A Tempting Offer

[pcs90]

This song is so dark and evil. The ending section especially gives me chills. It's a great contrast from the pretty and uplifting ballad right before it, too.

Also, does anyone else hear James voice cutting out on the last word? "deci...ide".

[pantsofeternity]

Also, does anyone else hear James voice cutting out on the last word? "deci...ide".

Yup.  I've seen this noted elsewhere; it got buried in the Official Astonishing thread and it showed up in JP's Reddit AMA as well.  It's pretty distracting to me and makes it hard to listen to.

I engineered a fix for myself by tweaking the tempo of that part of the track to speed up, so it feels like a sudden, fast button instead of a drawn-out last note.  The vocal hiccup goes by in a blip.  Not ideal, I know, but easier for me to listen to.

Anyone with a better fix... I'd love to hear it.

[pantsofeternity]

If we want to get real technical, at first I thought it was just an error where that section of the vocal track got deleted and no one noticed before it went to print.  (Well, the latter part is still obviously true.)

But on examining the track, if you slow it down, you can hear the first half ("deci--") audibly step up in pitch before disappearing, leading me to believe it's a melodyne error similar to Gift of Music.  The vocal pitches up but then becomes inaudible when it goes exponentially into extremely high frequencies.  (I think.)

[thosava]

I comented about it in the other thread, but i'll say it again here: it sounds like deci... ivdsh. John Petrucci said he didn't hear the mistake when he listened to it. The error is so distracting that i would want the band to correct it and release the fixed track for digital download...

[V_R11]

Yeah, the deci...ide part bugs me too

Other than that, this is one of my favorite songs. I love the "how dare you step inside my home" part

[MirrorMask]

[Arhys]
How dare you step inside my home?!

[Daryus]
His life is in my hands!

[Arhys]
You monster, leave my son alone!

[Daryus]
You do know who I am
Your love for him is strong


These lines overlap vocally, will JP sing these lines live? standing in for Daryus...

[thosava]

James said that a few lines would be playback, i guess those lines would be an example of where that would work.

[pantsofeternity]

These lines overlap vocally, will JP sing these lines live? standing in for Daryus...

JLB said in an interview (can't remember the source, but I think it was a vid DT tweeted out) that he will sometimes be interacting with external elements in situations where it doesn't make sense for him to do all the lines.  I think it implied that this section would be JLB vs. his tracked vocal coming from the goofy CGI on onscreen?  Not sure how I feel about that idea, but that's what he seemed to be saying in the interview.

[RoeDent]

That "decide" moment is noticable, but one little moment like that shouldn't (and doesn't) spoil an entire song. Calm down.

[pantsofeternity]

John Petrucci said he didn't hear the mistake when he listened to it. The error is so distracting that i would want the band to correct it and release the fixed track for digital download...

Me too.   I was bummed at JP's response, though not surprised.  Either he heard it immediately and was like "OH #%*$& WE SENT THIS OUT LIKE THIS???" but had the PR sense not to say so in a Reddit AMA, or he was listening to different source material, like maybe he had a master track on his computer without this bug?

A third possibility is that maybe it wasn't as obvious on whatever speakers he was listening to?

In any case, yeah, I'm not sure the band will even cop to it.  I mean, what are they going to do, recall all those shipped units?  Of course they could offer a digital download, but it might get them embarrassing press, whereas it's never a story anyone's going to pick up as it is now.

I wish it would be fixed, but I totally get why they'd just say "too late, what can we do."

[pantsofeternity]

That "decide" moment is noticable, but one little moment like that shouldn't (and doesn't) spoil an entire song. Calm down.

Well I'd argue (calmly!) that in fact it does spoil the song a reasonable amount, as it comes right at the end (minus the slower outro).  Kind of ruins the climactic bit.

[MirrorMask]

That "decide" moment is noticable, but one little moment like that shouldn't (and doesn't) spoil an entire song. Calm down.

I don't hear it nor I hear anything weird with the infamous "Time" in The Gift of Music that sparked 33 pages of discussion.

I'm glad to be hearing impaired when it comes to these kind of nuances.

[pcs90]

I engineered a fix for myself by tweaking the tempo of that part of the track to speed up, so it feels like a sudden, fast button instead of a drawn-out last note.  The vocal hiccup goes by in a blip.  Not ideal, I know, but easier for me to listen to.

Anyone with a better fix... I'd love to hear it.

While I haven't tried it, what about just deleting the space where the vocals are cut? Like, just completely cut out that second or so. Personally while I think it's extremely obvious, it doesn't bother me as I've just gotten used to it (much like "tiiime" and other weird vocal bends throughout the album). I may test this later if no one else does just out of curiosity.

[pantsofeternity]

I engineered a fix for myself by tweaking the tempo of that part of the track to speed up, so it feels like a sudden, fast button instead of a drawn-out last note.  The vocal hiccup goes by in a blip.  Not ideal, I know, but easier for me to listen to.

Anyone with a better fix... I'd love to hear it.

While I haven't tried it, what about just deleting the space where the vocals are cut? Like, just completely cut out that second or so. Personally while I think it's extremely obvious, it doesn't bother me as I've just gotten used to it (much like "tiiime" and other weird vocal bends throughout the album). I may test this later if no one else does just out of curiosity.

Was the first thing I tried, and I couldn't really get a satisfactory version, despite numerous variations on where to start and end the cut... the problem is, you also lose some of the instrumentation.  So even in edits where the vocal hiccup was almost completely smoothed out, there was something screwy in the guitar or drums.  But maybe a more skilled audio manipulator could find a way.

I thought about trying to get used to it, as I have grown used to "tiiiiiaaaauuuum" with multiple listens, but for some reason this one irked me more.  Jealous of those who don't hear it / are able to ignore!

[thosava]

I don't hear or care about the supposed mistake in TGOM. But the mistake in ATO is so obvious i just can't unhear it. The word is litterally cut in half, with a gulping sound in between.

To those who heard the album before it was released: was the mistake present in earlier versions too?

[bosk1]

These lines overlap vocally, will JP sing these lines live? standing in for Daryus...

JLB said in an interview (can't remember the source, but I think it was a vid DT tweeted out) that he will sometimes be interacting with external elements in situations where it doesn't make sense for him to do all the lines.  I think it implied that this section would be JLB vs. his tracked vocal coming from the goofy CGI on onscreen?  Not sure how I feel about that idea, but that's what he seemed to be saying in the interview.

As a point of reference, Queensryche did a similar thing way back when they played Mindcrime on the Building Empires tour.  In spots where Nikki traded lines with Dr. X (I forget which songs now), Dr. X was portrayed up on the big screen and his lines were piped in, and Geoff sang Nikki's lines at the screen.  Was it a bit goofy?  Maybe.  But in context of a stage production, it worked well.  I don't think I ever once heard anyone say that they were offput by it.

[Logain Ablar]

Jealous of those who don't hear it / are able to ignore!

I didn't notice it after 10 or so listens, until you guys pointed it out, so yeah, thanks for that.. 

Sounds like maybe a noise gate kicking in or something, but honestly not a big deal for me.

[pantsofeternity]

As a point of reference, Queensryche did a similar thing way back when they played Mindcrime on the Building Empires tour.  In spots where Nikki traded lines with Dr. X (I forget which songs now), Dr. X was portrayed up on the big screen and his lines were piped in, and Geoff sang Nikki's lines at the screen.  Was it a bit goofy?  Maybe.  But in context of a stage production, it worked well.  I don't think I ever once heard anyone say that they were offput by it.

Cool, good to know.  Yeah, I bet it will be fine in context.  I mean, if I couldn't accept a little goofiness, would I be listening to DT in the first place?

[ariich]

I haven't noticed that apparent error, but I'm sure I will at some point now you guys have mentioned it.

This is a great track - I said in the main album thread that it's a perfect example of how well the music reflects the plot. The delicant opening piano theme representing X's innocence then kicking into the same theme but dark and intense to represent Daryus sneaking up behind is just perfect.

[The Astonished]

I think the cut in "decide" makes Daryus appearing even more sinister. Is that just me?

[pcs90]

I think the cut in "decide" makes Daryus appearing even more sinister. Is that just me?

I think this is actually the reason why this particular error doesn't bother me.

[Rickharris1011]

That "decide" moment is noticable, but one little moment like that shouldn't (and doesn't) spoil an entire song. Calm down.

Well I'd argue (calmly!) that in fact it does spoil the song a reasonable amount, as it comes right at the end (minus the slower outro).  Kind of ruins the climactic bit.

Here's an easy fix so it doesn't ruin it for you.  Daryus is so excited about his evil plan that he's frothing at the mouth...so he can't even speak cleanly anymore.  The weird ending is just the sound of the spittle coming out between his teeth. 

[Rickharris1011]

Also that JR solo is downright evil.  Best Solo in ages.  and the groove 

[Nearmyth]

Talked about this song a bit on the main Astonishing thread, it's one of my absolute favorites from Act 1 because of just how evil, disturbing, and emotional it is. It really gives that "oh shit" turn of events.

Also, I must agree that JR solo is really great. There actually wasn't a single JR solo this album I didn't think was pretty excellent (inb4 "the whole album was a JR solo").

[pcs90]

Also, I must agree that JR solo is really great. There actually wasn't a single JR solo this album I didn't think was pretty excellent (inb4 "the whole album was a JR solo").

I'd have to agree, all of his solos fit well with the moods of the songs they're in.

[Darkstarshades]

I hadn't even noticed that decide thing up until now, lol.

I don't give a fuck, however.

[Raise the Drum]

I love that intro.
From a beautiful gentle piano to a evil guitar with a more evil choir in the back.