Dream Theater

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First I'm gonna listen to this album while doing something else so that I can out all the bullshit interludes and such, then I'll listen to the real songs with focus :D
 
So far all songs feel like interludes since they are just segueing into each other without any sense, like I predicted <_<
 
My first impression is that there are strong songs and they've definitely made an effort to create this album but the numerous ballades don't make for a very interesting full album listening experience. Probably works better live.
 
Listening to it now.
  • Production is good, pretty much a quieter DT12 sonically, but with a lot more going on like choirs.
  • The CD comes with a screenplay as a lyric book, along with the maps and characters etc. The sheer effort that went into this gets an A+.
  • On that note, Dream Theater needs to stop gluing the booklets to the CD case. Especially when they're encouraging you to look at the lyrics, it's really difficult to handle.
  • It does seem a bit heavy on the ballads, not sure how I feel about that.
  • Naturally the lyrics are going to be judged much more critically on this album than usual. DT was never a lyrics band and that still holds. The story is fine so far, it's actually not as cheesy as I expected and Petrucci does a good job at setting the scenes and developing characters. I have to give him credit for that, writing multiple characters in the Rock Opera context is a challenge. It's clearly written more in a dialog form and isn't trying to be poetic.
  • Not hiring different singers to play the various characters was a mistake. JLB attempts to differentiate characters but it doesn't always work. He puts the most effort in distinguishing Nefaryus I think. You definitely can't tell when he's switching characters unless you read the booklet. Very good performance though otherwise.
  • Is this the first DT album without a song over 8 minutes? I believe this also has the shortest DT track at 27 seconds.
  • What is this "my music player" business? JP is not good at subtlety.
  • Mangini does blast beats at the end of Three Days.
  • I'm a sucker for repeated themes and motifs.
  • JR just played his first keyboard solo (unless I missed something) on the whole album. He's using a new keyboard tone and I'm digging it, great solo. A Tempting Offer.
  • I'm only close to the end of act I but I wish the choir was utilized more. That bit in The Gift of Music is epic.
  • The whole thing plays out like a musical, which it is. That's why everything blends together, it works pretty well I think.
  • The solo section groove at the end of A New Beginning is so awesome. I wish there were more moments that just spotlighted the band, just solid instrumental moments. At the same time, I'm also glad that they've managed to keep a really tightly focused musical narrative so far. But holy shit this part is badass. Add this one to the list of great John Petrucci solos.
  • I'm having a hard time following the story at times (the similarly named Daryus and Arhys doesn't help), but overall it's keeping me engaged for the most part. Has some nice twists and turns and isn't the 2112 ripoff I was expecting.
  • I'm not convinced that a guy named Nefaryus is capable of being redeemed. Does he get his named changed in The Bewildering?
  • Disc 2 starts to lose steam for me, but it could also be that I'm just getting tired, it's an exhausting listen.
  • There aren't really any interludes in this, aside from the NOMAC stuff which is kinda cool. Everything flows really well.
So I'm not even going to try to give this album an overall rating or opinion after 1 listen, there's just way too much to take in. But it kept me engaged for the whole 2 hours. I miss the epics though, hopefully Dt14 is loaded on them. :p
 
Btw, try to listen to it with the booklet (either buy the CD or find scans I guess). It really helps following along and the way the tracks are divided makes more sense.
 
Mosh said:
  • Is this the first DT album without a song over 8 minutes?
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Hm, maybe I should try it then. I feel that lots of my dislike for this band may originate from my idea that they are not that able to make long and interesting songs. More length ===> more time for instrument raping and slow and tedious Pink Floyd rip off sections, where they have no own inspiration. Shorter songs could give this band more focus on what they are doing.
 
Forostar said:
Shorter songs could give this band more focus on what they are doing.
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Most songs on this album don't work out out of context. They segue into each other all the time and don't really follow any patterns; I feel like the album could've had 4-5 times less songs.
 
That's a bit of an early judgement perhaps. It's just out and atm I'm not planning to hear it out of its context (although I am not even familiar with that context). ;)

Today, the (I assume) official DT YouTube channel uploaded the whole album. Heard about 25% of Act 1, and while I am not that positive, I am surprised that I'm not that irritated either.
 
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Forostar said:
Hm, maybe I should try it then. I feel that lots of my dislike for this band may originate from my idea that they are not that able to make long and interesting songs. More length ===> more time for instrument raping and slow and tedious Pink Floyd rip off sections, where they have no own inspiration. Shorter songs could give this band more focus on what they are doing.
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It is true that their longer songs can sometimes carry on too much and become tedious but many of their best songs, including my favourite of theirs, are 15+ min so I don't agree with you. When they make a good epic, it is damn good.
 
Forostar said:
That's a bit of an early judgement perhaps.
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Meh, I know what I like :p When I finish listening to a new album for the first time, I can always put it in one of 4 categories:

- awesome = instant classic that I'll listen to for years to come
- grower = I recognize the album is good but needs a few more spins before it gets into my head (for example: TBOS, last Amorphis album)
- meh = it's not bad, but it's boring and while I may give it few more chances, I doubt I'll ever rate it
- horrible = never gonna listen to it again

The Astonishing fell into the "meh" category after like half of the first CD :p Cruel, but what can you do...
 
Not liking what I'm hearing so far. I'm gonna buy it tomorrow regardless, so I'll maybe listen to it then.
 
So, in a while we're starting a listening session with my wife, with lyrics and all... So I'll post my opinions then.

Running through the tracklist made me a bit nervous though; I could swear there will be bonus tracks "Leap of Faythe" and "Faythe No More" and "Random Faythe in the Crowd" appearing somewhere in the future...
 
The new album is not very heavy or riff-friendly. There are a lot of power ballads. I don't mind the album, though. I think it's cool. I always dug DT, but I wouldn't call myself their biggest fan. So I can see how some fans may get turned off.
 
Granted I haven't heard the full album yet but I've heard a few tracks (and skipped through a few others) on their YouTube channel and it sounds exactly like what you'd expect from recent DT. So for fans who are into recent DT that's great I guess.....Me on the other hand, I'm just really tired of the sound of this band. So I'll probably give it a miss.
 
So, we finished it. It was pretty exhausting. Some notes:

- The story's okay. Nothing exceptional and you definitely don't have to worry about spoilers or whatever, but it didn't offend me the slightest (that was my main concern beforehand)
- For a band lke Dream Theater (whatever that might mean to you), releasing an album like this is a ballsy move.
- There might be a tad too much ballads (especially in the first act), but I think repeated listens will help.
- I now definitely want to name my firstborn "Jordan".
- The Andrew L. Webber - especially Jesus Christ Superstar - influence is very strong, especially on tracks like Lord Nafaryus or Three Days.
- You can dislike the album (and I can imagine many people who will), but that's your (or my) problem, not the album's - the effort, the energy and the craft put into this monster is undeniable. I would have nothing but respect for the guys even if I didn't beforehand.
- I will need about twenty more listens to even make an opinion - if I wrote here TBOS album is a lot to take in at once, I really didn't know what I was talking about. This is just... massive. Like, I tried to concentrate on in, read the lyrics and glide through the accompanying materials... and I have a solid headache, even if the story's not that complex (as I've already written above)
- James overdid himself, true, but I really don't know how does he want to sing this on the whole tour. I think he will be dead by the seventh date, and that's not a put down - most singers would be.
- I don't know what the people on the DTF are smoking, Mike was totally cool (as usual), in fact, much more decent than on any of the previous two albums, IMHO.
- However, Myung disappeared somewhere.
- Now, when I've already had the "experience", I can finally listen to the album on repeat and dissect it some more and I'm really looking forward to it. Maybe not tomorrow, though.
- And yes, it's a musical. Yet, it's very DT. I couldn't image how that would be even possible, but it is.
- Also, if anyone tried out the album based on the two "singles", he's in for a bitter disappointment. Both songs sound great in the context of the album, however.

Highlights after the 1st listen:

Dystopian Overture, Lord Nafarius, Act of Faythe (I think), Three Days, Brother Can You Hear Me, A New Beginning, 2285 Entr'acte, Moment of Betrayal, The Path That Divides and the title track.


SixesAlltheway said:
it sounds exactly like what you'd expect from recent DT
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I respectfully disagree. This is anything but your standard DT. Whether it's good or bad, I don't know yet, but whether "recent DT" means BCSL-DT12 or SDOIT-DT12, there's nothing really similar, I give them that. In fact, I believe this is as far from typical DT as possible for it to be still considered "their" album.

P.S. - excuse any typos or whatever, please, I'm a regular zombie right now.
 
I agree with pretty much everything you said, but wanted to touch on a few specific points:
JudasMyGuide said:
- You can dislike the album (and I can imagine many people who will), but that's your (or my) problem, not the album's - the effort, the energy and the craft put into this monster is undeniable. I would have nothing but respect for the guys even if I didn't beforehand.
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Totally agree with this. I'm not totally sure if this album is my thing or not, but regardless I have major respect for them doing this. Especially this late in their career. Can't think of many other bands who will do an ambitious double concept album for their 13th. I think this is the most inspired DT album since Six Degrees at least.

JudasMyGuide said:
- I don't know what the people on the DTF are smoking, Mike was totally cool (as usual), in fact, much more decent than on any of the previous two albums, IMHO.
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Are people on DTF being negative toward the drumming on this album? Strange, he usually gets way more credit than he deserves there honestly. I thought his performance on ADTOE was very forgettable, DT12 was much better but still not at Portnoy's level at his peak, and I haven't even gotten to the point of paying attention to the drum work on this new one. There was one moment that stuck out to me, but I can't remember where.

JudasMyGuide said:
- However, Myung disappeared somewhere.
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In general, this really feels like the Petrucci and Rudess show. I read on the booklet that the music was written by JP and JR. This is the first time the music isn't credited to Dream Theater. I'm wondering if the other 3 guys were involved at all in the writing, especially Myung and Mangini definitely take a back seat compared to the last two albums.

JudasMyGuide said:
I respectfully disagree. This is anything but your standard DT. Whether it's good or bad, I don't know yet, but whether "recent DT" means BCSL-DT12 or SDOIT-DT12, there's nothing really similar, I give them that. In fact, I believe this is as far from typical DT as possible for it to be still considered "their" album.
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Yes. There are some DTisms in A Gift of Music and maybe a couple other songs but overall the style is totally different. It still sounds like DT but just the way it is structured is totally unlike what they did before. I think DT12 was an important stepping stone for this, because that also overhauled a few cliches that were there on previous albums. Not to mention the more concise song structures, now we have an album with even shorter "songs". Compare this to the other concept album: Scenes. I feel like that was written as a normal DT album and the lyrics/story were written around that. This album is the other way around, the music is all built around the story. I don't think DT has ever done that.
 
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