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

[King Postwhore]

Those were the days.  Don't forget the tinny 80's days as well.

[Bertie_Wooster]

I love the Drum sound on St Anger AND DT12

[Bertie_Wooster]

Those of you fixated with the production of a record and details like the drum snare or the guitar tone clearly never lived in the cassette tapes era, where all you had to get by was a cassette taped from a friend taped from a friend taped from a friend that copied it from a lucky rich friend that had the newest wonder of technology, a CD player.

Try to survive on third hand tapes all your formative years, even St. Anger will sound wonderful then 

I still remember how good the Journey concert at the philadelphia spectrum I recorded off the radio sounded.   Nothing could have been done to improve it.
My tape of Journey "escape"  sounded perfect as well.

[zmazar]

Also I just thank God that evidently my ears aren't as tuned in as a lot of the guys on here. Honestly, I just listen to it and love it. Didnt have a problem with ADTOE or DT, I thought they both sounded great! 

It's not really a matter of being able to hear it, it's more that what people hear is quite divisive. I thought that both albums sound really good as well even if I can hear a lot of what many dislike about them sound-wise.

And you get this from a Youtube clip?  Maybe you should wait until you have a better quality of album in your hands.  Or am I wrong and you have one in your hands right now?

Anyone who preordered has a very nice quality (presumably the final mastered) TGoM track.

Wow, I literally did not know that I got a high quality TGOM file along with my pre-order confirmation  personally I'm not a huge audio critic, I'm not noticing too much difference between this and the Spotify one.

And I didn't notice it until I read your post..... 

[LimblessBoyRidingRaven]

[CoT67]

Those of you fixated with the production of a record and details like the drum snare or the guitar tone clearly never lived in the cassette tapes era, where all you had to get by was a cassette taped from a friend taped from a friend taped from a friend that copied it from a lucky rich friend that had the newest wonder of technology, a CD player.

Try to survive on third hand tapes all your formative years, even St. Anger will sound wonderful then 

While I didn't survive on third hand tapes I do have memories of their sound It's just that being a sort of obsessed audiophile I tend to notice many small details... sometimes it's great, sometimes it's annoying, but it rarely gets in the way of the actual music. It is something that can bother me after repeated listens, when I consciously search for smaller details.

...by the way, I don't mind St Anger nor St Anger's snare. While ridiculously frying-pan-beaten-with-a-ladle sounding, it has its character.

[Implode]

I'm curious as to what the new forum themes will look like!

[cramx3]

I'm curious as to what the new forum themes will look like!

Did not even think about this, I wonder if Bosk has something worked up for this.

[bosk1]

You may be astonished to know that I am not planning on new themes.

[Kotowboy]

I'd keep it dark blue even if you did.

[ariich]

The Trailer It made me laugh. Is it cheesy, bombastic, slightly ridiculous and totally preposterous? Hell yes! Am I stoked for the new album? Hell yes! Did it therefore do its job? Hell yes! 

Just quoting this because it's so spot on. The cheese factor is such a part of what makes DT endearing.

[ariich]

Also, why are people insisting that "taking it seriously" and "having fun with it" are mutually exclusive. Like many bands (and indeed artists of any kind) DT do both.

[TAC]

Also, why are people insisting that "taking it seriously" and "having fun with it" are mutually exclusive. 

Great point!

[Enigmachine]

Also, why are people insisting that "taking it seriously" and "having fun with it" are mutually exclusive. Like many bands (and indeed artists of any kind) DT do both.

Yup, if DT were 100% serious, I don't think we'd have stuff like the Zappa section in BtL, the Jingle Bells quote from Octavarium, the animation to Enigma Machine among many other things. DT love to have fun with their music alongside being very dedicated to it.

[Bertie_Wooster]

but at the same time they never recorded MP's most famous song EMAAB

[Pax]

I'm just thinking, I really don't understand those guys saying that trailer animation sucks. I mean, ffs, they're a fucking BAND, not Star Wars' producers. The trailer is there just to be something fun, to help us visualise the story, while we are waiting for the album. We should be grateful for having any trailer in the first place. I mean, chill, guys

[ResultsMayVary]

You may be astonished to know that I am not planning on new themes.

Boooooooooo

[RMGadelha]

I thought the forums wouldn't surprise me anymore, but I come here to more or less 3 pages talking about snares. Lol.

[ResultsMayVary]

I know this is said over and over, but it's true. This is DTF. If we don't have new band-related news to discuss, we speculate. When we have new band-related news to discuss, it devolves into a bunch of nit-picking and ridiculous arguments over the dumbest shit.

[Enigmachine]

I'm just thinking, I really don't understand those guys saying that trailer animation sucks. I mean, ffs, they're a fucking BAND, not Star Wars' producers. The trailer is there just to be something fun, to help us visualise the story, while we are waiting for the album. We should be grateful for having any trailer in the first place. I mean, chill, guys

The worst thing is, I see some comments (not here though, unless I missed something) that say that the trailer stopped them from buying it. That's a bit ridiculous.

[AngelBack]

Blowjob analogy.....

So to all those intent on making a point of their disappointment with the quality of the video.  This is the best analogy I can come up with as to why I think it is petty and unappreciative.

You are in a relationship for 10 years with a gf/wife.  She gives great blowjobs.  Some better than others, but all good.  Then after 10 years she wants to surprise you and mix things up and add some excitement so she tells you while blowing you she wants you to download in her mouth and she will swallow.  So your excitement builds then the boom....but as she is choking it down she makes a terrible face.  And rather than appreciate the fact that she took it to another level you focus on the bad expression rather than the act and the overall main event.  You lose some of your own enjoyment over something that is kinda irrelevant.  And in the process you bitch to her that she had diminished your pleasure by not fulfilling the "above and beyond" the way you would have liked.  Good luck getting that from her again you unappreciative SOB....

Fair analogy?

[ResultsMayVary]

I'm just thinking, I really don't understand those guys saying that trailer animation sucks. I mean, ffs, they're a fucking BAND, not Star Wars' producers. The trailer is there just to be something fun, to help us visualise the story, while we are waiting for the album. We should be grateful for having any trailer in the first place. I mean, chill, guys

The worst thing is, I see some comments (not here though, unless I missed something) that say that the trailer stopped them from buying it. That's a bit ridiculous.

That's just people finding an excuse to bash the band publicly and/or to justify not buying the album. People like that are just looking for any tiny thing to declare to the public that they aren't planning on buying the album.

[Panar]

It's just an animated artwork. Nothing else. I don't have a problem with that.

[Podaar]

Fair analogy?

Nope.

But awesome!

[Dream Team]

I'm just thinking, I really don't understand those guys saying that trailer animation sucks. I mean, ffs, they're a fucking BAND, not Star Wars' producers. The trailer is there just to be something fun, to help us visualise the story, while we are waiting for the album. We should be grateful for having any trailer in the first place. I mean, chill, guys

The worst thing is, I see some comments (not here though, unless I missed something) that say that the trailer stopped them from buying it. That's a bit ridiculous.

Yup, the comments have been ridiculous.

[Laughing_man923]

Blowjob analogy.....

So to all those intent on making a point of their disappointment with the quality of the video.  This is the best analogy I can come up with as to why I think it is petty and unappreciative.

You are in a relationship for 10 years with a gf/wife.  She gives great blowjobs.  Some better than others, but all good.  Then after 10 years she wants to surprise you and mix things up and add some excitement so she tells you while blowing you she wants you to download in her mouth and she will swallow.  So your excitement builds then the boom....but as she is choking it down she makes a terrible face.  And rather than appreciate the fact that she took it to another level you focus on the bad expression rather than the act and the overall main event.  You lose some of your own enjoyment over something that is kinda irrelevant.  And in the process you bitch to her that she had diminished your pleasure by not fulfilling the "above and beyond" the way you would have liked.  Good luck getting that from her again you unappreciative SOB....

Fair analogy?

And the award for best analogy goes to...

[RMGadelha]

Wait... Isn't the norwegian listening party today? (Tomorrow for some people). Man, I wonder if we will get some fresh info.

[IDontNotDoThings]

Blowjob analogy.....

So to all those intent on making a point of their disappointment with the quality of the video.  This is the best analogy I can come up with as to why I think it is petty and unappreciative.

You are in a relationship for 10 years with a gf/wife.  She gives great blowjobs.  Some better than others, but all good.  Then after 10 years she wants to surprise you and mix things up and add some excitement so she tells you while blowing you she wants you to download in her mouth and she will swallow.  So your excitement builds then the boom....but as she is choking it down she makes a terrible face.  And rather than appreciate the fact that she took it to another level you focus on the bad expression rather than the act and the overall main event.  You lose some of your own enjoyment over something that is kinda irrelevant.  And in the process you bitch to her that she had diminished your pleasure by not fulfilling the "above and beyond" the way you would have liked.  Good luck getting that from her again you unappreciative SOB....

Fair analogy?

And the award for best analogy goes to...

...this!


Anyway, to address the actual point AngelBack is trying to make, I wouldn't say that's a fair analogy because:

1) Blowjobs generally aren't remembered months after they're given

2) Blowjobs don't affect anyone other than the person giving & the person receiving, so one person's opinion makes a lot more difference

3) The wife most likely didn't make that face intentionally, DT's promotional team knew what they were creating the whole time they were creating it

4) The above point also plays in because DT didn't have to do what they did. As others have pointed out in this thread, they could've gone with the simpler hand-drawn approach rather than making it all "realistic-looking" if they didn't have the budget to make the characters look like they were meant to. If you do anything, that thing is open to positive & negative opinions, & if the general consensus turns out to be negative, the ol' Never Enough argument of "Can't you see I'm trying? Stop pointing out flaws in my work." doesn't really work out too well.

5) Very few people are actually saying TA is 100% going to suck & giving up all positivity they have over it because they didn't like the trailer. It's like acusing of an ad hominem: if you acuse someone of an ad hominem, you're acusing them of dismissing your point via an insult, not just the insult itself. Same case here, saying the trailer is bad isn't synonymous with saying TA will suck because the trailer is bad. See the difference? (& yes I do know that a slight minority are saying the latter, but given the scarcity of these comments, & the fact that they haven't been on DTF, I doubt those are the people you were actually referring to).

6) The reason people aren't focusing on the "overall main event" is because TA isn't out yet, so people are just going with what they have so far & if what they have so far is bad in their eyes, small & irrelevant as it may be, it's still bad to those people

Personally, the trailer doesn't bother me too much, but if people have an issue with it, I'm not going to belittle their opinion just because it's their opinion of a small part of a bigger picture... especially when this counter-reaction wouldn't have occurred if the general consensus for the trailer was positivity.

Rant over.

[Zook]

People still care about videos? Album trailer videos no less? Yeah, the "animation" is pretty bad, but who the fuck cares? The trailer was meant to give us a taste of the music. Should they hire someone else for animation duties next time? Most definitely, but the music is what matters. I can understand if it was an official music video that made it to MTV, then sure, I'd be embarrassed too, but it's what, a minute long teaser? Go outside.

Unless Lord Nafaryus is an alien and he was caught morphing back into his human disguise.

[IDontNotDoThings]

Yeah, what is this? A thread where we discuss our opinions on updates for the new album? Yeah, that'd be dumb.

[jsbru]

My least favorite snare sound is MP's on A Change of Seasons.  I don't have any issue with the sound of MM's drums, other than some of the cool stuff that was lost in the mix (esp. cymbal parts).

I was just about to say that I think that was possibly the best snare sound ever.  It's a little bit echo-y, but it sounds like a real drum.

In other words, to each his own.

However, in terms of how much I like the album, the snare sound is about 0.043% of the total determination of whether I like it or not.  Songwriting and mood are usually 1 and 2.  Even for albums like St. Anger (in that case, the douchiness of what that band turned into overrode all other factors by a significant degree).

[Ben_Jamin]

I'm glad the drums aren't over dominating. They compliment the other instruments so well you can barely tell at times. The drums carry the melodies, and the bass is finally nicely mixed again it carries the groove and rhythm.

[Bertie_Wooster]

I'll take a cheesy video over a lewd analogy any day.

[erwinrafael]

I'm glad the drums aren't over dominating. They compliment the other instruments so well you can barely tell at times. The drums carry the melodies, and the bass is finally nicely mixed again it carries the groove and rhythm.

The drums going up and down during the unison section of TGOM is amazing. MM's unique setup allows him to hit one tom at a time during a run.

[Gpals71]

Wait... Isn't the norwegian listening party today? (Tomorrow for some people). Man, I wonder if we will get some fresh info.

Yes. The Norwegian listening party is today, Thursday at 1900 (7 PM) CET.
I am sure we'll get a review. Most likely several. Maybe some news too.