Yeah man …!!! Tomorrow, my prog mates and I will go to Singapore for one purpose: to see DREAM THEATER 20th ANNIVERSAY CONCERT at Singapore Indoor Stadium! Yeaaaaaahhhhh …… We will rock there! We will do headbanging together and get NGGEBLAAAAKKKKKKK ……!!!!
DREAM THEATER RULESSSSSSSSSZZZZZZZZ ……..!!!! (air liur harus muncratzzz!!)
Friends, …
What a BIG day next week (yeah …!!! exactly another 7 days!) when on 27th January 2006 DREAM THEATER will do a concert at SIngapore Indoor Stadium commemorating their 20th Anniversary.
Well, it was all started with a BIG REGRET as we, all Indonesian proggers, were very very disappointed that the DT planned Jakarta Tour which was previously scheduled on 29th January (two days after Spore concert) was finally cancelled (how dare you were, Mr Portnoy?), with no clear reason. I even made a big announcement on my review of Falling Into Infinity at this site weeks before cancellation date. When we heard that DT would do a concert in Jakarta, all of us were very excited and made a lot of plans so that we, the Dream Theater Fans in Indonesia as well as IPS (Indonesian Progressive Society), would make Portnoy, Myung, Petrucci, Rudess and LaBriell stay in Jakarta is memorable. Yeah … we have a great passion for prog!!!! We love DT very much …..!!!!
Long Live DT!!!!
We are proud that from that BIG REGRET and DISAPPOINTMENT we could finally turn it into another EXCITEMENT as some of us decided to fly to Singapore for the show. That means another dollars for us because the transportaion cost to Singapore is very expensive for most of us. It ranges from USD 200 - 300 per person plus accommodation cost. Some of us were trying to find the cheapest airfare and we got a solution (that’s the beauty of having prog mind; we always think "solution" instead of "problem") through an in-country flight to Batam Island and get across to Singapore by boat. That’s cheaper and it reduces some airfare. Then we have also another solution on accommodation cost during our overnight stay in Spore. I contacted old time friends (some of them are proggers some are just rockers) who work in Singapore and finally get them to offer us an overnight stay overthere!!! Thank to Rizal Fedex and Didik Rachmadi. Rizal is my prog-buddy and regular supplier of latest records of prog CD, while mas Didik is our long-time prog friends. When we watched Yes concert on 25 September 2003, seven people from Jakarta stayed at mas Didik’s apartment. That’s the beauty of having many prog friends man …!!! And .. by nature .. prog unites people! (beacuse not so many people like us, especially in my country)
Twenty of Us
You know how many of us will go to Spore? As far as they "are" connected with me, I know there are twenty Indonesian proggers will sit in the stadium. Yeah man!!! WE WILL ROCK THE SPORE INDOOR STADIUM!!!! In order to make next week concert is so special for us (hey, some of us has never gone abroad and for this concert we have to make passport, just for the show!), we have agreed to use the same design of T Shirt self made by our friend, Andre. He has produced exactly 20 pieces of T shirt. And you know what is the write-u at the T SHIRT?:
WHEN DREAM THEATER AND INDONESIA UNITE?
The Number May Grow …
Yeah … the number of people from Indonesia (from Jakarta and Surabaya) might grow in couple of days. This proves to be right as last night
Friends, …
What a BIG day next week (yeah …!!! eaxactly another 7 days!) when on 27th January 2006 DREAM THEATER will do a concert at SIngapore Indoor Stadium commemorating their 20th Anniversary.
Well, it was all started with a BIG REGRET as we, all Indonesian proggers, were very very disappointed that the DT planned Jakarta Tour which was previously scheduled on 29th January (two days after Spore concert) was finally cancelled (how dare you were, Mr Portnoy?), with no clear reason. I even made a big announcement on my review of Falling Into Infinity at this site weeks before cancellation date. When we heard that DT would do a concert in Jakarta, all of us were very excited and made a lot of plans so that we, the Dream Theater Fans in Indonesia as well as IPS (Indonesian Progressive Society), would make Portnoy, Myung, Petrucci, Rudess and LaBriell stay in Jakarta is memorable. Yeah … we have a great passion for prog!!!! We love DT very much …..!!!!
Long Live DT!!!!
We are proud that from that BIG REGRET and DISAPPOINTMENT we could finally turn it into another EXCITEMENT as some of us decided to fly to Singapore for the show. That means another dollars for us because the transportaion cost to Singapore is very expensive for most of us. It ranges from USD 200 - 300 per person plus accommodation cost. Some of us were trying to find the cheapest airfare and we got a solution (that’s the beauty of having prog mind; we always think "solution" instead of "problem") through an in-country flight to Batam Island and get across to Singapore by boat. That’s cheaper and it reduces some airfare. Then we have also another solution on accommodation cost during our overnight stay in Spore. I contacted old time friends (some of them are proggers some are just rockers) who work in Singapore and finally get them to offer us an overnight stay overthere!!! Thank to Rizal Fedex and Didik Rachmadi. Rizal is my prog-buddy and regular supplier of latest records of prog CD, while mas Didik is our long-time prog friends. When we watched Yes concert on 25 September 2003, seven people from Jakarta stayed at mas Didik’s apartment. That’s the beauty of having many prog friends man …!!! And .. by nature .. prog unites people! (beacuse not so many people like us, especially in my country)
Twenty of Us
You know how many of us will go to Spore? As far as they "are" connected with me, I know there are twenty Indonesian proggers will sit in the stadium. Yeah man!!! WE WILL ROCK THE SPORE INDOOR STADIUM!!!! In order to make next week concert is so special for us (hey, some of us has never gone abroad and for this concert we have to make passport, just for the show!), we have agreed to use the same design of T Shirt self made by our friend, Andre. He has produced exactly 20 pieces of T shirt. And you know what is the write-u at the T SHIRT?:
WHEN DREAM THEATER AND INDONESIA UNITE?
The Number May Grow …
Yeah … the number of people from Indonesia (from Jakarta and Surabaya) might grow in couple of days. This proves to be right as last night a friend of mine, Tatan, told me that he could not afford for not bringing his 9-year old son and his mother to seat in for the show. This merely happened because the dad introduced him theLIVE AT BUDOKAN DVD and he could not blink his eyes watching the TV screen, amazed with how the five gentlemen did a wonderful performance. Since then, he always watched the DVD and very excited with DT music. So … he’s gonna be the youngest crowd of the 27th January concert! I can’t wait any longer .. it’s 7 days to go …..!!!
We call the troop of Indonesian DT fans who would flock to Singapore next week as SACRIFICED SONS!!!!
Yeah … after the concert, I will write long review … of course!!!!
See ya ……in Singapore!
Album in Brief
Released in 1992, this album was the first of seven-album deal between the band and ATCO Atlantic (now EastWest). The band comprised of a solid line-up after many auditions and replacements of lead singer. It’s a masterpiece rock album that comprises a variety of styles, moods and changing tempos. Each tune was composed with a solid structure, heavy riffs – stemming from metal influence, packaged in a more complex composition. Through this album, the band has taken a progressive effort by putting syncopated musical pieces in relatively fast time signatures. For those of you who are familiar with
UK (Bruford, Wetton, Holdsworth and Jobson), the opening part of “Presto Vivace and Reprise” From their first album (1977) represents the style that I’m referring to. I would say that IAW remarked the birth of progressive metal music that influenced many other bands that follow. The band has taken the step that music buffs had never imagined before, even though some tunes could be classified as having its root on conventional heavy metal style.
Pull Me Under
(Images: Dream Theater, words:
Moore )
The Music
Inspired by Shakespear’s “Hamlet”, this album opener begins with an atmospheric style through Petrucci’s acoustic guitar outfit followed by Portnoy’s drum sound that starts to roll into the music gradually, augmented with soft and melodic keyboard sound. This very opening is really a wonderful piece that lifts up listener’s emotions. Sometimes I repeat this tune because of wanting to have another chance for this only once occurrence musical piece – not being repeated anywhere else in the entire structure of this tune. It sets the whole tone of overall tune. This piece of music takes approximately one minute plus in the beginning.
The music builds up firmly in a crescendo and turns into a faster tempo with guitar riffs [1:15]. The heavy riffs indicate the influence of Metallica. Drum beats remark the entrance of LaBrie’s vocal part [2:02] “Lost in the sky. Clouds roll by and I roll with them” nicely. Two things deserve attention here. First, the (relatively long) duration where the tom drum sound takes just before vocal enters, augmented with keyboard sound, has created a substantial impact for listener’s listening pleasure – yep, it does accentuate the tune. It projects an energy of the tune and at the same time sets an uplifting atmosphere for the next lyrical part. Second, on the opening lyrical part by LaBrie, it clearly sets the situation whereby the Prince Hamlet swore vengeance on King Claudius for murdering his father, the former King, and then marrying his mother, still Queen. It does not state how deep the vengeance was, but … at least it sets appropriate stage for the scene.
The music firmly turns into faster tempo from “This world is spinning around me” with more energy and uplifting mood that depicts the anger Hamlet had accumulated. The music in this part reflects the more complex composition with excellent harmony music and tidy performance demonstrated by all musicians with their individual instrument. Each of them is virtuoso in his own instrument. Great musicianship, overall. The energy is rising up when LaBrie sings “Dust fills my eyes” [4:14]. Oh … what a great melody this piece is: he sings differently and it projects full energy – be it positive or negative (represents Hamlet’s vengeance?) – of the overall tune. In here, I can sense the best blend between music and lyrical part; it’s so nice and uplifting! And the true pinnacle of this tune is when it reaches short guitar solo [5:00] followed with title’s lyrical part “Pull me under. Pull me under. Pull me under I’m not afraid” that represents how Hamlet voiced his bravery out-loud and shed the light of revenge for his father’s death.
The transition segment in quieter passage[5:30] filled with a soft and nice keyboard work by
Moore augmented with a simple acoustic guitar fills. It gives a break to the music for relaxing mood in a slower tempo. The drum sound enters gradually, gives a firmed beat and brings the music back to its original style with fast tempo. Again the guitar solo fills into the music and brings to “Pull me under” part.
The ending part [7:13] is totally a metal vein characterized by heavy guitar riffs, power drumming, augmented beautifully with great keyboard work at the background. This keyboard sound provides a symphonic nuance of the tune and it enriches the composition. Hamlet’s famous soliloquy was the passage in which the conflict in Hamlet’s mind is detailed, and the ending part of this tune coincides thoroughly with it. The very end of the song LaBrie can be heard singing this lyrical part from Hamlet:
"Oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt."
…and the music suddenly turns-off!
The first time I listened to this track, I thought there was something wrong with the master tape that resulted this unplanned stop of the track. But later I learned from www.DTFAQ.com when a fan asked why it was cut off suddenly. Two reasons:
First, the song intentionally cuts off like that, because part of the song deals with how sudden death can be. The sudden ending of the song is just like an unexpected death of a person.
Second, it was inspired by The Beatles’ side A ending, and Mike Portnoy explains that the melodies are building up and it just "pulls the carpet out from under you".
Abbey Road
The Message Beyond the Music
As in our day-to-day life, we are regularly poised with a multitude of challenges in any aspect of life: love, relationship, integrity, respect, dignity, etc. However, as human being, all of us have been given first birth-gift: “the freedom to choose” as Dr. Stephen Covey puts it in his seminal book “The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness”. According to Dr. Covey there is always “room” between stimulus and response whereby we can make up our mind on which pathway we’ll choose our life. In the case of Hamlet it turns out to be an anger that becomes a vengeance.
In other plot of life, we might picture the situation like an author Paulo Coelho put in his book “The Alchemist”: if you have cast an affirmative personal legend (in the words of Dr. Covey it’s called personal mission statement) and you have set your goals in life, all universe will conspire to help you achieve your dreams. Yep, in the process of receiving a stimulus of bad news or problems, there might be some anger as first reaction – which is human, I think – but this is a kind of a controlled anger where we can convert into a positive energy that will resolve the challenge or the problem.
In either case, the tune Pull Me Under can represent the situation. The next thing is when we are dealing with unwanted situations as results of our decision. The same cycle would apply and we’ll find the most effective response, it’s a continuous process improvement, basically. When we are poised with the sudden death – like what happens with the end of this tune – nothing we can do about. The song just visualizes the scene through the sudden stop at the end of the tune.
In summary, this tune may represent any situation in our life where problems challenge us and require us to decide on what sort of response we will take. The music represents a variety of situations and moods depicting the situation.
The Impact
Pull Me Under once became a radio hit and it has become fans favorite where the band has always played it in any live performance. Actually, it was not planned by the band as originally they planned Another Day as hit. But, the radio had never played it on air.
Because of the nature of this tune that has an uplifting mood and upbeat rhythm combined with simple lyrics, it has a significant impact in the mind of listeners. Many people have been inspired by the beats and nuances of this tune. I remember one day on Friday evening after office hours I watched the Images and Words video, live in
Tokyo with my colleague. We’re stunned with the performance of these guys and we emulated the lyrical part while we’re watching this tune performed. Even after we completed watching the video, my friend and I sung aloud the tune. It’s so energetic and I can not help it to stop emulating the energy of this track – forget about the Hamlet story.
The title passage “Pull me under” (continued until “I’m not afraid”) becomes common yell among fans of the band in my environment. Whenever we meet, we raise one of our arms and moving it up and down while yelling this part. It’s a rocking yell!!!
Whenever lonely in the car, this tune is suitable to keep our energy afresh while we’re driving. Turn the volume loud and starts singing while the tune is played. It helps elevate our emotions and makes a very enjoyable driving. Try it!
Almost all lyrical parts are enjoyable. In addition to “Pull me under” passage, the following part is also very uplifting:
This world is spinning around me
This world is spinning without me
Everyday sends future to past
Every breath leaves me one less to my last
