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

[thosava]

The *BLEEP* could still be the name of an event.

[Enigmachine]

The Team Rock review seems to have a similarly vague quality to the first DT12 review. Don't expect the most detailed reviews to come first. Interestingly, DT12's Team Rock Review rates higher than TA, yet the TA review claims that the album will 'reclaim the doubters'. Written by the same person as well.

Yeah, im not doing a track by track this time around. It'll spoil too much of the story.

Publishing as soon as my new thing goes online, which I hope is no later than next week.

Nice, I wanted to get an overall idea of the album without plot spoilers considering the album seems to be heavy on that.

I'd never thought I see the day when people highlighted a ballad on a DT album in front of other more technical tracks

Man, I haven't heard a ballad I've liked from DT this much since possibly SDOIT days. It's beautiful, and downright epic, and different to anything they've done in a while. That kind of strong melodic songwriting is what excites me about this album.

Goddamnit Blob, you're making me even more hyped. 

[BlobVanDam]

Goddamnit Blob, you're making me even more hyped. 

Sorry, I'm just enjoying what I've heard so far a lot more than the last two albums, and I'm excited that I'm excited!

[Podaar]

[noxon]

With regards to review from the press, I would expect them to be extremely mixed this time around. A 2h10min album is a lot to get into, and when you're a professional reviewer who has to do several albums and articles per publication, digging deeply into the story and the concept will just not be your priority. Even just getting into the music will be hard. And this album, if you just "skim" it, won't reveal all its qualities. And I think a lot of reviewers in the more metal oriented magazines will struggle with it, simply because it's so different and unexpected. Prog magazines will struggle with it because it's not "technical" enough. Where it will probably score the best will be the more classic rock type magazines, and maybe even the day press actually.

I mean, this is the first album in a long time that I truly felt I could play to anyone, and they'll find something to enjoy in it, but at the same time i realize that people have come to expect something from DT, and this is so far outside of what anyone could've expected that there probably (and very sadly so) be a certain amount of negative attention to it.

[SwedishGoose]

Sounds like it really is something Astonishing 

[Panar]

 

[MacClaus]

short Review: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/dream_theater/the_astonishing/

[RMGadelha]

short Review: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/dream_theater/the_astonishing/

I wouldn't post this since it's not official...

[Train of Naught]

I'd never thought I see the day when people highlighted a ballad on a DT album in front of other more technical tracks

Man, I haven't heard a ballad I've liked from DT this much since possibly SDOIT days. It's beautiful, and downright epic, and different to anything they've done in a while. That kind of strong melodic songwriting is what excites me about this album.

Now this is making me excited, an epic ballad? Hell yes.

[devieira73]

Interesting that this album seems to adress to the "most alleged" problems of DT: the lack of connection of the lyrics with the music itself and the lack of really great songs melodies. Personally I don't agree with that, just an observation.
Noxon or anyone who listened to the album, if this don't spoil too much, I'm curious about if the resemblance The Astonishing has with FII is only in the melodic aspect of that album or is it also about the groove aspect of FII. IMO FII has a rhythmic quality that no DT album after that has, and I blame Derek for that!

[King Postwhore]

Goddamnit Blob, you're making me even more hyped. 

Sorry, I'm just enjoying what I've heard so far a lot more than the last two albums, and I'm excited that I'm excited!

You son of a bitch.

[Jinx]

Do we think there's any particular reason that the clock has been left last with such a long gap between the last character reveal?

[millahh]

Do we think there's any particular reason that the clock has been left last with such a long gap between the last character reveal?

I'd assume it's to screw with everyone asking about it.   

[Thematt202]

I wonder whether there will be any ballads like TSCO with the mind blowingly epic guitar solo?

[emtee]

Homework assignment.

Go to Megadeth's Youtube channel to check out their new song Dystopia and tell me the first thing that comes to mind in relation
to The Astonishing album 

[RMGadelha]

Sometimes I think people never heard about cyberpunk/dystopic themes. Floating orbs/scanners is such an old concept.

[Train of Naught]

Homework assignment.

Go to Megadeth's Youtube channel to check out their new song Dystopia and tell me the first thing that comes to mind in relation
to The Astonishing album 

Well yea the album is called Dystopia, whaddya expect.

[emtee]

Sometimes I think people never heard about cyberpunk/dystopic themes. Floating orbs/scanners is such an old concept.

Wrong answer. Did you see the video? Do you see those things flying around?

[Thematt202]

Homework assignment.

Go to Megadeth's Youtube channel to check out their new song Dystopia and tell me the first thing that comes to mind in relation
to The Astonishing album 

Dave Mustaine can't sing and Kiko is selling himself way short?  Oh sorry, that was just the first thing that came to mind.

[emtee]

My bad. Need more coffee. I'm obviously not into the whole scene.

Carry on...

[Enigmachine]

Wrong answer. Did you see the video? Do you see those things flying around?

They look nothing like NOMACS apart from them being flying spheres (also, the NOMACS are massive compared to them). I think the song is awesome though.

[RMGadelha]

What I'm saying is that the Megadeth album vs The Astonishing comparison is coming up so many times that it seems people believe that Mustaine and Petrucci invented the concept of flying orbs and other cyberpunkity stuff.

[thosava]

Though, it is kind of weird that both bands make so similar concepts at the same time.

[lucasembarbosa]

ok.

WHERS NEWZ

[ariich]

The Team Rock review seems to have a similarly vague quality to the first DT12 review. Don't expect the most detailed reviews to come first. Interestingly, DT12's Team Rock Review rates higher than TA, yet the TA review claims that the album will 'reclaim the doubters'. Written by the same person as well.

To explain, Team Rock is a composite website covering the Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, and Prog magazines. That review was the Metal Hammer one. I would be gobsmacked if Prog didn't do their own, longer, one as well. Classic Rock probably not as Prog was always an offshoot of that anyway.

[emtee]

Yeah I guess I'm out of the Dystopia loop. Just odd timing that in my 53 years I've never read a book or seen a movie with flying
round objects and then within a couple weeks 2 bands that I've followed for many years go down the same path.


Sorry for wasting your time

[SwedishGoose]

Though, it is kind of weird that both bands make so similar concepts at the same time.

Would be strange of dystopian books and movies were nowhere to be seen.... but, there are quite a few ones around eh...

It's the same with Hollywood, quite often you have movies coming out in the same year that have the same basic premises.

Couple of years before The Great Debate a lot of movies came out that dealt with gene modifications. I remember one was called Gattaca. This was probably because media covered stem cell research and gene modifications a lot during the time before.

Dystopian stories are popular now possibly because we see the media covering the end of the earth as we know it.... wheather we believe it or not media covering is pretty dystopian now
Best headline of last year was - bothersome changes as the world is going under 😉

[thosava]

Yes of course it's not a completely unheard of coincidence. But even if dystopian stories are very popular, i havent seen many music albums containing flying orbs, and now two are released within a week of each other!

[SwedishGoose]

Yes of course it's not a completely unheard of coincidence. But even if dystopian stories are very popular, i havent seen many music albums containing flying orbs, and now two are released within a week of each other!

Maybe they have both been inspired by the movie Oblivion. I guess they both started to write the albums after Oblivion was released.

[SkiFiX]

This should be a VERY fun week.  Looking forward to it. 

I already finished my popcorn...

[chego_voice]

This should be a VERY fun week.  Looking forward to it. 

I already finished my popcorn...

this is my 4th bag... 

[SwedishGoose]

Maybe it's time to make some tonight     

[Another_Won]

This should be a VERY fun week.  Looking forward to it. 

I already finished my popcorn...

this is my 4th bag... 

[hefdaddy42]

I've got a feeling that today is january 8th.
Hope I'm right.

You are a prophet.