YtseJammers Israel

Sunday, August 09, 2009
Well . . .

After hearing about the way Jordan Rudess recorded one of his albums - he basically locked himself in the studio for two weeks and didn't come out until he had finished - I decided the only way I was going to hit deadline and write the update to the DT book was to do the same. So for four days I tied myself to the computer and pulled my finger out of my ass.

And surprisingly, despite the odd venture out of the house to bring back kebabs, fish & chips and any other fat-filled take aways you can imagine - I stayed the course. Which means the book is 99% finished. I still have to write a new ending, tart up a few bits here and there, and slot in another interview that should be done this week, we are virtually ready to rock. I have employed a new proof reader - my non-journalistic mate who has the power to spot all typos (unlike the prick we used first time around and who put-more-fucking-errors-into-the-bastard-text) which is great. So he has the "pleasure" of reading it first. Also got the "go" from the band, so hopefully the publishers will get their mitts on the thing some time next week.

Now I know a lot of you are thinking: "Bollocks. I bought the first edition so why should I fork out my cash on this?". Well first of all, there was always the intention of the book being released in a second, single hardback edition. I always made this clear at the time. It has taken longer than expected to come to fruition for a number of reasons - my health being the main one - and it has taken time for me to have the energy and time to complete it. But that is actually a good thing as it means there is more info for you all to devour. Here are the main bullet points you need to know about:

- The book is to be released as a single hardback which will have a few pages of colour pics throughout the text. Think of your usual band biography.

- The book is around 30% longer in terms of the word count than the original.

- There is a massive chapter covering the Black Clouds & Silver Linings album that discusses the making of the album, the meaning of the songs, the touring as well as detailing some of the more controversial questions that crop up on the forums. For example why James wasn't involved in the writing process, cookie monster vocals, are the band trying to appeal to teenagers etc.

- There is also a huge chapter covering off the various side projects the guys in DT have been involved in. So that's solo albums, plus the likes of Transatlantic, OSI, Liquid Tension Experiment etc etc.

- Apart from the standard hardback, it is likely there will be a limited edition version which will be bound in real leather and signed by myself. Print run in the region of 1000. The publishers are constantly being asked for copies of the original limited edition which has sold out. There was talk of them reprinting it, which I was completely opposed to. But there are those people who want something a little bit more special than the standard book. So this is the compromise and it will look awesome.

- I have also made sure we offer you a discount if you bought the first edition, and even if you didn't buy it, we will be offering you a discount if you pre-order. Obviously though the pre-order discount won't be as great as is offered to those who bought the first edition.

- We are talking about opening up the pre-ordering in the next 3 or 4 weeks.

- I don't know the prices yet or the discounts, but I expect the retail price to be about (and please, please don't hold me to this) £19.99 or $29.99. And then you can get a discount off this price as noted above.

- The new interviewees for this edition apart from the band are Gail Flug, Andrew Ross, John Hendricks, Steve Sinclair, Robert Mason, Jim Matheos, Neal Morse, Roine Stolt and Tony Levin.
- The book should be released around October time.


I will post updates as to when you can order here, on the various DT forums, and via the "Dream Theater Book Lifting Shadows" Facebook page (become a "fan " to get the updates). We should also be emailing all of you who either bought the book or expressed an interest in being kept informed of future releases. Not sure if you are registered? Then go to http://www.essentialworks.co.uk/dreamtheater/ and enter you e-mail address.

Right, that's all I can think of for now. Thanks for all your continued support on this project. Sorry it has taken so long, and I'm also sorry I couldn't persuade Kevin Moore to speak to me and finally get his side of the story. I tried my best . . .

Classic Edition
Based on the Words book of the original edition, now fully revised and updated
Some 40% longer than the original book, with over 450 pages of text
Includes an extensive account of the recording of Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Details all the band’s side projects
Two 8 page colour plate sections
Hardback binding with printed dust jacket
Printed endpapers

Limited Edition
The same fully revised and updated text and colour plate sections as the Classic Edition
Hardback bound in real leather cover with gold metallic foil text
Printed endpapers
Head and tail bands
Ribbon bookmark
Signed by Rich Wilson
Print run limited to 2,000 copies

Here's a small extract for you. This is a small part of the section where JP talks about the story behind "The Count Of Tuscany" :

“We then pulled up at this vineyard and it was unbelievable,” continues John. “It was breathtaking and was a combination of an old castle with servants’ quarters and vines with a more modern distillery section. We went in there and met his brother and he was a total character right off the bat. He was smoking a pipe and speaking with an English accent, even though he was Italian, and he was telling us story after story about the wars and the land. So we did everything from look at the grapes on the vine to going down into the cellars to taste the wine right from the barrels. It was really interesting but there were just so many bizarre things that kept on happening. We had this Hannibal thing in the back of our heads and any time something freaky happened we would just look at each other and be like ‘Well, it’s been nice knowing you!"

James LaBrie on the 'Black Clouds And Silver Linings' Sessions

“At this point in the game, and this is me being totally honest, it comes down to me realizing that I can contribute to melodies, and I can contribute lyrics but I’m not going to be busting down a door to do so. I think when you get older, you’re not so driven through pride or ego, and you start to think to yourself what is it that we are trying to accomplish here? And if the end result still comes out sounding great, then so be it. I think with John and Mike, they realize that I could contribute to the melodies and lyrics. In fact there was a communication breakdown because I guess the way it was first talked about it was going to be ‘OK, you guys go for it. Write the melodies, write the lyrics, and you just do it. I’m going to sit back here and I’ll see you when I come down to sing.’ But then John Petrucci contacted me and said to me ‘Are you writing lyrics for this particular song?’ And I was like ‘What? What are you talking about?’ So there was a bit of a communication breakdown there but needless to say it worked out in the end. I mean granted, there is a lot of controversy out there about why didn’t James contribute this or that. Well it’s not that James isn’t willing to but it just comes down to how the process unfolded and what was communicated throughout the band. At the end of the day, if it’s going to be then it will be. I’m fine with that because I’m not a man in his twenties any more saying ‘Wait a minute, you have to have me in there otherwise this is bullshit.’”

Although James takes a pragmatic approach when viewing his place and role within the band, he clearly retains a desire to be involved at a deeper level on future albums as he explains.

“I did have a conversation with John and Mike and said ‘OK, this is how this one unfolded, but with the next album guys? No way’,” he says firmly. “I don’t want to be sitting back and not wanting to contribute the melody and lyrics for the songs. This was how this album unfolded, and that’s cool, but on the next one I don’t want to see this go down. And it wasn’t said in an aggressive manner. It wasn’t a case of, you know, screw you and all that kind of stuff. It was just mentioned so that it is known that ‘Hey you know what guys? I’m passionate about melodies too. I’m passionate about lyrics as well.’ And that, quite simply, has to be considered. Period.”

Mike Portnoy on his involvement with the OSI side-project

The second OSI album marked the conclusion of Mike’s involvement with the project and he was clearly both disappointed and frustrated with Kevin Moore’s approach. Realizing that even in the role of session drummer he couldn’t work with the keyboard player, he made it clear that he wouldn’t be even vaguely interested in contributing to any further releases.
“I honestly went in there with an open mind and I was truly excited to work with Kevin again,” he sighs. “I was hoping that it was going to be a great experience. But it ended up being more of the same old shit that it was when he left Dream Theater. Basically when I’m making music with other people, I want it to be fun and I want it to put a smile on my face. At the end of the day, making those records with Kevin wasn’t fun. He’s not a fun person to work with. He’s a very depressing and stubborn personality and there’s no reason in my life or my career that I need to subject myself to that sort of personality. I’d rather work with people who are enjoying the process. And if anything, making those two albums showed me in no uncertain terms that if Kevin hadn’t left Dream Theater, then Dream Theater would have broken up many, many years ago. So him leaving the band was probably the greatest ever thing that ever happened to Dream Theater. There’s no way Dream Theater could exist with that type of personality. As you know they are now doing a third album which they didn’t even bother asking me about as they already know my feelings on the subject.”