New Album “Distance Over Time’, First Set of 2019 Tour Dates announced!

[Darkstarshades]

Another VERY uninspired song  This song could be straight from The Astonishing(ly boring album). Aside from the awesome middle section (by JP & JR), this song is another loser. Two for two bad ones so far. My hopes have faded.

I'm truly sorry to hear that.

[erwinrafael]

I think some really just have moved on from Dream Theater. Personally, I don't know how this can be conceived as uninspired, but hey, each of us has things we want to hear from Dream Theater's music, and personally, I am pleasantly surprised with what I heard.

I agree, but I think that's a really good thing.  Hard to sound fresh after 14 albums, but this song is doing it.  I love the overall sound and production.  Untethered Angel was more "meh" for me, but I'm really impressed with this one.

I don't know if listening to the two songs back to back would change how you would appreciate UA, but it worked for me.

[YtseJamittaja]

I can hear the Astonishing influence here but like rockin version of it. As mentioned above, the middle section is the best part of the song. The chorus is unfortunately one of DT's weakest, vocals are really forgettable as a whole. I think this will not be along with my favourites but it's not bad either. UA had much better first impression in me.

[Bertie_Wooster]

I kinda wish JP had played the beginning in Nuno Bettencourt funky style
I like the song but like others I think it feels pasted together.
The solo reminds me of Iron maiden.

[Bertielee]

Another VERY uninspired song  This song could be straight from The Astonishing(ly boring album). Aside from the awesome middle section (by JP & JR), this song is another loser. Two for two bad ones so far. My hopes have faded.

I'm truly sorry to hear that.

At the same time, ever since MP left, I don't think I've ever seen As I Am say a single positive thing about the band. So, that one's not a surprise.

B.Lee

[As I Am]

I love the overall sound and production.  Untethered Angel was more "meh" for me, but I'm really impressed with this one.

Since I don't like the song (or UA either) can you elaborate on what impressed YOU about this new song? I mean, aside from JP and JR to a lesser extent, the lyrics are weak, the vocals are completely uninspired, there's no melody at all and to me just seems like a run of the mill DT song from any of the last few cd's.

[As I Am]

Another VERY uninspired song  This song could be straight from The Astonishing(ly boring album). Aside from the awesome middle section (by JP & JR), this song is another loser. Two for two bad ones so far. My hopes have faded.

I'm truly sorry to hear that.

At the same time, ever since MP left, I don't think I've ever seen As I Am say a single positive thing about the band. So, that one's not a surprise.

B.Lee

That's NOT correct. Aside from 1 or 2 songs, I LOVE ADTOE! The "DT" album was "good" and I'll just say I wasn't thrilled with TA

[jsbru]

I love the overall sound and production.  Untethered Angel was more "meh" for me, but I'm really impressed with this one.

Since I don't like the song (or UA either) can you elaborate on what impressed YOU about this new song? I mean, aside from JP and JR to a lesser extent, the lyrics are weak, the vocals are completely uninspired, there's no melody at all and to me just seems like a run of the mill DT song from any of the last few cd's.

The thrash metal sound is new for DT, even though they've touched on it previously.  I think it provides a nice contrast with the middle section.  Their music is going back to sounding epic and theatrical, and there are a lot of less-than-predictable chord changes throughout the song that sound really good and add a lot of color to the song.

[IDontNotDoThings]

I adore this new song.

[Ben_Jamin]

Those complaining about the drums....that middle section where they come in is golden.

[SeRoX]

This song overall doesn't give the "Dream Theater" feeling and believe me it's a good thing.

+
*Middle section is great, I just listen that section more than song itself.
*That agressive drum is what I need from MM.
*Love the guitar tone.

-
*Terrible vocal production again. (Plus, vocals are not memorable but that's not a problem overall)
*Overall song itself sounds so disjointed.
*I don't like Rudess solo. It's so out of place.

[Polarbear]

Chorus is the weakest part of the song, it feels like it's building towards something and then abruptly ends.

Other than that, I probably enjoyed that more than any other single from the Mangini era. In fact I listened to it three times in a row before going to sleep, and I never got that from the other singles. Not even Untethered Angel, which has grown on me a bit. I don't know what it is, but this song just clicked with me.

This brings another question into my mind, why isn't this the opening track? Why start your album with a safe mid tempo track, instead of coming out guns blazing right out of the gate? This song screams album opener for me, in fact I hope they pick this as the opening song on the upcoming tour

[Phoenix87x]

Fall into the light is a powerful song, and I like it quite a bit. The verses are again, just so so, but the chorus is decent and everything else going on in the song is really good, so I'm happy.

The middle part kind of reminds me of Metallica Unforgiven, which is not a complaint at all. Its a cool sound.

[IDontNotDoThings]

One thing I just realised: does anyone else think the melody sounds a bit like The Old Haunt by The Dear Hunter?

[Pettor]

I love the new song! It has so many of the things I have wished to hear from DT since ADTOE basically. Great "progressive" riffing with variation and groove. Also that James can sing and still have a chaotic crazy riff going on at the same time. Have missed this ever since Mangini era started basically. Sound production is awesome and the energy distribution is great. Understand what Petrucci means about organic sounding. Compared to DT12 this is night and day.

The vocals is once again the disappointment and overall think they could have done more with James in the song. During the middle section I was sure James soothing smooth voice would start at one point and I think they should have included him there. A bit like LTL where they build and make something truly special out of the section and then go into the instrumental and finally back to chorus.

I actually would have wanted this song to be 4 more minutes. This is honestly my biggest concern about the new album, that this is one of the longer songs and still feels short and could have utilized a lot more time to make it even more special. That middle section have huge potential. Already fantastic ofc. but I just love when DT takes it's time to build on a beautiful section and then go full epic

Saying it feels "uninspired" couldn't more wrong for me. You can't create this song and be uninspired.

[jayvee3]

Another VERY uninspired song  This song could be straight from The Astonishing(ly boring album). Aside from the awesome middle section (by JP & JR), this song is another loser. Two for two bad ones so far. My hopes have faded.

Crunching metal riffs, a beautiful, almost western sounding middle section and some vocals and drums which compliment the song exceptionally well, and it's still getting touted as uninspired? No dramas to me if you don't like the song, that's your prerogative, but to use the term uninspired is pretty ordinary. Also not sure if you're trying to lump things you don't like together for the sake of it, but how this would fit anywhere into The Astonishing is another baffling statement. The sound and vibe are poles apart.

In any case, for the band to still have some fresh sounds like this after 14 albums is a pretty great feat in my book. I really enjoyed UA, but this one is an absolute gem.

[Addy]

I think what I love the most about this song is the sound/production. They nailed it this time! Sounds in your face, yet very organic. Great drum sound, guitars are powerful, less muddy than last time, and "roomy" which is nice. Bass is present, keyboards blend well with the rest. So happy about it! People say JLB is overprocessed, I don't have any problem with it. I mean, Devin's albums are full of processing and nobody complains. But nevermind the haters!

The song itself is wonderful. I didn't expect them to suddenly explore and create something totally different or to rediscover prog - I wanna hear DT doing their thing and deliver cool tracks. That's what they did. The first part is cool, maybe not spectacular, but strong. Then after 3 minutes, the magic starts. Truly beautiful!

I went from trying not to expect anything special to being hyped for this album! Really dig what I heard so far!

[metrojam]

Love the riff and groove and the gentle middle part too. James's vocals are so much better than on "UA" too but the lack of a memorable chorus sadly nullifies all those aforementioned "good parts" of the song.
An average 6/10 for me I'm afraid, preferred "Untethered Angel" (now if only the vocals had been like this one on that, then it would have been a killer!)
Still hopeful for next month though.

[JLa]

Don't know what to think of this, really. It has lots of cool parts and grooves, but it's all so disjointed. I don't think it feels like a "song", rather a bunched of ideas they mashed together.

That shred-fest of an ending.  So awesome. Nice mid-section too. And the rest. Again, it's all good, but ... is it one song? I struggle!

[erwinrafael]

Learning to Live and Scarred is so much more disjointed than this song but nobody's complaining because they are "classic."

[jayvee3]

I really feel in a song like this, the riffs and solos are the highlight. To me, it's not a vocal driven song and doesn't have to be. The vocals that are there are solid, complimentary and fit in perfectly, to allow the instrumental sections to shine. I think that's what I love so much about the Mangini era albums. Everything  just seem a little more complimentary to what fits the particular song or moment.

[Darkstarshades]

I have no trouble with the solo at all, if any, I think it was needed, not the first time we had something like that before.

If any, I would have liked they had developed 2:42 into a vocal line, but it doesn't feel disjointed at all.

[Darkstarshades]

Besides, if this is disjointed to you, then I don't know where the rest of the prog world stands!

[JLa]

Learning to Live and Scarred is so much more disjointed than this song but nobody's complaining because they are "classic."

Funny you should mentioned those - two of my favorite tracks right there! Scarred especially. I don't hear it as disjointed, I think it's really cleverly structured with crescendos (i.e. 2:07) to move forward/changing and recurring themes going back and forth.

[Darkstarshades]

Scarred is an anthem to disjointment, up there with Illumination Theory.

[erwinrafael]

Learning to Live and Scarred is so much more disjointed than this song but nobody's complaining because they are "classic."

Funny you should mentioned those - two of my favorite tracks right there! Scarred especially. I don't hear it as disjointed, I think it's really cleverly structured with crescendos (i.e. 2:07) to move forward/changing and recurring themes going back and forth.

There are lots of recurring riffs and chord progressions in FitL. Oh well, I especially find it funny to hear people complain disjointed but find that middle section of Learning to Live as not. Crazy.

[Pettor]

Learning to Live and Scarred is so much more disjointed than this song but nobody's complaining because they are "classic."

Haha 100% agree! Not even sure how this one can be disjointed compared to a lot of classic songs, most specifically Scarred which always been my main offender in this category. Maybe what I mean with disjointed is not what other means. The song flows nicely imo.

[erciccio]

Initial reaction: nice riffs and beautiful middle section (Metallica meets Morricone in Dream Theater sauce).
Don't feel it's disjointed at all, the sections flow quite well.
I have one major problem with the vocal mix though...hope it's just due to the "web" quality, but both for UA and FITL everytime James starts singing not only e is too low, but also all other instruments get muddy.

[AboutToCrash]

The pentatonic minor run right at the end is so satisfying

[abydos]

The drums are a bit too busy in the opening riff, imo. The slow moment around the 4th-minute mark is rather nice. Don't care for the vocal melodies and the vocal effects again.

Uninstall Jordan Rudess.

[erwinrafael]

The drums are a bit too busy in the opening riff, imo.

But Mike Portnoy in The Mirror is ok?

[Moor]

The outro !  Is this longest DT drum fill ever? Almost 8 seconds!

[abydos]

The drums are a bit too busy in the opening riff, imo.

But Mike Portnoy in The Mirror is ok?

Yes, it doesn't feel as fast paced and makes the riff stand out more and sound heavier. After the first 15seconds it sounds much more fitting but the opening part not so much.

[Darkstarshades]

The outro !  Is this longest DT drum fill ever? Almost 8 seconds!

Illumination Theory fill at 3:27 is slighty longer, albeit slower

[nobloodyname]

Personally, I don't know how this can be conceived as uninspired, but hey, each of us has things we want to hear from Dream Theater's music, and personally, I am pleasantly surprised with what I heard.

For me, this is some of the laziest criticism anyone can make of a piece of music. By all means, call it 'uninspiring' but 'uninspired'? No. Perhaps some people don't understand the difference.

To be on topic, I haven't heard the track myself yet. Perhaps later.