The Ultimate Supergroup?

[CaptainQuark]

So you're the ultimate power in the music industry… Your first task is to put together the ultimate supergroup. What would it be?

Here's mine, a band that would be called
Salvation Dreameth:
Vocals: Daniel Gildenlöw Pain of Salvation
Guitars: John Petrucci Dream Theater & Mikael Åkerfeldt Opeth
Bass: Kristoffer Gildenlöw (now sadly no longer with Pain of Salvation )
Keyboards: Per Wiberg Opeth (somebody hanged Jordan Rudess! )
Percussion: Johan Langell Pain of Salvation
Drums: Mike Portnoy Dream Theater

So pretty much an Opeth/Pain of Salvation/Dream Theater side project, then!

[ora]

Wow, i have absolutely NO IDEA who any of those people are :P

My problem is either its modern music and so all electronic for me and almost everyone is just on computers:
like perhaps
Peter Kruder from Kruder & Dorfmeister
J Swinscoe, maestro of the Cinematic Orchestra
Tord Gustavsen (Jazz pianist on ECM label- the lone instrumentalist)
Whoever the hell Quantic turns out to be
Espen Horne & Bugge Wesseltoft from that massively overlapping Nordic semi jazz scene.

Or it would be a retro/half of them are dead soul extravaganza, but half of them played together on Atlantic records at one time or another anyway, either then or later in the Blues Brothers.

[jh2112]

Incredibly tough, this one!

OK, Don't have a name and will change my mind in about 5 mins but here goes:

Neil Peart (Rush) or Stewart Copeland (ex-Police) on drums.
Pete Trewavas (Marillion) or Geddy Lee (Rush) on Bass.
Mark Kelly (Marillion) or Richard Wright (Floyd) on keyboards
David Gilmour (Floyd) or Steve Rothery (Marillion) on guitars
(Or both!)
Steve Hogarth (Marillion) or (almost anyone from my music collection) on vocals.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips
Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters/Nirvana
Black Francis & Joey Santiago of The Pixies
Roger Waters of Pink Floyd

...and Jimi Hendrix, reanimated...

[HateEternal]

I just don't see Åkerfeldt and Petrucci going together very well, they just seem to have completely different styles to me. Both are excellent players... just not together I think.

I really hope you have seen Opeth play live... it is simply amazing. They are so tight you could almost swear that it was a recording. They are also so laid back when they are on the stage. When Mikael addresses the crowd he doesn't do that lame growly voice which most metal bands do, he just talks normally and is quite funny. I don't mind the growlies in the music, I do it my self, I just think its lame when people talk with it.

Dream Theater is very good live too, but I enjoyed Opeth much more.

As far as my supergroup goes... I don't even know... there are so many good players, it's too hard to choose just a few.

[CaptainQuark]

Originally Posted by HateEternal

I just don't see Åkerfeldt and Petrucci going together very well, they just seem to have completely different styles to me. Both are excellent players... just not together I think.

Well, I guess we all have our own opinions… Yes, the styles are very different, but the combination of the various artists is intended to correct what, IMHO, are the relative weaknesses in each band.

Petrucci is masterless as a guitarist, but Mikael Åkerfeldt has a heavier sound. The combination of the two should provide the perfect blend of skill and heavy.

The hardest part of the crew list of Salvation Dreameth was the choice of drummer. Portnoy is, again, masterless, but listening carefully to a track such as "Her Voices" from Pain of Salvation's "Perfect Element" album, not to mention "Martius / Nauticus II" from the album "Be", reveals Johan Langell as a drummer of incredible talent, which is why I later added him as "percussionist" – skill like that cannot be ignored!

Sadly, the years have taken their toll, so I no longer fancy the idea of being surrounded by spotty youths moshing wildly all around me. As a result, I have dropped out of the concert-going routine. By way of compensation, I bought the "Lamentations" DVD, but was strangely disappointed by their live performance compared with their studio recordings.

My 20-year-old son (Xlator, who occasionally visits this forum) is also a big Opeth fan. He caught them in concert in Göteborg last year and thouht they were excellent. Maybe they were just having an "off" day when they recorded "Lamentations".

[HateEternal]

In what ways did you think the Lamentations DVD was lacking? I thought it was pretty amazing, a few mess ups here and there but for the most part I thought it was really tight and the sound was awesome. I wish I could get a live sound like that...

[CaptainQuark]

Compared with their studio recordings, their live performance just seemed a bit flat and lacklustre. All bands make the odd mistake performing live, but there seemed to be too many, as though they hadn't quite rehearsed enough.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Opeth, but it just wasn't there. If I were to try to convert a 'non-believer' to the ways of Opeth, then the "Lamentations" DVD wouldn't be the weapon of choice.

Mind you, it's difficult for a Progmaniac Metalhead to concentrate on the proggishness of Opeth when I have hardcore Death Metal driving it's blood-dripping spear through my head! (Said hardcore Death Metal, of course, being a certain track called "On Whims of War" by a certain band by the name of "Burial of an Era". 10/10 for putting the link to your band site in your sig. I've d/l:ed the demo tracks and given 'em a whirl.) BUT IT JUST AIN'T PROG!

Maybe I'm just getting old, but I can't hack changing music styles in the middle of the day, and I've been listening to Prog all day. I'll nominate tomorrow as a Death Metal Day and give your demo tracks another spin.

Initial reaction (whilst wearing my Prog hat)? Good – a bit speed for my current mood (I can't hack anything much faster than Hypocrisy right now). But with a fresh pair of ears in the morning, it'll be just the thing for helping get this damned book off to print!)

Is it just me or do the Swedes do metal better than anyone else? Looking through iTunes, about 80% of all the bands I have in my playlist are Swedish!

I can see that this one is gonna run & run!


And anyway – you haven't posted your Supergroup yet…