Distance over Time - New Single "Untethered Angel"

[Dave_Manchester]

Liked the song on first listen; several dozen listens down the line I love it. It's nowhere near as 'straight-forward' as I'd first thought it was, there's a lot going on here crammed into a relatively tight space. With a lot of DT songs I find myself thinking "There's a brilliant shorter song somewhere within this", but this is one of the very rare occasions I'm left thinking "There's a bona fide masterpiece in here if only they'd expanded a few bits". The beautiful intro for example, or that superb instrumental work that's going on under the second verse (I would've liked to hear them go to town on those melodies in the instrumental section). But these aren't gripes, they're just observations and personal preferences. There's not a second of this song that makes me tune out, and when it's over I find myself wanting to hear it over again. It's an excellent song and choice of lead single (and lead-off track for an album). If they're reading this, bravo to the lads. 30-odd years down the line and they're still producing exciting and original music.

And on a side-note, I appreciate the fan interaction this time around. The in-studio clip for this song is great, and the track-by-track series they're going to be doing is also a good idea . Anyone here in touch with the band, tell them it's appreciated please.

[geeeemo]

Liked the song on first listen; several dozen listens down the line I love it. It's nowhere near as 'straight-forward' as I'd first thought it was, there's a lot going on here crammed into a relatively tight space. With a lot of DT songs I find myself thinking "There's a brilliant shorter song somewhere within this", but this is one of the very rare occasions I'm left thinking "There's a bona fide masterpiece in here if only they'd expanded a few bits". The beautiful intro for example, or that superb instrumental work that's going on under the second verse (I would've liked to hear them go to town on those melodies in the instrumental section). But these aren't gripes, they're just observations and personal preferences. There's not a second of this song that makes me tune out, and when it's over I find myself wanting to hear it over again. It's an excellent song and choice of lead single (and lead-off track for an album). If they're reading this, bravo to the lads. 30-odd years down the line and they're still producing exciting and original music.

And on a side-note, I appreciate the fan interaction this time around. The in-studio clip for this song is great, and the track-by-track series they're going to be doing is also a good idea . Anyone here in touch with the band, tell them it's appreciated please.

I agree 100%!
This song is like a relationship that starts with a bit of an attraction.  But then moves to "I need more and hurry!"   
I love DT music - always keeping me interested - never bored.

[ReaPsTA]

Petrucci, LaBrie and Rudess discuss Untethered Angel!!!

https://youtu.be/2Co1_h0GtAw

If it weren't recorded so long ago, I'd think them talking about the unison/harmony section was a troll on rumborak.

[cramx3]

Petrucci, LaBrie and Rudess discuss Untethered Angel!!!

https://youtu.be/2Co1_h0GtAw

If it weren't recorded so long ago, I'd think them talking about the unison/harmony section was a troll on rumborak.

Funny I was thinking the same, are they reading this thread? 

[rumborak]

Well, I'm easily trolled, what can I say

[TheOutlawXanadu]

On my second listen now. I think that the master / mix / overall sound is phenomenal.

[devieira73]

On my second listen now. I think that the master / mix / overall sound is phenomenal.

I've been listening the 320kbps version on good headphones and I have this same opinion. The only thing that I would make an observation is that the drums still don't sound much "organic". But it's  better than on TA, it has that modern metal aproach and it sounds great, like the drum sound of Haken's last album.

[Curt]

Have you guys seen this interview? Uploaded 5th December 2018, promoting Distance Over Time, John and James on a TV couch? in a foreign country? 4 mins in and it is pretty funny and awkward

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m25bJ297zrc

[noxon]

Yes, it's been linked before

[Mark Levinson Jr.]

Have you guys seen this interview? Uploaded 5th December 2018, promoting Distance Over Time, John and James on a TV couch? in a foreign country? 4 mins in and it is pretty funny and awkward

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m25bJ297zrc

This is just crazy. The beard scene was comedy gold!

[MinistroRaven]

Have you guys seen this interview? Uploaded 5th December 2018, promoting Distance Over Time, John and James on a TV couch? in a foreign country? 4 mins in and it is pretty funny and awkward

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m25bJ297zrc

This is just crazy. The beard scene was comedy gold!

This was sooo good

[El Barto]

Seems like I hear an old Roland vocoder in there. There's a ton of processing on the vocals, but one passage in particular seems like Mr. Roboto is singing one of the vocal layers. Not a criticism, I actually like it, but it's an odd thing to hear in DT.

Overall impression from the first single: I haven't heard the new album yet, but I've heard it before.

[Mladen]

Have you guys seen this interview? Uploaded 5th December 2018, promoting Distance Over Time, John and James on a TV couch? in a foreign country? 4 mins in and it is pretty funny and awkward

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m25bJ297zrc

This is one of the most awkward interviews I've ever seen. The comedy style is so odd that the guys honestly didn't know how to play along. What kind of a show is this? Even as far as talk shows go, this one is way too ridiculous. 

[gzarruk]

JP lost it at "this toilet paper is for the handjobs"

[Another_Won]

Have you guys seen this interview? Uploaded 5th December 2018, promoting Distance Over Time, John and James on a TV couch? in a foreign country? 4 mins in and it is pretty funny and awkward

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m25bJ297zrc

This is one of the most awkward interviews I've ever seen. The comedy style is so odd that the guys honestly didn't know how to play along. What kind of a show is this? Even as far as talk shows go, this one is way too ridiculous. 

Metropolis1928 had a great answer that helped clear it up for me in the other thread:

To everyone that is wondering what that spanish interview was that all about, I would like to provide some context about this show (although JP mentions a little bit about why they are there).

The host of the show is one of the most popular comedians in Spain of the last 5 years (if not the most popular) and last year he got his own late late night show. It is broadcasted right after another late night (which is a completely new thing in Spain, although it may be common in the US) and it is directed mainly to people around their 20s to 30s.

First of all, this was not the whole interview, since they make some cuts for Youtube (the whole show is 60 minutes long and the interview is around 10 minutes longer than the youtube clip, this is always like that for every guest). Not that they spoke much about the album but the thing is that it never happens. No matter who comes to the show, they rarely speak about what the guest is promoting, it's all about the comedy and if the guests are and you like them, you will probably check it out. They spoke a little bit about the album but this was cut (the host asked if the album was out yet and JP said that it was a big secret right now and the host joked about asking JP to send him an MP3 with the album and to make sure that it was a "good MP3").

Which brings me to the second point that is that, no, they did not fly to Spain just to do this. Apparently they are on a promo tour in Europe where they are having interviews with a lot of websites and magazines and radios and (this is something that is mentioned by the director of the show, who is also the guy that plays the keyboard) very randomly to this show too because of its popularity and the fact that the director of the show and the host are both fans of the band.

That's another thing, to anyone that would know the host, the surprise was that they managed to get them on the show, not that they would invite them. The host has another show on the radio with other two guys where they just joke about everything and have some music once in a while. This music is decided by him and they have aired (is this the right term?) even Liquid Tension Experiment. They had on this same show a couple of weeks ago the band Toundra and the host asked them if what they did was similar to DT (to which they replied "we wished"   ).

So, anyway, as one of the few spaniards of the forum (although I almost never post and I mostly lurk  )  and also a fan of this show, I wanted to provide some context to everyone that is wrapping their heads about it.

(By the way, what was mentioned at the show is true, if you ever go to Madrid, try the tap water, it is fantastic, and as you could see, a running gag  )

[Anxiety35]

That was an awkward interview. Very awkward. I wonder if JP & JLB couldn't wait to get out of there.

[RodrigoAltaf]

That was an awkward interview. Very awkward. I wonder if JP & JLB couldn't wait to get out of there.

They were probably told in advance what the host was about. I loved that interview, even though that was one of the least insightful and informative interviews I've ever seen. It beats the one I did with Ray Alder where all of a sudden we started discussing food and completely lost track of time, until he said "hey, my next interviewer is calling, so we should wrap this up!".

[Lethean]

I thought it was very funny at and a lot of fun.  There's nothing wrong with an interview like that every once in a while.

[Jamesman42]

I listened to it. It's so bland. 

[Dream Team]

Not my kind of comedy at all. Glad I didn't waste much time on it.

[Adami]

I listened to it. It's so bland. 

Jimmy!

[gm5k]

My favorite DT interview I've seen in quite some time.  Don't think John and James will soon forget it 

[cramx3]

I thought it was very funny at and a lot of fun.  There's nothing wrong with an interview like that every once in a while.

Yea, was a nice change of pace to see the guys in such a different type of interview.  Some of the jokes weren't funny and some were, but the whole awkwardness of it made the video overall really funny to me. 

[RMGadelha]

I absolutely loved the whole interview.

[Ninjabait]

My thoughts on the song now that I've listened to it like a dozen times:

The intro is great. I feel it really sets the atmosphere for the song well and it adds a whole lot. It's one of those intros that doesn't feel tacked on at all, it's really great.

Sometimes it feels like it's trying to do too much in a short time period, like a lot of the songs on DT12. There's a lot of really good ideas here and they flow together really well, but it doesn't really let you sit on an idea long enough before it moves on to the next one. Only really a problem for the first part up until the fast unison section. It calms down a lot for me when the solos come in and that's where the song starts getting really good imo.

2nd verse is killer. That synth piano part JR plays right before is great too. Wish that got reused.

The "Set...you...free" part of the codetta is great. Wish they reused that in the song, like in the coda at the end. I keep waiting for it and I just end up blueballed there.

Solos are top notch! The way Rudess supports the 2nd guitar solo with the descending piano chords is great. The second unison section (which I'm calling the Pachelbel section) is easily one of my top 10 DT solos. It's so nice and tuneful. I could listen to just 2 minutes of that. Also the solos feel kinda conservative by DT standards, but in a good way. The solos are one of the highlights for me.

Mixing is really good, drums sound fantastic. Overall, it reminds me a lot of Fatal Tragedy. MVP of the song is definitely Rudess. It says a lot about the quality of DT's work that this is my second least favorite of the Mangini-era singles and it's still killer. Definitely has maintained my excitement for the rest of the album in February!

[Architeuthis]

Nice summary!   

[wolfking]

Fancy asking them how much money they have in the bank?!  WTF?! 

[King Postwhore]

I listened to it. It's so bland. 

Yo!

[Dream Team]

Listened again with a better sound system, liking it a little more.

[porcacultor]

This song made me feel something interesting. It's not my favourite song by them, but one can assume they'll open concerts with it... and it feels like it's going to be such a crushing opener!

Imagining this song live felt like the missing piece to it, to me. Even the outcry-ish verse part, which I didn't go crazy for at first, makes more sense when you see it as being the part where JLB enters the stage. Sounds silly, perhaps, but it got me excited.

[Dublagent66]

Middle section sounds like Outcry.  Vocals are muddled and drowned out.  Recycled DT by numbers.  I don't get it.  When are these guys gonna start getting back to their roots of original progressive metal?  I'm sick and tired of this shit!!

OMFG!  What an embarrassing post.  Why didn't someone just tell me to STFU?!   Having said all that nonsense prior to giving the song and the rest of the album a fair shake, my apologies to DT and DTF.  My 1st impression of the song was not good obviously.  However, over time the chorus riff and some of the vocal effects seem pretty amazing.  The song has grown on me.

[DragonAttack]

^
ST*U 

[KevShmev]

My initial reaction to this song wasn't that positive either, but I like it now.  I probably like most of the songs album more, but it's still a nice opener. 

[Dublagent66]

^
ST*U 

You're about 3 months too late. 

[IDontNotDoThings]

I think I may have exaggerated my liking of the song initially (partly because I wanted to counter the negativity), but I still really enjoy this song. Maybe it wasn't the best choice for a lead single, but it's an enjoyable song & a nice little way to open the album.