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

[porcacultor]

Still not seeing much love for the chorus... surely there must be others out there? I think it's one of the nicest chord progressions they've come out with for a long time.

Here!! I loved the chorus and was surprised at how much people didn't care for it.

[bosk1]

I'm not sure which "people" didn't care for it.  It's great.

[Architeuthis]

The chorus is pretty awesome! 

[genome]

I'm not sure which "people" didn't care for it.  It's great.

Seen a few comments - not necessarily on here

Still not seeing much love for the chorus... surely there must be others out there? I think it's one of the nicest chord progressions they've come out with for a long time.

No. You are alone.

Well you're not allowed to be a part of the Bbsus2-Dm-Am-Ebsus2-Dm-Fm-Csus2 fan club then.

[rab7]

I'm not sure which "people" didn't care for it.  It's great.

Seen a few comments - not necessarily on here

Still not seeing much love for the chorus... surely there must be others out there? I think it's one of the nicest chord progressions they've come out with for a long time.

No. You are alone.

Well you're not allowed to be a part of the Bbsus2-Dm-Am-Ebsus2-Dm-Fm-Csus2 fan club then.

I'm trying to get better at chords and what not. I know the normal stuff like major and minor and their inversions, but can you explain what suspended chords are, and what the numbers mean?

[Architeuthis]

The two songs have heavy moments, but I do not feel a dark vibe in them. And I hope no song from the next album has that vibe, because DT has already proven that they don't know how to make good dark songs.

They have done some pretty heavy songs but have made them too light hearted to be considered dark.  I do love the concept of TDEN though, a monster that has come up from the depths of the unknown to wreak havoc.  I want more songs like that, except with an even heavier darker edge!

[genome]

I'm not sure which "people" didn't care for it.  It's great.

Seen a few comments - not necessarily on here

Still not seeing much love for the chorus... surely there must be others out there? I think it's one of the nicest chord progressions they've come out with for a long time.

No. You are alone.

Well you're not allowed to be a part of the Bbsus2-Dm-Am-Ebsus2-Dm-Fm-Csus2 fan club then.

I'm trying to get better at chords and what not. I know the normal stuff like major and minor and their inversions, but can you explain what suspended chords are, and what the numbers mean?

I'm not great at explaining these things so someone may want to correct me...

Sus2 chords are chords that don't really have a tonality as such, they are neither minor nor major. I'm not sure why they're call "suspended" chords exactly but they are a really useful compositional tool to add texture (DT use them constantly) to a chord where you want to imply a tonality rather than outright play a major or minor chord.

It's a chord with an added note a whole tone above the root note (so, an added 2nd, which is where the "2" comes from). So in the case of the first chord, Bbsus2, they use a C in the chord to add some texture.

[Anguyen92]

I was just looking at tickets for the NYC show, looks like it's almost sold out!  That's some positive news, I have yet to go to a sold out Dream Theater show at that venue (or any venue) so would be great for the band to be able to do that.

The Friday show at the Wiltern Theater looks to be almost sold out with the exception of a fair amount of Mezzanine, but quite frankly, those seats aren't really that important, unless some people would rather be up there than down in GA.

Still got a lot of seats left for the Thursday show, but all of the seats from the Holiday Hangover deal in Floor 4 is gone and there are plenty of Mezzanine seats (a couple of them priced at $25.00, so those in LA that wants to go to see DT on the cheap, but would be in the nosebleeds, on Thursday, March 21st, have at it.  I'll be there.)

[NoseofNicko]

I'm not sure which "people" didn't care for it.  It's great.

FITL - even though it's hard to put this one here as it's so new I think beside the worst DT chorus of all time the song has good elements.

[Architeuthis]

Is it just me, or do the vocals seem a bit too high in the mix on FITL?  I mostly hear that during the verses and the chorus, the pre-chorus sounds fine.  Sometimes I wish they would use less modulation effects on the vocals too. I would like to hear James' natural voice with some delay to give it that live feel.
I love everything about the song though!

[DP_Gumby]

I haven't noticed the vocals being a bit too high. Although, in the last verse (before the mid part of the song) when the tempo slows down, I think that his voiced almost sounds a bit strained. But that's the only part of the vocals where I notice it, other than that he's perfectly fine.

That being said. I've discovered my favorite bit so far, certainly related to what I wrote above. I'm talking about the three-stage guitar riff/solo, that starts with the acoustic, then adding I'm guessing the same riff with clean effect on the electric the second run, before finishing off the third time with distorted effect.
I'm not sure if I what I meant was the "correct" way of describing it, but you might understand what part of the song I'm talking about.

[Architeuthis]

The third part with the distorted effect has a harmony (guitarmony) that kicks in with it. Either that or Jordan is doing the harmony with a guitar patch on his keyboard, I haven't listened to it carefully enough yet to know for sure. The first time I heard that song I was waiting for that harmony to come in on that measure.   

[Ninjabait]

I'm not sure which "people" didn't care for it.  It's great.

Seen a few comments - not necessarily on here

Still not seeing much love for the chorus... surely there must be others out there? I think it's one of the nicest chord progressions they've come out with for a long time.

No. You are alone.

Well you're not allowed to be a part of the Bbsus2-Dm-Am-Ebsus2-Dm-Fm-Csus2 fan club then.

I'm trying to get better at chords and what not. I know the normal stuff like major and minor and their inversions, but can you explain what suspended chords are, and what the numbers mean?

When writing harmony or melodic parts, you typically use notes belonging to the chord. But if you just stick to just doing that, your music is going to sound pretty square, so musicians for centuries have been spicing up their chords with notes not belonging to the chords. These are creatively called "non-chord tones". A suspension is type of non-chord tone where a note from the previous chord is suspended into the new chord before resolving down into a chord tone. For example, let's say you have the chords F - C7 - C7 - F over 4 bars:

F -  E   - E   - F
C -  C   - C  - C
A -  Bb - Bb - A
F -  G   - G   - F

Which is fine, but it's a little square. Instead we can do something like:

F -  F   - E   - F
C -  C   - C  - C
A -  Bb - Bb - A
F -  G   - G   - F

Which introduces a bit of colour into the second chord (which is where the suspension occurs) by suspending the top note of the original chord over to the second bar. So the "F" in the second bar is the suspension (because F isn't typically found in a C7 chord), which resolves down to the "E" (which is found in a C7 chord). In pop music, these suspensions take on a life of their own and don't really require the non-chord tone to be in the previous chord, or for it to be resolved downward. They typically just use it for its colourful nature and ambiguous sound. The "4" and "2" in sus chords refers to the distance between the root of the chord and the suspended note. In the example above, the "F" in the first C chord is a 4 steps above C, so it would be a C7sus4. But, if there was a D there instead of an F it would be a C7sus2, because "D" is a 2nd above D.

(Side note for those of you who are curious: these would NOT be C7add11 and C9 because they're missing the 3rd, which is an important note known as a "guide-tone". This is because it distinguishes if the chord is major or minor. It would have to be C - E - G - Bb - D or C - E - Bb - D to be a C9. And also the 11th is not something you would add onto a 7th chord because it clashes with the important 3rd and sounds SUPER ugly)

And if you're wondering, if it resolves up instead of down it's called a "wot in retardation". Yes, really. Pop music never really uses this term tho, and they're just all lumped together under the term "suspension". Which, imo, is MUCH better.

Hopefully that clears things up and isn't information overload. If you need anything cleared up further, let me know.

[Architeuthis]

Wow, nice explanation! Thanks for that lesson. I need to go over it a few times to remember, but it makes sense..

[Peter Mc]

The FITL chorus has grown on me quite a bit. I used to think it was half a chorus that kind of petered out but I'm growing to like it more. I still find the verses to be very generic stock DT verses but there's only really one and a half verses anyway and the rest of the song more than makes up for this.

[jadiggerdt]

First review out.

https://amnplify.com.au/portfolio-items/dream-theater-distance-over-time-album-review/

[erciccio]

First review out.

https://amnplify.com.au/portfolio-items/dream-theater-distance-over-time-album-review/

Well, this is really a nice one.

There is actually another review out, that is so badly written that is not worth mentioning.

The two reviewers seems to like two different set of songs...one more on the metal side, this one more on the proggy.

[nikatapi]

Very positive review. Just about right on what i'm expecting from the album.

[Logain Ablar]

Nice review! I'm very excited to hear Pale Blue Dot now, in particular.

[MirrorMask]

The song with one of my favorite subject matters is the song that will probably make fans go crazy? HELL YEAH!!! 

I also like how he seemed interested by Barstool Warrior, that's quite left field for DT as a title and lyrics topic, I'm curious to hear it!

Also, the reviewer mentions approaching with fresh years the new songs whereas he "overplayed" Untethered Angel... that's why I'm refraining from listening to the singles, I want to hear a 9 songs album, as a full experience, not 7 other songs after having already learnt by other the two released ones.

[Fritzinger]

First review out.

https://amnplify.com.au/portfolio-items/dream-theater-distance-over-time-album-review/

Well, this is really a nice one.

There is actually another review out, that is so badly written that is not worth mentioning.

The two reviewers seems to like two different set of songs...one more on the metal side, this one more on the proggy.

I'd still like to read it, could post it please?

[SeRoX]

What he said about PBD makes me super excited.

[nikatapi]

Found another one, pretty much on the same page, seems like the second half of the album is where things get more interesting:
https://www.therockpit.net/2019/album-review-dream-theater-distance-over-time/

[TAC]

First review out.

https://amnplify.com.au/portfolio-items/dream-theater-distance-over-time-album-review/

I found this observation interesting:

"All in all Distance Over Time  sounds like Dream Theater doing what they do best. The irony of the matter is that jaded fans, and especially those still observing candlelight vigils over Mike Portnoy's self-inflicted departure will lament this very fact. I can hear them now 'This sounds just like every other Dream Theater album'! Dream Theater's first five albums were exceptional and quite varied from a stylistic viewpoint – a hard act to follow for any band.  Perhaps the variation in sound during this most vital period was aided by the fact that 3 different keyboard players contributed to the band over that period."

and..

"Whilst it's  true that over the course of the most recent 9 releases the pairing of Petrucci and Rudess (& Co) have clearly found a comfortable compositional style, I prefer to view this air of familiarity  as a hallmark of a truly classic musical act. Whatever the case may be it would be fair to say Dream Theater can often be held to unprecedented levels of scrutiny by their fan base."

[dream75]

I think that Barstool Warrior, At Wit's End and Pale Blue Dot will be the best and Paralyzed the worst

[erciccio]

First review out.

https://amnplify.com.au/portfolio-items/dream-theater-distance-over-time-album-review/

Well, this is really a nice one.

There is actually another review out, that is so badly written that is not worth mentioning.

The two reviewers seems to like two different set of songs...one more on the metal side, this one more on the proggy.

I'd still like to read it, could post it please?

It's on the decibel magazine.
You can find it here
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dreamtheater/comments/aagkht/decibel_review_of_distance_over_time/

[Zydar]

Yikes

[JRuless]

Found another one, pretty much on the same page, seems like the second half of the album is where things get more interesting:
https://www.therockpit.net/2019/album-review-dream-theater-distance-over-time/

Definitly hyped now! Pale Blue D/T

[lovethedrake]

Very excited about all the references to the 80's.... as someone who loves the earlier side of DT's work this has me pumped.

I still love them after SDOIT but TOT is sort of when they dropped off a bit for me.   I just don't like modern metal as much. 

[jonny108]

Another review here - https://www.staccatofy.com/rock/dream-theater-distance-over-time-review/.  Shorter than the other recent ones but nonetheless very positive. 

[rab7]

Another review here - https://www.staccatofy.com/rock/dream-theater-distance-over-time-review/.  Shorter than the other recent ones but nonetheless very positive.

For anyone like me who saw the word "comradery" in two different reviews and thought it was a misspelling of "camaraderie", the word comradery is actually in the dictionary and means the same thing as camaraderie.

[mikeyd23]

I like what I'm hearing from most of these reviews. 

[Dedalus]

The two songs have heavy moments, but I do not feel a dark vibe in them. And I hope no song from the next album has that vibe, because DT has already proven that they don't know how to make good dark songs.

They have done some pretty heavy songs but have made them too light hearted to be considered dark.  I do love the concept of TDEN though, a monster that has come up from the depths of the unknown to wreak havoc.  I want more songs like that, except with an even heavier darker edge!

I think it's a matter of different tastes. I consider TDEN to be one of DT's worst songs, if not worse.

[Dedalus]

Very cool to read all these reviews. Very excited to hear the D/T, especially Pale Blue Dot!

I think they did not say much about At Wit's End. It's the longest song on the record and I got the impression that we still have no glimpse of it.

[bosk1]

The two songs have heavy moments, but I do not feel a dark vibe in them. And I hope no song from the next album has that vibe, because DT has already proven that they don't know how to make good dark songs.

They have done some pretty heavy songs but have made them too light hearted to be considered dark.  I do love the concept of TDEN though, a monster that has come up from the depths of the unknown to wreak havoc.  I want more songs like that, except with an even heavier darker edge!

I think it's a matter of different tastes. I consider TDEN to be one of DT's worst songs, if not worse.

Okay, but you were talking about "dark" and "heavy," not "worst."  Those are unrelated.

As far as DT doing dark, I guess it's just a matter of degree.  Awake, TOT, and BCSL definitely have a lot of darker moments.  But "dark" for DT might not be quite as dark as some other metal bands.  They also like to infuse a lot of positivity and introspection into their music.  Redemption is another band that comes to mind.  A lot of the concepts Nick explores in Redemption's music and lyrics is quite dark.  But at the same time, a common theme throughout their music and lyrics is finding hope in the darkness, so there is also a lighter, brighter vibe that transcends the darkness in their music as well and might cause a lot of people to overlook the darkness.  That doesn't mean it isn't there and isn't prominent.  Darkness is prominent, but it never gets TOO dark, and almost always resolves on a lighter, hopeful note.