Clang & Clatter

Go behind the scenes for the making of “Shoulda Coulda Woulda” with Flying Colors. Watch as Steve Morse presents the main riff to the rest of the band and see how the song develops as they work through the song and as Neal, Casey, and Mike work on vocal harmonies. Other goodies include instructional clips by Steve and Dave, as well as video of the actual take of Mike’s drum solo at the end of the song.

Enjoy!

Eddie Trunk and team opened season 10 of That Metal Show with Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, who discussed the band’s upcoming Orion Music + More festival, their controversial Lulu collaboration with Lou Reed, and geeking out on bands and music. Machine Head’s Robb Flynn also stopped by to discuss his band’s latest release and touring with Metallica, and Mike Portnoy makes an appearance as the show’s first ever guest drummer, for which he received high praise from Lars.

Enjoy!

Put together an ensemble of virtuoso musicians that possesses a resume as long as your arm—and the pedigrees to support it—and give them the impossible task of writing and recording an album in only 9 days, and you could have a jumbled mess on your hands. Instead, new “supergroup” Flying Colors produced a unique, cohesive musical statement that is poppy, contemporary, and accessible while retaining an undeniably progressive nature that must have been one of the stated goals of the project. That’s all well and good, but the true test for me is always the songs, and there’s plenty here to love. I’m only on my third listen, but already I’m prepared to pronounce this set of 11 genre-defying tracks my favorite album of 2012. From the prog-boogie of album opener “Blue Ocean” to the Beatles-infused ELO-meets-Queen “Love Is What I’m Waiting For” to Dave LaRue’s funky bucket-o-beans bass groove on “Forever In A Daze” to the pure, sweet pop-iness of “The Storm” and “Better Than Walking Away” to epic prog-rock closer “Infinite Fire,” Flying Colors has a little bit of everything anyone could ask for.

As any Clang & Clatter follower well knows, I am already intimately familiar with the work of Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy and their respective bands and side-projects, so it should come as no shock that I would at the very least appreciate their contributions to Flying Colors. And I have at least heard of Dixie Dregs, the jazz-fusion southern rock outfit that features Steve Morse and LaRue (as well drummer Rod Morgenstein whose work in The Jelly Jam I have also written about). So going into this album, singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist and frontman Casey McPherson was the one unknown element for me. Any reservations I may have had were immediately dispelled on my first listen. McPherson’s voice is a great fit for the music with a texture and character that I really like, and he often slips into a falsetto that reminds me quite a bit of a less whiny, more sincere version of Coldplay’s Chris Martin (and if you’re unsure, I think that’s a good thing). Here’s what Steve Morse had to say about his bandmate:

Casey was a glorious find, because he could make anything sound fantastic, and was also multitalented like the others.

As always, Portnoy’s drumming is spectacular—and he turns in a darn good vocal performance on “Fool in My Heart”—and I love just about anything Neal Morse touches. However, the biggest surprise Flying Colors had in store for me was Steve Morse. I was completely unprepared for how much I would love his guitar playing. He was named Guitar Player’s Best All Around Guitarist for 5 consecutive years before being removed from eligibility, so you would think that a guitar and music fanatic like me would already be a fan, but for some reason Morse has always been just beyond the scope of my radar. I am barely familiar with is work in the late-80’s incarnation of Kansas, and I was aware that he has held down the guitar spot in Deep Purple for nearly two decades (as long or longer than his predecessor Ritchie Blackmore, by the way). Steve Morse’s playing on this album is stellar, and he tackles nearly every style imaginable on this one disc. But it’s his soaring, expressive soloing that really won me over, reminding me at times of Ty Tabor. That’s big praise coming from me. It seems I now have a new musician with a huge back catalog to check out.

As with any supergroup, there is the possibility for things to go awry, but Flying Colors proves the adage “greater than the sum of its parts,” and it is definitely a must-listen for any fan of the members’ other work. The bio on the Flying Colors site has this to say about the band’s supergroup status:

The world didn’t need another supergroup.

Maybe not, but I’m sure glad they decided to put Flying Colors together anyway.

Here’s the new Anthrax video for the second single from last year’s Worship Music, “The Devil You Know,” a mixture of in-studio and live performance footage. Look for a quick shot of Mike Portnoy trying to distract drummer Charlie Benante mid-concert from the side of the stage.

Enjoy!

Here’s a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at the Flying Colors project I posted about yesterday. Seeing the the cast of characters involved talking about their experiences has really piqued my interest. The music bed for the video doesn’t hurt either—it reveals just enough to make me want to hear more.

Enjoy!

After months of speculation, tweeting, and hints about a collaboration between former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and prog-rock gun-for-hire guitarist Steve Morse, Portnoy has finally unveiled the details of the project. Named Flying Colors, it will include Portnoy and Morse, along with keyboardist and long-time Portnoy collaborator Neal Morse, bassist Dave LaRue, and vocalist/guitarist Casey McPherson. Said Portnoy of the project:

This album has bits and pieces of what you’d expect from each of us. The sum of all its parts led to brand new, unchartered territory for everyone involved.

The self-titled Flying Colors debut will drop on March 27 on the Music Theories Recordings label.

Dream Theater has released the music video for “On the Backs of Angels,” the first single from the new album A Dramatic Turn of Events, released yesterday, September 13, and the first in the band’s 26-year career recorded without founding member and former drummer Mike Portnoy.

“On the Backs of Angels” is easily the strongest track on the album, although there is some excellent material on the remainder of the disc. Each of the songs seems to recall different periods of the band’s history, most often sounding like a mixture of Images and Words and something off Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory or Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. And while there is a little too much “hey look at how well we can play our instruments” jamming wankery going on for my taste (since more often than not it lends little to the overall song experience), I’m guessing I’ll drop my hard-earned cash for the album after a couple more listens to the streaming version that I mentioned a few days ago.

And to address the elephant in the room, new drummer Mike Mangini sounds enough like Portnoy that you might not immediately be aware of the change if you didn’t already know about it, which I’m sure is what the rest of the band was looking for when choosing a new drummer if the truth were told.

Enjoy!

Drummer extraordinaire Mike Portnoy announced late yesterday on his website that he is stepping down from the drum kit for the band he started 25 years ago:

Wednesday September 8th 2010

I am about to write something I never imagined I’d ever write:

After 25 years, I have decided to leave Dream Theater….the band I founded, led and truly loved for a quarter of a century.

To many people this will come as a complete shock, and will also likely be misunderstood by some, but please believe me that it is not a hasty decision…it is something I have struggled with for the last year or so….

After having had such amazing experiences playing with Hail, Transatlantic and Avenged Sevenfold this past year, I have sadly come to the conclusion that I have recently had more fun and better personal relations with these other projects than I have for a while now in Dream Theater…

Please don’t misinterpret me, I love the DT guys dearly and have a long history, friendship and bond that runs incredibly deep with them…it’s just that I think we are in serious need of a little break…

Dream Theater was always my baby…and I nurtured that baby every single day and waking moment of my life since 1985…24/7, 365…never taking time off from DT’s never-ending responsibilites (even when the band was “off” between cycles)…working overtime and way beyond the call of duty that most sane people ever would do for a band…

But I’ve come to the conclusion that the DT machine was starting to burn me out…and I really needed a break from the band in order to save my relationship with the other members and keep my DT spirit hungry and inspired.

We have been on an endless write/record/tour cycle for almost 20 years now (of which I have overseen EVERY aspect without a break) and while a few months apart from each other here & there over the years has been much needed and helpful, I honestly hoped the band could simply agree with me to taking a bit of a “hiatus” to recharge our batteries and “save me from ourselves”…

Sadly, in discussing this with the guys, they determined they do not share my feelings and have decided to continue without me rather than take a breather…I even offered to do some occasional work throughout 2011 against my initial wishes, but it was not to be…

While it truly hurts for me to even think of a Dream Theater without Mike Portnoy (hell, my father named the band!!), I do not want to stand in their way…so I have decided to sacrifice myself and simply leave the band so as to not hold them back against their wishes….

Strangely enough, I just read an interview that I recently did that asked me about the future of DT and I talked about “always following your heart and being true to yourself”…sadly I must say that at this particular moment, my heart is not with Dream Theater…and I would simply be “going through the motions”, and would honestly NOT be true to myself if I stayed for the sake of obligation without taking the break I felt I needed.

I wish the guys the best and hope the music and legacy we created together is enjoyed by fans for decades to come…I am proud of every album we made, every song we wrote and every show we played….

I’m sorry to all the disappointed DT fans around the world…I really tried to salvage the situation and make it work…I honestly just wanted a break (not a split)…but happiness cannot be forced, it needs to come from within….

You DT fans are the greatest fans in the world and as you all know, I have always busted my ass for you guys and I hope that you will stay with me on my future musical journey, wherever it may lead me….(and as you all know my work ethic, there will surely be no shortage of future MP projects!)

Sadly…

Your fearless ex-leader and drummer,

MP

The Dream Theater guys have countered with an official statement of their own:

To all of our loyal fans and friends: It is with profound sadness — regret — we announce that Mike Portnoy, our lifelong drummer and friend, has decided to leave Dream Theater. Mike’s stature in the band has meant the world to all of us professionally, musically, and personally over the years. There is no dispute: Mike has been a major force within this band.

While it is true that Mike is choosing to pursue other ventures and challenges, we can assure you that Dream Theater will continue to move forward with the same intensity — and in the same musical tradition — that you have all helped make so successful, and which is truly gratifying to us.

Fans and friends: File this episode under “Black Clouds and Silver Linings.” As planned, we begin recording our newest album in January 2011, and we’ll follow that with a full-on world tour. “The Spirit Carries On.”

All of us in Dream Theater wholeheartedly wish Mike the best on his musical journey. We have had a long and meaningful career together. It is our true hope that he finds all he is looking for, and that he achieves the happiness he deserves. He will be missed.

Well, at least it sounds like an amicable split, but why does it feel more like a punch in the gut? I just can’t imagine Dream Theater without Mike Portnoy and vice versa. Unfortunately, I, like Mike, have found more enjoyment over the past few years in his side projects than in his main gig. I guess now he’ll have more time to work on things like Transatlantic.

The saddest thing about this whole affair is that I have absolutely no one I can tell who would even care but you guys.

Bummer.

Remember way back when I encouraged you to search for prog supergroup Transatlantic’s performances of The Beatles’ Abbey Road medley? Well, I decided to go ahead and do the legwork for you.

This performance of “Suite Charlotte Pike” from the Bridge Across Forever album mixes in parts of the medley and features a pretty incredible bass solo from Marillion’s Pete Trewavas. Weighing in at about 30 minutes over 4 videos, it’s a fairly lengthy watch, but if you are a fan of progressive rock, The Beatles, supergroups, or bass solos, it’s definitely worth the investment of your time.

One of Mike Portnoy’s many projects over the past few years has been to produce drum-cam “instructional” DVDs of his drumming on the various releases by Dream Theater and his side projects, complete with full tracks, drum isolation tracks, and commentary. This video comes from a similar Hudson Music DVD called “In Constant Motion” that includes the track “The New Math (What He Said)” from the side project OSI.

OSI is the brainchild of Fates Warning guitarist Jim Matheos and features former Dream Theater keyboardist and Chroma Key founder Kevin Moore, and the name refers to the U.S. government agency formed after 9/11, Office of Strategic Influence, which is also the name of the band’s 2003 debut release. Portnoy provided his drum talents to both this and the project’s second album Free, and the songs are more focused on ethereal, atmospheric soundscapes and compositions than on the progressive rock and metal Matheos and Portnoy are more well-known for. This particular track features samples of news anchor Dan Rather’s on- and off-camera antics and hysterics.

As with Yellow Matter Custard, Mike is playing a smaller kit than his Dream Theater double-kits that can sometimes weigh in at 20 or more pieces and upwards of 30 cymbals. It’s amazing to see what a drummer of his caliber can do with such a (relatively speaking) small kit.

If you like the song itself, you really need to check out Office of Strategic Influence. It contains similar instrumentals, as well as tracks that feature Moore’s laid-back, spacey vocals which provide a nice complement to the instrumental textures of the compositions, and enough background samples and sounds to keep things interesting.

Mike Portnoy is one interesting character.

The Dream Theater skin beater plays an extravagant drum kit that in size is just this side of Neal Peart’s (not to mention that he can do a spot-on imitation of his biggest influence). He wrote a five-song “Twelve-Step Suite” that documents his struggle with alcoholism, one song appearing on each of the last five Dream Theater albums. He has drumming awards out the wazoo, and he collects side projects like others collect stamps, coins, or model trains (Transatlantic, OSI, Liquid Trio Experiment, and Liquid Tension Experiment, just to name a few). He has a penchant for playing on tribute albums and lending his drumming talents to other artists’ releases. And he has assembled no fewer than four tribute bands to pay homage to some of his favorite artists—Led Zeppelin, The Who, Rush, and The Beatles.

One of these was a one-off supergroup of sorts he put together in 2003 called Yellow Matter Custard, the name being taken from a line in The Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus.” The band consisted of Portnoy on drums and vocals; Neal Morse (Spock’s Beard, Transatlantic, solo) on vocals, keys, and guitar; Matt Bissonette (Mustard Seeds, Joe Satriani, Jughead, Rick Springfield, and many others) on bass and vocals; and Paul Gilbert (Racer X, Mr. Big, solo) on guitars and vocals. The band played only two shows, the second of which was on May 18, 2003 at B.B. King’s Blues Club at Times Square and was recorded for posterity in the form of Yellow Matter Custard: One Night in New York City. King’s X guitarist Ty Tabor was originally asked to fill the guitar slot, but was unable due to other obligations. Not to snub Gilbert, I would have much preferred Tabor in that role, with his being a huge Beatles fan and influenced greatly by them—John Lennon especially—as well as having a very Lennon-esque quality to his vocals (I also think Ty has a much better guitar tone and would not have overplayed as Gilbert does on a few of the songs, but that’s just my preference). There was a fifth “Beatle” off-stage that handled additional keyboard work and samples duties.

Yellow Matter Custard played songs that spanned The Beatles’ career, and while their versions are fairly faithful to the originals, the intent was not to perform true reproductions of the songs like the Fab Faux (Gilbert’s solo in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is just one example of where they strayed from the original). That being said, the performances are excellent, and it’s amazing to see how well five guys can (mostly) recreate some of the greatest music ever recorded.

One of Portnoy’s insistances with his tribute bands is to play a drum kit that is scaled similarly to what the original drummer would have played. I have to say, it’s a bit strange to see him behind such a small kit.

In addition to the One Night in New York City CD, Mike Portnoy has made available a DVD of the performances that also includes practice sessions and backstage antics, but alas, it is currently out of stock.

Here’s the Yellow Matter Custard version of “A Day in the Life” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I will probably feature a few more clips of the Yellow Matter Custard clips in the future, but if you’re interested, you can jump out to my YouTube playlist to watch the videos at your own pace.