The Best of Times

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The Best of Times
Dream theater
publication June 19, 2009
length 13:07
Genre (s) Progressive metal
text Mike Portnoy
music John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, John Myung , Jordan Rudess
Producer (s) Mike Portnoy , John Petrucci
Label Roadrunner Records
album Black Clouds & Silver Linings

The Best of Times (English for: " The most beautiful times ") is a song by the American progressive metal band Dream Theater . It was released as the fifth track on the 2009 album Black Clouds & Silver Linings . Lyrically, the song is a kind of acceptance speech to Howard Portnoy, the father of Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy , who died on January 4, 2009 of cancer.

background

While recording the album Black Clouds & Silver Linings, Mike Portnoy's father Howard Portnoy developed cancer and it was foreseeable that he would soon die. Mike Portnoy wrote the song as a tribute to him, but wanted to focus on the 41 years he had with his father rather than the six-month battle with cancer. Mike Portnoy was able to play the song for his father on his deathbed. For this he had recorded an early demo version with himself on vocals. The version on the album, which is around 13 minutes long, sang James LaBrie .

The violin at the beginning of the song is played by the American violinist Jerry Goodman .

Together with 12 Steps Suite, it was one of the last texts Portnoy wrote for Dream Theater. Portnoy said after he had finished the two songs he felt like he had said everything he wanted. In 2010 he separated from Dream Theater. So he saw the two songs as his swan song for Dream Theater. He never played the song live because it was too emotional for him.

text

Written by Mike Portnoy, the personal text tells many moving and beautiful memories of the time with Howard Portnoy. It is said how much Mike Portnoy was influenced by his father (“ Thank you for the inspiration ”) and that he always saw his father as his greatest idol (“ Idol and best friend ”). Furthermore, events are mentioned that they experienced together (“ Lying on the pillows at the old 812 ”) or separately (“ My home away from home, And when we weren't together, The hours on the phone ”). Mike Portnoy regrets the fact that he could have experienced so much with his father (" Life goes by in the blink of an eye with so much left so say ") and wishes it had never ended (" I wished would never end ").

music

In general, the music for this song is rather unusual for Dream Theater. The song begins with a very calm intro, introduced by Jordan Rudess ' piano. Shortly afterwards, a violin starts playing the main theme of the song. Then the violin falls silent again and you can hear a quiet guitar solo by John Petrucci . The intro stretches for about three minutes before it turns into a lively, happy part, which is audibly influenced by the progressive rock group Rush , here in particular by their track Spirit of Radio . In addition, similar motifs were used as in the song Hollow Years .

At about six minutes the mood of the song changes from cheerful and cheerful to dramatic and sad. Despite the sad subject, the song retains a positive mood. At the end, John Petrucci plays a solo of about three minutes. After three minutes, it fades out in the basic topic. Overall, "The Best of Times" is 13:06 minutes long.

reception

The song did not convince all critics. In his review for laut.de , Yan Vogel wrote “the use of musical set pieces [drifts] into the kitsch dead end here and there”. In contrast, Eduardo Rivadavia praised the playing of keyboardist Jordan Rudess as the most versatile and at the same time most classic performance on the album.

Markus Wierschem summarized his impression on the baby blue pages as follows:

“We especially like the reduced, acoustic passages and the positive mood of the piece despite all the sadness. On the other hand, the piece suffers from a not really strong chorus and, above all, that exaggerated violin-sacred bombast that has plagued DT since Six Degrees ... And at the end, Petrucci soloed into infinity "

- Markus Wierschem : Baby blue pages

occupation

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater. Songfacts.com, June 22, 2010, accessed May 17, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Michael Schetter: MIKE PORTNOY: The Two Most Creatively Fulfilling Years. Prog-Sphere.com, September 19, 2012, accessed May 17, 2017 .
  3. ↑ a b AllMusic Review by Eduardo Rivadavia at Allmusic (English). Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  4. ^ Boris Theobald: Dream Theater / Black Clouds & Silver Linings. Rock Times , July 13, 2009, accessed May 17, 2017 .
  5. ↑ a b Yan Vogel: laut.de criticism: fine-tuning of motifs vs. Quotes in a row. Laut.de , accessed on May 17, 2017 .
  6. ^ A b Dream Theater: Black Clouds & Silver Linings. Baby Blue Pages , accessed May 17, 2017 .