Detective Beauregard
Leviathan of Doggerland
It's hard for me to actually rank 15 albums, so I'll just put them into tiers:
A. Images & Words, Scenes from a Memory, Train of Thought
B. Awake, Falling Into Infinity, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, A Dramatic Turn of Events, Dream Theater
C. Systematic Chaos, Black Clouds & Silver Linings, Distance Over Time, A View from the Top of the World
D. When Dream and Day Unite, Octavarium
F. The Astonishing
A. Images & Words, Scenes from a Memory, Train of Thought
B. Awake, Falling Into Infinity, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, A Dramatic Turn of Events, Dream Theater
C. Systematic Chaos, Black Clouds & Silver Linings, Distance Over Time, A View from the Top of the World
D. When Dream and Day Unite, Octavarium
F. The Astonishing
One of the songs near the end of the first half ends with a killer bass groove under Petrucci wailing. That's it. That's the positive thing, and for me the only memorable moment on the entire album.
I wish they hadn't abandoned this style of bass for a more standard and predictable "rhythm" bass. Opeth did the same thing after their first two albums.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
The Astonishing does have The Gift of Music, which is surely one of their best short songs.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
The Astonishing isn’t all bad. It has too many songs and the concept is cheesy but it did bring a couple of interesting musical ideas onto the table. What I mean is that their approach was different than ever before, and not in an entirely crappy way. Ravenskill, Dystopian Overture and Astonishing are great songs, for example. Sure, it still sits near the bottom of DT albums but I’ve never seen it as the monstrosity many fans make it out to be. I was in high school when the album was released, and had a great time listening to it for a period.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
This is my opinion as well. I don’t love it, but I find some of it pretty enjoyable. It’s biggest sin is being incredibly bloated and repetitive in style, but I truly appreciate the fact that Jordan stays mainly on piano throughout the whole thing. It’s LaBrie’s best performance in recent years and the focus on simpler melodic movements is impressive for a band of their virtuosity.
I’d say the whole album is like a solid 7/10 all the way through. Good Dream Theater elevator music with a couple standout moments.
Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
It's like VXI, very enjoyable when the time is right, but pales in comparison to the other albums.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
The CD1 is good (it would still be the worst DT studio cd on its own imo) but CD2 unfortunately feels pretty worthless apart from Our New World and Moment of Betrayal. There are some seriously weak songs near the end of the album.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Eh, with the exception of "MY MUUUUUSSSSIC PLAYYYYYERRR!" I wouldn't call much on The Astonishing downright bad. VXI, on the other hand, has several songs, parts, and performances that are simply poor.
So I have been slowly going through the dream theater discography, including the live albums/bootlegs/etc. I’ll probably make a reflections post when I’m finished, but I did recently get through The Astonishing, probably my first time revisiting it since I saw it live.
While it’s not great I definitely wouldn’t call it the worst DT album. I prefer it at least to the album that came after as well as maybe one or two in the Portnoy era. I mostly just appreciate that they took some chances with The Astonishing. They haven’t really done much to evolve their sound since Portnoy left, but this album is a big exception. It also has some interesting musical moments and follows the Broadway musical format pretty faithfully, although the story and lyrics leave a lot to be desired. I also think there were probably a lot of behind the scenes shenanigans with the record label that we’ll never really know about. It seems like the end product was super rushed and maybe could’ve used some more workshopping as well as guest musicians like what Ayreon does.
While it’s not great I definitely wouldn’t call it the worst DT album. I prefer it at least to the album that came after as well as maybe one or two in the Portnoy era. I mostly just appreciate that they took some chances with The Astonishing. They haven’t really done much to evolve their sound since Portnoy left, but this album is a big exception. It also has some interesting musical moments and follows the Broadway musical format pretty faithfully, although the story and lyrics leave a lot to be desired. I also think there were probably a lot of behind the scenes shenanigans with the record label that we’ll never really know about. It seems like the end product was super rushed and maybe could’ve used some more workshopping as well as guest musicians like what Ayreon does.
DJMayes
Ancient Mariner
I hear that and raise you "Remember, Bug?", a line that's equally cheesy but makes no sense without information that's absent from the album itself...
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Ah, yes! That's the other egregious lyrical sin, for sure.
TheMercenary
Ancient Mariner
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Petrucci has stated that there will be "significant" setlist changes for this run. Interested to see what that means.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
This is an outdated list.
The significant changes in the setlist probably mean that the rest of AVFTTOTW will get played on the next tour leg. There's a video of Mike rehearsing Answering the Call, and I assume Sleeping Giant and Transcending Time will also get added. I doubt they'll replace that many of the older songs, if any. Maybe The Ministry of Lost Souls?
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
I agree with all of those. I wouldn't be surprised if they swap Count of Tuscany for a different epic or no epic, and just do a greatest hits ending with Pull Me Under and Metropolis or Spirit Carries On.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
No! I have to see Count!
I think almost anything on the setlist is going to be fair game for swapping. The exceptions are mostly from the new album. I don't think The Alien or the title track are going anywhere, and Awaken the Master has to stay just because Petrucci can show off his 8 string. I predict that Invisible Monster gets swapped for Answer the Call and the remaining View From the Top songs are slow dripped throughout the next few years like they did with DT12.
From the older songs, it's a tougher call. I don't really feel like any of them are particularly essential to the flow of the setlist, so any of them could go. Bridges in the Sky jumps out as one that could easily be replaced with something similar, maybe The Glass Prison? I also wouldn't be surprised if The Count gets swapped, although it'll be for another big epic, not hits. Octavarium has been long due for a comeback, but they could also do something like In the Name of God.
From the older songs, it's a tougher call. I don't really feel like any of them are particularly essential to the flow of the setlist, so any of them could go. Bridges in the Sky jumps out as one that could easily be replaced with something similar, maybe The Glass Prison? I also wouldn't be surprised if The Count gets swapped, although it'll be for another big epic, not hits. Octavarium has been long due for a comeback, but they could also do something like In the Name of God.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Bridges is the one that I would personally replace. 6:00 isn't exactly the most exciting song from Awake, something like The Mirror or Lifting Shadows would be fun. The only two that I really need to see next year are The Count and Endless Sacrifice, so I hope that those will be staying.
MindRuler
Ancient Mariner
And Erotomania!