Dream Theater: The Astonishing (now with moment of betrayal!)

[The Presence of Frenemies]

when we click on the ''Tracklisting'' the URL changes for https://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishing#mini_track, hummm mini-tracks...

Click on "Map" and it's mini_map. So mini is probably a generic prefix because images aren't blown up all the way.

[onnet5]

when we click on the ''Tracklisting'' the URL changes for https://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishing#mini_track, hummm mini-tracks...

It's just a reference to it being a miniature display of the tracklisting - every other menu item also begins with "mini_". It's just a reference to that particular item on the page within the website's code - wouldn't read anything in to it.

[GandL]

mini-track, mini-map, mini-fée https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdmKiII5HMs

[Lucien]

when we click on the ''Tracklisting'' the URL changes for https://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishing#mini_track, hummm mini-tracks...

The "mini" prefix is applied to everything when you click the links at the top. This does not mean the tracks will be "miniature", though honestly I don't think anyone's doubting we'll have more than a couple 2 minute tracks.

EDIT, damn ninja'd three times over 

[EraVulgaris]

Reminds me a lot of the latest Ayreon tracklist which is like 40 tracks, the longest one being just short of 4 minutes.

[MirrorMask]

I love how with each update you can never know for sure  I thought Act I could have had those 17 tracks, but now we know we're at a full whoppin' 20!!

"The X Aspect" may have been chosen because "The X Factor" was already taken I guess 

Oh, and about the problem for the acronyms, I have a simple solution: JUST FRIGGIN' TYPE  Seriously, especially those posting from a computer and not a smartphone, what do you all do with the time you save by typing IT rather than Illumination Theory or even just Illumination? By the time you spell in your head the initials of every word of the seventh song on the debut album, you already wrote the actual title.

[Darkstarshades]

My guess is that each act will be a single continous piece of music. The NOMACS at certain tracks simply mark very short speech tracks, possibly dividing the whole piece, but that's it.
This will probably the most "concept" album ever.

[Peter Mc]

Pretty sure some of these will be little 30 second interludes. A Tempting Offer has spoken word track written all over it for me. Favourite title so far is A Saviour In The Square which sounds totally epic.

Have certain trepidation about the story but, as others have said, the story is not really all that important. It's not a book and DT aren't celebrated novelists. It's not like I sit down and read Operation Mindcrime as a piece of literature.

[Darkstarshades]

Oh my god... Maybe they're fans of the Hunger Games...

[fadetoblackdude7]

Idk how I'd feel about a DT album full of 3-5 minute songs. It would just be.....weird. But at the end of the day, it's all about the music.

[Darkstarshades]

It would be a nightmare to hear at free Spotify.

[BlackInk]

Everyone's talking about spoken word tracks, the very idea of which just puts me off something terribly.

[Darkstarshades]

Everyone's talking about spoken word tracks, the very idea of which just puts me off something terribly.

I have nothing against spoken tracks, because they really do nothing wrong.
Haggard does this, and so many other groups, and you still have plenty of great music, also, narrative with background music, that also happens, Rhapsody of Fire did that, so why not?

[MirrorMask]

Have certain trepidation about the story but, as others have said, the story is not really all that important. It's not a book and DT aren't celebrated novelists. It's not like I sit down and read Operation Mindcrime as a piece of literature.

Well, but Mindcrime still is a nice story, the story won't make or break the album but if it will be really crappy, it will take away a bit.

We'll just have to suspend disbelief, buy into the story and the dystopian world they created and enjoy the ride 

[Peter Griffin]

just posting in an epic epic thread.

[The Presence of Frenemies]

I wonder how they wrote the album--start to finish, or jumping around here and there? One thing's for sure--JP's comment about "last-minute writing" makes a heck of a lot of sense now. And...not much else does.

[Nothingface]

Have certain trepidation about the story but, as others have said, the story is not really all that important. It's not a book and DT aren't celebrated novelists. It's not like I sit down and read Operation Mindcrime as a piece of literature.

If we're talking about Scenes from a Memory, the rancid lyrical concept actually holds the music hostage.

Lyrics mean a great deal to me when I'm listening to progressive music (obviously), and much of these songs are just bloated vehicles used to deliver story exposition and scene descriptions.

[Prog Snob]

I swear, if there's a song in Act II called "Rise of the Mole People", I'm going to freak out.

Please let there be a song called Rise of the Mole People.

[Darkstarshades]

The Astonishing is an analogy of how JP, JLB, JM and JR started a rebellion to get free of Portnoy's ironfist tyrannical rule.
So, the entire album is a sequel to Outcry, it wasn't Metropolis PT3, but Outcry PT2

"We suffered far too long... We gather now... Growing stronger... We will not be ignored, anymore, any longer..."
See?

[Train of Naught]

Wow! This pack of track titles is probably my favorite so far.
Oh and the theory of NOMAC symbols meaning some type of song introduction (which would leave Act I with 3 actual songs divided up into 20 tracks) still stands, although something in the story must've happened that somehow eliminated these NOMACs by the time Act II started

[MirzekDT]

Has anybody noticed that Emperor Nafaryus has an upper part of NOMAC in his background? Maybe it was already discussed, I didn't read through all the posts of this thread so I'm sorry if it was...

[Train of Naught]

Don't think it has, but IMO it doesn't look that similar to a NOMAC.

[Darkstarshades]

It could just be his throne, nothing really special.
Please don't become NOMAC guy.

[RoadTrain_of Thought]

Don't think it has, but IMO it doesn't look that similar to a NOMAC.

It looks a lot like this part of the NOMAC. But it's probably there because they are sent out by the Empire.

[Darkstarshades]

What the...
Well, now we know the size of the NOMACS

[Nefarius]

Someone supposedly even deciphered mystical numbers behind character 8, which is a kid or maybe someone with a humongous mushroom helmet. Those were considered quite fashionable at the court of Lord Nafaryus this last year. Others discounted it as a simple clock, although it's obviously a Fibonacci sequence.

The other silhouettes are pretty clear too. Character 1 is Chewbacca, character 4 is Aragorn and character 6 (collar) is Doctor Strange.

Greetings...
Nef (presumably the illegitimate bastard of Lord Naf and a sexy rogue NOMAC re-programmed by Zydar )

[Train of Naught]

Someone supposedly even deciphered mystical numbers behind character 8,

Hail persian Mr. Clock Man awake!

[EraVulgaris]

Oh and the theory of NOMAC symbols meaning some type of song introduction (which would leave Act I with 3 actual songs divided up into 20 tracks) still stands, although something in the story must've happened that somehow eliminated these NOMACs by the time Act II started

Maybe the NOMACS mean nothing and there are just some marketing dudes / web designers messing with us

[MirzekDT]

It could just be his throne, nothing really special.
Please don't become NOMAC guy.

Just in case somebody else here wouldn't see it here is a clear comparison picture for you all. I think it's very obvious. It may be NOMAC shaped throne or whatever similar I guess, but it doesn't change the fact it's almost identical to the top of the NOMAC.



And I don't think it's a big deal, it's just interesting little detail I saw.

[Zook]

I imagine this album will be similar to Blind Guardian's Nightfall in Middle-Earth. Half short pointless interludes, half awesome music.

[SuperTaco]

Heaven's Cove... My favorite song title so far. Brilliant. I hope the song lives up to the name.

[mikemangioy]

How 'bout some speculation time?

I'm just gonna highlight the songs I think are full blown, and not transitional.

ACT I:

    1.Descent of the NOMACS
    2. Dystopian Overture
    3. The Gift of Music
    4. The Answer
    5. A Better Life
    6. Lord Nafaryus
    7. A Savior in the Square
    8. When Your Time Has Come
    9. Act of Faythe
    10. Three Days
    11. The Hovering Sojourn
    12. Brother, Can You Hear Me?
    13. A Life Left Behind
    14. Ravenskill
    15. Chosen
    16. A Tempting Offer
    17. Digital Discord
    18. The X Aspect
    19. A New Beginning
    20. The Road to Revolution

ACT II

    1. 2285 Entr'acte
    2. Moment of Betrayal
    3. Heaven's Cove


- So far, to me there are something like 14 actual songs. Some of them I think are actual two part things like A New Beginning is an intro to The Road To Revolution, or ASITS and WYTHC might form a two-part piece.
Favorite titles are: Digital Discord, Dystopian Overture, The Road To Revolution and Heaven's Cove.

[pdurbin22]

A bit disappointed it wasn't just only "The Astonishing" in the act II lol

Now I'm almost certain for some reason that we won't have a single "classic DT" song, those are probably all going to be some short songs connected to eachother that will be meh if listened as individual songs

I wouldn't let this deter you. "The Wall" gave us Comfortably Numb, Another Brick in the Wall, etc. "Tommy" gave us Pinball Wizard. "Scenes from a Memory" gave us Home, and so forth.

[Ben_Jamin]

It could just be his throne, nothing really special.
Please don't become NOMAC guy.

Just in case somebody else here wouldn't see it here is a clear comparison picture for you all. I think it's very obvious. It may be NOMAC shaped throne or whatever similar I guess, but it doesn't change the fact it's almost identical to the top of the NOMAC.



And I don't think it's a big deal, it's just interesting little detail I saw.

What if, He's being projected by a NOMAC.

[Mindflux]

What if, He's being projected by a NOMAC.

What if, He stepped out of the NOMAC.  Like they can be driven.