Parts of 'The Astonishing' that remind you of......

[IdoSC]

James' singing on Lord Nafaryus (entire song), the beginning of Three Days, and Nafaryus' parts on A New Beginning are extremely Matt Bellamy esque. Too bad he didn't sing that way on Never Enough

[matthewmatt]

Oh, and the Brother, Can You Hear Me? theme reminds me of the chorus of the Beach Boys' Don't Go Near the Water.   

[Paintbox]

Brother Can You Hear Me reminds me of Outside The Wall and The Wall in general.
2.05 of The Path That Divides sounds like 2.10 of Scarred.
There were other moments but I can't think of them now

[Zydar]

Oh, and the Brother, Can You Hear Me? theme reminds me of the chorus of the Beach Boys' Don't Go Near the Water.   

Whoah, good call

[wizard of Thought]

The intro of A New Beginning reminds me of Cowboys From Hell (Pantera) for some reason.

[pdurbin22]

"Our New World" has a similar vibe to "The Way It Used To Be."

[Progmetty]

On my first few listens to The Gift of Music; "Changing the course of history" sounded like "Now I'm spoiled beyond my wildest dreams"

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

The Answer - Disney.

[gm5k]

The piano intro of "The X Aspect" always reminds me of "Monster" by K-Pop group Big Bang 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh-LBREbExs

Intro 12 string part of "Heaven's Cove" and OTBOA.

[breaktheprisonwall]

Personally, I have heard several sections that, to my ears, actually reference past DT songs/albums. A couple that immediately jump to mind are:

-the intro to Heaven's Cove (On The Backs Of Angels)
-a vocal bit in Moment Of Betrayal (The Great Debate)
-the Arhys/Daryus back and forth in The Path That Divides (similar to verses in This Dying Soul)
- the last minute or so of My Last Farewell (The Ministry of Lost Souls)
- the NOMAC tracks (the transition between Panic Attack and Never Enough)

I don't know if anyone else has heard these or if it's just me, and I'm sure there are more that I can't think of right now, but I think it's kind of cool that they are self-referencing a large chunk of their past. (I mean, I know that they have done this before but I don't think I've heard references to so many different albums in one album before.)

Edit: How could I forget- the into to Dystopian Overture is extremely similar to A Nightmare To Remember.

[The Presence of Frenemies]

The vocal progressions and general vibe of Our New World is unmistakably similar to House of Lords' "Under Blue Skies."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0aEIXXVjhc

[genome]

A Life Left Behind's chorus reminds me a little bit of Resolve by the Foo Fighters.

[lovethedrake]

A New Beginning sounds straight out of Jesus Christ Superstar

The Opening of Heavens Cove sounds like On the Backs of Angels combined with "Still Lovin You" by the scorpions.

[lovethedrake]

Also definitely agree that Brother Can you hear me sounds "The Wall"  which is why it's one of my favorite tracks on the album.  It also reminds me of Spirit Carries on a bit.

[rumborak]

A New Beginning sounds straight out of Jesus Christ Superstar

Funny thing is, I have never heard a single tune from Jesus Christ Superstar. But when I heard A New Beginning I thought to myself "that's what JCSS must sound like".

[nicmos]

"Bow down to Nafaryus" in Three Days keeps making me think of Fistful of Sand from Redemption

[The Presence of Frenemies]

The riff in Lord Nafaryus about a minute in is almost straight out of the TMOLS instrumental section.

[NoseofNicko]

This part from Dystopian Overture (and A New Beginning) sounds extremely familiar to me:

https://vocaroo.com/i/s0WnqDoo2Pab

Does it sound familiar to anyone else? If so, do you know what it sounds like?

Oh and also I really feel like I've heard the chorus from Three Days before. Anyone has any clue?

[The Hairy Man]

The piano intro to The X Aspect always makes me think of the Lonely Man music from The Incredible Hulk, impossible for me to unhear.

[genome]

^ I thought it was a direct reference, it's basically note for note!

[EstyMaJ]

Moment of Betrayal reminds me a lot of the band Redemption

[SjundeInseglet]

Three Days (the "He will surrender on his own" part) = Oogie Boogie's Song (Nightmare Before Christmas)

[BelichickFan]

This isn't a "part" but the feel of the CD reminds me most of Shadow Gallery's Tyranny.

[chego_voice]

Dystopian Overture 2:51 / SFAM vibe (Overture 1928?)

[Octawakeimages]

A part of Ravenskill sounds similar to "Band on the Run".

Wings - Band on the Run - https://youtu.be/6uAuSn0EgQs?t=1m48s

Ravenskill - https://youtu.be/8ddtGKtoYtg?t=2m45s

[The Curious Orange]

The first bit of "Chosen" reminds me of "You Needed Me" by Anne Murray.

[chrisbDTM]

I hear paramore's 'the only exception' in a life left behind's verses

[bosk1]

The vocal progressions and general vibe of Our New World is unmistakably similar to House of Lords' "Under Blue Skies."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0aEIXXVjhc

Whoa.  I LOVE that song, but I hadn't even thought of that connection. 

[Rickharris1011]

The intro and main keyboard melody in When Your Time Has Come sounds straight out of a Sammy Hagar-era Van Halen song (a good thing in my book)

[jvelvet3]

The chorus of Our New World - specifically the way James sings "Build a new worrrrrrreerrrrrroooold" reminded me of something...but I couldn't pinpoint just what it was. Then (spoiler) it hit me! Pink Floyds Take It Back. I've listened to them both now, and while they don't really sound that much alike, I'm sticking to my original story.

[The Presence of Frenemies]

The vocal progressions and general vibe of Our New World is unmistakably similar to House of Lords' "Under Blue Skies."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0aEIXXVjhc

Whoa.  I LOVE that song, but I hadn't even thought of that connection.

Ha! Interesting. The first three or four times I heard ONW I was like "this sounds like something..." and it was bothering me. Then I realized that was the song. Ironically maybe the only other usage of bagpipes in hard rock/metal that I'm familiar with.

[Dreamer]

If you recognise these Rush lyrics you may recognise a very similar recurring melody in The Astonishing:

I have memory and awareness
But I have no shape or form
As a disembodied spirit
I am dead and yet unborn

I have passed into Olympus
As was told in tales of old
To the city of immortals
Marble white and purist gold.

[ZKX-2099]

A New Beginning - 4:43

Metropolis - 4:30

[BlobVanDam]

The Path That Divides = U2 + Scarred + I think the bit from 2:30 onwards reminds me of something but I can't quite pinpoint it.

[CoT67]

Dunno if it was already mentioned somewhere else, but certain parts and vocal lines are strongly reminiscent of Disney songs... the Nafaryus parts especially give off a strong Aladdin/Nightmare Before Christmas vibe, both in melody and delivery.

Also, there's a part in Dystopian Overture with a choir melody that has a sort of Lion King vibe and a drum rhythm that is strongly reminiscent of Overture 1928.