First Time Listening to PULL ME UNDER by Dream Theater: A Music Nerd’s Review

First Time Listening to PULL ME UNDER by Dream Theater: A Music Nerd’s Review - ANALYSIS + REACTION

Рет қаралды 5,084

Күн бұрын

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Is this my first time ever hearing Pull Me Under by Dream Theater? Yes.
Do I immediately review it afterwards? Also yes.
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Listen:
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"Pull Me Under" is the debut single by Dream Theater from their 1992 album Images and Words. It received positive critical reception and extensive MTV rotation. It is widely considered to be Dream Theater's signature song.
The song's abrupt ending was modified in their Greatest Hits compilation. When asked about the abrupt ending while at a drum clinic in Atlanta in 1999, Mike Portnoy explained "We had all this tension, and it just kept building and building, and we had no idea where to take it, you know? So we decided to just pull the plug on it, like The Beatles did with 'She's So Heavy'."
The band members were reportedly unhappy with the storyline, saying that it doesn't have anything to do with the song's subject matter.
Because it was the only Dream Theater single to achieve such success, "Pull Me Under" is the "hit" referred to in the Dream Theater compilation Dream Theater's Greatest Hit.
Lyricist Kevin Moore refers to Shakespeare's Hamlet, as told from Prince Hamlet's point of view. The lyrics allude heavily to the play, echoing Hamlet's desire to give in to his urge to gain revenge for his father at the cost of his own sanity. Over the final moments of the song, James LaBrie can be heard singing the song's only direct quote from the play: "O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt". Therein, Prince Hamlet is pleading for escape from his mortal trappings.
Images and Words is the second studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released on July 7, 1992, through Atco Records. It is the first Dream Theater release to feature James LaBrie on vocals. Since its release, the album has maintained its position as the band's most commercially successful studio album, and the song "Pull Me Under" has the distinction of being the only Top 10 hit the band has had to date.
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy - all natives of Long Island, New York - while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to concentrate further on the band that would eventually become Dream Theater.
To date, Dream Theater has released fifteen studio albums. The band's highest-selling release is their second album Images and Words, which reached No. 61 on the Billboard 200 chart. The albums Awake and Six Their fifth album, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, was ranked number 95 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time.
As of 2018, Dream Theater has sold over 12 million records worldwide and has received three Grammy Award nominations.
0:00 - Intro
0:50 - Song/Band History
3:45 - Song Begins
13:38 - Initial Thoughts
14:59 - Expert’s Corner
17:27 - Grading the Song
21:08 - Final Thoughts
#DreamTheater #PullMeUnder #ImagesAndWords

Пікірлер: 103

@TheMusicKingdom Жыл бұрын

Anything I really need to hear? Personalized song & album reviews!👇🏼 ko-fi.com/musickingdom/commissions Agree or disagree? What’s the best Dream Theater song ever made? Share your thoughts!

@leddygee1896 Жыл бұрын

“Scarred” from their 3rd Album “Awake” is a pure Masterpiece of Music and Emotion…

@TwoandaHater Жыл бұрын

@@leddygee1896 their best instrumental is Hell's Kitchen

@-Heavy- Жыл бұрын

Again,totally agree with this rating!Great job guys! I never was a big fan of DT but I always had a lot of respect for the band,because you really can hear that they are great musicians! At this point I would like to draw attention to the band Nevermore again! Their form of prog metal appealed to me more. Their compositions are cleverly written and can be classified according to the degree of hardness from power to thrash to death metal. But the singing always transports a lot of emotions! 'Sentient 6' or 'This Godless Endeavor' would be great to react and analyze!Both masterpieces!

@bryanthompson973 Жыл бұрын

This is where it gets messy... you'll get 100 different suggestions lol. Itd be a pain in the ass to review, but In The Presence of Enemies is probably one of their best pieces. But youd have to do both Pt 1 and 2, lest you feel the wrath of nerds.

@troywill8286 Жыл бұрын

Couldn't agree more with this! This song is pure gold.

@Metalmara Жыл бұрын

I think this song is a good entry point for DT, as it's easily one of their most accessible ones.

@Blaze-wb6bk Жыл бұрын

Honestly this is one of my lesser favourite songs by them cause I find it a bit repetitive, so I'm excited to see what you'll give other songs by them. My favourite work by Dream Theater is their Concept Album called Metropolis pt.2. All songs are connected to each other and it would be cool to see a reaction on the whole album, especially because it is regarded as one of the best metal albums of all time. I get that this is probably too much work though. You still should check it out privately, if you don't want to film a reaction on the whole album, because listening to single songs doesn't make too much sense

@feralkitty9378 Жыл бұрын

Same with this whole album, this whole album is so overrated. They have so much better, like scenes.

@tristramcoffin926 Жыл бұрын

@@feralkitty9378 Images and Words is not overrated. It is popular because it is a masterpiece. It is like the Fragile of the 1990s. I like Topographic Oceans too but it doesn't take anything away from Fragile being what it is.

@feralkitty9378 Жыл бұрын

@@tristramcoffin926 not an accurate comparison, images and words is more like trespass compared to Selling England by the Pound. But the difference is that there would be people that say selling england by the pound is trash and trespass is the only good album.

@tristramcoffin926 Жыл бұрын

@@feralkitty9378 No it isn't. You really like to speak for other people don't you. I would imagine it is easier to win arguments when you decide what the other person says but I like the way I said it better.

@andrewsitek190 Жыл бұрын

The corgi returns, and on a DT song! What a day. I know people will push for metropolis PT 1 because that's very much where they put the prog in prog metal. I'd suggest the glass prison as it starts the 5 song "12 step suite" that their drummer wrote across multiple albums about his struggle with alcoholism and really spans their musical range across those songs.

@Heatwave9000 Жыл бұрын

I think "Take the time" off this album would be cool next. It has elements of jazz fusion and shows more of their progressive side though it does have more straightforward lyrics.

@leddygee1896 Жыл бұрын

I guarantee your brother Would be scratching his Head if he did a breakdown Of “Metropolis Pt.1(The miracle And the sleeper)” from the Same album…😎

@reneelyons6836 Жыл бұрын

Your name is awesome!! 🎸🎸🎸

@mattscoggins Жыл бұрын

Your videos are appointment viewing, even if you may not get paid for it! We appreciate you and this channel!

@TheMusicKingdom Жыл бұрын

Much appreciated Matt!

@UltraDoug Жыл бұрын

Yes….Dream Theater: 1. Pull Me Under 2. Take The Time 3. Surrounded

@michaelsteinbacher5596 Жыл бұрын

Dream Theater is a very talented band and deeply musically trained. When you listen to other songs, be prepared for you senses to be blown by the structuring of them. Thanks for doing this one! Loved it from the first time I heard it!

@MotorbreathChannel Жыл бұрын

Thank you for a yet another in-depth analysis! With the production quality of your videos and your willingness to get into analysing the musical composition, as opposed to simply reacting or only analysing vocals/lyrics which is much more prevalent on KZfaq as far as I can tell, I really do hope that your channel will reach the level of appreciation that it most definitely deserves and in no time. Since you have said that you are still looking for suggestions of Dream Theater songs to react to, I personally would like to add "The Ministry of Lost Souls" to the list - one of the most emotional DT songs in my personal opinion. And speaking of Shakespearian themes, I will also allow myself to suggest a track called "And To Temptation's Darkness Forever Abide" by Enslavement Of Beauty - a Norwegian band that is combining Gothic Black Metal aesthetic with Neoclassical influences. And if by any chance you are looking for more of this dreamy ninetees sound that is combining clean vocals with guitars and a synthesizer, you might want to look as Stratovarius - they are a Sympho-Power Metal band from Finland (again, with neoclassical touch) which, to be completely honest, is almost never being talked about; let alone being reacted to. And in my opinion this is a travesty when you take into consideration their role in developing the genre and the quality of their music. I think that the track called "Destiny" will suit you well as a possible introduction to the band.

@sudman6251 Жыл бұрын

Dipping toes in the DT waters. This is a great start. I have so many personal favorites through the years but the Metropolis pt2 album hits me hard emotionally. You can’t go wrong reacting to any DT song.

@TwoandaHater Жыл бұрын

Leprous- Castaway Angels!!!!!!

@Zitronenparty Жыл бұрын

Would love to see you react to their song "Octavarium" and I'm also hoping for more Opeth on this Channel, keep going! ❤

@bryanthompson973 Жыл бұрын

Nice. I was looking forward to DT! Geek music for nerds, I love it. One thing about further suggestions is people suggest songs based on their taste as opposed to where you might be coming from (which is why I didnt suggest their 20 minute epics). That said, DT has music for every mood so it's hard to suggest where to go from here. Metropolis for geekdom. Glass Prison for heavy. Octavarium for a mental breakdown. Spirit Carries On for ballad. Also, I'm gonna suggest a cliche song/band, but its cliche for a reason. Because I'd love to see your breakdown of it since no other reaction channels do it. "Pisces" by Jinjer.

@gustavmetal 11 ай бұрын

Excellent analysis and content! If you Patron opens up one tier for some sort of request system, you'll become huge; problem is that the list will grow faster than it can be resolved, so some reactors stop taking requests until they catch up enough to open it again. Others put a payment of 20$ (i think) through paypal for one request (and can only have one request at the queue at a time). Anyways, hope your channel grows big, it deserves it! Keep up the good work!

@TheAgingAscetic Жыл бұрын

Keep the prog music coming! more Opeth and more Dream Theater would be awesome! Also when you start getting into death metal I highly recommend listening to GOJIRA. It might be a bit too early for that type of suggestion but you wont be disappointed when you get to them! As always love the reaction

@-Heavy- Жыл бұрын

I'm already fighting for some Nevermore on this channel! Highly underrated prog band..!I'm sure more Opeth comes soon too...I hope something from Ghost Reveries. 🤘

@emarquez8604 Жыл бұрын

Gorjira definitely not a death metal band pal

@TheAgingAscetic Жыл бұрын

Idk what you would classify GOJIRA as but most people I know would say death metal, technical death metal, or progressive death metal.

@emarquez8604 Жыл бұрын

@@TheAgingAscetic they definitely not death metal or technical death metal. I don't know what prog death metal is or sounds like, but they aint death metal.

@TheAgingAscetic Жыл бұрын

Whatever genre you want to call them they are a good band and if you ask me a great starting point along with Opeth for people learning about growls. I am curious what you would label them as though

@michaeljaystaufferjoyce7235 Жыл бұрын

Dream Theater - Fatal Tragedy Is my favorit song. I saw them a few years ago and they did the whole album. The way the keyboardist and guitarist rotate solo's is just amazing..

@scotttak Жыл бұрын

Symphony X is a great band as well, my favorite. I prefer their earlier albums from The Divine Wings of Tragedy through The Odyssey. The Accolade from DWoT is great. Church of the Machine from the album Twilight in Olympus is awesome as well. They have so many great songs its hard to choose what to recommend.

@deaj8450 Жыл бұрын

Don't sleep on the Damnation Game either. There are some fantastic songs on that album. My favorite as a whole is probably V, every song front to back is great.

@Heatwave9000 11 ай бұрын

To me they're pretty unoriginal. They're just a dream theater clone if DT were power metal. I think Russel's vocals are generally better besides Labrie on his first two albums but DT has better musicianship and more memorable/iconic songs for me. Symphony x don't really have that one hit song that people know them for. All very forgettable to me. In terms of production DT clears without question. Symphony x have always had pretty poor production which puts me off

@deaj8450 11 ай бұрын

@Heatwave9000 I don't think there's really a case for Dream Theater vs Symphony X. I love both, Dream Theater is just a more popular and accessible band. Their sounds to me are quite different. DT is more rock and blues with heavy prog elements while Symphony X does the same thing with thrash metal and classical music. Even though their is overlap in the audiences the target sound is quite different.

@shupakiko Жыл бұрын

More Dream theater reactions would be greatly appreciated, thank you for this one. Great video :)

@TheMusicKingdom Жыл бұрын

More to come!

@shupakiko Жыл бұрын

@@TheMusicKingdom You just won my subscription sir ! Can't wait for it :)

@nathan-cy9ob Жыл бұрын

Review octavarium, metropolis part 1: the miracle and the sleeper, home and the alien.

@nexuslang Жыл бұрын

One word: Octavarium

@alanalanis2257 Жыл бұрын

I would suggest Metropolis Part One next and then The Glass Prison. Dream Theater recently won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance for a song called The Alien.

@LeonardoPostacchini Жыл бұрын

Excellent reaction! I am glad to see you starting to dip into DT, they are fantastic, they are an universe into itself. In fact, this album is a whole universe. In fact the song Metropolis by itself is, but as others have pointed it only really make sense when you listen to the album as a whole. My suggestion is you listen to “Learning to live”, then if you want to chill a bit “Wait for sleep”. It so difficult to recommend songs tho, honestly I don’t think you should ever neglect “Another Day” and “Surrounded”, then “Metropolis, part 1” for any prog head is an absolute must, but should not be the first contact with the band because you risk thinking they are technical for the sake of technique, which is untrue. When listening to it on a full album run, it somehow is elevated and makes a lot more sense.

@scottlaughlin9897 Жыл бұрын

Best album, Train of thought. Fav. Song is tough as I like 2 off this album. In the name of God, and Endless sacrifice. The song As I am, was a radio hit for them. They wrote a lot of lengthy songs, which is the reason they don’t get a lot of air play.

@sky173 6 ай бұрын

When I first heard this in '92, I was hooked. Dream Theater has been a favorite ever since.

@bukeksiansu2112 9 ай бұрын

The first time I heard this song was in 1992, having never heard of the previous style which was later called Progressive Metal. A local music magazine wrote that it was a combination of Yes (Prog Rock) and Metallica (Thrash Metal). My God, this was over 30 years ago!.

@cunjoz Жыл бұрын

I like the interspersed commentary. Much more digestible than all of it being at the end.

@tristramcoffin926 Жыл бұрын

5:58 I call it 'the lift hill'. I'm glad you enjoyed the song and while I do encourage you to do Metropolis 1 next my favorite Dream Theater song is also on this album. Another Day likely isn't even a metal song but it is as gorgeous a prog rock song as I have ever heard and I plead with you not to neglect it. It will be a happy day in the world of me the day you post the reaction to that song. You could practically release a reaction vid to every song on this record and it would be warranted. However, the others besides those mentioned and Pull Me Under that are musts are Take the Time and Learning to Live. Crap. Come to think of it you would likely adore Surrounded as well. Oh well, happy reacting & happy listening.

@fezziegd Жыл бұрын

You should check out Megadeth and Anthrax next. As for specific songs, I’d suggest Holy Wars... the Punishment Due from Megadeth and Indians from Anthrax.

@emarquez8604 Жыл бұрын

Megadeth is just not good. Dave is an amazing guitarist but that's about it for megadeth.

@SwedeSpeeder 7 ай бұрын

Looking forward to more DT. I would like to see your reaction to Learning To Live.

@wm-nu1yf Жыл бұрын

Probably my favorite band. I knew you were going to like them. My favorite song of theirs is Home, from the Scenes from a Memory album, but I think their best album is Awake, which followed Images and Words. Erotomania, the instrumental from that album, is amazing. All over the place of course, but not as over the top as some of their later stuff. Not a huge fan of Metropolis Part 1. To me it just sounds complicated for the sake of being complicated.

@carlgibbons5777 11 күн бұрын

Awake is my favorite record as well. Scenes is probably second followed by Falling Into Infinity.

@vaughnnewman8903 Жыл бұрын

A really great Progressive Rock band. You can definitely hear the Rush influence. Yet another great reaction.

@briani4959 Жыл бұрын

Good review

@julessimon7665 Жыл бұрын

Dream Theater is the band must listen live performances. Every band member are exceptional musicians except Labrie. He is a good singer but cannot match the other members. You can look: Breaking Illusion( Live The Boston Opera House) Illumination Theory( Live Boston...) Dance Of Eternity( Live Boston) Dream Theater Instrumedley The Glass Prison Awaken the Master Outcry Act2: Scene Six:Home Octavarium

@Moskal91 Жыл бұрын

im gunna wait for the expert's corner to talk about time signatures when you listen to the dance of eternity 😏😂

@marcinmcula99 Жыл бұрын

Truth be told this is one of their simpler songs.

@bryanthompson973 Жыл бұрын

Truth

@Capitaomac1 Жыл бұрын

It would be very interesting to see you react to a Pain of Salvation song, like King of Loss. Or an Opeth song. Just pick one 🙂

@Watjalukinat Жыл бұрын

Okay, now that the expert has said it wasn't that complex, you have to do Dance of Eternity by DT

@TechnicalMusic_0 Жыл бұрын

If you dare to take a step further in your metal journey I would recommend the band Gojira. It has harsh vocals, but the melodies and lyrics I think you might like. I recommend some songs from their latest albums that are more accessible. For example the song Silvera

@ManmeetSinghPoetbabu Жыл бұрын

Please review Tiamat’s Whatever That Hurts from Wildhoney album.

@MDasuki Жыл бұрын

I just wanna see your interpretation of Dream Theater's Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper

@amirpeyman3109 Жыл бұрын

I'm not suggesting you to do reaction of this, but since you have done stargazer you can also listen to dream theater's cover of that song and have a comparison of the two in order to find out their musical capabilities

@slow11189 Жыл бұрын

Labrie has a very weird life story. For me Labries vocals are amazing, I think his best work is on the two first albums (with him), and theres actually a reason behind that. While Labrie was on vacation, just after having released their first (second?) album (Images and Words), he got food posioning. Long story short his vocal folds got quite badly torn. The doctors told him to not even speak for anywhere from 6 months to a whole year, however they had a tour announced quite soon. Without the tour support and them still being prog, they wouldn't have enough money to do anything. He had to be extremely careful with the notes he hit, and even though he can still speak, nowdays he's got quite the cringe moments time after time. For this reasons a lot of elitist will put him down even for his studio work, which has always been atworst good. I definetely recommend checking out more Dream Theater, Opeth, but since you have checked them out already, I would recommend Leprous again (Nighttime Disguise)

@slow11189 Жыл бұрын

I actually had kind of the same reaction as you, what the hell was the ending? I remember, this song, first time I heard any prog, unlike others, I got hooked the very first time, there was just something about them, so smooth and well put together, went on to listen to Panic Attack and Another Day, and somehow loved them both the very first time. Unfortunately their other stuff wont stick that quickly, but I do definitely like them just as much as any song from the first album

@Starman_67 Жыл бұрын

Dude. I do love this format. Now, as for this song's reaction, having scored this so highly, it makes me feel doing more Dream Theatre will break your scale logic. This, for me, is a fairly basic rock song by comparrison to large amount of their huge catalogue. Are there songs that'd rate lower? Definitely. But there are a plethora, most, I'd personally rate higher than Pull Me Under. Saying this, you mention 1 key thing this song has that a lot of their songs might not. Accessability. Great work. Look forward to hearing more DT reactions.

@portalboy3187 Жыл бұрын

ok now do dance of eternity :)

@claywise43 Жыл бұрын

Listen to the whole album

@a.k.a.7417 Жыл бұрын

Great reaction. It may be C#m7-5 rather than C#m.

@tolsta4ok 10 ай бұрын

Hi. Good reaction. I want to propose to react to Falling In Reverse song Popular Monster. About great vocals,not metal, Dimash Qudaibergen.

@jordanmaiden0073 Жыл бұрын

I vote for The Glass Prison next! It’s the beginning of what’s called The Twelve-step Suite, which consists of five songs, that released one at a time over the course of five studio albums in a row. The songs can be listened to as one long track as they all end and flow into the next one. It’s about their original drummer, Mike Portnoy, and his experience with alcoholism and AA. The Glass Prison is my favorite song by them.

@portalboy3187 Жыл бұрын

why use a slightly slowed down version?

@TheJerryCan Жыл бұрын

You should listen to Megadeth!

@bcdt1947 Жыл бұрын

Dude, your numbers are way off. This is a straight ten across the board. It was way ahead of its time. Anything beyond any other progressive compositions before its time. Not only this song but the entire album is one of the best recordings in the history of music, or any genre.

@ZalMoxis 9 ай бұрын

Over rated band period.

@bobninjaturtle Жыл бұрын

dream theater and savatage for their age are considered 2 of the best prog bands metal genre ever produced

@bobninjaturtle Жыл бұрын

u lack the technical skills and ear to understand what dream theater is,try dance of eternity u cant even count the changes in pull me under,or any dream theater song ,they are one of the fathers of pure prog metal without you weaving your 2 fingers in the air,go hear madonna lol

@AquaticDot Жыл бұрын

It's music, man. Relax.