Along for the Ride Discussion Thread

[Mebert78]

On Monday September 9th, Dream Theater will be premiering "Along For The Ride," a brand new track featured on the new self-titled Dream Theater album. Check back here Monday to find out where you can stream it!

[XB0BX]

I really don't understand the logic of not listening??   In two weeks, you're gonna hear it anyway.  Is the first listen of the songs, from the CD, in order of the album tracks, really that important?

It is that important. I heard the 4 big hits off of Moving Pictures a trillion times each before hearing Moving Pictures. I had worn out my enjoyment of all 4 of them before actually getting the MP album. After doing so, my brain finds it hard to enjoy the MP album, with the knowledge that I don't like half of it, and the knowledge that I would have LOVED it, had I listened to all of them in 1 grouping.

[rush-signals]

We all hear new songs on the radio before the albums are released.  Hell I thought Pull Me Under was new Rush until I heard the vocals. I remember hearing Force Ten for the first time while in Vegas in 1989 and was floored. But in the old days we didn't have the internet to spoil everything. I'll be happy with hearing two songs before the album is out. I wasn't thrilled with hearing snippets of ADTOE before it was out, but still enjoyed the album 100%.

[Daso]

The most curious experience with the snippets for me was with BAI and Outcry. While I was hearing both songs, I though "how in the world are they going to make the snippets I heard with the song that is actually going on?" (considering how the early parts of the songs differed from the snippets released). Of course, they did both of those amazingly 

[As I Am]

Will listen ONCE (like I did with TEI).

[BlobVanDam]

If you can really wear out a song in a couple of weeks to the point that it ruins either the song, or the album, the song didn't have the longevity to begin with.

I always listen to singles beforehand, and it never affects my enjoyment of the song or the album. They're often continue to be my favourite off the album.
If it was just snippets I'd understand, as I never have a good response to hearing snippets out of the context of the song.

[Thoughtspart3]

I agree to a certain extent. TDEN is still my favorite song on SC but I heard it before the album release. 

I also think it matters HOW MANY times you listen to it.  Anything can get overplayed.   

[BlobVanDam]

I agree to a certain extent. TDEN is still my favorite song on SC but I heard it before the album release. 

I also think it matters HOW MANY times you listen to it.  Anything can get overplayed.   

I think that also depends on how good the song is. There are songs I could listen to on loop for a week, and still love.

I also see it this way - If you enjoy it that much that you want to listen to it that often, it's probably good enough that it won't wear out. And if you can get sick of it in only a couple of weeks, then the song would have worn out quickly even if you'd waited anyway.

And if you don't like it as much, chances are you're not going to listen to it endlessly to the point of wearing it out.

It's not as if the new DT song is the only song in existence. You'd still be breaking it up with other music.

[jingle.boy]

I'd say something, but Blob already said it all.  As for XBOBX's comparison to Moving Pictures.... I'm gonna guess you were born after 1981?  Having heard the 'big 4' a trillion times, I can see your point that it affects how much you enjoy listening to the album as a whole.  But really, if you love Along For the Ride so much you play it endlessly for two weeks, you aren't going to suddenly dislike it while playing the whole album on the 24th.  Two weeks - vs the months or perhaps years of hearing Tom Sawyer on it's own - ain't likely gonna kill it for you.

[hefdaddy42]

If you can really wear out a song in a couple of weeks to the point that it ruins either the song, or the album, the song didn't have the longevity to begin with.

I always listen to singles beforehand, and it never affects my enjoyment of the song or the album. They're often continue to be my favourite off the album.
If it was just snippets I'd understand, as I never have a good response to hearing snippets out of the context of the song.

This completely.

[Lucien]

I don't even like Tom Saywer anymore.

[efx]

For me it's like this. I don't think that hearing the music beforehand as say part of a single will make the final listening experience of said song better or worse.

But I have been buying DT cds since 1992 and I have a very specific memory of where I heard them the first time. I don't do this with many artists but with DT I want the first time I experience it to be with the physical media, on my big system and as part of the whole album. Again, I don't think hearing those songs beforehand will lesseb or heighten the impact come the 24th but it wouldn't be the same first time experience for me.

[425]

I'm not listening to it, not because I'm afraid of wearing it out, but because I'd simply rather not know two songs going in. I'm not worried about wearing out a song in two weeks, I would just rather have my first time through the album be fresh or mostly fresh (I've heard TEI about 3 times).

And honestly, I don't see why it should matter to someone who IS listening to it that someone else is planning not to. I mean, yeah, if someone was haranguing you about your decision to listen to it, like telling you "you shouldn't do that or you'll wear it out," then you should chew them out for annoying you about it; but if they aren't doing that, which I don't think anyone here is, then they're just making a personal decision and letting you make your own.

Just as a side note, different people wear out music differently. Personally, I can wear a song out in the short term but come back to it in around a month and have it sound fresh again. Music is a very personal thing. So when someone says "for reasons that apply to me, I am not listening to the new single," I don't see why you should come in and try to tell them that their reasons are wrong, especially when it is entirely possible that their experience with music is different than yours.

[Daso]

I don't mean the songs themselves wearing out before the album comes out, because as Blob said, if the song burns out in two weeks then it was not a very good song to begin with. The song won't become suddenly worse (perhaps better if anything) because of listening to it a lot before the album comes out. What I mean is the song losing its "new song" status, since then there is no way to feel excited about listening to the song "for the first time", just like the rest of the album.

[Kotowboy]

I already find that The Enemy Inside has a lot more longevity that On The Backs Of Angels had.

On the other hand - I have probably listened to TEI a lot less ( purposefully).

[noxon]

I find it a bit weird to release Along for the ride as the second single. It would be like releasing beneath the surface as the second single to ADTOE.

[eviljust]

I find it a bit weird to release Along for the ride as the second single. It would be like releasing beneath the surface as the second single to ADTOE.

That worries me a bit....

[aprilethereal]

Why? BTS is a great song.

Maybe they want to demonstrate the variety on the album (one heavy song, one mellow one).

[Thematt202]

No complaints there from me

[GasparXR]

I'm not listening to it, not because I'm afraid of wearing it out, but because I'd simply rather not know two songs going in. I'm not worried about wearing out a song in two weeks, I would just rather have my first time through the album be fresh or mostly fresh (I've heard TEI about 3 times).

And honestly, I don't see why it should matter to someone who IS listening to it that someone else is planning not to. I mean, yeah, if someone was haranguing you about your decision to listen to it, like telling you "you shouldn't do that or you'll wear it out," then you should chew them out for annoying you about it; but if they aren't doing that, which I don't think anyone here is, then they're just making a personal decision and letting you make your own.

Just as a side note, different people wear out music differently. Personally, I can wear a song out in the short term but come back to it in around a month and have it sound fresh again. Music is a very personal thing. So when someone says "for reasons that apply to me, I am not listening to the new single," I don't see why you should come in and try to tell them that their reasons are wrong, especially when it is entirely possible that their experience with music is different than yours.

This this this!

I KNOW I will listen to AFTR multiple times, just as I did with OTBOA and TEI, but not so much that I get bored of it. I will probably listen to it once a day, sometimes skipping a day, or sometimes twice a day. Depends on if I crave the song, and if I'm craving it, clearly I enjoy the song enough to do so. By the time the album rolls around, they will still feel like "new" DT songs to me even though I know them, so it won't lessen the initial album experience for me.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

I find it a bit weird to release Along for the ride as the second single. It would be like releasing beneath the surface as the second single to ADTOE.

That worries me a bit....

I agree from how AFTR has been described relative to the other songs, it's strange to release as the second single. It doesn't even sound like this is a progressive metal song based upon these descriptions. Maybe the fact that the tour has been named after it has something to do with the choice, and getting the song out there.

[Lucien]

I find it a bit weird to release Along for the ride as the second single. It would be like releasing beneath the surface as the second single to ADTOE.

Is AFTR a good song though?

[noxon]

Yes, it's a good song, i'm just saying it's a weird song to go out with. but then again, the single from SFAM was Through Her Eyes, so what do I know...

[RMGadelha]

Wow, I would be pretty underwhelmed if I were a Dream Theater fan back then and got to hear Through Her Eyes as a single. Is it significantly better than BTS? Or same level-ish?

[Tis BOOLsheet]

Wow, I would be pretty underwhelmed if I were a Dream Theater fan back then and got to hear Through Her Eyes as a single. Is it significantly better than BTS? Or same level-ish?

Agreed. That is just bizarre. What could you possibly accomplish by releasing THAT as your single?

[Tis BOOLsheet]

Noxon-- did JR actually criticize harshly your review?

[noxon]

Well, to be fair, Through Her Eyes as a single happened after the album was released, so it's not like it was the first time we'd heard it. And the single contained a lot of interesting bonus tracks.

[TheGreatPretender]

Well, I'm starting a new job early tomorrow morning. And it's gonna be intense and tiring. So it's gonna feel amazing coming home after a hard day's work and hearing a new DT song.

[GasparXR]

Well, I'm starting a new job early tomorrow morning. And it's gonna be intense and tiring. So it's gonna feel amazing coming home after a hard day's work and hearing a new DT song.

Your job won't be as intense if you just go along for the ride.

[TheGreatPretender]

Well, I'm starting a new job early tomorrow morning. And it's gonna be intense and tiring. So it's gonna feel amazing coming home after a hard day's work and hearing a new DT song.

Your job won't be as intense if you just go along for the ride.

That's an illuminating theory.

[RMGadelha]

I hope you earn enough money to buy the bigger picture

[TheGreatPretender]

I hope you earn enough money to buy the bigger picture

Are you kidding? I'll have enough money to buy an authentic enigma machine.

[GasparXR]

I hope you earn enough money to buy the bigger picture

Are you kidding? I'll have enough money to buy an authentic enigma machine.

When it arrives in the mail, it will turn out that behind the veil, it was really just the looking glass.

[TheGreatPretender]

When it arrives in the mail, it will turn out that behind the veil, it was really just the looking glass.

Well, when I look through it, I hope I won't see the enemy, inside.

[Daso]

When it arrives in the mail, it will turn out that behind the veil, it was really just the looking glass.

Well, when I look through it, I hope I won't see the enemy, inside.

In case it is, be sure you surrender to reason and not your emotions so you don't kill the guy and get sent to jail or something...