Desmondo's Daily Offering - "Forsaken" by Dream Theater

The odd thing about Dream Theater is that they are so good that at times it causes me not to enjoy them. This is not because I am a jealous and bitter bassist who can't even think about trying to replicate some John Myung four string thunder. I am not in envy of the man but I am in awe of the galloping madness that he can unleash. The dude must have like 38 fingers or something. I am not even worthy of tuning his MusicMan! I say this because when they write, it seems that they focus primarily on using their songs as a platform to showcase their technical proficiency rather than just crafting some "bad to the bone" 4 chord gloriosity. Yes, the players of the Theater that Dreams are no doubt most excellent musicians but I must hereby proclaim that they would rock even harder if they simply spent more time on basic song structures (ala AC/DC Baby)! Dream Theater was formed in September 1985 when guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy decided to form a band in their spare time while studying at the Berklee College of Music. For those of you who are not familiar with Berklee, let's just say that the musicians that they cultivate generally do not suck (and like a fine Chateauneuf du Pape, they get better with age). Don't get me wrong, I am totally down with the "Art of Shredding" but come on guys, every once in a while it would be a delicious treat for the Metal Realm if in the immortal words of the "Z Man", you decided "pump your breaks," "grease yo skillet," whip up some tasty riffage and keep the Metal straightforward and under 10 minutes a song :)....For when they do embrace their inner Hetfield, Jupiter aligns with Mars, the Moon is in the 7th house, an onslaught of complete and utter awesomeness is unloaded and one divine worldwide face melting crusade is born. In my mind, if they did that more often, they just might be the greatest band of all time! "Forsaken" is a perfect example of the excellence I am referring to. Splendid riffery indeed \m/\m/\m/
P.S. Did I mention I am going to ride upon Cleveland in July to wacth them open for Maiden????????????????
Enjoy....