RockRoast

It seems to be one hundred percent confirmed that guitar wizard Marco Sfogli is returning for James LaBrie’s next solo album.

Of course, the fact that they’ve been “writing tunes” doesn’t mean the record will be out anytime in the near future. And that’s not a commentary on the seemingly inevitable delays of production so much as an acknowledgment that at least one of the band members has something else on his schedule. James LaBrie is committed to touring with Dream Theater from the end of April until early June.

But my hopes are high for the next record, regardless of when it comes out. Sfogli’s recent solo release has proven him to be maturing as a guitarist and as a songwriter. I’ve often criticized Sfogli for wasting his exceptional ability on unmelodic, emotionless, lightning-fast solos and tasteless distortions. But his own solo album, There’s Hope, showed a lot of improvement over his work on LaBrie’s last record, Elements of Persuasion. Amusingly enough, There’s Hope gave me a lot of hope for the remainder of Sfogli’s career. With a little luck, the record he’s working on now will prove that hope to be justified.

But now the strange thing is that, even though I’m a big fan of James LaBrie, he might not be the main reason why I’ll by his next release. It’s hard to decide which I want to hear more…more James or more Marco?

For years, the members of progressive metal titans Dream Theater have joked that, if they ever had the opportunity to release a compilation CD, they’d call it “Dream Theater’s Greatest Hit.” Singular.

The joke is a reference to the closest thing the band ever had to mainstream success. In 1992, Dream Theater’s single “Pull Me Under” became a surprise hit, making a dent in the Mainstream Rock Tracks charts and getting considerable play on MTV. And though the band would put out seven more studio albums over the next fifteen years, they would never recapture the success of “Pull Me Under.” Instead, they built a more or less “underground” fanbase that, after twenty years of music, has earned them an opportunity to release a greatest hits collection.

Except they only have one hit.

So other than put out a CD with one song on it, Dream Theater have decided to add 21 other pretty cool songs. The compilation contains two discs. The first is the “dark side” of Dream Theater, including “Pull Me Under” and ten other heavy tracks. The second is the “light side,” which offers eleven softer ballads. Overall, Dream Theater’s Greatest Hit provides the listener with an accurate portrayal of the band at its loudest and its softest.

Many fans of the band are critical of the tracklisting, as they feel that many favorites and “signature songs” have been omitted. But I think the tracks are geared more toward casual listeners and should satisfy that group of people just fine. Even for the die-hard listener, however, there are plenty of favorites. I think the tracklisting has a pretty good “something for everyone” feel to it.

It’s also notable that producer Kevin Shirley has remixed three songs (Pull Me Under, Take the Time, and Another Day) for this compilation, and “Pull Me Under” in particular sounds great. You can stream ten of the twenty-two songs, including “Pull Me Under,” here.

Dream Theater’s Greatest Hit (…and 21 other pretty cool songs) is scheduled for release on April 1st from Rhino Records.

I have only just recently become aware that Dominici is planning to release their third studio album pretty soon.

From the bits and pieces I’ve been able to scrounge up about this act, it seems clear to me that this next release will be worth buying. They seem to be mainly a metal band with a healthy progressive edge, but with the rare ability to sidestep the usual prog trappings of bombast and cheesiness. While the concept of the O3 trilogy may have the proggish problem of being a bit overdramatic, what I’ve heard follows in the tradition of “Operation: Mindcrime” in that the lyrical drama is matched well enough by the music to make it work.

And those who may be familiar with frontman Charlie Dominici’s previous work with Dream Theater will be happy to know that his voice blends well with the prog-metal sound of his new band. The production is up to snuff, so there are no strained, fading “Killing Hand” moments. All in all, I’m excited about this. I might have to start amending my Top Ten Albums of 2008 sooner than I expected.

Dominici’s “O3: A Trilogy, Part 3″ is scheduled for release on April 22 by InsideOut.