically, reminded me of Faith No More with the piano under the heavy riff. That was sick. Too bad the vocals fucking sucked all the cool factor out of that. Then the chorus, just a basic, wide open chorus, room for something with some balls to it and while I understand it might be hard to sing with any kind of emotion when you've got to sing lyrics like that, I 100% promise you the grunt he let out when taking a shit the day he tracked this song had more emotion in it than a word in the song.

Now that I've shit all over it twice when it seemed like I wasn't going to keep shitting on it; I liked the sound of the toms and cymbals.

[Chris]

I'll never listen to that again.

The title and repeating of "Invisible Monster" was just too much. That's a title you give a song that doesn't actually say "invisible monster" throughout it the whole fucking time because it's the cheesiest fucking song title they've had yet and that goes for the rest of the lyrics.

I will always have JP in my top 5 all time guitarists. (JP, Vai, Yngwie, Hetfield and pre-outlaw-biker Zakk Wylde.) It doesn't mean that I can't be disappointed as hell with the last like 37 or however many shitty albums in a row Dream Theater have put out. :\

Having said that, this song sucks. From the half-assed vocal delivery to the usual shitty proggy interludes they write for Rudess right down to the terrible ass cheesebag lyrics.

What the world needs is another Labrie solo record with Marco, because they're more inspired than anything JP has written in ages.

[jacksonplayer]

This song is a musical madlibs of DT’s catalog…

That accurately describes the entire DT catalog after Octavarium.

DT is all played out, since Petrucci isn't willing to take chances with it.

I've enjoyed the hell out of LTE3, both discs. The improvs disc, in particular, shows Petrucci taking creative chances that he hasn't done in DT in at least a decade.

[Chris]

That fizzy chug leading into Petrucci’s solo is so unsatisfying. This song is a musical madlibs of DT’s catalog…

Right? What the hell was that?

[Ghost.]

I'll never listen to that again.

The title and repeating of "Invisible Monster" was just too much. That's a title you give a song that doesn't actually say "invisible monster" throughout it the whole fucking time because it's the cheesiest fucking song title they've had yet and that goes for the rest of the lyrics.

The music didn't do anything interesting enough to hold my attention and goddamn those vocal melodies. Those sound like every single time someone else in my previous bands would write lyrics, bring them to me and tell me how they thought it should go and it was never anything a singer would write. The bridge (or second verse? the section between the 1st and 2nd choruses) in this song must be the biggest example of that I've ever heard in a Dream Theater song.

Now that I've shit all over it; the first verse when the vocals came in, musically, reminded me of Faith No More with the piano under the heavy riff. That was sick. Too bad the vocals fucking sucked all the cool factor out of that. Then the chorus, just a basic, wide open chorus, room for something with some balls to it and while I understand it might be hard to sing with any kind of emotion when you've got to sing lyrics like that, I 100% promise you the grunt he let out when taking a shit the day he tracked this song had more emotion in it than a word in the song.

Now that I've shit all over it twice when it seemed like I wasn't going to keep shitting on it; I liked the sound of the toms and cymbals.

Like Chris said. Petrucci and the guys haven't been willing to take chances. I 100% think Mangini wants too but they won't do it due to their success thus far.
Mangini says he's written some wild stuff and honestly, that what I thought would happen with Mangini in the band.

I thought DT would raise the bar all over again and they have with some tracks like "Pale Blue Dot" and Mangini's drums on "The Alien" but that's about it.
They've focused more on "songwriting" and while that's great and everything. Dream Theater was also always about pushing the limit in regards to what they play but also being musical. A' La' "Under a Glass Moon," "Surrounded," "Take The Time," "The Mirror/Lie," "Erotomania," "Home," "Glass Prison," "Spirit Carries On," "As I Am."

Really in the end they need a proper producer with a vast knowledge of music to push them outside their boundaries. Heck, get Bob Rock and tell him to be as tough on them as he was with Metallica's Black Album.

Side note: This makes me sad. Aside from something hear or there, I've yet to hear a John Petrucci solo that I absolutely wanted to learn and that breaks my heart. Because Petrucci used to write the most magical and inspired solos. I don't even need to name them. You already know.

[RevDrucifer]

Like Chris said. Petrucci and the guys haven't been willing to take chances. I 100% think Mangini wants too but they won't do it due to their success thus far.
Mangini says he's written some wild stuff and honestly, that what I thought would happen with Mangini in the band.

I thought DT would raise the bar all over again and they have with some tracks like "Pale Blue Dot" and Mangini's drums on "The Alien" but that's about it.
They've focused more on "songwriting" and while that's great and everything. Dream Theater was also always about pushing the limit in regards to what they play but also being musical. A' La' "Under a Glass Moon," "Surrounded," "Take The Time," "The Mirror/Lie," "Erotomania," "Home," "Glass Prison," "Spirit Carries On," "As I Am."

Really in the end they need a proper producer with a vast knowledge of music to push them outside their boundaries. Heck, get Bob Rock and tell him to be as tough on them as he was with Metallica's Black Album.

Side note: This makes me sad. Aside from something hear or there, I've yet to hear a John Petrucci solo that I absolutely wanted to learn and that breaks my heart. Because Petrucci used to write the most magical and inspired solos. I don't even need to name them. You already know.

That pretty much sums up the way I feel about them 100%.

The last great Petrucci solo and really, probably song, for me was "Misunderstood" off 6 Degrees. They've all been bland since then.

[playstopause]

John Petrucci: "I equate it to Pull Me Under back in the day where we’d just start playing, something would come out, and we’d be like, ‘Whoa, that’s cool’"



https://www.musicradar.com/news/drea...sible-monsters

[Chris]

On the upside, that Bongo 6 that Myung is playing looks fucking ace.



https://www.music-man.com/instruments/basses/john-myung

The fretboard is actually two pieces split down the middle, I guess? EBMM is calling it "divided wood".

[beneharris]

What a stupid name for a fretboard

It caught my eye in the video too, but because they didn't really highlight it I thought it must have been the lighting. I do like it, though it looks awesome.

[Chris]

What a stupid name for a fretboard

It caught my eye in the video too, but because they didn't really highlight it I thought it must have been the lighting. I do like it, though it looks awesome.

I thought it was similar to my JP16:

[beneharris]

That looks like pale moon ebony or something like that, right? That was what I thought it was in the video at first.

[Chris]

That looks like pale moon ebony or something like that, right? That was what I thought it was in the video at first.

EBMM calls it "smokey ebony".

And yeesh, what a wretched demo by JP here.

[beneharris]

EBMM calls it "smokey ebony".

And yeesh, what a wretched demo by JP here.

That sounds terrible. I'm so glad he got away from that chorusy sound. He needs to go back to his early 2000s Triaxis, but that will never happen. At least you can hear the notes when he plays now.

[beneharris]

Also I like how that came out in 2016 right after the Astonishing, so all of the captions are "astonishing" something

[Chris]

Also I like how that came out in 2016 right after the Astonishing, so all of the captions are "astonishing" something

The stock pickups were astonishingly shitty.

[Chris]

That sounds terrible. I'm so glad he got away from that chorusy sound. He needs to go back to his early 2000s Triaxis, but that will never happen. At least you can hear the notes when he plays now.

Right? I bought a Triaxis because of JP and I have it dialed into the JP From 1993 tone with an Axe-Fx in the loop. It's fucking glorious. I'll never wear out the front panel buttons because I'll never change any of the settings or modes on it.

[pjr]

Total derail incoming: Anyone ever play around with the Triaxis models in the Axe Fx? I've always been curious if I could approximate that JP tone but never spent a decent amount of time with it...

[beneharris]

Right? I bought a Triaxis because of JP and I have it dialed into the JP From 1993 tone with an Axe-Fx in the loop. It's fucking glorious. I'll never wear out the front panel buttons because I'll never change any of the settings or modes on it.

A Triaxis is high on my list to get soon. That Era JP is easily the best tone ever recorded.