Customer Reviews

An Evening With John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had been trying to obtain this live album for over two years. They sold quickly on John Petrucci's website, and the album was soon deemed "out of print." For those of you who had purchased an obscene number of copies (more than five) during its first printing, thanks freaks. You all made it impossible for shmucks like me to buy one. But thank God for Steve Vai and his Favored Nations label for having the vision to re-release this beauty.

This 2000 performance at the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center in Nyack, New York by John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess was a truly special one. Being most of these compositions were written in a relatively short period adds to the album's impressive stature. Petrucci effortlessly switching from acoustic to electric, his fretboard precision, and his chosen notes during the improvisations are stunning. The same can be said of Rudess, whose virtuosity on the piano is breathtaking. The years of intense practice and formal training are evident in both men's playing.

My favorite tracks are "Truth" and "State of Grace," but they're all great. The entire album is ear candy for the hardcore music appreciator/afficianado. Highly recommended.

It's very easy to wax over eloquent about this album. The two performers - Jordan Rudess on acoustic piano for the entire album and John Pretrucci alternating between classical and electric guitar are two of the best in the business. Drop into either one's website and you will find a list of credits and albums that are a testimony to two musicians who can create and perform with equal facility. Together, they are part of Dream Theater, a progressive rock group that has it's own long thread of musical accomplishment. They are used to playing together, they each have a great deal of respect for each other, making this a truly remarkable album.

There is nothing typical here. From the frantic highspeed chase of The Bite of the Mosguito to the more stately pace of State of Grace each piece of this live concert shows off something else that they can do. Whether one player comes forward, or they are trading licks, or they are playing in concert, the music is always complex, textured, and beautiful to listen to. I like the softer pieces, like From Within and State of Grace best, but it simply is impossible to go wrong, no matter what tracks you play, Very highly recommended.

This masterpiece shows a side the Dream Theater fans have never heard of from these virtuosos. The majority of the music Petrucci plays here is acustic. Rudess doesn't play the synths at all. It is just pure piano. It makes you imagine what kind of music he played while he was in the prestigious academy, Julliard.
Cleary, this concert was something planned to forget about Dream Theater for a while after their succes with Scenes From A Memory.
Anyway, I just have to thank them for re-selling this album. Their work here is simply amazing. There is something you must be clear before buying An Evening With... When Petrucci improvizes, his speed solos sometimes do not "fit in" the song; but if you can manage that, you will fall in love with this album right away.
Keep in mind, they wrote the songs with very little time, so there are a lot of improvizations. This is not the John Petrucci with the screeching guitar sounds and the Rudess with the synth's. This is more neo-classical material done by two of the best musicians ever. Is there more to say...... oh yes, buy it right away!

First let me say I am a Dream Theater and Dregs fan, and a guitar bigot. Petrucci is one of my favorite guitarists and I love the way Rudess effortlessly flies up and down the keyboard. This music is extremely captivating and enjoyable to listen to. They do an outstanding job bringing out the emotional quality in each tune. Each performer compliments the other, letting their virtuosity shine. This CD is truly a treat. Having a keyboard and guitar duet produces a unique sound you don't often here.

The only thing that I think could have been done better would be the song State of Grace. I didn't think the keyboard comes through clear enough as it did on LTE 1.

I hope John Petrucci and Steve Morse do something like this someday.

Bottom line: If you like truly beautiful piano and guitar, buy this cd of duets.

If Dream Theater and the Liquid Tension Experiment aren't enough for you (and even if they are), you should still purchase this album. The guitar work John Petrucci exhibits is nothing short of amazing, and Jordan Rudess isn't to shabby either : ) . The best way to enjoy this album is to take a bath, slip into something comfortable, walk into a room, dim the lights, pop this in the cd player, sit back, and marvel at its beauty. As soon as the first track is unleashed upon you, you will without a doubt be drawn into the music. What else can I say except that this album is majesic...plain and simple.

this album may not be for everyone, but if you like fusion, dream theater, or "guitar music" you'll have great appreciation for this album. this is what modal theory sounds like at its finest. the fact that someone (petrucci) can memorize all those scales and modes is absolutely amazing, but what is most impressive is the fact that he can implement all that technical knowledge with such feeling and taste. (I would have given it 5 stars, but when I played it for a friend who isn't a musician and his reply was "this is what math sounds like," I realized my ear may be a little jaded) I'm not a fantastic fan of keyboards or keyboard oriented music, but jordan rudess is absolutely flawless throughout this entire work. there really aren't any slow or dead spots on the album, it's all extremely listenable- especially for having so much pyrotechnic soloing all over it. the first time I listened to it, I wasn't a big fan of all the very "quacky" electric/acoustic work that petrucci spends such a portion of the recording doing, but on the 2nd and 3rd spin, I really started to appreciate it - with moments harking back to some of Al DiMeola's acoustic work . the interplay between the two instruments is fantastic and I feel truly the brightest shining feature of this album. this album is also one of the few occasions on which I force my wife to sit through a recording with lots of 64th note, distorted guitar soloing and she didn't triy to punch me or jump out of the car. in fact (much to my personal displeasure) she spirited the disc out of the house this morning and took it to work (I may never see it again...) so there you have it... it's got broad appeal, flawless playing, and fantastically arranged songs. and if you're a dream theater completest, you MUST own this album.

What else can you say but WOW. This is a total break-through for these guys. The fact that they can write this kind of music while still hanging on to ther hard edge is amazing.

1. Furia Taurina - Hard edged Romantic piano and guitar. Makes you think of watching a storm come in while sitting on a beach looking west over the water. They were able to cover the entire keyboard and many octaves on a guitar.

2. Truth - Very fitting name. It gives you a feeling of a person sitting around in the dark are realizing how things are not what they seem. Starts off dark and slow then heats up in the middle hitting soaring heights mostly on the guitar, with the piano staying low. Then there is a long arpagio with just the piano hitting high notes with the guitar staying low and helping out. The piece ends with both instruments ending higher then the start.

3. Fife and Drum - Fast paced piece with a strong latin feel. The piano and guitar exchange riff laden solo bursts throught. Makes you feel like your watching a wild fire accross the plains while riding in a car. The pace of the car speeds up as the fire starts to catch up with you. The faster the fire moves the faster the car goes.

4.State Of Grace - Deep romantic love theme. The pleasure derived from finally finding true love and enjoying it. Covers the turbulence of any relationship quite well. Ultimately settling down with the relationship finding it's lasting moment at the end.

5. Hang 11 - The title says it all. We again are on a shorline. This time we're watching a surfer who spends a while finding the perfect wave. Then the surfer finally does find it and rides it high for a while. There are moments of trepidation as the surfer finds real rough water and falls off his board. this is done well by the talents of Jordan on the keyboards. You can really feel the surfer under the water trying to find which way is up. The guitar is the surf returning as the surfer finally breaks the surface. Then the surf again gets high, the surfer again finds a wave. Again he finds trouble. Finally the surfer heads to shore after a really big wave that successfully carries to the shoreline. The ending of both instruments shows that he falls to the sand happy.

6. From Within - Inner strength in times of trouble. Starts off dark, like an alocoholic finding his last drink and going through the 12 step program. We see the first days of his dryness and then hit the D.T's(no pun intended). Then finally dry he celebrates his new found freedom.

7. The Rena Song - Romantic winner probably written by John for his wife. I can sense the start of their relashionship part way in. He finds her and a bland life is made new. You see the rough spots, the happiness and solitude. I can see the children being born in the faster moments.

8. In A Moment - A fast frantetic piece following that of life. Opens with a rough birth. Moves on to first steps, then school, then marriage, children. Follows the turbulence that each and every one of us feel in our lives. Ends like it begins fast a furious.

9. Black Ice - Highly 11 minute charged car chase. Starts off with the police catching up to the suspect. The suspect takes off in a cloud of dust. The song follows them as the suspect weaves through traffic not knowing, or caring, what lies ahead. We see the tense moments of the police pushing and bumping the suspect as he continues to elude them. We can hear the cars of innocent civilians being pushed, or forced aside. Good share of the way through it seems that the suspect is caught. Just as he's being cornered he escapes and shoots through a hole in a police blockade.

11. Bite of the Mosquito - Name tells it all. Written in the same style of Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov

Amazing collection of pieces by two people from a top symphonic/prog metal band.

This album proves beyonhd the shadow of any doubt that words are not needed to convey a message, emotion or feeling. This album accomplishes that with no lyrics at all.

Brilliant masterpiece and well worth the money. This is NOT typical Dream Theater material. If you are not into fast piano and guitar that is not metal then this is your own problem because you will miss out on an incredible album.

This is the bottom line: if you have an open mind, you will like this CD. If you like only certain kinds of music, you may not, but with all due respect, that's your fault.

This album really gave me a new respect for jordan rudess. I am a guitarist, and I think that John petrucci is the best part of dream theater. But on this album, the piano is so amzing. The guitar is the lead, sort of, but it's like one of those albums where the lead instrument is complementary, even though I think he did a great job.

So basically, these guys are geniuses, and this is really abstract stuff. This is not the kind of music where the whole song is based on a melody. The melody is constantly changing, and I think it is amazing how well they stayed with each other.

When you listen to this, make sure you don't reject it because you don't understand it at first. Just listen to it and don't expect it to be something.

First off Im'a huge Dream Theater fan I thinck that Joran Rudess and John Petrucci are some of the most talented miusicians out there;And I am a miusician myself so I should know:)
This is a very nice piece of music to have in your collection if you are into beautiful and progressive music,the compositions are well crafted considering the short period of time in witch they where written,
the ONLY reason I gave this album 4 stars instead of five (and none of the other reviewers have mentiond it)is that although Petrucci is an excellent electric guitar player his acoustic sound can be a little rough by this I mean he sometimes tends to hit the strings a little to hard giving the instrument a very fretted type of sound that sometimes just does'nt fit the mood of the song,and every now and then he misses some notes when he tries to shred on the acoustic,so you can tell that on the acoustic guitar he just does'nt have that special clean touch that he has on the electric,but of course it is more than acceptible [like that spelling error on "acceptable" you still understood the word right? so even though he misses a few notes you still get the picture and it's a beautiful one].
Jordan on the other hand I have nothing but praises he is trully a master pianist very technical but most important he has a very beautiful touch so it does'nt feel like too much for the piece.In the end this is a very enjoyable album Jordan and Petrucci of course have excelent quemistry together and I do recomend wether you are a fan of Dream Theater or not.Good music is awaiting so buy it!!

Complaints: 1. a good bit of this is a bit more moody or slow than I was hoping for from these two... (not that, when the mood is right, those particular songs don't sound great). 2. As others have noted, Petrucci's monstrous technique on electric guitar doesn't translate seamlessly to acoustic: he's still incredible, but not "perfect" the way he usually is on electric.

Compliments: 1. Petrucci on "Bite of the Mosquito" is just plain a jaw-on-the-floor extravaganza of speed/alternate picking in vein of Flight of the Bumblebee... when you see the title and ponder the possibilities, you might wonder what Petrucci is capable of... and even with expectations very high, he still proceeds to blow you away. I can't believe nobody has singled this song out yet. Sure, it's "just shredding," but if you play guitar, then give it a listen, and then find the tab, and then add it to your practice regimen: the ultimate exercise in speed/alternate pciking AND it sounds great, unlike your usual chromatic practice runs. 2. "In the Moment" and "Black Ice" seem particularly well put together and are kind of what I expected all along.

If you like shred, get it for the last track... and if you like the moodier aspects of DT and get into the music as much as the mastery, you'll like it even more than I did.