In 1996 I was 16 and walked into the local record shop which always had cool music going. As I walked in that crazy tom intro blared. I stopped and looked at the owner and said "6 o clock??". He paused, asked me some more questions, then offered me a job. My first ever job. $5/hour in a cd shop in the mid-90s. That guy took me to my first concert too (Rush's 1997 test for Echo where they played all of 2112). Thank you Mike for me getting my first (really cool) job.
Kevin Moore wrote only classics, the guy is a freaking genius, great songwriting, and innovative keyboard sounds, I don't know if people appreciate how important he is in DT history
Totally agree. I actually lost interest more and more after awake due to the fact the song writing wasn’t as good anymore to my taste. Jordan is a phenomenon of course but Kevin was a genius when it comes to creating good songs. God I miss him
Месяц назад
Talk about one of the most underrated prog albums of all time. Awake is epic. 6:00 is one of the greatest prog tunes ever written. I mean NO disrespect to Mike Mangini as he is one of the nicest guys on earth, and for sure one of the greatest drummers, but Mike Portnoy's personality takes Dream Theater through the roof. His persona, playing, creativity, passion, etc make DT probably the greatest prog band in history. If you don't love Mike Portnoy, get counseling.
I absolutely love MM too, but I agree. There are 4 things I personally like about drummers - Creativity/Composition, Technicality, Showmanship, and Drum Sound. Speaking only in the context of DT, MP wins out all of those categories aside for Technicality. But even then, I still prefer MP’s looser, more human feel, even if this makes him less perfect than MM on the kit.
So glad to see Mike giving his props to Dr. Kevin Moore. He was such an integral part of the band during those early years. His genius is all over those tracks
Man I love this song so much. Mike: I haven't played this for 20 years... then goes on to play it beat for beat (save one or two modifications). *SWOON*
He played it on the Pokemon kit for Loudwire so that's less than 20 years - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HbfHs4tph9k.htmlsi=ieUf5IpPeDqThIPU&t=80
@Claudio_AG I know you're probably joking, but when he says he hasn't played it I think he meant the song in its entirety. That drum intro itself is legendary so I'm sure he plays that quite often
Yes agreed! I feel it's such a travesty that so many of the people who bash LaBrie do not know how good he was LIVE back in the early 90's! There is a set they did in Germany in 93, and he nails every single note on Images - an incredibly hard album to sing live
Drumeo has been milking the Portnoy machine for months now AND I‘M FUCKING INTO IT, KEEP IT GOING DRUMEO, here’s hoping for a breakdown of Honor Thy Father
Honestly, I had never heard this song before I watched this video... As soon as I heard the drum intro in this video, I went and listened to it. It immediately shot into my top 5 drum grooves of all time. Side note, this song is 30 years old... Mike could have easily taken credit for the creation of the beat, but gave it to someone else. I'd argue it was both of them since , like Mike said, he added the embelishments, and actually had to play the dang thing. Collaboration is (almost) always going to give you a better song than if everyone just did whetever they wanted.
@@julioluiz The Mirror/Lie. I remember showing that song to a friend of mine and he was like OMG THAT RIFF IS SO HEAVY!!!! JP made the 7 string a trend thing.
@@kimchi2780 The intro and chorus of Caught in a Web is SO good. The synth melody in the intro is so good it could be used as a chorus for a song even to this day. The production in general on this whole album is insane for 1993.
I'd take FII over any Mangini era records any day. It has some great songs (Peruvian Skies, Trial of Tears) along with unreleased gems such as Raise the Knife. The ballads weren't all that bad either, they were just forced upon them by their label, who demanded more streamlined & radio friendly songs. If they had full control over their own records back then the result would've been much better.
I'm a drummer, and this was the first DT song I'd ever heard. It was the fall of 1995, and I was 15 at the time. I spent most of the rest of my school year listening to this album nearly every day. Still my favorite DT album. A masterpiece that kicks you in the face with that opening fill and holds you by the nuts until it breaks your heart with the final track, "Space-Dye Vest."
I remember watching MTV in the early 90s and seeing Tool and some other bands and then this absolutely mental song plays; Pull Me Under. I snuck into a local bar in Binghamton, NY to watch this band from Long Island play not long after that. (I was only 17) When Awake dropped I grabbed my copy from Music City and popped it into my portable CD player. I must've restarted 6:00 about 2 dozen times before letting the song play because it was the absolute coolest drum intro I had ever heard. Still one of my all-time favorites. Thanks Mike!
I didn't get into DT until about 2004 in my first year of University. The first new album I experienced as a new release was Systematic Chaos. Pretty sure I did the exact same thing for the entire intro to In The Presence of Enemies before I finally let it play past the slow interlude lol. Mike's drumming was just relentless.
This was the first Dream Theater song I checked out, back in '97. It completely blew me away, especially the drumming. The snare sound was just killer IMO. Awake is definitely one of my favorite DT records. Plus, it was my introduction to this kind of music.
I saw Dream Theater play this song live in 2022. It was still with Mike Mangini on drums, currently the only show I got to see with Mangini behind the kit
For all the great drumming, that bass/keyboard unison part at 7:30 with the funky large vertical intervals dotted throughout is probably my favourite part of the song.
Today I learned that between this and "Sound of Muzak" two of my favorite drum parts were modified versions of drum loops from demos non-drummers programmed. Neat!
Awake is the zenith of dream theater and I love it so much! October 5th 1994 I sat in front of my stereo and listened to it start to finish and it changed my life. Then I was lucky to see dream theater live waking up the world at a venue seriously called metropolis in El Paso Texas November 1994.
This video quickly reminded me that I don't need to pre-program out every single hit to have fun and even to write a good song, an attitude which, unfortunately, has actually paralyzed me lately from even sitting down and just playing for fun. Thanks for this, now I cant wait to just get to jam again. 🥁❤️
Man, I remember riding in my friend’s Chevy Blazer, blasting this song as loud as the stereo system could go! That intro-fill is burned into my memory banks. Mike Portnoy might be 30 years older now, but he still has that special sauce! Even though I don’t really listen to prog-metal anymore, I’ll always count Portnoy as one of my greatest musical influences. Thank you, Drumeo, for letting me walk down that memory lane once again. 👍🏽
Mike, I watched it carefully & I think that is Garuda Indonesia Logo 🇮🇩 on your shirt. Its special for me (especially) because its August, August 17th is our independence day! Cheers from Indonesia 🤘 Glad to have you back to DT. No doubt 6:00 is one of your most iconic & famous drum opening. You rock! 🤘 I hope to see you (& DT) live at Indonesia with you on stage!
And this is why Mike is my all time favourite drummer. Amazing composition, energetic performance, true playing, unbelieveable musicality... you will always find other skills in other people, but the balance of his abilities and what he has provided to music and drumming will be there forever for everyone to enjoy.
What a legend Mike is, what a treasure. A lover of music, an ever passionate "kid" for awesome drumming. Man are we lucky for these videos! A celebration of a TRUE LEGEND.
Thank you for this song. Growing up in the 90s, Mr. Portnoy and Tichy were my drum heroes. The intro of this song, I just loved it when I first listened to Awake. I would always played the intro over and over when I was doing soundcheck or rehearsal or practice.
As a guitar player looking for a drummer that exhibits such control of time and measure I'm absolutely floored. Wish I could play as good as these guys. Hats off to you "ALL!"
For any newer DT fans sleeping on Awake (hah!); This album is SO GOOD, you have Kevin keeping them pinned to tight songwriting and knocking out some of his best keyboard parts. And giving a truly strange and wonderful closing track for his departure. The mysticism and magic lyrics and vibes of Images and Words but with more attitude. James’ vocals are absolutely off the hook. He wasn’t necessarily singing healthy here but my god the results… JP giving us some early 7-string action and a bonkers full-range full-send 7-string solo for the first time. And my favourite, the absolute ride that is the beginning of Erotomania through to the guitar solo blending perfectly out of a soaring LaBrie wail in Voices. Maybe the most triumphant moment in all of DT’s work and the only part I literally cannot turn up load enough. …Enjoy!
If you compare this performance with how Mangini played it...I mean there is no comparison. Portnoy's feel and artistic choices are much much more tasty and palatable, full of flavor. Mangini cannot even begin to touch him. Portnoy is on another level.
Maybe that's cause Portnoy was part of the song development process? I feel sorry for Mangini getting shit on by plenty of Portnoy fans. I can guarantee that not even many pro drummers are even half up to Mangini's level.
@@yangerjamir0906 Nobody's shitting on Mangini's playing ability. Mangini is not a god. Neither is Portnoy. But Portnoy's sound is an integral part of DT. It enhances their sound. It's more crisp, more dynamic, more accent-y. His artistic choices are better here. In my subjective opinion. I think Portnoy will have similar trouble playing the Alien. But then again I prefer Portnoy so I think he will make the Alien sound even better.
@@yangerjamir0906 You should namecall less and accept that people may have different opinions. And maybe assume less about how much music others have explored.
This was my introduction to Dream Theater. I had read about Mike in the Modern Drummer September 93 issue, and drooled over the pictures of his drum kit. The local newspaper reviewed the Awake album, I bought it, and the rest is history!
Love Mike, Love DT, LOVE Awake, and *especially* LOVE seeing Kevin Moore get credit wherever possible. Can plz haz 1 more album with KM on keyboards so I can fully exit the Earth happy one day haha. All love, excited for the upcoming album.
There are drummers who were born to play in a certain band. I also liked Portnoy a lot in his other projects but he was and finally still is the drummer of Dream Theater. I am very happy that he has returned home and I expect him and the others in Milan in October. 🤘🏻🔥🤘🏻
I was there at the Istanbul concert when he last played the song in 2002. It was my 2nd year at the university and I was a die hard DT fan. Before the concert, I wished that 6:00 was on the playlist, and it was the 2nd song they played if I'm not mistaken. It was a great show!
Awake앨범의 녹음과 투어의 마펙스킷이 아닌 타마의 포트노이 킷사운드로 스튜디오버전을 듣는다는것만으로 엄청나게 귀중한 자료라고 생각됩니다 DT앨범중 너무 과소평가되다보니 자료가 얼마 없는 현실인데 제가 가장 좋아하고 음악을 시작하게된 곡 식스어클락은 앞으로도 지속적으로 자주 보게될영상이 될것같습니다 고맙습니다 Drumeo🤘🔥
For me Mike Portnoy is unbeatable. One of the greatest Drummers ever. The only one who has the class to join Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson for a Rush farewell Tour to Honour the immortal Legend Neil Peart behind the Kit
AWAKE was one of those albums that was really ahead of it's time. I love Images & Words but this album's recording was far more superior even though it was KevMo's last.
i know its probably nobody elses favorite moment in this song and it may not be all that remarkable, i have always LOVED the way that Mike fills in the space near the end when James is singing "but dont cut your losses too soon"..(cool kick pattern/groove playing around) "cuz theyll only be cutting your throat" ..(cool drums filling the space). idk just as a kid getting into music when i first heard this song, that part and the intro was just everything to me.
I kinda feel these earlier years and records with Kevin Moore always carried more profound emotions and not always about the skill of playing! And to this day some of them including 6:00 are my favourite DT songs!
Even after 30 years this song is just awesome and so fresh. This is the brilliance of Portnoy. Even today his drum parts feel so organic and human, so technical yet musically appropriate to the feel of the song. That’s something that I surely missed in the years that he wasn’t a part of DT. Cheers to him for coming back and saving DT from monotonic slumber. I really wish Kevin also comes back. Miss the space that they use to give in their music, last few years it just has been technical unison run competition between Petrucci and Rudes.
Mike Portnoy got back to Dream Theater now please get Kevin Moore back! At least for a feature or some sort of collab! (I get that DT won't replace Jordan Rudess)
god old DT was SO much better. You don't need EVERY damn song to have the most complicated guitar parts and solos....7:49 is one killer fucking part. Also Jordan....you DO NOT need to be another guitar part. Take note of Kevin's work at 7:14 or even at 4:30 just playing basic chords...you dont need to syncopate every damn note with the guitar and show how fast your fingers are.
In a moment of impulse I tossed all my DT albums. I got tired of the diddly diddly stuff. I like the technicality of the later albums but after a while the songs started sounding the same. Jordan has changed the fundamental character of the band, not always to its benefit.
"Although you've kept us captivated with your odd time signatures from Metropolis 2 onwards, we can't deny that the album *Awake* literally woke us all up, and we can't change your status as a god of the Olympus of drumming (as I see it). But what about today, many years later? You're still making songs extremely well! I can only feel joy and congratulate you! Thank you for everything! Keep making us happy."
This was the first song I ever heard from the band. I was a sophomore in high school; it was 1996. My best friend had this killer sound system and the opening octoban fill REALLY sung through the speakers. Hearing the song; it was like nothing I had ever heard before. What REALLY hooked me for the long haul though, was Metropolis 2 in 1999.
*Mr. Portnoy . . .* THIS is one of THEE "Greatest" openers for any album of any genre. And all the fills, small splash cymbal embellishments and odd-meter is what I crave in drums (and I'm not even a drummer). I had been a fan of DT since "When Dream and Day Unite", so by the time Awake came, I wasn't ready to be BLOWN AWAY by this album. It had all the elements that I loved about this bourgeoning subgenre of Metal and Progressive Rock (thank you Magnum, Queensrÿche & Fates Warning). And as DT grew, It had HEAVIENESS, the over the top musicianship (but it all served a purpose) and . . . it had its share of melodic, esoteric tracks that gave the album an "ebb and flow" and a very unique personality. It is why its my Favorite DT album and in my Top 10 DT Tracks of all time ("6:00"). - Can't wait to hear what you have in store for us with the new album \m/. BTW - Thank you to the person who put the "Lyrics" up many years ago on the site "Dark Lyrics", because they also put-up all the "Dialogue" and "Titles" of the Films used for the dialogue inserts in Awake and other albums.
I was there, at the Istanbul concert on 8 November 2002, and I have just learned that this song was played live by him for the last time. So I had witnessed a historical moment.
MP’s groove on the drums is otherworldly! It’s not only about the technicality or the chops. I’m all about innovative drum orchestration and killer groove and Mike has it all!
Thank you Mike and Drumeo for this! This was my frigging anthem in College every time I headed out for class... Such a classic and iconic Portnoy song! Brings a tear to my eye to see him back! I met Mike at the Detroit, MI stop for this tour at St. Andrews Hall I believe it was - Such a great guy and always happy to talk to the fans, even after playing for two hours!
I remember setting an alarm to wake up to on my iPod... Of course, it played the first song alphabetically, starting with numbers. I don't think it was at 6:00 (nor Christmas morning), but I do remember being absolutely blasted out of sleep by Mike's drum fill at the start of this song.
Awake is my favorite album. Darker theme, peak performance by LaBrie, the writing style, the tone of Mike's drum... absolutely wow And yes, 6:00 is great opener
I was in my teenage days when I first heard this iconic song 🎧 and I still see this as a true masterpiece and the performance benchmark for the years to come. One of the greatest drum intro of all times if not the best ever. Huge fan!
Wow man.. brought tears to my eyes watching you play that again. I wore out the tape when my sister gave me Awake as a gift as a kid. Thanks for the inspiration!
My favorite album of all time. Listening to this STILL gives me the same goosebumps the first time I heard back when the album first came out. A Masterpiece, and SO happy to see Mike P back in the band!
I lived to watch the iconic song 6 o’clock being broken down by Portnoy himself. To this day 20+ years later I still have very fresh memory of when I heard this song for the 1st time during a road trip in a van where my cousin had the actual cd being played in the discman(something the current generation might never heard or would find tacky). It blew my mind, I kept playing it over and over for over 10 times! Very similar experience with Erotomania, both song remain as my two very favorite DT songs. If not asking much be sure to make a video about it as well as New Millenium and Lines in the Sand 🙏🤣
