Just rewatched the drummer auditions before moving on to ADTOE. Mangini was clearly the only real fit for the band. That isn't a hindsight statement either, I remember thinking the same thing watching the documentary the first time when we didn't know who they ended up going with. I actually wonder if they chose Mangini initially and the record label persuaded them to do an audition process for a documentary to generate publicity. It definitely worked. Also his reaction to getting the job was priceless. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Anyway, moving on to ADTOE:
First of all, I genuinely think they intentionally copied the structures of songs from I&W and wish they would admit that. There's really no shame in it and it's a very Dream Theater thing to do, which is why I'm convinced that's what happened. It's actually a really cool concept, to write new songs based off of old structures. Most bands make a living off that, but for a band with as complicated music as Dream Theater, it makes for something really interesting. I'm also going to compare each song to its counterpart because why not?
Worst thing about this album is the production. It's probably the worst mixed album since WDADU and the mastering isn't very good either. It is so muddy and sounds over compressed. Also Mangini is mixed insanely low and there's no clarity in the drums. There's just no life in any of the songs. Midway through the album as I type this and man the production is really awful. I remember it not being great but it's really a lot worse than I remembered.
As for Mangini's drumming, it's OK. The horrible mixing makes it difficult for me to zero in on the drums and really focus on that, but his performance is serviceable to the songs. It's clear that they wanted him to be understated and I get why, they didn't want people scrutinizing the drumming constantly. At the same time, I really wish this album had more power in it. Better production and more involved drumming may have helped.
On the Backs of Angels - Awesome song. I remember first hearing this and any worry I had about a Portnoy-less DT was immediately erased. It has a good balance of prog and metal, with the metal part not bordering on excessive like it was on the last two albums at times. Love the chorus. Amazing solo from Petrucci, at the level of his pre-Octavarium work. Everyone is firing on all cylinders here and it really sets the bar high for the whole album.
I honestly think this song is better than Pull Me Under. It takes the same formula and really improves it. Better chorus, better solos, more memorable melodies. Pull Me Under is a great song but it isn't as exciting as Angels.
Build Me Up, Break Me Down - Unfortunately the quality level quickly drops with this song, where they satisfy the demands of those who wanted to hear DT do Nu Metal.
The riff at the beginning is OK but everything else with this song is a major miss. At this point it's starting to feel like there's a tradition of making the 2nd song on the album as generic as possible. Forsaken, AROP, and BMUBMD all sound like blatant attempts at a radio single. And I want to stress that I don't necessarily have a problem with that, it's just that each of those songs are among my 10 least favorite DT songs. So obviously this gets a vote. I will at least say this song is better than AROP and Forsaken. Especially AROP. They managed not to throw in an unnecessarily long instrumental section.
Lost Not Forgotten - The first epic of the album. Another vivid memory for me listening to this album for the first time is when the full band kicks in and being shocked at how blatantly UAGM it was. I hadn't read any reviews yet so I hadn't seen the comparisons on the internet so I was pretty surprised. Of all the I&W "ripoffs", this one is by far the most obvious. It follows the format of UAGM almost perfectly. They switch it up here and there but overall it has the same structure. Even some of the riffs and melodies sound similar.
I love the "tickle section". I know some people find it excessive but I personally think it's so cool. It's in an unusual spot, usually the crazy unisons are toward the end of the song, so I like how unexpected it is. It also just sounds different from their other unisons. Way more interesting than 90% of the instrumental stuff on the last two albums.
One of my favorite parts is before the second verse when Myung gets to jam a bit. The first time we've really heard him in 6 years. Really cool guitar and vocal melodies during that part too.
Man the Petrucci solo on this song is so good. I love how Jazz Fusion-y it is, he hasn't done anything remotely fusion since the 90s. Really soulful and melodic, but also just a great composition to the solo. It's amazing that just the same guy was doing solos like the one on AROP just a couple years earlier.
Rudess' solo is really fantastic too. Short and sweet. Believe it or not, I get a real Dave Murray vibe from it. Bet you didn't see that comparison coming!
Only thing with this song I'm not too sure about is the chorus. Overall Under a Glass Moon is a far superior song in just about every way, but this sone is a worthy companion. Was an early favorite for me and brings the album back to the quality level that Angels established.
This Is the Life - The Another Day of this album. I think this song stands a bit better as its own than the others, just because Another Day probably had the least unique structure of the I&W songs. It's just your standard fare ballad, so if none of the other songs had similarities this would've probably gone unnoticed. Another Day is without a doubt the better song.
Not a fan of this. I think DT's ballads post Octavarium have been really hit or miss. Often they just feel a bit forced, not as emotionally effective. Some soulful soloing from JP and JR though and you can hear Myung the whole time. Love his increased presence on this album. He plays some tasty lines. It's not the worst song they've done, but really bland and kind of boring at times. I also really dislike when the song gets heavy. There's really no power in it when it really should be a huge moment ala the end of Spirit Carries On. Maybe it's the writing, maybe it's the production, probably a bit of both. JLB also doesn't really sound that into it. The whole thing just kind of plods. It gets a vote.
Bridges In the Sky - Really cool cinematic intro, totally worthy of a DT epic. The riffing on this is immense. It reminds me of stuff like The Glass Prison where it's just awesome riff after awesome riff. It's heavy but not in a way that feels forced like some stuff on the last few albums. It still has that proggy vibe to balance it out. The MVP of this song is without a doubt JLB. He gives his best performance on the album here. He has a great tone throughout and gives this song a great sense of drama. One of his best performances on a DT album in a long time. Love his singing on the choruses. It really has that epic spiritual DT thing that really defined their sound early on.
Structurally it doesn't have any I&W counterparts, but it's really your standard DT song anyway. Does the whole verse -> pre chorus -> verse -> pre chorus -> chorus -> instrumental section thing that countless DT songs have. I don't mind it, but it's one of those things that once you notice it the first time it becomes hard to ignore. I think this is a great song anyway. At one time it was my favorite on the album but I think I just slightly prefer Angels. My major qualm with this song is the guitar solo. It feels like BC&SL JP creeping up again with a bland solo under a looped meh riff. The eastern flavored melody bookending it is cool at least and JR's solos are good. I'm also not big on the ending riff for this song. But everything else is at a really high level. A worthy addition to the extended DT tunes.
Outcry - For the longest time, this song just would not click with me. It just seemed so all over the place and hard to follow. But you know what? Most of I&W made me feel that way the first time. So once the song finally clicked I was happy that DT were challenging me again. Clearly the counterpart to this song is Metropolis. Personally, when the song being copied is as complex and exact as Metropolis, it's pretty easy to find the similarities. It's not as great as Metropolis, but it's a cool song. Really dramatic buildups and an awesome chorus.
This song sort of has an Alexander the Great quality though in that the real draw for me is the insane instrumental section. So I've previously criticized several DT instrumental sections for sounding forced or completely out of place, and this used to be one of those instrumental sections. It actually took me
watching them play this on the DVD to appreciate it.
Listen to the way the instruments call and response. The filming on this video actually did a pretty good job showing this. It actually feels like a conflict between the instruments. The way the keyboard is interrupted by the guitar finishing the phrase. Or the way the bass cuts in seemingly at random. There's also some dissonance in some of the harmonies. At some point a triumphant melody is played and then met with more musical conflict. It's like they're depicting the conflict through their instruments, rather than writing words about it. Same vibe from Alexander the Great. Also similar to Sacrificed Sons' instrumental, but I think Outcry is much more interesting and effective. You can say that they were just being self indulgent, but I don't think it's a coincidence that this is the song they chose to have a crazy instrumental section. It was much more thought out than that.
The parts before and after are cool but not really at the same level, so it's not my top song on the album. Still good stuff though.
Also, someone mentioned DT songs over 10 min without a guitar solo. This is another one.
Far From Heaven - Probably the only song that could possibly be about Portnoy? Again, something they'll never admit but it's a possibility. This is clearly written as your average "calm before the storm" ballad before a big epic. It's inoffensive and actually really enjoyable. Just seems written for an obvious purpose without much more than that. Still more musical merit than, say, BMUBMD. Good JLB lyrics too as always.
Technically speaking I guess this is the counterpart to Wait For Sleep, but I don't really hear any similarities besides being a piano ballad. Yes it gets reprised in the next song, but that's more BAI being similar to LTL than this being similar to Wait For Sleep, if that makes sense.
I'm actually pleasantly surprised with this one. I haven't listened to it in a long time and it's actually a really nice song. Maybe I'll even refrain from voting for it.
Breaking All Illusions - This was probably among the most overhyped DT songs. A 13 minute epic with John Myung writing the lyrics? Sure the lyrics don't really make much of a difference in the musical quality for most DT songs, but it still carries a level of prestige. I think this song mostly lives up to the hype. I'm still not too sure about the intro, it actually sounds like it came out of a video game. It's not bad, just jarring. Then we get the big bass riff. Clearly a LTL homage, but I actually think the song takes on a life of its own after that. Unlike Lost Not Forgotten, where it's in the shadow of UAGM the entire time. It's a really cool bass groove too and I love JLB's subtle vocals. Lots of tension.
The "emerald thoughts" bit is so cool. JLB sounds awesome and there's a real urgency to the music.
My favorite part is when the song slows down and JP delivers one of his best solos to date. I seriously can't believe how much JP improved from BC&SL to this. The difference is like night and day. He went from turning in some of the worst solos in his career to an album with some of his best. And overall only one not so good solo on the entire album.
This section feels like something that should've been on BC&SL, but much better executed. Much more fully realized. The organ playing underneath the solo also really harkens back to classic 70s prog rock.
It also transitions smoothly into the next part. Great instrumental climax before the final chorus.
The Far From Heaven reprise is cool but a little forced. I can't tell if they wrote the BAI first and shoved the part into FFH or the other way around, but either way it just doesn't work the way Wait For Sleep/LTL did. I think one of the best things about the Wait For Sleep reprise is how unexpected it was. It just comes totally out of nowhere and yet it works with the song. With this you almost expect them to do something like that since the rest of the album is so I&W inspired. Like it's an obligation rather than a cool idea they had while putting the song together. It is a good melody to end the song with at least. Has that nice "epic" DT ending.
Compared to LTL, it honestly doesn't hold a candle. It's a good song but it doesn't give me chills or excite me the way LTL always does. For me, BAI is a song with a lot of nice moments and is enjoyable to listen to throughout, but doesn't feel like an experience the way LTL does.
Beneath the Surface - I love this song. Has a nice ending credits vibe and is really unique for a DT song. It's their Journeyman, they ended the album with something completely out of left field. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure this is their only song with only acoustic guitars. Just a great song with good lyrics and really nice performance from JLB. One of my all time favorite DT ballads. Perfect way to end the album.
JR's solo is controversial but I honestly think it's one of his best. It's a bit jarring but I think the keyboard tone actually complements the acoustic guitars surprisingly well.
I'm also convinced that this song is about Kevin Moore.
So I actually enjoyed this album a lot more than I anticipated. It's definitely DT playing it safe overall. I think the problem with this album is they just wanted to do something that would reassure the fans that they're still capable of doing what they do without MP, and it worked brilliantly at that, but I don't need to be reassured about that anymore. It's certainly a more enjoyable album than the last two, but it also still doesn't reach the heights of their earlier work. They're all mostly good songs and I don't really have anything bad to say about a lot of them, but I don't know if any of them would crack my top 20. Basically I always enjoy listening to it, but then I never have the urge to go back to it. Very strange relationship with this album personally.
But it also gives you a glimpse of what DT would sound like if they just tried to replicate the success of I&W every time. Clearly it was better for them not to do that. Although the novelty of them copying the old structures is still really cool IMO.
Ranking
On the Backs of Angels
Bridges In the Sky
Beneath the Surface
Ouctry
Breaking All Illusions
Lost Not Forgotten
Far From Heaven
This Is the Life
Build Me Up Break Me Down
I look forward to doing the same with Opeth! 
). But it’s mostly consistent and relatively catchy from beginning to end.