The way we Listen

This video is a huge success among the prog fans and the nintendo fans : The Dark Nintendo Night is a clever mix between Super Mario Bros Theme song and The Dark Eternal Night, out of Dream Theater last album, Systematic Chaos. Super Mike Portnoy can be seen as a Super Mario clone, and his mission is to rescue James Labrie out of the castle !

The video is shown at each DT concert, just before the Encore.

Here are the details to notice :

• On the top of the screen, "MIKE" can be seen above the score
• [0:07] On the title screen, the following line can be read : "METROPOLIS PT.3 : SUPER MAJESTY BROS"
• [0:22] Subliminal moment I’m sure you all noticed : )
• [0:27] The object coming out of the ? box is the chained heart from the album Images and Words.
• [0:44] Bowser is replaced by big green bear… Someone knows what this means? Maybe Bear Track Studios?
• [0:55] The Warp Zone is replaced by"WELCOME TO PROG ZONE!"
• [1:05] Toad tells us that "JAMES LABRIE IS IN ANOTHER CASTLE"
• [1:14] On the green flag at the end of the level, the letters "DT" can be seen.
• [1:19] The other flag, coming out of the castle, show the DT logo.
• [1:24] The green floating wizard is the dear Jordan "The Wizard" Rudess
• [2:53] The great James Labrie appears, singing lyrics from The Dark Eternal Night.

I may have skipped other details… Anyway here is the video!

Thanks to its new deal with RoadRunner Records, Dream Theater is pulling out some video clips for their songs… They haven’t done this since 1997 and a lousy video clip for Hollow Years.

Here is the second video clip out of Systematic Chaos, DT’s latest album : Forsaken. Enjoy!

My personal comment : I’m not a fan of DT video clips (neither do they : )… ) and I’d rather see them actually play than see a weird fantasy cartoon… I don’t know if they control this or if their record company does. Anyway, great song so it’s still pleasant to watch.

Let’s resume our restrospective on the year 2007. May and june were two “heavy” months!

4. Scorpions, live in Paris (May 14th)

Just when I was beginning to discover the band’s discography, I got the chance to go to one of their concert. And so I realized that they are still really probant. A 2-hour set in “Zenith de Paris”, no false move. Just a few lights, no video, just the band, and the music. Some of their tunes became even greater to me, like Holiday, Coast to Coast, or Big City Nights. The surprising event of the evening was the guest appearance of Uli Jon Roth, the first guitarist of the band. Moreover, I found the musicians very energetic, especially Rudolph Schenker and James Kottak. As a conclusion, I’d say : Yes, the Scorpions are still there!

5. New Dream Theater album : Systematic Chaos (June 5th)

Here is an album that I have been waiting for months… I am a really big fan of the band, I could not wait to hear their new compositions, to prove myself that they still are the ultimate progressive metal band… And it turned out to be true! As usual, you will need several listenings to really appreciate the quality. But I think that the achieved result is great : nothing to throw away, every single song has its own athmosphere. Here’s a small preview.

6. Aerosmith, live in Paris (June 19th)

Everything keeps rushing! As soon as the new DT album is really appreciated, here comes a new important event : Aerosmith is back in France, after a long time of abscence. This time we spent the worst day ever, before the concert… But what a great show! Steven Tyler, the band lead singer, is still very impressing despite his age (58) : a really torn voice, but always on the right tone… and full of energy during 2 hours. What a pleasure to hear live versions of excellent tunes like Crying, Dream On, Walk This Way or Sweet Emotion.

Mike Portnoy, DT’s drummer, already warned us a few month ago… a big surprise is awaiting in 2008. Here it is! A double-disc album gathering their greatests songs will be available on April 1st, 2008.

Dream Theater is the reference of progressive metal, rocking since 1989, and their first album. This compilation contains alternative version versions of their classics. The two discs are respectively title The Dark Side and The Light Side. The first one emphasizes the metal edge of their music, the second one shows the melodic side.

The exact title of the album is  “Greatest Hit” (singular) and then “… and 21 other pretty cool songs”. The band wants to focus on the fact that only one of their songs became a radio hit : Pull Me Under, from the second album Images and Words.

Here’s the track-list :

Disc 1: (The Dark Side)

December… almost the end of 2007. Well this year was very very full with concerts for us! And most of all reunion tours and things you cannot miss. We’ll post live reports for each of these concerts that we attended throughout the year :

• The Scorpions, Zenith, Paris 14/05/07 - Humanity Hour I Tour
• Aerosmith, Bercy, Paris 19/06/07 - 2007 World Tour
• Genesis, Stade Gerland, Lyon 12/07/07 - Turn It On Again Tour
• The Police, Stade de France, Paris 29/09/07 - Reunion Tour
• Dream Theater, Zenith, Paris 05/10/07 - Systematic Chaos Tour
• Superbus, Zenith, Paris 23/11/07 - WOW Tour (French Band)

Almost a concert per month Some money went away this year! Come check out this website soon if your want to share details about these concerts.