What has been the most challenging song for Mike to play as far as the Dream Theater and Liquid Tension Experiment albums go?
MP: In the past, we spent much time in rehearsals & pre-production before starting an album, so I had plenty of time to polish my parts and perfect them. But both Liquid Tension Experiment albums and [Scenes From a Memory as well as the new one], were composed & recorded in the studio – so the challenge of creating and *perfecting* my parts was quite stressful. Specifically on Liquid Tension Experiment 1, I remember the 2nd half of Universal Mind (after the piano solo) being quite challenging to nail. On Liquid Tension Experiment 2, When The Water Breaks was a monster to get through (we wrote & recorded that one in 4 sections), and Biaxident was the first time playing some “pseudo-latin” type feels which was a bit of an adjustment for me. On [Scenes From a Memory], hands-down the most difficult piece was The Dance of Eternity. This has to be the most difficult drum performances I have ever created and surely the most complex piece of music in our catalog.
Related Questions
- Will Mike ever release Dream Theater/Liquid Tension Experiment/TransAtlantic/OSI songs on CD without the drums (as he has for clinics)?
- What has been the most challenging song for Mike to play as far as the Dream Theater and Liquid Tension Experiment albums go?
- How is Jordans role in Dream Theater different from Liquid Tension Experiment?
