Alright Folks, We're Back!

New musical opinions follow.

Dream Theater: Still can't do it. I took a fresh listen to some songs from the new album and nothing has changed. Still the same emotionless drivel. James LaBrie's voice contains no power. John Petrucci, while technically flawless, still cannot create a melodic hook or play a lead passage that is memorable. Mike Portnoy, while also technically flawless, cannot resist changing time signatures every ten seconds for no reason. Some of the riffs aren't bad, but that's all they get from me.

Slough Feg: Big Thin Lizzy influence here. Unfortunately the songs all sound the same and the lead playing is fairly homogeneous too. Too many extended solo sections where they just pour on the legato. I almost wish for a more standard song structure, because their singer, Michael Scalzi, has an excellent voice. Still, the music isn't too bad, but I only care about half of the latest album.

Firebird: Bill Steer's rock band with a heavy influence from the late sixties and early seventies. Pleasant surprise, to say the least, and shows that Steer can do other things besides melodic death/grindcore. The latest, Hot Wings, has a good mix of tempo that helps it as an album greatly. Good playing by Steer in general. His progressions and riffs are very dynamic and while he's no shredder, his lead playing is perfect for the music. Nice drumming by Ludwig Witt as well.

Planet X: Derek Sherinian's "metal fusion" band. His solo stuff found a place with me because it's heavily guitar driven, with players like Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Lukather. The focus here is less heavy and Sherinian is at the forefront with his keys driving the music instead of the guitars. He also has the usual slew of top talent, with Virgil Donati on drums and Allan Holdsworth dropping in on two tracks. Donati is the good version of Mike Portnoy, a drummer with ridiculous chops but the restraint to know when and how to use them. The songs have a jazz/jam vibe, with lots of trading off between the instruments. While it doesn't appeal to me as much as when he has the axe-slingers, this is still top-notch material if you're into fusion.