The Astonishing release cycle in an alternate reality

[bosk1]

Was just wondering something, hypothetically speaking.  Let's assume an alternate reality where the band were to choose a completely different strategy for releasing The Astonishing. 

The scenario:  The band records The Astonishing, and we get a similar pre-release marketing campaign.  But rather than releasing the album right away, they release the book first.  Then a bit after the book comes out, they go out on tour, and give the album away at the shows (maybe a cheaper version of the album in slip cases, as bands often do when doing an album giveaway on tour).  Then, of course, they still have the regular and deluxe versions of the album for sale afterward.

Just out of curiosity, what do people think of that sort of strategy?  Do you think it would have enhanced your enjoyment of the album?  Would it have been a bad idea to anyone?  Other thoughts?

[TAC]

Honestly, I would have zero interest in a book. I thought what they did was cool enough. It's always about the music.

I don't want to overthink the story line. The fact that some guy is writing a book based on the album is ridiculous, frankly. To me, that is useless. I think the plotlines work perfectly for the CD though.

[gmillerdrake]

Hopefully this doesn't get interpreted wrong because I enjoyed the album and show a lot. I think 'The Astonishing' was meant to be seen live....but I'm not sure the story itself was all that 'original' or compelling to where a book release prior would have made it THAT much more enjoyable. I think Your idea would work say it were a well known Author.....maybe a creepy Dean Koontz novel or a Tom Clancy, something with a more interesting and developed story. I say this having not read and understanding the Astonishing novel is supposed to do that for the album so it might be a bit unfair.

Now, DT doing a soundtrack to a movie would be cool!

[Ben_Jamin]

Honestly, I would have zero interest in a book. I thought what they did was cool enough. It's always about the music.

I don't want to overthink the story line. The fact that some guy is writing a book based on the album is ridiculous, frankly. To me, that is useless. I think the plotlines work perfectly for the CD though.

But JP wanted to do a book, he just needed to find an author. And that random guy is the Author. I bet its a lot for a well known Author to write a book, yet alone write something that's not their idea.


It could've worked. It would have been cooler to release the book and select songs from the album. But then, it makes it more about the Book than the album. An Album based on the book, instead of a Book based on the album. But in all they're both based on a story JP had. And the band enjoyed it and were all in.

[Renzo]

In an alternate universe, DT releases the book, then the book is made into a film with only an orchestral soundtrack, then into a game, eventually they will release the album taking the movie script and adding rock instruments to the orchestral soundtrack and in the end they will do a world tour.

Time spent by DT working on TA in this parallel universe: 2015 - 2020 

   

[MirrorMask]

Honestly, I would have zero interest in a book. I thought what they did was cool enough. It's always about the music.

Indeed. The book as an afterthought for those who want to explore more the world of The Astonishing is just fine, but to have the book the centerpiece of it all and the album being the soundtrack to the book in a sense, would have been just weird.

[Chino]

The only thing I would have changed about the release would have been the vocals. I wish guests were brought in for a few of the characters and toured with the band. I too have no interest in the book.

[gmillerdrake]

The only thing I would have changed about the release would have been the vocals. I wish guests were brought in for a few of the characters and toured with the band.

That would have been cool.

[MirrorMask]

Thinking of The Astonishing as a separate entity, I would agree with that, and personally I wouldn't have minded so much. The problem is that the story is an ensemble cast of characters, and having guest for all characters would mean to have 1/7 of James on the album.

On Scenes from a Memory you could have I guess a female vocalist playing Victoria, but on The Astonishing with so many characters it really stops to be a Dream Theater album and becomes an Ayreon one. Also, who would James play? it's almost mandatory to have your own lead singer being the protagonist, but if you just let him have Arhys (who btw, spoiler, dies midway disc 2) or Gabriel, you have him missing from so many pivotal songs.

[Shooters1221]

My thoughts, an early book release would not have had any impact on me as I'm more about the music than the story but I can see how that would please some people, however, I don't like going into the show without knowing anything musically that's coming. I'd much more prefer the release of the album to absorb as much as possible before I see the show, for any release. I loved The Astonishing, but there is so much music there that it would have drove me nuts trying to put it all together in one listen and I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the show as much in that respect.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Very cool idea. Sadly, I don't think I would have been quite as interested if they did things that way. However, I do think there was room for improvement on how everything was rolled out in reality.

[Setlist Scotty]

While an interesting idea, I would say releasing the book before the album wouldn't have worked. Why? Just look at the way most book-to-movie translations work out. 9 times out of 10, most people will say "the book was WAY better" and I'd wager something similar would've happened in this case. People would be wondering why certain plot points in the book weren't used in the music.

Of course, if the album was written/recorded first, the argument would be that those things were added after the album was done. But then the question would be "why didn't JP re-write the album to include these plot points?" And even then, it would still put JP in an awkward situation since he might read the story and think some of the things the author included were better than the way the story is presented in the music. So then he would have to decide whether to re-do parts (or maybe even all) of the album or not, and if he did, he would probably need to give the author credit as well.

So while all hypothetical, I think the way things worked out was probably for the best, aside from the personal issues I have with the album, but that's a whole other discussion that's been beat to death already in numerous threads...

[geeeemo]

The only thing I would have changed about the release would have been the vocals. I wish guests were brought in for a few of the characters and toured with the band. I too have no interest in the book.

I personally like having JLB in all the vocals.  I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to the different nuances in his singing, bringing the characters to life. It is a wonderful showcase. I can't imagine someone else being Nafaryus, or any of the others. When I go to see DT in concert, I want to see JLB, not a host of others.

[cramx3]

I don't really understand the strategy.  Only the hardcore fans are going to show up to a concert where the music will be all new to them and only thing to base off what it may be like, is from a book?  I don't have a whole lot of interest in a book, but maybe releasing a book then the album then do a tour may not be the worse idea.  Let people who want to, dig into the story a bit before digesting the album.  Giving away the album with a ticket sale is a fine idea as well, bands are starting to do this as a way to get album sales plus with album sales declinging in general, this is a good way of getting the album into the hands of people who are showing up. 

I do think that having the book come out so long after the album isn't the greatest idea.  I'd think for sales, you'd want these things a bit closer in timing.  I know there's obstacles and whatnot, but I feel the book's release isn't really a big deal to most fans since the album is not really on anyone's mind anymore.   

[Cool Chris]

It would take a band with a ton more stones and clout than DT to successfully pull off something like this.

Regarding the book, I consider myself a diehard DT fan and frequent contributor to this forum. And I am barely aware that there is even an Astonishing book.

[pg1067]

Just out of curiosity, what do people think of that sort of strategy?

I would not have been likely to buy such a book and, therefore, would have been less likely to have attended a show on the tour.  I also think such a strategy would have required the band or its label to pay a significant portion of the book's development and release costs.

Disclaimer:  I have only listened to The Astonishing about three times, and it hasn't at all connected with me.  As a result (and for at least one other extrinsic reason), I didn't see the tour for the album and have little or no interest in the book.

[Ben_Jamin]

What I think would make it better is if they had gotten a female vocalist for Faythe.
JLB would get time to rest his vocals while the female singer sings her solo spot...Act of Faythe...I nominate Teresa Thompson.

[Cool Chris]

I am glad James did all the vocals. This is DT not Ayreon.

[Evai]

But he has to do the 'extremely breathy' thing to get across the point that it's female. An actual girl would be a big improvement, this is dream theater not john mayer

[cramx3]

I have no issues with JLB doing all the parts on the album, but it would be cool for them to do a performance with a female and other males for the various parts, similar to what they did with Lzzy Hale.  Do it live with an orchestra and choir, still have the video screens in the back, and of course film it for release on blu-ray.

[Evai]

Lzzy Hale would be an excellent choice for Faythe, imagine all those ballads with this voice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkfR9SqMXpk 

[MirrorMask]

I love Lzzy but I think she's too rock n' roll and "aggressive" for the characters of The Astonishing. Not that she can't do ballads, because she obviously can, but I don't see her in the role.

[pg1067]

I nominate Teresa Thompson.

I think Theresa Thomason would be a better choice.

[gzarruk]

Anneke van Giersbergen.

(drops mic)

[Adami]

Anneke van Giersbergen.

(drops mic)

This post works just as well without any context, in almost any thread.

[Cool Chris]

Anneke van Giersbergen.

(drops pants)

[Madman Shepherd]

I kind of like how they rolled it out.  That whole "choose which side your on" got me intrigued.  I chose the.....ummm...don't remember...the bad guys.  At the time I didn't know they were the bad guys so I was disappointed I chose the side of the big government people that hated music. 

I thought it was going to be this big battle between two sides and it was a grey area about which one right.  Fans could debate, maybe even switch sides as new viewpoints were discussed.  We could examine the album on a deep level about what it means.  So yeah, not really that deep.  That's not a slight, I think it was just very basic.  Some stories are great that are basic.  I didn't feel that way about this one.  So perhaps they shouldn't have rolled it out that way but for a brief time I was excited.  Then as a whole I was disappointed in the album so I guess my views about the rest aren't relevant. 

[pg1067]

I thought it was going to be this big battle between two sides and it was a grey area about which one right.  Fans could debate, maybe even switch sides as new viewpoints were discussed.  We could examine the album on a deep level about what it means.  So yeah, not really that deep.  That's not a slight, I think it was just very basic.  Some stories are great that are basic.  I didn't feel that way about this one.  So perhaps they shouldn't have rolled it out that way but for a brief time I was excited.

Maybe when they do "The Astonishing II:  Even MORE Astonishinger!" or "The Astonishing II:  Baffling and Bemused."

[Architeuthis]

I think it would be wise for them to have TA book on the next DT tour cycle.  That's how Rush did it with Neil's books.  The Clockwork Angels book came out a while after the album, I might not have boight the book if I didn't get hooked on the album first. I liked the Clockwork Angels book, it was a fun read to me. I will definitely get The Astonishing book when it is released because I love the album. I'm ready for a vast adventure, hopefully not frightened for my life.. 

[Madman Shepherd]

I thought it was going to be this big battle between two sides and it was a grey area about which one right.  Fans could debate, maybe even switch sides as new viewpoints were discussed.  We could examine the album on a deep level about what it means.  So yeah, not really that deep.  That's not a slight, I think it was just very basic.  Some stories are great that are basic.  I didn't feel that way about this one.  So perhaps they shouldn't have rolled it out that way but for a brief time I was excited.

Maybe when they do "The Astonishing II:  Even MORE Astonishinger!" or "The Astonishing II:  Baffling and Bemused."

Oh god no.

[Pragmaticcircus]

The Hashtaggery 2: Why U Do Dis?

[Pragmaticcircus]

Anneke van Giersbergen.

(drops mic)

This post works just as well without any context, in almost any thread.

........On almost any website 

[Evai]

I'm pretty sure the sequel is titled The Astonishing Too: Return of Nefaryous. And the third one is The Astonishing: King Of Ravenskill. I'm gonna wait for the double bundle.

[noxon]

My biggest peeve with the release cycle as it happened was not necessarily how they released things, but what. The clips and songs released before the album gave a wrong impression of what the album was. I remember even having arguments here where I had to press that the album was MUCH softer than the metal edge the trailer gave away. It was kinda like giving a trailer that gave the impression of an action movie, but going to see it it was just a drama movie with a few minutes of action sequences.

[Lethean]

The only thing I would have changed about the release would have been the vocals. I wish guests were brought in for a few of the characters and toured with the band. I too have no interest in the book.

I personally like having JLB in all the vocals.  I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to the different nuances in his singing, bringing the characters to life. It is a wonderful showcase. I can't imagine someone else being Nafaryus, or any of the others. When I go to see DT in concert, I want to see JLB, not a host of others.

+1 Absolutely.