With such huge careers in music and a rich back catalogue for every single member Romanos Terzis lets his imagination run wild and picks five songs he would love Sons Of Apollo to play live. Sons play in Athens, Greece on Monday September 24th.
5. Dream Theater – Peruvian Skies (‘Falling into Infinity’, 1997)
Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian played together on ‘Falling into Infinity’, the only Dream Theater studio LP the latter was a part of, and this is the obvious album to draw material from. So far, only ‘Just Let Me Breathe’ and ‘Lines in the Sand’ have been included in the setlist. ‘Peruvian Skies’ is a very straightforward song for DT standards, however, it has not been played live since 2012 – leaving the door open for Sons of Apollo to bring it back.
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4. Talisman – Dangerous (‘Talisman’, 1990)
Swedish hard rockers Talisman are the band that Jeff Scott Soto fronted for quite a while, fitting nicely with their melodic/AOR sound. It’s one of those cases where a group is unlucky in terms of timing; the 80s would have been much kinder to them compared to the 90s. ‘Dangerous’ stands apart thanks to its cool verse riffing and would definitely work live – as a matter of fact, it could very well replace Van Halen’s ‘And the Cradle Will Rock’ as the set’s ‘party moment’.
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3. Bumblefoot – Don’t Know Who to Pray to Anymore («Little Brother Is Watching, 2015)
I never was the biggest fan of Bumblefoot’s solo carrier, however, hats off to him for writing real songs, instead of pointless virtuoso lead guitar wankery. ‘Don’t Know Who to Pray to Anymore’ off his last solo record to date would be a good choice for Jeff Scott Soto to sing and of course would turn the spotlight on the guitarist from Brooklyn, NY.
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2. Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force – I’ll See the Light Tonight (Marching Out, 1985)
The way Malmsteen has managed to undermine his own career, it’s hard to see his material be played live by a serious, active, first-class band. For Jeff Scott Soto I imagine this era’s material is challenging to sing, while ‘I’ll See the Light Tonight’ is one of the songs in ‘Marching Out’ that he contributed to lyrically. Just hearing the opening riff would serve as a wake-up call for the crowd.
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1. Dream Theater – Trial of Tears («Falling into Infinity», 1997)
Even when they release a record that isn’t as great as others, Dream Theater has a way of impressing, usually with the album’s epic – both in terms of structure and length. ‘Trial of Tears’ is Falling into Infinity’s grand finale and would, of course, be more than welcomed in any live setting. I would very much like to see Bumblefoot perform John Petrucci’s parts in that song and play next to Sherinian during the famous DT guitar/keys trade-offs…
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