Song of the week- #5 "On the backs of angels" by Dream Theater

It’s that time of the year again and everybody has started putting up judgments about their ‘things’ of the year. How can I miss out on my bit then? So here it is. A review of what I consider as the song of the year from the latest album (A Dramatic turn of events) by the most intricate, skilled and hard-working band I have heard- Dream Theater. The name itself, I am sure, speaks a lot about the onerous task of breaking down their song- On the backs of angels. This was the first single that they released in July-August before releasing the full album sometime in September.

Before I begin writing about the song, let me put up that my ability is way too limited to be writing about these stalwarts who have actually studied music at Berkley which is pretty evident in their unmatchable way of making music. These musicians, individually, are undoubtedly the best at the instruments they play- the latest addition being drummer Mike Mangini who was ‘inducted’ into the band after an untimely and unfortunate exit of one of my favourite musicians- Mike Portnoy.

Firstly, the instruments seen in the video are the best of their kind not only because they look awesome and cost a fortune but also because these guys know how to get the best out of each instrument. The most enviable of them all is the Pearl drumkit created (yes, ‘created’ coz it is a masterpiece) specially for Mangini. It is a Monster! Pearl has made just two of these- the other one is used only for DT tours. I just love the sound of the octobans overhead. It’s a pity that they are used only once in this song (in the beginning).

The song begins with Petrucci plucking the strings with Rudess giving special effects in the background using (presumably) the Bebot/Morphwiz app on the iPhone/iPad. Yes, he uses the latest technology too! At the end of a couple of rounds of this plucking, begins the drumming along with the synth creating the base groove of the song. The arrangement that comes next can only be guessed to be a 7x8 signature followed by a (15+16)x16 which eventually becomes a 31x32. I might be grossly wrong about this but DT’s time signatures are as insane as they can get and it is amazing how they come up with such intricate compositions album after album! Rudess gets his share of solo with a normal 4x4 signature followed by a 15x16 at 2:15. The odd time signatures keep on playing and at the end of the first verse at 3:47, Petrucci gives just a brief glimpse of his presence with a short yet distinctive guitar solo and again at 5:16. The tempo of the song slows down at 5:57 and Rudess plays a heavenly solo with the traditional piano tone to set the tone for Petrucci to get into his ‘world-domination’ mode at 6:24. It is not very difficult to make out why he is among the best guitarists in the world. He even makes it pleasing to the eyes with his fingers covering the length and breadth of the guitar visible in the video. The song nears its end with a Rudess solo and the initial riff playing in the background. Mangini and Myung keep the tempo of the song going with awesome support and La’Brie preserves the essence of Dream Theater in a considerable fashion.

The whole song (and the album-for that matter) has a kind of ‘heavy’ feel mostly because of Mangini’s drumming effects. While listening to this song, I discovered this guy in Brazil who does DT covers by mixing recordings of different people on their instruments across different continents. Till the time I saw them playing, I thought it was impossible to cover DT. The split-screen VRA covers are amazing pieces of work!! Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6LxYIwZ_uA

Even after writing these many words, I think very little justice has been done to the masterpiece by DT.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and may Music give me strength and time to keep on writing this blog regularly in the coming year also! :D Keep Rocking! \m/

Song of the week- #4 "I believe" by Parikrama, Agnee & Shipla Rao

The other post I intend to make this week (to catch up on the last 2 weeks-as mentioned in the previous post) is a very recent Hindi gig by Parikrama, Agnee and Shilpa Rao as a part of the TV series The Dewarists. The idea of making these awesome musicians come together itself is so exciting. And with the song- I believe- they have made justice to just that.

The song starts with plucking and sliding on the guitar by Sonam Shorpa (the bull!). One of the best parts of this song is the vocals especially by Mohan (Agnee) at the start and by Nitin Malik with very definitive and metaphorical lyrics. Also, the base riff of this song which plays at 2:10 is very addictive especially the tweaked part that they play while repeating it. Shilpa Rao brings in new life to the song at 2:29 and the introduction of the mildly distorted guitar in the background at 2:52 gives all the more emphasis to her and Mohan’s vocals. The drum playing with the leads (by Sherpa and Koco) starting at 4:04 pertinently makes way for the base riff to come in for the last time and the song ends the way it started with strings plucking and Nitin singing the distinguishing couple of lines of the lyrics.

Overall, the feel of the song is created by some amazing work on the bass, backing vocals and some great synth playing by Subir Malik. If you like this track, make sure to watch the full episode of its making on youtube. Believe me, it is VERY inspiring! J

I hope you liked this review. Keep rocking till next week! \m/

PS: Thinking of reviewing one of the most intricate bands next week. I hope I can do justice to them. Watch out for this space! :D

Song of the week- #3 "Deliverance" by Opeth

Okay so it’s been two weeks now that I wrote the last time. And clearly, I have gone awry from meeting the target I had decided from myself. But then, I had my end-term exams of what is supposed to be one of the most taxing terms of BM at XL which took ALL of my time. So I have decided to make up for it by writing for 2 songs this time while in a train going back to home sweet home!! :D

Well, during this period, we have got news of Opeth coming to Bangalore headlining the summerstorm festival on 5^th Feb, 2012! :D \m/ Having LoG the last year and Opeth this year is just awesome! I hope the organizers live upto their name every year. J I missed out big time on the Metallica concert and I hope I don’t miss Opeth this time. (the last time they came to IIT-Madras, I had no clue about them- poor me) So it is only befitting that I write about Opeth this time! :D

So this song- Deliverance is according to me a perfect representation of what Opeth is as a band. They have combined the acoustic and heavy metal feelings in the most amazing ways possible. This particular track has awesome combinations of growling and clean vocals with acoustic and heavy guitar/bass/drum playing. The song starts with a full on heavy riff playing with double bass drums and metal screaming vocals setting up the tempo. Then the awesome acoustic feel kicks in with Mikael Akerfeldt plucking on the guitar with clean vocals. The original tempo heavy playing keeps coming in between so that it is still kept alive. Then comes the guitar lead at 8:15 with the perfect guitar n drum playing in the background. After which, the best changeover to acoustic playing happens. What I loved the most about this song is what starts after this at 9:37. The same pattern keeps on playing till the end of the song which is the most addictive particularly the double bass and the melodic guitar and especially so if you know to play one of these instruments.

I hope you liked this opinion of the song. See you at their concert in Bangalore! :D \m/

(There are so many parts of this song that I personally like- such as the drumming pattern at 5:40 is VERY addictive, the metallica-style top string playing at 7:38, the double bass pattern of the last 3 minutes of the song)

Song of the week- #2 "Trains" by Porcupine Tree

Okay. So as I had written in the last post, things hardly go as planned. And I missed my first target of Saturday (which was just 2 days back) itself! But come on now, a couple of days here or there is alright. ;)

So “the” song this week is the awesome “Trains” by Porcupine Tree- a band which I started listening to quite recently (about 2-3 weeks back) and I have already become a fan!

The song has a very nice, soothing acoustic feeling to it which makes it sweet to the ears. Starting with an acoustic piece (I call it a piece coz it is QUITE different from what normal chords are) and vocals by Steve Wilson, it seems as if he alone has the ability with his guitar to carry off the whole song. But only until the Drums kick in!! What a way to start the drums with the electric guitar and the bass starting off at the same time! The song carries on and a cool set of strings plays at 3:20 which is again followed by just the guitar and the vocals. It creates a huge build-up for the drums and bass to kick in again at 4:50 but this time with a distorted electric guitar which gives an energized feel! \m/

The most astonishing parts of the song are the changeovers from the odd 4x4 set of strings to a normal one like the one at 0:50 and then back at 1:04 to the odd piece. The drumming itself becomes very different because of this and the rolls and the lead are a pleasure to listen to with this normal yet very different time signature.

PS: I read this snippet somewhere that you know you're at a PT show when the crowd can clap and keep up with the tempo. I found this to be so true at 4:44 in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1q50WKVRUM

I missed their IIT-B “Mood I” live show in 2009. :(