Dream Theater self titled album discussion - [SPOILER FREE DISCUSSION ONLY]

[Joshin U]

REVIEW NOXON REVIEW NOXON REVIEW NOXON 

Seriously, man? Come on. Let noxon do his thing.

[noxon]

noxon, thanks for being such a good sport. I can only apologise for the people pestering you for a review (even if it is mostly in jest), it's always like this around new album time with lots of buzz and loads of new members appearing.

If anything, I'm actually quite flattered. I'm coming here of my own accord, so I don't mind.

[Elite]

I can't be the only one here that thinks this thread is getting completely out of hand on every single page until someone has to step in again. Then the madness starts again. Come on, it's just an album release, I'm waiting for it as well, but I'm not hung up over it. Go find something else to do as well - and that's meant as friendly and helpful advice. I'll be checking this thread for updates, but scrolling through tens of pages of 'OMG the album is *only* 70 minutes long, wtf!' (which in itself is a ridiculous statement as far as I'm concerned) is getting very annoying.

/rant

[MoraWintersoul]

I think it's just that a) people somehow think it's obligatory to keep the discussion going even when nothing's going on b) there's a huge bunch of people and they all wanna add their 2 cents to the ongoing discussions. Rob's fact finder thread is being updated with everything super-important, and I'll try to update one of my first posts in this thread with other interesting goodies and/or utilize my fydreamtheater Tumblr account for these purposes, buuut, you know. That's all we can do. The thread IS gonna have a bunch of people speculating non-stop and that's okay.

[darkshade]

Just for the record, who else is planning on not listening to the single or any material until the album is out? I feel like I'll have more motivation/self-control if I know there are other people doing it, so when people start freaking out over how good the single is, etc., I won't be fazed.

I'm down. I've resisted listening to the new Haken song, in preparation for if/when a DT single gets released.

[MoraWintersoul]

I AM going to listen to it once, since about everyone I know will ask me "what do you think of the new DT song", but no more than that.

[atmyne]

If there is a single, I am at least going to go through the process of holding off and watching peoples reactions to the single over time, just to see how they change. If i'm strong enough I will try and wait until album release, but I don't think I am.

[BlackInk]

For ADToE I first decided that I wouldn't listen to anything before the release but then I just realized that I only want to do what I want to do (duh). Whether or not I decide I will listen to the single I will still inevitably want to listen to it, which means it will only do more "harm" than good for me if I don't.

Bring on a single, I will listen to it.

[tiagodon]

Ideally, you all should avoid reviews before listening to the album. The problem with reviews is that they shape the way you receive and process an album (a movie, a book, whatever). You can't help it. You start to listen with someonelse's ears. If someone wrote something bad about the drumming or the solos, your senses will be biased, a pre-conception will be there and subconsciously working. If you had not read anything in the first place, maybe you would have not cared at all. Music is a very personal experience. Reviews take it away from us!

[darkshade]

This thread is the only one I skip through many posts, sometimes whole pages; partially to catch up, but because I'll be reading through for a while and at some point, I realize I'm reading absolutely nothing. This thread is the centerpiece of the DTF.

The thought of a large amount of people having copies of new DT music that I can't hear right now = 

This is what I thought of when I saw people reacting to the album being "only" 70 minutes:

[Red_Queen]

REVIEW NOXON REVIEW NOXON REVIEW NOXON 

Seriously, man? Come on. Let noxon do his thing.

Hey man keep calm.. I just joking 

[BlackInk]

He obvioulsy wasn't asking noxon to post his review. Since he started the repeating words with "review", it is clear that he wants us to review noxon.

[Joshin U]

He obvioulsy wasn't asking noxon to post his review. Since he started the repeating words with "review", it is clear that he wants us to review noxon.

I give noxon an 8.5/10

[Lucidity]

To keep things in perspective, Dark Side of the Moon is 42:59. No one should be whining about "just" 70 minutes of quality music.

[atmyne]

To keep things in perspective, album length and quality musical content are mutually exclusive

[BlobVanDam]

Images and Words is 57 minutes. Can you imagine how bad you'd feel bitching about a new album being so "short", then receiving an album of the caliber of Images and Words?

We've been spoiled. I've never noticed any correlation between album length and quality. An album should be as long as it needs to be, whether that's 35 minutes, or 75 minutes.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Fear of a Blank Planet runs for 50 minutes, and I'm sure that's an album lots of you appreciate.

[Shadow2222]

Exactly, and while many people love both FII and Systematic Chaos, they are also frequently rated to be among the worst of DT's albums.

They both run approximately 78 minutes.

[BlackInk]

70 minuted wouldn't bother me. 50 would. If the music was good, that'd be cool and it would still be a good album. But I would feel like we could have gotten much more good music with it.

TesseracT's "One" is one of my favorites ever, and it's ~50. I love it, but I still wish that it had been longer. Same for some of the ones mentioned above.

[noxon]

Quality over quantity any day.

[senecadawg2]

I've heard it again and again... Size is not everything.

[atmyne]

Quality over quantity any day.

suggesting that you think the new DT is of greater quality AHA!

[Kotowboy]

70 minutes after two years wait would be FINE for me.

What I really hate is when you wait 6 years for an album that's 34 minutes long.

[Elite]

[aprilethereal]

Images and Words is 57 minutes. Can you imagine how bad you'd feel bitching about a new album being so "short", then receiving an album of the caliber of Images and Words?

I'd honestly be disappointed if I don't like DT12 more than I&W. I&W is in the bottom half of DT albums for me

What I really hate is when you wait 6 years for an album that's 34 minutes long.

Time I?

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Images and Words is 57 minutes. Can you imagine how bad you'd feel bitching about a new album being so "short", then receiving an album of the caliber of Images and Words?

I'd honestly be disappointed if I don't like DT12 more than I&W. I&W is in the bottom half of DT albums for me

[?]

Most of my all-time favorite albums are approximately 40-60 minutes long, so I wouldn't mind if DT released an album "even" shorter than 70 minutes. Then again, maybe the current system is better than getting a short album and loads of bonus tracks scattered on different editions.

[aprilethereal]

Images and Words is 57 minutes. Can you imagine how bad you'd feel bitching about a new album being so "short", then receiving an album of the caliber of Images and Words?

I'd honestly be disappointed if I don't like DT12 more than I&W. I&W is in the bottom half of DT albums for me

Alright

Then again, maybe the current system is better than getting a short album and loads of bonus tracks scattered on different editions.

Somehow this reminds me of Circle

[BlobVanDam]

Images and Words is 57 minutes. Can you imagine how bad you'd feel bitching about a new album being so "short", then receiving an album of the caliber of Images and Words?

I'd honestly be disappointed if I don't like DT12 more than I&W. I&W is in the bottom half of DT albums for me

Ok, well for anyone else, it was a pretty safe comparison to make. You may excuse yourself now.

(Don't worry, I rank Awake at the bottom of my rankings, so I'm down with weird opinions)

Most of my favourite albums are '80s and early '90s rock albums, most of which are 40-60 minutes, so I couldn't care less about album length or song length. I'll judge it when I hear it, not based on numbers.

[Jaffa]

Regarding the length issue, I think that when a band is set on filling up a CD, what often happens is that they end up with a lot of... well, filler.  Fluff.  Tracks which don't necessarily match up to the others in terms of quality, but which are included anyway for the sake of having a longer album. 

I'm overgeneralizing, of course.  It's possible to have a 78 minute album of all-killer-no-filler.  But when it comes right down to it, I think a shorter album is a pretty good sign that the band is being more selective about what makes the cut. 


Incidentally, I've made this point before, but last time I made it, I was discussing a 40 minute album.  Now I'm discussing a ~70 minute album.  Only on DTF. 

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

That's one of the things I admire of Steven Wilson the most. The man has said multiple times how he believes albums are more than just the sum of their parts, and that they last what they have to last in order to achieve such cohesion.

[BlobVanDam]

Regarding the length issue, I think that when a band is set on filling up a CD, what often happens is that they end up with a lot of... well, filler.  Fluff.  Tracks which don't necessarily match up to the others in terms of quality, but which are included anyway for the sake of having a longer album. 

I'm overgeneralizing, of course.  It's possible to have a 78 minute album of all-killer-no-filler.  But when it comes right down to it, I think a shorter album is a pretty good sign that the band is being more selective about what makes the cut. 

I think the average song length is also a pretty good sign that there's no padding here, and probably more variety in song structures.

[Kotowboy]

Images and Words is 57 minutes. Can you imagine how bad you'd feel bitching about a new album being so "short", then receiving an album of the caliber of Images and Words?

I'd honestly be disappointed if I don't like DT12 more than I&W. I&W is in the bottom half of DT albums for me

What I really hate is when you wait 6 years for an album that's 34 minutes long.

Time I?

Eh  ?

Anyway - Bryan Adams released 18 Til I Die in 1996 which was itself 5 years after Waking Up The Neighbours. But After 1998's On A Day Like Today - his next studio album wasn't until 2004's Room Service - which is a fine album but was only 34 mins long. And then a further 4 years until 2008's " 11 " album. Which was a bit longer.

[aprilethereal]

Time I was released six years after it was announced and is not much longer than what you said. I thought you were taking about that album.

[Kotowboy]

Ok. I'd not heard of it. Not heard Wintersun either.