Dream Theater Review – “Dream Theater”

The Self-Titled 12th Album

Has it really been a decade since Train of Thought? That was the last time I can remember the prog gods in Dream Theater sounding like Dream Theater. Even then, there were hints they were moving in a different direction. The band’s subsequent releases, Octavarium, Systematic Chaos, and Black Clouds and Silver Linings were varying in quality but it was clear that the band was tired, and running over the same ground with a lack of inspiration.

And then Mike Portnoy left. Many predicted doom and gloom for Dream Theater and felt the heart of the band had been taken out with his departure. This was greatly overstated. A Dramatic Turn of Events was released shortly thereafter, and there were signs of new life within the band, with tighter writing and more acrobatic musicianship. Maybe, just maybe Dream Theater was going in the right direction.

So this brings us to today, and Dream Theater’s newest release, Dream Theater. After twelve studio albums they finally decided to name a record after themselves, and it could not have come at a better time. Simply put, this is a rebirth for the band at the forefront of progressive music. Singer James Labrie, guitarist John Petrucci, keyboardist Jordan Rudess, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Mangini elevate their already lofty game to deliver a true masterpiece. They’ve not only examined their roots and their predecessors, but they’ve pushed the genre in directions that it’s never gone before.

The album plays like a theatrical release, starting with “False Awakening Suite,” a John Williams-esque score that’s over-the-top and has smatterings of bands like Symphony X and Trans-Siberian Orchestra with a bit of a video game boss battle feel thrown in for good measure. A fitting beginning to the album, as it conjures up images of the epic nature that Dream Theater hasn’t really captured since 2002’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.

Following that, “The Enemy Inside,” is unrelenting, featuring Petrucci at a breakneck pace on a seven-string in full metal glory. There’s Petrucci’s first great solo (first of MANY on this album) at the end of the song, as well a great breakdown with one of Rudess’ more inventive Zappa influenced keyboard patches. And for once, the lyrics in the song are catchy and very fun to sing along to.

“The Looking Glass” is the next track, and feels like what the band used to be like, with a riff very reminiscent of Rush’s “FreeWill.” In fact, the entire track is very much in the vein of classic Rush and older Dream Theater – the second verse’s riffs sound so much like “Pull Me Under,” with a thumping double bass playing in unison with the guitar. The solo on this song, maybe one of Petrucci’s best, has a power trio feel to it, with an amazing bassline from Myung and a Mangini groove that is untouchable. I’m also a big fan of Labrie’s dreamlike vocal fills throughout this song.

Dream Theater decided to go with an instrumental track for the first time in a decade on the next track, and “The Enigma Machine” does not disappoint. A crushing riff right from the start, and the main theme in its shifting meter is stuff of DT lore. Analyzing this song part for part is nigh impossible, but there’s time for every single instrumental member to shine, with bass breaks, a drum solo, and of course copious amounts of mind-bending solos exchanges from Rudess and Petrucci. And that fugal section in the middle… wow!

“The Bigger Picture” follows, and is the closest thing the album has to a ballad. It has a soaring chorus, and keeps building towards an incredibly soulful solo and fantastic piano break. The song features some of James Labrie’s most inventive singing, especially towards the end of the song.

“Behind the Veil” kicks the album back into high gear, featuring a riff that harkens back to the Images and Words days of Dream Theater. The main riff is so crunchy, and Labrie finds another perfect tone singing for this song – he really kills it on this entire album. It goes from metal to clean to dreamy on the drop of a hat, and it’s another chorus that is begging to be sung with a battery of concert goers. The middle section, has the same sort of classic Dream Theater feel to it, I hear a lot of “Metropolis Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper” in this song, but so much more advanced. Another brilliant Petrucci solo, and that sweep in the last chorus always sends chills up my spine.

“Surrender to Reason” starts with a red herring. It seems like another ballad, but very soon kicks into overdrive (or flanger, if you’re going by effects). It’s got another Rush-like vibe as soon as that guitar kicks in, with an organ flair from Rudess that’s unmistakable; the middle section makes me smile every time I hear the choral hymns. The lyrics in this song are a trip, but that’s to be expect from any lyrics written by Myung. The guitar solo at the end of the song is dirty, but the best part of the solo is Myung’s bassline.

“Along for the Ride” was intended to be anthemic for Dream Theater, this song has an arena rock feel to it and a catchy chorus, I can picture people holding up lighters in unison during this song. It starts with a beautiful acoustic guitar and keeps the mellow pace throughout the entire song. This provides balance that the album needed, and it gives the entire production a complete feel, yet never loses that prog sensibility.

“Illumination Theory” may just be the greatest track Dream Theater has ever produced. After hearing this, I asked myself “A Change of Seasons… what?” I don’t even know where to begin on this song. The opening overture is heavy-hitting and intense. The lyrics don’t disappoint, and deal with the way we cope with the human condition.  The first vocal section is among Labrie’s best singing he’s ever done. And that guitar riff! So ballsy. The next section (it’s hard to keep track) is empty of the band’s instrumentation, opting for an ambient transition to a true treat: a string octet that gives me goosebumps. It’s a true beauty to listen to, and those not expecting it I think will surely be floored. And as soon as the strings fade, the bass kicks in, and we’re back into prog metal bliss, and this doesn’t give in until the song is over. And then there’s the hidden ending, which in keeping with the “theatrical release” feel of the album, feels like an encore more than anything else. A true masterpiece.

Enough good words cannot be said about this album. Every member is sheer brilliance throughout the entire album. Mike Mangini brings more acrobatic drumming and blast beats that I can handle. John Myung truly gets a chance to shine in every song, whether it be original bass grooves or bass fills that make me smile. Jordan Rudess is a little understated on the album, but he never disappoints and nails everything with razor-sharp precision. James Labrie is actually incredible on this album, and although many have a negative attitude towards his singing, he may win a few new fans with vocals that are inventive and catchy. John Petrucci truly outdoes himself this album. Not only are all of his solos impossibly amazing, but every riff in every song sounds like – as he wanted – “a slice of chocolate cake.”

Final Verdict: This is the single greatest release from the leaders of progressive metal. Do yourself a favor and have a slice of this rich, rich chocolate cake.

Rating: 10/10

The Winery Dogs Review – “The Winery Dogs”

The Self-Titled Debut

Mike Portnoy may be progressive rock’s most prolific drummer, having launched no less than three bands in the past calendar year (Flying Colors, Adrenaline Mob, and PSMS), in addition to drumming on half a dozen others. However, his newest group The Winery Dogs is much more in the vein of bands like Alice in Chains or Soundgarden. Coupled with Mr. Big vets Billy Sheehan on bass and Richie Kotzen on guitars and vocals, this trio’s self-titled debut is as strong as one would expect, given the talent.

What’s most impressive throughout this album’s 13 tracks is how big the band’s sound is. They certainly earn the moniker of a power trio. While this is to be expected from Portnoy with his thunderous drumming and Sheehan’s fuzz bass, Kotzen’s crunchy guitar work and powerful Chris Cornell-esque voice surprised me. He really sets the tone for the band, with vocals soaring with every catchy chorus. His guitar work is blistering and top notch as well, yet at the same time restrains himself to not be too over-the-top or showy. The solo in “We Are One” (also showing off Portnoy’s insane drumming skills) is especially remarkable.

The album’s opening track “Elevate” sets the table for the rest of the album, featuring a heavy opening riff and a memorable chorus, and a bridge section that really puts the musicianship of each individual member on display. Other standout tracks include “Desire” and “Time Machine,” the latter track reminding me heavily of classic Soundgarden, albeit with a smidge more talent. “The Other Side” also features a thumping Sheehan and Portnoy intro that really gets my adrenaline pumping.

With an introductory album, sometimes balancing ballads and energetic tracks can be an issue. Too much energy or too much of one sound can really ruin the completeness of a record. Thankfully, that’s not the case here, with great ballads like “I’m No Angel” and “Damaged” holding weight with the energy of other more lively tracks. That being said, the album’s final track “Regret” doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the band’s focus. Maybe it’s the piano that’s featured throughout or the fact that is sounds like every other blues standard, but it seems oddly out of place.

The final track notwithstanding, The Winery Dogs’ self-titled debut is not to be missed by anyone, be it a fan of progressive rock, alt metal, soft rock, or anything in between.

The Final Verdict: The choruses soar, the guitars crunch and the melodies are memorable. A debut not to be missed.

9 out of 10. 

A Relapse into World of Warcraft: Part I

Back into Azeroth

Addiction is a funny thing. No matter how many times a person gets over a certain compulsion, the pangs and longing start to come back. World of Warcraft (street name: Wow) is no different. It lassos its users with an endorphin rush of mouse clicks – proving just as bad as any drug with its method of obsession. I had retired my level 85 blood elf mage, Jestoluman, shortly after capping my level during Cataclysm; it was too easy for a new player to grind to the endgame, and level 85 content was severely lacking and implementation of new features had slowed to a crawl. The high wasn’t the same anymore, and the game became stale. So I stepped away for a while, thinking my I had left my addiction behind.

Oh Deathwing, I hardly knew ye

I thought I was over it. I was wrong. I started dreaming as my character. At first it was innocuous, random images of my avatar flying on the back of his wind rider would float through my mind, and every once in awhile I would dream of conversing with my friends and guildmates from Wow over Ventrilo. They became more and more vivid as time went on; even after two years of not so much as loading the launch screen I could picture the splash page perfectly in my mind, beckoning me to click “Play.”

Soon after that, Mists of Pandaria was announced and subsequently launched. I scoffed at the new features. Pandaren characters? Pet battles? Farming? Looking for Raid queues? It seemed with this expansion Blizzard had distilled what made Pokémon, Kung Fu Panda, and Harvest Moon fun, and turned them into Azerothian doppelgangers. It seemed easy to stay away when I heard how they just threw everything in there. But friends I worked with kept speaking to how things have changed, that Pandaren characters and the monk class were both unique and viable options for play, and that much of the obfuscation that made Cataclysm so infuriating (dead server populations, a lack of substantial endgame content) was mostly fixed.

The timing could not have been better. I was just about finished with school and ready to graduate, and had an entire slate of free time coming up (besides, you know, looking for a real job). So I figured, why not give it a try?

I spent the next three days re-activating and registering my account. Yep, three days. That may seem excessive, but let me explain why. My account had been hacked a few times in Diablo III and World of Warcraft, so for added security I had purchased an authenticator. However, I was unprepared to deal with the fact the authenticator would eventually stop working, which is exactly what happened when I went to reactivate my account. Not only could I not access my account without an authenticator, but I had no way of removing the authenticator from my account without logging in. I was confused, and left it alone for a day.

What do you do when your authenticator doesn’t work? Ask for help!

The next day I opened a help ticket through Blizzard’s customer support. I made a sandwich for myself in preparation, as I had recollections of help tickets lasting for hours until I could get assistance. Today however, I was only one bite into my turkey club when a very helpful rep from Blizzard walked me through releasing the authenticator from my account. I had to send a photo my license picture to verify it was me, which I thought was odd, but did it anyways. Before the rep left me to get back into Azeroth, he suggested getting the free authenticator for my cell phone. That would have been nice to know about before I spent six dollars on a physical version that would eventually die. Within minutes I was ready to log back into my account and start downloading the game.

I figured I would download the client and have it installed on my computer within an hour or two, so began right away. I should have known better, there are four expansions to World of Warcraft, including the original game. The download was over 16 Gb, and I would have to let my computer sit overnight downloading before I could finally get back in.

A lot longer than I expected – Thanks for the image Blooplace!

The next morning, I woke up to a finished update and all of the obfuscation removed. As I logged in and went back to my home of Whisperwind, something seemed off. I was in Dalaran, a city from two expansion packs ago. That was not the oddest part, as Dalaran was my favorite city in the game and I used to log off in a bed there all the time. But my character was naked, and all of my bags were empty. Likewise, I had 250 gold in my pack (I was pretty sure I left with over 10,000). All signs pointed to one possible outcome: my account had been hacked. I thought about opening another help ticket, but I after not playing  for two years I doubted that there could be any possible way to recover what I lost.

I imagine this is what it’s like to wake up after being roofied.

It only got worse from there. All of my spells were changed, moved around, or gone altogether, and I had no talents left. I wasn’t even sure if I remembered how to play as a mage anymore. Not only that, but my friends list was empty and couldn’t for the life of me remember any of my friend’s avatars. So I was broke, had a character with no gear, no idea what spells I should use, and had no friends. As with all addicts, there becomes a time where you hit rock bottom and you have to make a fresh start. I did the only thing that made sense. I made a new character.

NEXT TIME ON A RELAPSE INTO WOW:

I find out what it’s like to level as a Pandaren, and maybe, just maybe, I realize that I’m not as alone as I think.

Until next time

– Smola

Why We Should Be Watching Arrested Development. Right. Now.

It’s back, but when?

I have been an ardent fan of Arrested Development since it went off the air in 2006.

When I heard about its renewal, like many, I was ecstatic. I had midnight, May 26^th circled as soon as I knew that was the day. I had a pair of cutoff jeans ready to wear, and rented a chocolate fondue dipper made for frozen bananas. But as the date drew nearer, it was soon clarified that it would be premiered on Netflix at midnight PST, not EST. I know, I know, the show is set in California and Netflix is centered there. Regardless, I think this is a colossal mistake (not just because I live on the east coast), and for the three seasons of Arrested Development already committed to celluloid, here are three reasons why:

1. East Coast Premieres Mean More Viewers

Traditionally, when a television program premieres an episode, it is shown on the East coast first and on the West three hours later.  This is a tried and true formula that allows for a maximum amount of viewers in prime timeslots, and Nielsen ratings generally back that up. Even though Netflix is not traditional television and a midnight premiere is not a prime timeslot, premiering at midnight EST not only ups the traffic for Netflix on the East Coast, but is prime for the 9 PM PST timeslot. House of Cards reportedly used  5% of  Netflix’s overall bandwidth when it launched because of its popularity. If they had launched at midnight EST, it could have doubled that, based on the stat I just made up.

2. Bicoastal Thematic Parties

People have been creating Development-themed foods (hot ham water, anyone?) and costume parties for AD’s premiere. Having it available to stream at 3 am in New York and Boston (among other East Coast areas) effectively prevents a coordinated party and event to occur while still watching the show in real-time. And in this era of instant gratification, a person living in the East would essentially have to wait a day, while a person living 3000 miles west could binge and know the entire series before the person in the east even woke up. Unacceptable.

3. The East Just Matters More

I may be moving west in the near future, but that still doesn’t stop my appreciation for East Coast living. Everything revolves around what happens here The financial center of the world is located in the East Coast (Wall St.), as is the diplomatic center (the United Nations). And the execs at Netflix should recognize: the New Year doesn’t start until New York City says so. So shouldn’t they be able to watch Arrested Development at midnight, too?

Some food for thought. Now, a chicken dance!

Until next time

– Smola

Are MOOCs worth it?

MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses if you’re unfamiliar, are designed for to bring education to anyone with an internet connection. They’re cheap and sometimes, the information is valid and applicable in today’s workplace, and access to them is open to anyone with enough free time to allocate to the courses.  Seem too good to be true? Maybe they are, that’s what this blog is investigating. Here’s some pros and cons.

Pros:

They are available in a variety of languages. So if you don’t speak English, that’s not a problem.

No degrees necessary. This is true, you enroll with no prerequisites and need no prior knowledge for the course.

Where you live is immaterial to the education, so long as you have internet access

Cons:

Internet access is required. Duh.

You may sign up for a course wanting to learn a specific skill, and because the courses adapt to the participants, there is a chance the specific skill you wanted to learn is never covered.

Instructor feedback is limited, learning is more contingent on the class participation.

Actual human interaction is limited.

Many jobs do not accept MOOC certificates as tantamount to degrees.

Ultimately, the last con listed is all that matters. The skills learned are of course important, but if prospective employer doesn’t accept a MOOC on an application, then placing one on an application is almost certain to  result in a job rejection. A few places are starting to accepts MOOCs, but the road ahead is long for them to become viable replacements to college degrees and a college education. Thoughts?

Until next time

– Smola

 

On the Church of Google

Have you ever heard of the Church of Google?

Yeah, this may sound like a bunch of hippie bullshit, but believe me, it’s for real. The statistics that back it up seem pretty astounding, which can be found here. But what does this mean for mainstream religions?

This website posits that Google is the closest thing to a scientifically provable omniscient entity; with the ability to index almost all of the world’s information, is everywhere at once, is potentially immortal, and has a perfect memory. But it was made by man, right?

That is true, its algorithm is famously concocted by Sergey Brin and Larry Page. However, there is something to be said about Google’s stance on religion. For one, they haven’t celebrated a religious holiday via Google’s doodle splash since Easter of 2000, and the company has avoided religious overtones during the same amount of time. One has to wonder if Google is trying to solidify itself as a religious option or is simply distancing itself from that argument all together.

A few things are for certain though: Google is everywhere, knows more than you, and will live longer than your children. Is that scary or comforting?

Until next time

– Smola

On the Amateurism of Previously Professional Field

Typically in these blog posts I highlight a facet of the internet that I don’t like, or a part of the new social knowledge that our country is experiencing that I think is detrimental to the growth of the human experience. Today I am taking a different tact, lauding what people have been constantly referring to as “crowdsourcing.”

Crowdsourcing, as it’s defined, is “the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.” Typically these people work on a volunteer basis.

Now, many have come to decry crowdsourcing as “mass-amateurism,” and bad for business because of the copyright issues it perpetuates. I fall on the other side of the spectrum, but understand the opposition.

 You see, previously professional, in-demand fields like graphic design, photography, and journalism are finding cheap alternatives in the crowd sourced medium. This may lead to a small slice of the financial pie to established firms like the New York Times, Reuters, and other media moguls, but the proliferation of this mass amateurism has its silver lining. Although it makes professionals seem less professional because of their lessened demand and heightened competition, it also helps amateurs step into the realm of professionalism feet first.

If a writer wants to write professionally but doesn’t have the time or the money to go to school to be trained for it, one can try their hand at creating a Wikipedia article or using message boards to obtain the tools required to be a better writer. The whole concept of message boards has really changed what it means to be a professional, as even amateur photographers can post photos on sites like Instagram and create threads about to obtain certain lens tricks or visual filters, at no cost to the amateur at all. This has lessened the gap between amateur and professional, and brings the field down to a more basic level.

Of course, a few questions arise from these practices. For one, is there a line? If anyone can achieve professional output by using copius amounts of internet tutorials, why bother going to school for trades anymore? And does this ruin the field of professionalism by making the barrier for entry so much lower?  Thoughts?

Until next time

– Smola

The Pratfalls of Gmail

I’m usually inclined to be one of the first people in line to profess all of my love for Google. I was an early adopter for nearly all of their products, proudly showing that I was invited into the Gmail beta in 2005 . 1 GB of e-mail storage (at its outset), how could I go wrong? However, then I started researching how Google makes money through their e-mail servers, and it was… disconcerting.

For one thing, they scan all of your e-mails. This is nothing new; Microsoft and Yahoo! have been doing that for years.  This prevents against Spam and junk e-mail, it allows users a better internet experience. Granted, Google has been doing this since the inception of its search engine, as it’s their chief source of revenue. But those are keywords, that is different than scanning e-mail for words you use or personal conversations you impart on. How private is this information?

It should be intimately private, but because of Google’s privacy policy, you disclose all the information to them automatically for signing up. This would still seem pretty benign; after all, it’s a non-disclosure agreement that is familiar in the internet legalscape. That being said, Google’s Gmail privacy concerns raise from flags.

Problem one is that Google is willing to sell your private information to advertisers. For instance, if one person is e-mailing a friend about posting for a job listing online, Google will link ads on the e-mail to job posting sites. This seems innocuous, but it doesn’t stop there. Google can tap you for any e-mail you read, and relate an ad to it.

They call it “mind-reader marketing”, and no one can tell if it’s right or not. You can e-mail someone about boots you wanted to buy, or a new game you were looking at, and then all of a sudden… it’s advertised in plain text in your border! This extends beyond Gmail as well. For Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Facebook, or Gmail, you sign similar statements. Even Google uses its own proprietary e-mail services, known as eating your own dog food in the tech world. However, even momentary lapses occur, like when Google lost a few dozen e-mail accounts when an employee “accidentally hit the delete key.”

So “how safe is our data with these firms?” is the real question that arises out of this discussion. Google has put priority one on protecting consumer privacy… but how many people believe that? It was easy when they were only storing search data, but now with personal information, e-mail addresses and account information, there seems no limit. Does Google really know what it’s doing? Are they still “doing no evil?”

Until next time

– Smola

How Dangerous is Anonymous?

Anonymous are the activist pirates of the internet

Have you ever heard of the hacker group Anonymous?

Chances are if you heard of hackers raiding US Sentencing Commission in defense of Aaron Swartz, or Sony’s Playstation network being hacked, or Israel’s defense systems being disabled in defense of the Palestinians, chances are you’ve heard of Anonymous’ work. They wear stylized Guy Fawkes masks, inspired by the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 and the world of V For Vendetta. They’ve even been labeled as one of the 100 most influential groups in the world by TIME Magazine. The problem is, they’re incredibly dangerous.

Now, I’m all for hactivism, as it’s been labeled. And Anonymous has had its good points. They assisted police with catching a child predator and the distribution of illegal firearms. They took up with the Occupy Wall Street movement and encouraged them to protest non-violently. They seemed to be a true activist group working for the greater good.

There’s no centralized organization within Anonymous. Their entire base of operations is secretive, and they’ve been linked with characters like Julian Assange and the aforementioned Aaron Swartz. Much like Google, their assumed mission statement is that of the freedom of information, and the freedom of censorship. But they don’t care how they get there. They’ve released a bevy of Youtube videos much like one would see in V For Vendetta.

So, while they might be fighting for the freedom of information, there is a distinct possibility that there are several different splinter groups within Anonymous. This provides a variety of issues. For one, what if one group of Anonymous decides that what Apple does for its community is a breach of privacy, but another group disagrees with that tact and goes after Microsoft? If two different groups attack both of those industrial giants under the guise of Anonymous, wouldn’t that seem that they’re attacking everyone?

And although they seem to be going after corporate entities for what they’ve done to their consumers, the most troublesome action Anonymous has taken has been against Israel. Dipping your paw into corporations is one thing, attacking governments is an entirely different animal. This is no longer hacktivism, this is literally playing with the lives and deaths of people unattached to your cause. Is Anonymous actually fighting for Palestinians? Does this new rash of hactivism have anything to do with what Anonymous stands for, or is it a splintered group? So many questions arise from these actions, but one thing is clear, Anonymous is powerful, and dangerous. So watch your accounts, and I’ll watch mine.

Until next time

– Smola

The Hypocrisy of Google?

Google’s mission statement reads as such: “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” This would seem to imply that their information network and processes would be universally accessible as well.

However, there is a universal problem in this mission statement. All of the information that Google hoards, they use. But no one’s sure how. Their algorithm and PageRank system have never been made officially public, only vaguely explained. Even the amount of computers and servers they use is shrouded in secrecy, although it’s estimated to be in the millions. One intrepid journalist asked to see one of their server clusters for a book he was writing – and only for 5 seconds (the author of Planet Google, Randall Stross). Needless to say, he was turned down. They do not give tours of their data centers. Even when the centers are built (Now totaling 68 facilities across the globe), they do it in as much secrecy as possible. Contractors are required to sign non-disclosure agreements, as are the landlords, power companies and local authorities. They go to extraordinary lengths to maintain this veil over their operation.

One has to wonder, why? Google’s unofficial corporate philosophy is “don’t be evil,” but it seems that this concealment of their ventures are in opposition of those values. What are they hiding? Are they building HAL? Are they planning world domination? Or is it simply them protecting their corporate interests from their competitors?

It would be easy to say that the last one was the easy answer, as Google still faces competition from the likes of Microsoft, facebook, and Yahoo! Or do they? Google.com was the most visited website in the world last year, so the competition may be negligible.

So what is Google up to?

Thoughts?

Until next time

– Smola