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

[RoeDent]

Wow. Just a month to go, and no doubt the reviews and interviews and whatnot will come along in the meantime. The time will fly by!

[palmeiras]

I m expcting beauty melodys, killer riffs, diferent  music styles, diferent instruments,  crazy impossíbles instrumental parts,  a lot of Orchestration, choir, deep poétic lyrics

[King Postwhore]

What makes me happy is hearing that Jordan used a real piano instead of a patch piano.  They seemed to go the organic route with this album which makes me very happy.

[TAC]

What makes me happy is hearing that Jordan used a real piano instead of a patch piano.  They seemed to go the organic route with this album which makes me very happy.

I agree.

[Implode]

Alright, Faythe has finally been revealed... and she's with the Empire!

i just realized in the picture it's like the hood is floating above her head...and the hair is flowing outside of the hood forward, but it appears to fall straight down the sides of her head. It just looks awful. Who did the art for this again?

How hard would it have been to just get a photo to wear a costume and snap a few photos? It would've been 50 times better.

I'm baffled. Is there no quality control? Did they look at this and think, "Yes. This looks great. This is going in the booklet!" 

[DreamTension]

Maybe they threw Hugh a bone and let him do the characters...

[Implode]

If Hugh has nothing to do with this, I'm starting to think the problems were deeper than just him. Kind of like how it's easy for everyone to blame with Star Wars prequels on George Lucas, but that's not the entire picture. People have to be satisfied with this.

[ariich]

Well, I'm perfectly satisfied and don't even really understand what the supposed problem is.

[liran95]

Well, I'm perfectly satisfied and don't even really understand what the supposed problem is.

This.
Seems fine to me.

[lightbug]

What makes me happy is hearing that Jordan used a real piano instead of a patch piano.  They seemed to go the organic route with this album which makes me very happy.

a patch piano usually sounds good, jordan's piano sounds awful, he should use pianoteq, simply the best

[Pax]

>want to use organic sound
>drums triggered and compressed as fuck

[hefdaddy42]

Well, I'm perfectly satisfied and don't even really understand what the supposed problem is.

This.

Also: hot.

[RoeDent]

I don't see anything wrong with it at all. It's certainly not worth being "baffled" over, that's for sure.

[Implode]

If you find that lifeless, airbrushed, cut and paste mannequin hot...I don't know what to say. Ah well. If no one else sees it, it's not worth trying to point out any further.

In the end, the important thing is the music, which is sounding extremely promising so far. I'm really looking forward to this album.

[liran95]

If you find that lifeless, airbrushed, cut and paste mannequin hot...I don't know what to say. Ah well. If no one else sees it, it's not worth trying to point out any further.

In the end, the important thing is the music, which is sounding extremely promising so far. I'm really looking forward to this album.

I honestly almost wouldn't care even if they did the characters with MS Paint.
I'm here for the music.

[Zydar]

Ms Paint Thread v. Paint your Astonishing Characters

[RoeDent]

I honestly almost wouldn't care even if they did the characters with MS Paint.

inb4 someone on the forum actually does this. 

[Jinx]

A few of the track times are popping up on Facebook.  Not sure if legit and certainly not gonna post them here. On the DTF Facebook page

[NotePad]

Alright, Faythe has finally been revealed... and she's with the Empire!

i just realized in the picture it's like the hood is floating above her head...and the hair is flowing outside of the hood forward, but it appears to fall straight down the sides of her head. It just looks awful. Who did the art for this again?

How hard would it have been to just get a photo to wear a costume and snap a few photos? It would've been 50 times better.

I'm baffled. Is there no quality control? Did they look at this and think, "Yes. This looks great. This is going in the booklet!" 

Yea,the CG is almost down there with Dance of Death. Still better though. I much prefer a CGI character over someone dressed in a costume. That's for album covers though. When it comes to, say, movies, I like the good Ol' practical effects.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

What makes me happy is hearing that Jordan used a real piano instead of a patch piano.  They seemed to go the organic route with this album which makes me very happy.

a patch piano usually sounds good, jordan's piano sounds awful, he should use pianoteq, simply the best

lol no

No sample library comes close to the depth and feel of an acoustic piano. I've played hundreds of piano sample libraries over the years and nothing comes close. I don't know in which piano Jordan recorded in, but his Steinway at home is just pure bliss to listen to. Just listen to Steven Wilson's first two albums, in which Rudess made a guest appearance playing his Steinway and that's pretty much the definitive piano sound for me.

[me7]

The hood looks really bad. Seems like there is a lack of quality control from the band regarding those pictures.

[Enigmachine]

Yea,the CG is almost down there with Dance of Death.

Really?



Dance of Death's cover was so bad that the creator distanced himself from it immediately. Comparing the portrait of Faythe to it screams hyperbole. The only real problem I see with Faythe's look is the visual disconnect with all the other characters (what with the pink hair, makeup and earphones) with the floating hood looking odd if you zoom in on it, but not having a huge effect on the whole picture. Not the best example of computer graphics, but also far from the worst.

[Prog Snob]

Yea,the CG is almost down there with Dance of Death.

Really?



Dance of Death's cover was so bad that the creator distanced himself from it immediately. Comparing the portrait of Faythe to it screams hyperbole. The only real problem I see with Faythe's look is the visual disconnect with all the other characters (what with the pink hair, makeup and earphones) with the floating hood looking odd if you zoom in on it, but not having a huge effect on the whole picture. Not the best example of computer graphics, but also far from the worst.

I just spent ten minutes alone with her. I don't see a problem.   

[King Postwhore]

Yeah but you're done for at least a few hours.

[Prog Snob]

Yeah but you're done for at least a few hours.

Don't play the jealous bitch role.   

[CDrice]

Well, she's wearing headphones, right? Maybe she's wearing something like those



If it's the case, when she pulls up her hood over her head, it could seem like it's floating above her head.

[hefdaddy42]

Maybe who cares?  Just a thought.

[King Postwhore]

Yeah but you're done for at least a few hours.

Don't play the jealous bitch role.   

Meow!

[CDrice]

Maybe who cares?  Just a thought.

Good point 

[Prog Snob]

Maybe who cares?  Just a thought.

Aw come on, Hef. Her lips aren't perfectly symmetrical. Lets hate the album now.   

Yeah but you're done for at least a few hours.

Don't play the jealous bitch role.   

Meow!

Purrrrrrr

[Implode]

Maybe who cares?  Just a thought.

Hey, now. Implying people shouldn't care isn't fair. This is a fan forum. The band is creating content for us to enjoy, consume, and discuss. You not caring doesn't mean that other people shouldn't.

[MirrorMask]

Dance of Death's cover was so bad that the creator distanced himself from it immediately.

Actually the author did a draft, sent it to the band to just show how things were going, and everyone went "WOW COOL WE'LL USE IT AS IT IS".

That's why he didn't want the credit, 'cause to him it was unfinished work.

[TH1RT3EN]

I'm not so sure that will be borne out when the album drops. I think you are reaching for correlations that will not necessarily be there.

Well, this is the DTF after all, right?

I like that DTF is so predictable that it took you just 27 posts to figure us out.

Oh, I've actually known the DTF for a few years already. It just took me a few years to decide to create an account and a couple more to start posting

[hefdaddy42]

Maybe who cares?  Just a thought.

Hey, now. Implying people shouldn't care isn't fair. This is a fan forum. The band is creating content for us to enjoy, consume, and discuss. You not caring doesn't mean that other people shouldn't.

Well, I was just joking.  Please, care.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]