Celebrity Rate-A-Video

The last time we had Dream Theater participate in our Rate-A-Video, it was clear they liked all kinds of music, everything from hardcore like Pro-Pain to peppier stuff like Duran Duran. This time we made sure guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung had a wide variety of videos to review while trying very hard not to confuse their names.

Get Your Own, Marilyn Manson

John Petrucci: Is that Trent Reznor? It looks like they did it in his studio. It’s pretty angry. I don’t know about this... it’s like Halloween. He looks like a witch. The video is pretty dark. Pretty gruesome in fact.

John Myung: It reminds me of an Alice Cooper/Nine Inch Nails heavy...

John Petrucci: Like a decadent gory vibe. That stuff has its own subculture. I don’t think I’d listen to this. I’m not really digging the video.

John Myung: It’s cool for what those guys are doing, but that type of music is not what I listen to, but the video goes with the song.

Breathe, Collective Soul

John Myung: I know who this band is, this isn’t their big song. It’s cool. It has a new age, ‘60s vibe with the imagery. I like the old Rickenbacker.

John Petrucci: It reminds me of The Partridge Family, the music and all the colors. It’s wild. I liked the blurred perspective even though it’s a typical video technique lately.

John Myung: I like the subconscious elements with the guy in the water and how that ties in with the band playing in front of the ocean. It has really nice color contrasts. I like it.

John Petrucci: The song is definitely Beatle-influenced.

Basket Case, Green Day

John Petrucci: I’ve seen this one, this video is a lot of fun. This is a MTV video like the ones when I was growing up. Like the Twisted Sister ones with a story that was funny. May I ask you something? These guys are from California, right? How come he sings with an English accent? I don’t get that. He totally has an English accent.

John Myung: But where would punk be without one?

John Petrucci: That’s true. This is a nice light video. It’s the total opposite of that first one we saw where they are trying to be so intense. This is nice and light and trying to be fun. I like the harmonies. This could easily be a Ramones song.

John Myung: I like it for its simplicity. It’s very stripped down basic stuff.

Motherless Child, Eric Clapton

John Petrucci: I like the sepia tint to it. It must be weird to put out a video to an old blues song. They’re basically just playing and having a good time.

John Myung: Well, there’s a lot of blues stories that they could incorporate. For a second I thought it was Crossroads. I really like the song. I just got an acoustic so I could appreciate the playing. It’s like being musical in the rawest form. When you got a guy with an acoustic singing the melody, it’s about as basic as it gets, but at the same time it’s the foundation to everything.

Always, Bon Jovi

John Petrucci: This is so typical. The guy looking at the girl’s picture on the wall, the big piano ballad.

John Myung: Wait a minute, I’ve been seeing that guy everywhere lately... He’s the guy from that show Dead At 21.

John Petrucci: They seem like the fun-loving couple now, but towards the end they will break up, am I right? They’ll have some sort of fight. See, he just winked at her roommate, that was a sign, a sort of foreshadowing.

John Myung: Isn’t this what that movie Sex Lies And Videotape is about?

John Petrucci: This song is very touching. What, she met another guy already? Oh, and he’s the artist type and she’s going to realize the sensitivity.

John Myung: It’s not my taste in music, but it’s a good video for the song I guess. They are just telling a story here.

John Petrucci: Oh, and now he sees she’s been with another guy and now he’s mad and she dumps him.

John Myung: Are you sure this isn’t the next episode of Dead At 21? I guess it’s a good video.

John Petrucci: Very typical of the style of writing.

Plague, Napalm Death

John Petrucci: Oh my God... How does Barney sing like that?

John Myung: It’s a really cool video, it projects well with the music.

John Petrucci: I can’t stop thinking about Barney having a sore throat when he’s done. It’s pretty cool. There’s a lot of different types of film techniques in it. Like the blurry sort of thing, and the strobe and the grainy look. The music? Well, it’s no doubt Napalm Death. Intensely aggressive.

John Myung: The video doesn’t have any dead weight to it. It was perfect for the music.

Doll Parts, Hole

John Petrucci: Oh no. This is horrible.

John Myung: It’s so hard to be critical of things you’re not into or don’t normally listen to. Just because you don’t listen to it and say something bad about it, there’s going to be someone who’s into it who will be like “what are you talking about?”

John Petrucci: But I really think this song is really bad. It’s horrible. Her voice, the song, she sounds whiney.

John Myung: It doesn’t bother me. But, I can’t judge it. The video has a mood to it.

Dittohead, Slayer

John Petrucci: Is this the new Slayer? This is sick!

John Myung: Are those all down strokes? No way, right? I just got into rhythm guitar playing, so I think these guys are rhythm gods. They are so fast and powerful, there’s no denying it.

John Petrucci: At least these guys stay true to what they’re doing.

John Myung: Exactly. They don’t change their mind and be something different. This is great. I just got the album and I don’t normally get into this kind of stuff, but for some reason I like these guys. I don’t know why. The drummer is sick; his fills are so fast.

John Petrucci: The guitar solos crack me up. They are like these little sequences in between these masses that always end on this high note and then they go back into it. The solos are totally on speed. It’s like drink ten cups of coffee and go for it.

John Myung: It’s totally in character for them.